Meal Planning

kandell

So I've decided to earn a new adult badge and start weekly meal plans. I mostly just need to plan dinners, but weekend lunches are also a possibility. I figure this will not only help me with grocery shopping (so I don't come home with just a bunch of random things), but also with my calories. Dinner is always my downfall when it comes to staying on track. I can be perfect during the day but the moment I get home I'll just eat however much of whatever I feel like. I figure planning dinners in advance will help hold me accountable. Plus it'll solve the age-old problem of my bf getting frustrated when I can't decide what I want for dinner.

So my question to you all is what tips do you have to get started on meal planning? What are things to keep in mind, what kind of recipes do you like, and how do make sure your meals are nutritionally balanced?

kommodevaran

These are great questions! I love meal planning just for the reasons you mentioned. The way I'm doing it now, has evolved over time, and I will change it if/when anything isn't working anymore, but for now, I do this:

I have a well-stocked pantry and freezer and keep a list of what I have in pantry, freezer and fridge, sorted into categories. I (almost) never run unexpectedly out of anything.

I have themes for each day of the week - "one pot wonder" - white meat - leftovers - fish - "freeday" - "carb nite" - red meat. This provides both structure and flexibility.

I don't use a lot of recipes; whenever I need one, I google it. I keep it simple and don't really like to call what I do "cooking". But it's real food made from real ingredients and it tastes good, so I'm happy.

I don't track in my diary anymore, but I did so for one and a half years - I learnt what a balanced meal can look like, and what amounts are right for me.

This is what it looks like: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10386508/my-meals-w-pics#latest

I do my main shopping on Mondays and Fridays, write shopping lists based on what I'll need for all my meals until next shopping trip (ingredients plus other items minus already in stock). I stick to my list and don't buy items unless it's for (planned) meals (no "snacks") - but I will opt for alternatives if something isn't available, or I find something better than what I was looking for, and can easily be substituted; and buy extra if it's a bargain, AND I can store it properly, AND it won't spoil until I can use it up, AND it's not going to encourage overconsumption, AND, conversely, I'm certain I won't get bored of it before it's eaten.

Lots of people prepare plenty dinner and eat leftovers from the day before for lunch. I don't do that, but it's an option.

cross2bear

I have a couple of favourite cookbooks that I use - I will cruise through them one evening and decide what I want to eat for the week, then go and shop for those recipes. Even though there is only two of us, I make the full recipe for the leftovers, from which I can get lunch and maybe an extra meal if I fluff up say, left over chicken with some rice and veg. I usually put the weekly menu on the fridge so hubby knows what to expect - it is rare that he has vetoed a meal idea. The new sales flyers come out on Thursday night in my area, so I keep an eye on whats on sale too, and can stock up or fit the weekly menu around that. Once you get the hang of it, its a breeze and doesnt take too much time at all.

Queenmunchy

We meal plan the entire next week's dinners together as a family and post it on the fridge. Then I plan what I'm going to cook for the freezer and what I'll eat for breakfast. Next, I grocery shop based on the ingredients I don't have for those dishes.

I cook entire dishes on weekends: all different varieties of soup, chili, curry, stuffed peppers, stew, casseroles, meatballs, nuggets, burritos, meatloaves, etc and freeze them in individual portions or flash freeze them. On each container, I label the date and calorie count. I've done it for 8 years, so in the morning I can grab and go for lunch and my family always has a healthy option to warm up in minutes. I have tons of variety doing this.

I also like to prep my breakfast on weekends. On a Sunday night I may make some kind of frittata to eat a wedge everyday over the week, I may make hard boiled eggs, or I may roast some vegetables or make a shakshouka (don't poach the egg yet), so that I can just warm that up and cook my egg each morning.

abatonfan

kandell wrote: »

So I've decided to earn a new adult badge and start weekly meal plans. I mostly just need to plan dinners, but weekend lunches are also a possibility. I figure this will not only help me with grocery shopping (so I don't come home with just a bunch of random things), but also with my calories. Dinner is always my downfall when it comes to staying on track. I can be perfect during the day but the moment I get home I'll just eat however much of whatever I feel like. I figure planning dinners in advance will help hold me accountable. Plus it'll solve the age-old problem of my bf getting frustrated when I can't decide what I want for dinner.

