Help! I'm New to Meal Planning.

sirraw15

Hello! I am a newlywed who is trying to learn how to plan healthy meals for two people. Every time I cook I end up with a ton of leftovers and I feel like I make the same meals over and over again. I try to get creative, but I get overwhelmed at the grocery store and never know what to buy. Does anyone have any advice on making grocery lists and meal planning to help me out? I am trying hard to start a healthier lifestyle, and want to start cooking more and grabbing take out less. I appreciate it!

PhillymomMindy

If your on Pinterest they have alot of great WW recipes and healthier recipes. I have the same dilemma about making the same stuff.

kganc001

Hey! I had the same problem recently! Recipes take trial and error...find a few that you like. Most websites will provide you with how many servings the recipe makes. You can google recipe convertors online and they'll figure out how much you need to use for a smaller/larger serving.

Start a bookmarks bar or a book of the recipes you like. (I started with like...3.) and go from there. Personally, I make the larger servings and eat the rest for lunches/quick dinners the rest of the week. I have a book on my kitchen counter with recipes pasted in it and on my grocery days, I decide which meals I/we'd like that week (I do the shopping and my fiance eats whatever I make). Usually I choose two...one from my recipe book and a new one.

Some of my go-to recipes are stuffed bell peppers (~160 cal per pepper), chili (202 cal per cup, 50 cal 1/4 c rice), spaghetti (107 cal per cup of sauce, 33 cal for 1/2 c of spaghetti squash), and turkey burgers (~200 cal per burger). If you want any of the recipes, shoot me a message! Let me know if you find anything good!

Hope that helps!

ETA: skinnytaste.com

sirraw15

Thanks so much! That gives me a better starting point. Time to start a recipe book.

sirraw15

Yes! My husband calls pinterest the black hole. I get on there and get lost in it. lol

tartsul

i like to sit down on the weekend and plan out meals for the rest of the week using recipes ive found that i want to try. i find a TON of my recipes on pinterest and also trade them with my sisters. i even use a little calendar to write down what i want to make on what day. after you've established what you want to make and on what day, take a look at what you already have in your pantry and fridge, and make a list of what you need. my list is usually fresh veggies and meat, plus stuff for my husband's lunches during the week, and fruit for snacking on. then just grab your list and go shopping. you definitely need to go in with a plan or else it will be overwhelming and you'll end up making more trips later in the week for one or two things that you forgot. i hate that!

as for having a ton of food leftover, i just had to learn how much my husband would eat, how much i would want to eat, and i found it was pretty easy to just cut recipes in half most of the time. sometimes i make the full batch, but freeze half of it for a quick go-to meal when i am not feeling well or being lazy. for example, do two 8x8 pans of lasagna instead of one huge one. eat one pan for dinner + tasty lunch leftovers, then freeze the other and throw it in the oven when you need a quick and easy meal. or it may come in handy when you have a friend who just had a baby and could use some meals when she comes home also buying in bulk too and dividing up into portions to use for just the two of you is helpful. you can buy a whole bunch of chicken and separate it out into portions, then just freeze it. then there it is in the freezer when you need it, already measured out and ready to go.

also, try planning some crock pot meals. there's a lot of great recipes out there, and i love throwing a bunch of stuff in it in the morning and coming home to a delicious smelling dinner ready to go. and easier clean up too! add me as a friend if you'd like! cooking and eating are two of my most favorite things!

roberts1013

What we do at my house is we make a menu for every 2 weeks. And then I only buy what we need to make those meals. Then we use left overs for lunches. I always know what we are going to have that day and my shopping is way more organized. I also love skinnytaste.com and pinterest. I keep all the recipes we have tried and like in a binder for easy reference and I try to make something new at least twice a month to keep me from getting to bored! Best of luck!

allisonrinkel

Yes! My husband calls pinterest the black hole. I get on there and get lost in it. lol

Hilarious! It is distracting on Pinterest but maybe set a little timer for yourself to go off and do specific searches for healthy recipes etc. You may be able to control the urge to pin like a mad woman!! I had to set a site blocker at work so I could get my REAL work done, not just my pins!!
Sparkpeople.com can be really useful too as they have a good calorie counter and can make a daily meal plan for you. FOR FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I love it

NualaTW

I find that most recipes I find are 4-6 servings. I take the time to sit down and figure out how much to cut down each ingredient to get it to 2-3 servings (so I won't have too many leftovers). Usually when I first cook the recipe I find that some adjustment is needed. Once I've figured it out, I plug it all into the MFP recipe box and now I have about 4 pages of recipe faves saved here in MFP all figured out to the perfect 2-3 servings with nutritional information.

