This Creator Says "Carmen Sandiego Meal Planning" Is Why We're All Stressed About Dinner

"If you'd rather eat a 5'x7' rug than have to figure out what to make for dinner again, you're not alone, my friend. But what if... hear me out... what if we're making this whole meal planning thing a lot harder than it has to be? That's what creator Evelyn Ngugi, also known as Evelyn From the Internets or @myinternetcousin on TikTok, thinks may be the case. In a recent video, she posits that Americans' tendency to want to globe-trot through a week of meals is making it way harder to shop and cook than it should be."

""The reason you're stressed out about meal prepping is because you're under the false idea that you need to eat vastly different food every single day," Ngugi says, standing in her kitchen. She theorizes that maybe we do this because, as Americans, we have access to so many different cultures' food. But "hitting every continent in the span of a calendar week" via our meals is not something non-American households do, she says."

""You're out here stressing yourself out because you think it got to be fried rice Monday, taco Tuesday, tikka masala Wednesday... nobody else does that, it's too much," she says. "You don't need to stress yourself out, beloved. Carmen Sandiego with your meal plan - just scale it back, OK?""

""Yes you freaking can. You do, it's just prepared by someone else." (Like that iced coffee order you get every single morning without fail or change? Yeah...)"

Many Americans attempt to sample diverse cuisines throughout a week, which increases complexity in shopping and cooking. The expectation to eat vastly different foods every single day creates stress around meal prepping. Scaling back meal plans and repeating meals can simplify grocery shopping, reduce cooking time, and cut decision fatigue. People often insist they need variety, but consistent orders prepared by others—such as a daily iced coffee—demonstrate tolerance for repetition. Simplifying meal choices by narrowing options or repeating favorites can produce relief and practical benefits for time and budget management.

Read at Scary Mommy