MEAL PLANNING: I am so excited to orient you into this practice I have been doing since 2018 and look forward to you seeing its benefits for you.
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What is the one question, couples, Bachelors, big families, and business moguls have in common? Yes, you guessed it right. What’s for dinner or lunch? Whichever the time of day it always goes to show somehow we ask ourselves what are we going to eat next.
The year is quite new and to start us off we don’t want time wasted thinking of what to eat or taking long hours to prepare for those meals time is of the essence if we are going to slay all those goals we have set for ourselves from eating healthier, signing that new client, buying that car, The small things like what you are going to eat should be already planned for so you don’t have to overthink it. Hence we have meal plans.
In the simplest layman's language, I can say a meal plan is having the answer to the question of what’s for dinner once a week instead of every night. Meal planning is the act of thinking ahead about what you’ll make for meals and snacks and getting prepared.
The steps to meal planning can be broken down into:
Select your dinners and their recipes, if needed.
Shop for ingredients.
Prepare those ingredients.
Benefits of Meal Prepping.
Meal planning pays you back in the following ways;
You will slay the healthier lifestyle goal: Meal planning gives you the opportunity to think about what you like to eat and how those foods help nourish your body. You can look at how you’re eating overall, rather than one meal at a time. This gives you a better sense of whether you’re meeting your healthy eating goals.
You will have extra time to yourself: Wave goodbye to those last-minute trips to the grocery store. You can also plan ahead by making larger dishes that can be stored in the freezer for multiple meals in the future.
More Cash in your bag: Meal planning ensures you have all the leftovers are used before they go to waste. You also go to the store with a budget hence reducing impulse purchases that you don’t need. Abacus wealth investment can also help you know how to reinvest that money you save. Now that we know the benefits let us dive into the steps of actually meal prepping.
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Step 1:What you Need
What do want to get from meal planning, is to save costs, diversify your meals with more variety, prevent food wastage, save time, eat healthier, or if you are like me preserve your sanity. Whatever the reason knowing it upfront helps you plan and don’t worry it can also be for all the above reasons. Now Choose your recipes carefully. This involves looking at your week, how many times do you want to have a home-cooked meal? What days do you want to order out? How long does it take to prepare those meals? Where are you getting those recipes from, we have cookbooks, apps like cook pad and sites like Goretti and maalum that have a wealth of options to choose from.
Step 2:Shop for ingredients
An easy way to shop for the right ingredients is to look at what your selected recipes actually need to make an ingredient list, now cross-check it with what is already in your kitchen from the fridge to the pantry. Then from there, you will know what you need o add to your list and what you need to top up in your kitchen. Now go shopping!
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Step 3: Prepare the ingredients
If you go to the pro tips on how to meal plan you will see we highly recommend meal prepping on Friday so you can shop on Saturday and prepare the ingredients and the items that need to be pre-cooked on Sunday. You have chosen the recipes for the week the ones you like as well as a new one you would like to try, you have done an inventory of your kitchen and have even shopped Great job so far! Now we pre-chop, dice, boil washing lettuce and herbs and refrigerate what you need. For take-out, you make pre-orders for them so your whole week has been planned for.
That is it you are done! Every time you go through the process of meal planning you learn what not to do, the places where to improve on next week, what you can skip, and how to customize the entire practice to fit your needs. Continuing to do it only makes you better.
Tips on how to Meal Prep like A Pro.
Well, I know this guide is for beginners but just in case you are a fast learner like me how about we dive into the pro tips, after all, there is ideally no wrong way to meal plan.
Check your calendar: See what you have going on and what the weather is going to be looking like. See a rainy day? That sounds like a great day to put a soup on the menu! See a busy day? Plan to use your crockpot. Be realistic about what you have time to prepare.
Start on a Friday: Putting this practice into place over the weekend, kicking off the planning on Friday, shopping on Saturday morning (or night — fewer people in the stores), and then using an hour or so on Sunday for meal prep.
Have Cheat Days: Give yourself lots of leeway to experiment and find a system that works for you. You’ve also got to make room for pizza night — I feel very strongly about pizza night!
Choose meals that bless you with leftovers: They’re the gift that keeps on giving.
Cook recipes you know + one new recipe: This is a pro move! Assemble that master list of recipes you know by heart — the ones you continuously make and know your family loves. Then add one or two new recipes each week. Pick an ingredient or a dish you want to learn how to prepare. Maybe you’d like to learn more about how to cook squash or you want to try making a lentil dish but only if you want.
Pick recipes based on common ingredients: This is the money-saving aspect of meal planning in full effect. It starts with looking at what you already have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. Shopping in your home kitchen can help you decide on recipes and avoid wasted food.
Only Cook things you really want to eat: You might have to spend some extra time uncovering recipes that are right for you, but it’s worth it if you still can’t wait to eat them. Don’t be selfish though think about who you share your meals with and include their favourites too.
Ingredient Selection: Pick your meat or alternative. Choose from fish, shellfish, poultry, meat, legumes, eggs, nuts, seeds, or tofu. Pick an ingredient that is in season or on sale.
Pick foods that are already in your fridge, freezer, or pantry that need to be used up
The Plate Model: Plan the rest of the meal. Build your meal around what you’ve already picked. Some foods go together more naturally than others. This is where the plate model of eating can be helpful. For example, if you’ve chosen to make teriyaki salmon, what grain products are you serving with it? What vegetable or fruit?
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If snacks and desserts are part of your routine, don’t forget to plan for them as well. Planning these can help you prevent purchasing less healthy options when you’re hungry and more likely to be tempted.
I hope these steps and tips help you grow to eat healthier save money, and time and enjoy home-cooked meals, I know I do. Till next time have yourselves a fabulous day.
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