I’ve put a great deal of thought into meal-planning over the years, and I’ve come to the conclusion that (for me, at least) the best method of meal-planning is to create a list of meal ideas. They’re not necessarily recipes, just general guidelines on what to make for dinner each night. So Monday might be curry night, then tacos on Tuesday, followed by pasta on Wednesday, etc. This gives me the freedom to still be creative and use up what I have on hand, without finding myself at the end of the day with no idea what to make for dinner. Making a meal can feel like the worst, most exhausting chore when you go into it completely blind. It’s so much nicer when you know ahead of time you’re going to make You-Choose chili, for example. I’m in the process of creating a list of meal ideas for an entire month, and I’m going to gradually share them with you in my blog posts until I’ve created a full month of customizable meals.

Chili is the first meal idea on my list to share with you. This is a fully customizable meal template, so you can choose what you have on hand or what you feel like eating that night. Chili is extremely versatile. That’s why it’s one of my go-to meals when I have veggies and meat to use up. Or you can go meatless; it’s completely up to you.

[Tweet “Use what you have on hand with You-Choose Chili meal template #mealplan #passthewhine #chili”]

In case you’re wondering, the chili pictured in this post is made with tofu! I used Yves Mexican Ground Round, and it was really nice. My kids thought it was a tad too spicy, but I liked the flavour. Ayla actually liked it the most, and gave it a big thumb up.

I’ve provided suggestions for what meat/protein you might want to use, but if you want, you can skip that altogether and just add more veggies or beans. Like I said, it’s totally customizable! Chili can be whatever you want it to be, that’s why I love it so much.

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE TEMPLATE

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