I also bought a few recipe books that are specifically for "cooking for one or two" at a local used bookstore. These have been great. Even the "not so healthy recipes" I was able to tweak by changing up ingredients to healthier options (ie: using plain fat-free greek yogurt instead of creams or sour cream, making my own stocks instead of using high sodium broths, subbing beans for meat in some recipes, etc).

The MFP recipe calculator and box tool has been of great value on this site.

tartsul

OH and i forgot to mention... when i look for recipes, i always plug them into the recipe builder on the food tab on MFP first. that way it helps me see what i'm considering eating before i even put it onto my calendar. it also helps me to make changes or substitutions to make something healthier. it's so much easier to log too once it's a recipe in your profile.

and i definitely have three extremely high quality absolutely-non-stick pans that i am obsessed with. i never have to use oil or cooking spray, which can save a good amount of calories i'd rather use on other things!

kts1988

i have a similar situation - i was good at meal planning for one, but my fiance moved in two months ago, so i'm still getting the hang of meal planning for two people.

in general, i find that picking three or four recipes to make for dinner each week helps. the other nights can be used for leftovers. if a recipe makes a large amount of food, i will usually reduce the recipe or freeze the leftovers so i don't get sick of eating the same thing over and over.

i've found that eating breakfast, lunch, and snacks on my own and making dinner together works fairly well, especially if i can get my fiance to help with menu planning and cooking.

in terms of finding recipes, i love pinterest, www.skinnytaste.com, www.eatingwell.com, and Cooking Light. hope that helps!

sympha01

One thing that I have found helps with the "eating the same meals all the time" issue is eating seasonally. Not only does it save you money and tend to "trick" you into eating healthier, but it tends to force you to change up your routine. I might only have 5-7 different meals in rotation at any given time, but by the time I'm sick of them the season changes and different produce is available, different meats go on sale, and my rotation changes up because I'm excited about the different foods or cooking styles that are suited to the new season.

So right now, in the summertime, meals are built around the abundance of fresh summer produce and fruit, and techniques like poaching and grilling or eating raw things (because I don't like to use the oven when it's hot!). When autumn rolls around I'll be excited about cooking things that use the oven and roasted veggies. In the winter I'll get excited about cooking stews and roasts with root vegetables. Next spring it'll be spring lamb, eggs, peas, and spring vegetable soups and pastas. And cooking websites tend to work that way too, so as the season changes there will be tons of new ideas coming at you all the time.

Shorter version: don't worry too much about getting stuck in a rut right now if you're taking advantage of seasonal produce; it'll work out naturally. :-)

hardworkishard

At first it can be a little daunting, but once you get in the groove you will start to get a feel for how much you need and what to buy. I have regulars/staples I buy every single week (eggs, yogurt, lunch items, TONS of produce!) and then additional items I need for the recipes I have picked out, or cupboard items like tuna, canned tomato, broth that I'm running low on. By now I have a pretty big sample size of "go-to" recipes that I can make with whatever I have at home. It's really convenient to buy family-size packages of meats when they are on sale, spend an hour or so trimming it and dividing it, then throwing it in the freezer and knowing I can pull it out the night before and just throw a few things together when I get home from work and dinner is done.

Another habit I got into was trying a new produce item each week. I love fruits and veggies, but there were some I'd never prepared or eaten at home. There are so many types of greens, roots, fruits, etc. that can add excitement into a dish so you never get bored!

An awesome way to find new recipes is to search on cookinglight.com for whatever your main ingredient is. For example if pork loin chops are on sale and you want some ideas, just type in "pork" on their search bar. Usually they'll have slideshows with like 10-20 recipe options. pick what sounds best and get what you need for it!

Other blogs I frequent for recipes:

skinnytase
i don't go to the gym
oh she glows
the skinny fork


Good luck!

alpine1994

1. Congrats on the nuptuals!
2. EVERYONE makes the same stuff over and over, promise

I aim to make one new recipe every week, usually from skinnytaste.com. If we both REALLY like it, I will save it into a recipes folder in my email. The list is slowly getting longer and longer so I have more "regulars" to choose from. It takes a while to find your cooking groove, but you will get there!

CeeBee88

All these are great ideas. I have to agree with posters before me – it takes time to build up your personal recipe collection. You’ll find that a few tried and tested will make it into your arsenal and you will use them again and again. You’ll also find that whenever you move or change stores you’ll have to start over again building new things you like based on what’s available, but don’t worry! After a few years you’ll have a good handful of recipes and not have to worry about thinking too hard.

