How to Meal Plan
There are probably as many different ways to meal plan as there are meals in a week. The key is really finding what works for you and your family. And what works might look different depending on the season of the year (like summer versus winter) or the season of life (like a newborn baby versus a couple of teenagers versus a kid-free home). The single biggest factor is long-term health is not following a specific diet but rather eating a wide variety of foods including those that are minimally processed. To do that consistently tends to require some planning. Here I will cover why meal planning is helpful and offer some suggestions on how you can get started.
Know why you are meal planning
In theory, there is no downside to meal planning. It saves money, reduces food waste, saves time, reduces stress, and adds variety. Planning meals allows you to write a grocery list that includes exactly what you need instead of filling your cart with random items that may or may not come together to make a meal. It also reduces stress because you have the answer to the daily question, “What’s for dinner?” whether that question is being asked by your kids or yourself in a panic spiral at 4:30 p.m. as dinnertime looms just ahead. Thinking about what to make can often be more energy-draining and stress-inducing than the act of cooking. When you have a plan, the only thing you need to do is follow it.
Make it a priority
The first step to meal planning is to give yourself time to plan. Meal planning is a habit, just like going to the gym or writing in a journal. If you don’t prioritize it, it won’t happen. And before you object with cries of “I don’t have time,” you do have time for it. Think of the time you will save not staring into the fridge at the end of the day, calling and waiting for delivery or takeout, or running to the grocery store every day (at the same time everyone else is running to the store for the same thing). Planning replaces the daily stress with easy-to-follow action steps.
Write it out
The next step is to write the plan down. It could be on a white board in the kitchen for all to see, in your planner or digital calendar, or even a post-it note (a personal favorite). Planning only works if you remember what you planned, so it is best to keep a record. Using something like a planner or dedicated notebook also makes it easy to look back for ideas when you are in a food rut in the future.
Keep it simple
Keep your plans reasonable for your life. It is not about cooking a 4-course meal every night; keep it simple. Scrambled eggs with bacon and a side of fruit on Wednesday between soccer practice and book club is a plan. A jar of marinara sauce with pre-cooked Italian chicken sausage and chickpea pasta on Monday after a late work meeting is a plan. Plan for leftovers too. In my house, leftovers usually end up as lunches for the week (and are counted on to save having to plan lunch too). But maybe you have a leftover night on the calendar where all the odds and ends get pulled out smorgasbord style.
I encourage you to keep new recipes to a minimum, like 1 or maybe 2 in any given week. Plan those new recipes for evenings or weekend days when you have a little more time to get food on the table. New recipes come with some uncertainty, which can add stress, especially if the kitchen isn’t where you would choose to spend your free time. Your list of tried-and-true recipes and go-to products will grow as you spend more time meal-planning.
Find some inspiration
Speaking of recipes, finding a place or system to keep recipes in order can help ease the planning process. If you get a lot of recipes from online sources, this could be a Pinterest board or a folder on your laptop to save downloaded recipes. If you like to have a paper copy in the kitchen or find a lot of recipes in magazine pages, something as low-tech as a three-ring binder with some page protectors could be perfect for you. Paper copies also make it easy to write a note about changes in cooking time or ingredient swaps that you can reference in the future. If you are a cookbook person, little sticky note flags can mark the pages of favorite recipes. Quick tip: use your local library services—physical and digital—to find cookbooks or food magazines without investing a lot of money first.
Divide the work
If meal planning and prep aren’t your favorite things, then dedicating an entire day to the process will probably not make you like it more and might even make you stop doing it. You do not have to do everything in one day. Try dividing the tasks over a few days. Spend day one picking out recipes and writing a grocery list or adding groceries to an online grocery order. Get in the habit of shopping your kitchen first. Check your refrigerator, pantry, and freezer for any things you need to use up, and double-check for ingredients you think you have on hand. The next day, hit up the grocery store or get the groceries delivered. And if your plan includes prepping food ahead, do that on a third day.
Planning to prep?
Speaking of meal prep, for some people it is the secret to a happy and well-nourished life, and for others it is the worst. I do find some foods lend themselves better to being prepped ahead than others. Your personal feelings about leftovers or eating the same things a few days in a row will have a big impact on whether the prep-once-eat-all-week style will work for you.
I personally find that slow roasting a big chuck roast or pork shoulder and then freezing half of the cooked meat for later works for me with no loss of flavor or texture. There are several soups I will make in double or triple batches and freeze in individual servings for quick thaw-and-eat meals, but I draw the line if the soup includes potatoes. I find the texture of cooked, then frozen, then thawed potatoes in soups off-putting, but maybe you don’t mind them. Pre-chopping vegetables a few days ahead, especially any you want to eat raw for snacking, can be a nice time saver, but cooking ahead depends on the veggie and the cooking style.
Things like chicken have a greater tendency to take on warmed-over flavors when the cooked meat is reheated, which can be off-putting for some people. Think about Thanksgiving leftovers to help you gauge if this flavor bothers you. If the turkey never tastes as good to you reheated or you only like cold turkey sandwiches, then cooking a bunch of poultry ahead of time might not be appealing to you. Exceptions could be if it is in a flavorful sauce, like marinara or Indian simmer sauce which can mask those warmed-over flavors, or if you plan to use it cold, like on top of a chopped green salad, in a sandwich, or mixed with celery, grapes, and mayo for a chicken salad.
In order to successfully incorporate meal planning into your life, first get clear on why you are doing it, make time to do it and write it down, save recipes you love in a way that works for you, divide up the work, and prep ahead if it makes sense. Like with most habits, meal planning tends to get easier with time and practice.
For more support or inspiration around meal planning a whole food based diet check out the upcoming class calendar or schedule an appointment.
The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be medical advice or to diagnosis, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This information does not replace a one-on-one relationship with a physician or healthcare professional. Dietary changes and/or the taking of nutritional supplements may have differing effects on individuals.
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