Episode 70: Meal Planning So You Don’t Go Crazy with Nick Loper
Meal planning is one of those invisible stressors that shows up every single day. In this episode, Hannah Morgan talks with Nick Loper — dad of two and host of The Side Hustle Show — about the practical systems his family uses to make meals simpler, faster, and far less overwhelming.
Instead of treating dinner like an open-ended problem, Nick’s family uses a “multiple-choice” approach built around a binder of favorite meals. That small shift reduces decision fatigue and helps everyone know what to expect. From involving kids in grocery shopping to using school lunch strategically and adding a second freezer for back-up meals, Nick shares realistic ways busy families can make mealtime feel more manageable.
This episode is all about working with what’s already hard and making it just a little easier.
Key Takeaways
Turn dinner into a multiple-choice decision. Limiting options makes meal planning faster and less mentally draining.
Keep a running list of family favorites. A go-to meal binder removes the pressure to constantly invent new ideas.
Consistency helps kids. Familiar meals reduce resistance and make weeknights smoother.
Use school lunch strategically. It saves time and gives kids independence and exposure to new foods.
A second freezer can be a huge support. Bulk buying and freezing leftovers create easy back-up meals.
Try a “live off the freezer” week. Reset your food system and reduce grocery stress by using what you already have.
Quotes
“We tried to make dinner a multiple-choice question instead of an essay question.”
“There’s comfort in the known quantity — especially for kids.”
“What would it look like if it were easy?”
“Sometimes the easy button is just letting the school handle lunch.”
“The system broke this week — what do we have in the freezer?”
Resources Mentioned
Side Hustle Nation – Nick Loper’s platform for earning extra income through side hustles.
The Side Hustle Show Podcast – Nick’s podcast sharing real-life side hustle success stories and tips.
Heron House Management – Virtual house management for busy families: we handle your to-dos so you can focus on what matters most.
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This episode of De-Stress the Nest is sponsored by Heron House Management.
About Heron House Management:
Heron House Management is a virtual house management service that takes the stress out of your busy life by taking on your mental load and managing your To Do list. We provide fractional virtual house management for busy families at 10, 15 and 20+ hours/month.
Meal planning, signing up for kids activities, scheduling doctor's appointments, finding a house cleaner, planning your kid's birthday party, getting quotes for that home renovation project, or scheduling a monthly date night with your significant other and so much more. We do it all!
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00:00
Hannah Morgan: Welcome to De-Stress the Nest, a podcast for busy parents where experts share bite-sized tips on how to create systems that minimize stress at home. I'm your host, Hannah Morgan. Today’s episode is sponsored by Heron House Management — the first-ever virtual house management service that lightens your mental load by handling your to-do list with monthly subscriptions of 10, 15, and 20+ hours per month. From meal planning and doctor’s appointments to birthday parties and home projects, Heron House Management helps busy families reclaim their time and live their best lives. Learn more at heronhousemanagement.com.00:34
Hannah Morgan: On today’s episode of De-Stress the Nest, we're thrilled to welcome back Nick Loper, a dad who has figured out a fantastic system for managing the chaos around meal planning and answering that dreaded question that somehow comes every day, “What’s for dinner?”00:58
Hannah Morgan: Nick, I'm so excited to have you on today's show. Let's start by hearing a little bit about who you are and what you do.01:14
Nick Loper: Well, excited to be here. I am the Side Hustle guy. For the past 12 years, I’ve been hosting The Side Hustle Show, uncovering creative ways to make extra money. I love geeking out on how people come up with ideas and get customers. Outside of that, I’m married to my high school sweetheart, we have two boys going into fourth and second grade, and we try to balance work while maximizing time with them.01:46
Hannah Morgan: Love it. Thank you for joining us today, Nick. So today you’re going to share the systems your family has developed around meal planning, school lunches, and grocery shopping. This is a huge pain point for working parents, so I’m excited to hear what works for you.02:06
Nick Loper: It’s still a work in progress, because it’s a weekly pain point — this never-ending question of what’s for dinner. We realized that question was too open-ended. So we tried to make it multiple choice.02:26
Nick Loper: Growing up, give me a multiple-choice test and I’ll dominate. At least you know the answer is on the page. So we created a binder of all our family’s favorite meals — crowd pleasers and a few new hits.02:48
Nick Loper: We use sticky notes that we move to a weekly planner page. Just making it multiple choice instead of open-ended makes it way easier.03:08
Nick Loper: Sometimes the weeks start to look the same, but that’s actually okay. There’s comfort in the known quantity, especially for kids. We still try new things occasionally, but most nights we need quick, easy, and something we know they’ll eat.03:32
Hannah Morgan: I love that, because we hear all the time about giving kids choices, and you’re applying that to parents too. Too many options can be overwhelming. How involved are your kids in the meal planning process?03:54
Nick Loper: Not very! They don’t have a lot of say, but they do help with grocery shopping. Sometimes we split the list and they go find items.04:14
Nick Loper: Our younger one sometimes likes helping cook. Recently he made homemade pasta because he saw it on YouTube, and it was actually really good.04:36
Hannah Morgan: That’s awesome. So you encourage them to bring their own food ideas into the mix. How does that translate into school lunches?04:54
Nick Loper: We use the easy button. School lunch costs a few dollars and saves us time. The kids look at the menu in advance and circle the days they want to buy.05:16
Nick Loper: It gets them trying new things and interacting socially, and it reduces our workload.05:34
Hannah Morgan: I love that you frame school lunch as a learning opportunity. They’re budgeting and making choices. What about grocery shopping and food storage?05:52
Nick Loper: Adding a freezer in the garage was huge. We can store bulk items from Costco, leftovers, frozen berries, all that.06:12
Nick Loper: When the system breaks down, we just ask, “What do we have in the freezer?”06:30
Hannah Morgan: What’s your tip for not letting things get lost in the freezer?06:42
Nick Loper: We try to label and date things. Recently we did a “live off the land week” — basically skip the grocery store and just eat from the freezer and pantry.07:06
Hannah Morgan: I love calling it that, even though it’s really “live off the freezer.” We did something similar when we moved — we just ate everything instead of moving it.07:28
Nick Loper: That’s perfect. We had friends do it as part of a no-spend challenge. They could buy produce, but otherwise cleaned out the freezer and pantry.07:50
Hannah Morgan: I love how this becomes a whole family effort and reduces stress. Any final thoughts?08:04
Nick Loper: Sometimes it’s just a mindset shift and a couple of small tweaks. Turning open-ended decisions into simple systems makes a big difference.08:22
Hannah Morgan: Thanks for sharing these tips, Nick. We really appreciate it.08:32
Nick Loper: You bet. Thanks for having me.08:42
Hannah Morgan: Thanks for listening to De-Stress the Nest, the podcast where experts share bite-sized tips on how to minimize stress at home. Don’t forget to subscribe and tune in every Tuesday for more ways to simplify your life.
