What is meal planning?
We have all come home after a long day out and become frustrated because we have no idea what to make for dinner. We have even had this same frustration at what to take to work for lunch, or how to send the kids to school with a healthy lunch. This works for breakfasts too so there is less confusion in the mornings.
Perhaps it is time to consider meal planning!
Planning meals ahead of time can save you time, money, allow you to eat healthier, and can eliminate the frustration of the scenarios above.
If you do a Google search there are lots of ways to meal plan. Some are done for you and you just print it off and go the grocery store with the shopping list. Some you can order everything for the meal and it is delivered to your home. Or you can take a moment to consider what you/your family likes to eat and make a list.
Making your own list will allow you to have all the ingredients you need to make your favorite meal. It will take the last-minute decisions away because you already know what you are going to cook that evening or fix for the next day’s lunch. You can make a meal plan for two weeks, including the meals you enjoy and that are quick to make. Then just rotate the plans. There will be a lot less waste and a lot fewer trips to the grocery store for missing ingredients.
Sample:
Sunday: Roast Chicken, asparagus, rice
Monday:
Lunch / Chicken salad, orange, almonds
Dinner/ Salmon, sweet potato, green beans
Tuesday:
Lunch / Green salad topped with leftover salmon, almonds, grapes
Dinner / Spaghetti with meat sauce
Wednesday:
Lunch / Hamburger, slaw, carrot sticks
Dinner / Tacos, refried beans
Thursday:
Lunch / Spring rolls
Dinner / Chicken kebabs, brown rice, broccoli
Friday:
Lunch / Budda Bowl
Dinner / Homemade Pizza
Saturday:
Lunch / Chili-cheese dogs, pickles, slaw
Dinner / Black bean-corn-shrimp salad
You can switch up the menus to include your favorites, your time savers, and/or your crock pot recipes. You can even use your ideas for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or medical reasons.
Write it on a piece of paper, a calendar, put it in your phone, or download one of a variety of free templates from the Internet. The idea is to plan ahead so you won’t have to deal with the stress of “I have nothing in the house to eat”.