So my question to you all is what tips do you have to get started on meal planning? Keep it simple, especially if you are only cooking for yourself. What I like to do is keep some staple foods on hand (broccoli/cauliflower rice, whole and sliced peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, chicken breasts, greek yogurt/cottage cheese, kale/collard greens) and use those to reinvent any leftovers that I might have from previous days. Hot sausage on Monday night can be repurposed into personal sausage pizzas on Tuesday, combined with zoodles on Wednesday to make a "healthy" Italian dish, and mixed with cauliflower rice and stuffed into a pepper on Thursday. The simpler I keep the initial recipe, the easier it is to repurpose it into new meals, which helps to cut down on the amount of food I waste.
What are things to keep in mind? Don't be afraid of eating the same things over and over again if that is what is easiest for you. I've been eating the same two breakfasts for the past year, and I often prep my lunches so that I'm eating the same thing each week in order to cut down on food wasted (especially when I am only cooking for myself). There's also the option of freezing food you make if you want to have more variety.
Even if you don't fully commit to meal planning and prepping, taking 10 minutes out of your evening to think about what you want to make the next day (and logging it into MFP) helps a ton in preventing those annoying "what am I going to eat?" headaches or finding out that you only have 100 calories left for dinner.
what kind of recipes do you like? I like simple recipes, like ways to cook meats differently or sauces that I can put over meats/vegetables. I try to find recipes that incorporate the staple ingredients that I keep around (like chicken salad that I can make with some chicken, greek yogurt, raw vegetables, and apples) or are basic enough that I can use in different leftover recipes or won't taste awful if I eat it as leftovers 5 days later.
and how do make sure your meals are nutritionally balanced? I am really simple. Most of my lunches/dinners are some form of protein (chili, chicken, deli meat, tofu, cottage cheese, tuna cans, half a sausage) combined with 1-2 vegetables (broccoli/cauliflower rice, green beans, asparagus, carrots, things that can withstand being in a container for 4-5 days and nuked in the microwave if they're being prepped and taken for lunches), with maybe some dairy/bread/olives if I have the calories.

My replies are in bold.

Brithicks

I meal plan dinners for a whole month. I have lists of what I have in the pantry and freezer so I can easily make a weekly grocery list for what I need each week. I make it easier on myself by having one mexican meal a week, one leftover or grab and growl day, one grill, one one pan meal, one crockpot, one meal out, and one new recipe or something else that we like. I plan a few lunches a week and leftovers is always an option. I do the same for breakfasts. I meal prep by making a pan or two of roasted veggies for the week along with a meat option or two and hardboil some eggs or make a frittata or breakfast casserole. Then my lunches and breakfasts are pretty much done for the week!

savithny

I've been planning meals to save money and time for years. It gets easier with practice.
Sit down with a piece of paper and your schedule. Write down the days of the next week and any obligations or meetings you or your family have.
Think about what you like to eat, what you want to eat, and how much time you're willing to spend on it.
Generally, I balance meals by ingredient, time, and cost across the week. If I want something that's time consuming, I balance it with quick meals or planned leftovers on other days. Expensive dinners get balanced out with cheap ones. I aim for 4 meat meals and 3 veg, usually
Do NOT go overboard and sit down and Plan Recipes for Every Day. That winds up costing you more and taking oforever. My plans generally have one or two "here's a recipe I want to make" dinners and the balance are just . "make some food" dinners. And also leftovers.
Planning for leftovers is your friend. Repurpose rather than eating the same thing. Example: we grilled a pork tenderloin yesterday. I threw two chicken breasts on the grill with it and we had them sliced in fajitas today.

MelaniaTrump

Red beans and rice mondays
Chicken wednesdays
Fish fridays.
That could be a good start.