The recipe book is a great idea – its definitely something I did when I first moved out of home and started cooking for two. While pinterest is great inspiration and pretty to look at, the fact they drag recipes from all over means you risk finding recipes that are incomplete or too complex – try foodie magazines instead! In the UK Good Food or Olive magazine are great and I’m sure there are some US alternatives. You can copy up recipes into your book or simply tear out the pages you love. Another problem with pinterest is while its fun pinning how often do you look back over your pins? In a recipe book you have it all there and get to browse your book whenever you’re in the kitchen for a little reminder of what you love. Your local library will most probably have recipe books in the reference section that you can get out and browse at your leisure without having to buy expensive copies.

I’ll also say, not sure if this has been mentioned, to look at cooking classes? This is something I tried especially when I moved abroad to help learn local recipes – for me this was asian cooking made simple based on what was available. I think we had one of those recipes once a week for at least a year after I started those classes!

Always try to plan your meals in advance – it helps with making your shopping list and also takes the last minute panic out of your evenings when deciding what to cook. Also, don’t worry about making too much – again this is something that takes time and leftover can always be used for tomorrows lunches or frozen for a later date. Also if its all too overwhelming in the beginning, try to theme your nights – when I first moved out once a week we would have new recipe night or childhood dish nights! It took some of the pressure off of the meals being perfect all the time.

And if all else fail - ask the people of myfitness pal! They seem to have an abundance of good recipes to share

x

CeeBee88

Also the BBC Food recipes finded is another great place to match ingredients together if you truely get stuck on items in you cupboard:

www.bbc.co.uk/food

grimendale

The Hungry Girl blog has a lot of relatively healthy recipes for one or two people. They are often knock offs of calorie bombs from fast food, but much healthier. They tend to be very easy to make and don't take much time to prepare. It's worth checking out.

zeroinfish

One option is to try out an online meal planning tool, which can take a lot of the work out of meal planning. Making a plan EVERY WEEK is the key to eating healthier meals and saving money.

www.homerunmeals.com will let you plan a week worth of meals, make a printable shopping list for you, give you printable coupons, etc. It's free to use, but if you pay (about $2/week) it will also keep track of the types of foods you like, how healthy you want your meals to be, etc and suggest balanced meals with side dishes every week. That's the quickest way I have found to do it, because once it learns your preferences the suggestions can be really good.

One down side is that it is geared more toward larger families so if you use the suggestions you may still find yourself with a lot of leftovers. However you can just use the leftovers for lunches or plan fewer meals each week and eat the leftovers on the other days. Hope that helps.

crystalflame

My tips:

1) Since you're on Pinterest, organize it in a way that functions for you. For example, I've split up food across 6 boards: soups and salads, healthy mains, vegetarian apps and sides, veggie mains, savory (aka calorific), and sweet. Having the vegetarian stuff separated out was relevant because my boyfriend was vegetarian, and I'd need to cook for him the weeks he wasn't traveling. It made finding the right recipes quick and easy. For you, you might have healthy appetizers, mains, and sides separated out, with a couple of other boards for splurge foods.

2) When you're actually meal planning, you should start with your main course. If it's a filling meal like lasagna, you don't need a side, but if it's just a piece of chicken, you'll know you want some asparagus to go with it.

3) Recipes that make four servings are your best friend. That means two servings for dinner, and two servings for lunch the next day. It also means padding... If your husband's still hungry, he can have another serving at dinner and then eat out or make a sandwich the next day. 6 to 8 servings work well if you guys don't get sick of the same thing and you don't want to cook every single night, or if your husband eats way more than you do.

4) Keep (cheap) snacks around that are healthy but that won't go bad quickly. Apples will last about a week; peanut butter will last forever (or a day, depending if you can stop once you get started. I can't!). If a meal proves to not be filling enough, there's something good for you on hand.

It gets a lot easier the more you do it. Good luck!

MissyPoo2013

Bump!

gentlygently

My you lot are very organised!

I take a very different approach.....

I do a huge shop as little as often of eg tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, pizza base, canned beans. Cheese. I also buy a whole load of different meat and fish and cram it in my freezer. So there is always something to make up the base of a dinner...but nothing that is never going to get used eventually, a lot of it is straightforward cooking stuff eg chicken breast, sausages, fish pie mix.

Once a week I get a vegetable box delivered. It comes with milk and yoghurt too. That is the fresh stuff.

So you might have worked out I hate shopping!

And then I just have fun putting things together. Using recipe ideas or just regular meals get cooked many times.
It works really well for me.

If this approach would suit you happy to share a typical mega shopping list!

lauraellie10

Some great advice here x