Need tips for meal planning and shopping

Knightvision
Knightvision Posts: 5
edited September 25 in Introduce Yourself
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Any suggestions for how to plan meals and create a grocery list - quickly? For the longest time my breakfast has usually been cereal and fruit, lunch was always at the cafeteria and dinner has been fast food. I no longer know how to plan a meal, create a grocery list, and go to the grocery store. My husband buys the few items we have needed but he also loads up on chips and cookies - the horror of it all! If I want to eat healthier then I will have to take on the chore of meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking. None of which I have done in years! Help...What are some good sources to help be "relearn" these skills? I have very limited time so shopping and meal prep has to be fast or it won't happen.

Replies

  • jenomaha
    jenomaha Posts: 631 Member
    I posted this elsewhere...cook once eat like 3-5 times :)

    I like to grill up a whole bag of boneless skinless chicken tenders on Sunday night. I make a pot of whole grain brown rice. I keep frozen bags of veggies (Green Giant Steamers), Flat-Out wraps, bags of spinach/greens, hummus, orrowheat thins and shredded cheese. This can make:

    1. Chix, rice and veggies, 2. Chix wraps ( I love to use a tbsp of hummus,greens and roasted red peppers) 3. Chicken salad...top with some almonds and feta cheese...so yummy!!! 4. I've also made chicken nachos, add some black beans, cheese and a few whole grain tortilla chips, mmmm! 5. chicken sandiwches.

    Hope this helps!
  • Knightvision
    Knightvision Posts: 5
    Thanks - those are great ideas and sound very easy too.
  • bellawomenswellness
    bellawomenswellness Posts: 99 Member
    www.Allrecipes.com and www.Eatingwell.com both have great menu planning tools complete with grocery shopping lists.
  • TheMrsFitnessGeek
    TheMrsFitnessGeek Posts: 89 Member
    I changed my eating first. I picked up a copy of Clean Eating magazine. I suggest, to get you started, to go on to cleaneatingmag.com and go to meal plan. They even give you a shopping list. I have been doing it for 4 months and improvise more often now, but I NEVER leave the house without my lunch box :)
  • Knightvision
    Knightvision Posts: 5
    Thank you - I forgot about allrecipies having the grocery list function. I'll try the other site tomorrow. Great suggestion.
  • Jade_Butterfly
    Jade_Butterfly Posts: 2,963 Member
    I posted this elsewhere...cook once eat like 3-5 times :)

    I like to grill up a whole bag of boneless skinless chicken tenders on Sunday night. I make a pot of whole grain brown rice. I keep frozen bags of veggies (Green Giant Steamers), Flat-Out wraps, bags of spinach/greens, hummus, orrowheat thins and shredded cheese. This can make:

    1. Chix, rice and veggies, 2. Chix wraps ( I love to use a tbsp of hummus,greens and roasted red peppers) 3. Chicken salad...top with some almonds and feta cheese...so yummy!!! 4. I've also made chicken nachos, add some black beans, cheese and a few whole grain tortilla chips, mmmm! 5. chicken sandiwches.

    Sounds delish thank you for sharing.

    Hope this helps!
  • Knightvision
    Knightvision Posts: 5
    Another good one - I'll be sure to check it our. My dietician has this magazine in her office every time I visit her.
  • mel_0920
    mel_0920 Posts: 11
    The cookbook I use has grocery lists for the week. It's called "Healthy Calendar Diabetic Cooking" by Lara Rondinelli, Jennifer Bucko. I'm not a diabetic but I love the book and I pick and choose the meals for the week and follow the grocery list. Makes it easier to buy and not waste produce!
  • TracieJ65
    TracieJ65 Posts: 645 Member
    I go grocery shopping ONCE every two weeks! The week before, I begin going through recipes and deciding what it is I want to cook over the next two weeks! As I pick a recipe I do two things, write the recipe on a note with the information of where it is and two, put all the ingredients needed on my grocery list. Once I have decided on all of my meals and written them all on my note I put the note on my refrigerator. That IS what I will cook, for dinners, over the next two weeks. Then daily, or the night before, I will decide what it is I want to cook for dinner. I am a firm believer in cook once, eat twice, so we usually have a leftover night like twice a week. Then the next time it is time to go grocery shopping I will have a couple of dinner ideas leftover.

    Similar to this concept I will think of the different things that I want to eat for breakfast, and lunch, over the next couple of weeks and add that to the grocery shopping list. My family either eats what I cook for dinner, doesn't eat, or fends for themselves. But for lunches and dinners I keep a stocked pantry of the types of things they like to eat for breakfast as they don't do the things I do like oatmeal, smoothies, fruit, whole wheat breads for sandwiches, flat outs for wraps or mini pizzas, tilapia, brown rice, salads, and so on.

    I do a daily cooking blog, except for the days that we have leftovers, with a lot of recipes, nutrition information, and tips. Feel free to check it out and it may help some. You can find it at www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TracieJ65
  • Knightvision
    Knightvision Posts: 5
    Thanks Tracy - I will check out your blog. Knightvision
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