Meal planning

Most of you know I'm in PR. And while I don't currently work on a CPG (consumer packaged goods) company, almost everyone else around me does. Which means I participate in a lot of brainstorms targeting moms - the focus for most companies b/c they are the decision makers in the house. And a lot of ideation happens around helping moms meal-plan.

Previously, as a curious chef-to-be (I even briefly explored culinary school years ago), I always wondered what was so difficult about meal planning. How hard could it be? I've been feeding myself three meals a day without too much thought for the last 20ish years. How much harder could it be to feed a family?

Well I'll tell you. I don't give much thought to my responsibility to myself - to ensure I'm eating well balanced meals at each sitting, to make sure I have variety, to try to maximize the organic and minimize the processed, to watch the salt and nutritional value. I mean generally speaking I eat pretty well but I'm also basically just sustaining at this point.

Ben is just beginning. And he is growing. And he depends on me to give him a good start.

For a long time I used the breast milk/formula as my crutch, but we're nearing a year and that will soon be gone. I've bought cookbooks, but who has the time to prepare meals? I mean I get home from work at 5:40 and the little guy is sawing logs by 6:30 (and that includes a bath most nights!).

Seriously, people what are my options? Thankfully he eats most everything, but soon I fear he will turn green from all the avocados, will learn to talk and ask 'mom, why are we eating cheese for breakfast again?' or run away to a home that doesn't serve broccoli for lunch and dinner every day.

Help.