Easy tips to help you plan and prepare meals for a whole week... save time & money... reduce stress & food waste!
We're all busy with work, family, household projects, social activities. Who has time to plan and prepare meals every single day, three times a day?
Let's create some shortcuts! Then we can get back to what really matters-- spending time with family and enjoying life.
Create a Meal Plan
First time I heard "create a meal plan," my immediate thought was, "Oh hell, no!" I thought it meant I need to spend my entire weekend planning and preparing every single meal I will eat every day of the week. Then I figured out how to make meal planning easy, and how it can work for me. I am here to tell you, meal planning can be easy if you do it right. Meal planning done right is a happy medium between one extreme-- deciding every meal for every day down to the last side dish and the other extreme-- leaving it all to chance.
When you create a Meal Plan right, you reduce stress, save time, save money and reduce food waste. You don't have to stress out trying to come up with another healthy, wholesome, delicious meal to feed yourself and your family three times a day, all week long. What a time savor it is to be prepared with meals ahead of time. You don't waste money buying more than you need in the grocery store. And you don't waste food because you bought more than you can consume.
To create a weekly meal plan, think of how you like to eat. What are the basics you have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks? What proteins, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables do you eat? Then decide how you can COOK ONCE, and EAT FOR A WEEK. Think about it like this...
Sunday, you make chicken. But make enough so you have leftovers. Then on Tuesday you can eat a chicken sandwich for lunch. Thursday night you can have a chicken salad. On Sunday you want rice with that chicken? Well, make more rice than you need. Then you can add rice to your chicken salad on Thursday night and Friday you can make rice and beans. More examples are in the section below about prepping meals for the week.
As you decide what proteins, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, beverages and snacks you want, start to create a grocery shopping list.
Shop Your Kitchen First
Always shop your refrigerator and pantry before heading to the grocery store. You may have food hidden in the back of the produce drawers. Let's save those green beans from spoiling. Now you're reducing wasted money and food waste!
Also, you're likely to find enough ingredients to create a delicious and healthy meal in what's still left over in your kitchen. Or at least, you may have extra ingredients you can add to your weekly meal plan.
While you're in the fridge and pantry, do a little tidying up. Line up all the cans of beans and the pasta sauce jars. Put all the cereals in one area and the snacks in another. Declutter. Organize. Practice decluttering and tidying wherever you are in the home, whatever you're doing so that it becomes habit.
Never Go to the Grocery Store Without a List
Many of us shop the grocery store and buy whatever we always buy, or whatever looks good. We head down the same aisles. We grab the same stuff. It's like we're on automatic pilot. Let's not do that anymore! Let's come up with a plan.
Use your basic meal plan and list what proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, snacks, drinks you want to buy for the week. Organize the list by type of food. Imagine how the grocery store is laid out so that you can shop your list as you're walking through the store. This is how my go-to grocery store is laid out and so it is how I organize my list-- enter the door and to the right are the bakery items, then fruits and vegetables, next are the canned goods, cheese and meats, refrigerated beverages, frozen goods... you get the idea. It's all about creating a grocery list that will save you time shopping, save money because you're not wasting it on items that catch your eye and you're not buying more than you need and creating food waste.
Oh, and don't shop hungry! We all know how that goes lol! When you shop, remember to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bags) and BYOC (Bring Your Own Containers) when you're shopping bulk sections or at a refill store. Even at the deli, you can ask for meat, cheese and prepared salads to be placed in your own containers.
Prep Meals Ahead
Now that you have all your ingredients, you can prep meals for the week. Again, don't worry, you do not have to spend your whole weekend cooking 3 meals a day times 7 days of the week! I am here to tell you that you can easily make meal prep really efficient, and create multiple meals at once.
Here are easy tips for meal prep:
On the weekend when you have more time, make that favorite dish you'll been craving. AND MAKE EXTRA. Use eco-friendly containers (repurposed glass jars, reusable silicone containers) to store leftovers... and store leftover ingredients such as extra pasta, rice and other grains, extra chicken and lean proteins, extra snacks.
Double or triple recipes. Freeze the leftovers.
Don't make one serving of pasta or chicken, etc make several at once. Store in containers in the fridge and freezer. It takes only a few extra minutes to make and store extras.
Salads can take awhile to make. So save time by making several salads at once. Chop your lettuce, divide in into several portions. Add carrots, celery, olives and all your favorite salad ingredients. Mason jars work great for prepping and storing salads for the week.
If you're into homemade salad dressings and sauces like peanut sauce, tomato sauce, curry sauce... then make more than you need. Store the extra in the fridge. Freeze if you don't use it in a few days.
Before bed, prepare overnight oats for a few days.
Use brown paper bags, which cost next to nothing, to create single serving snacks to take to work and school, or grab and enjoy by the pool or during a family walk in the park.
Freeze Leftovers & Extra Ingredients
Anytime you make a meal, or prepare any ingredients, remember your freezer! The freezer is the most underused and underappreciated kitchen appliance. Fill your freezer with healthy, wholesome leftovers instead of processed frozen meals! You will reduce food waste. You will reduce stress because you have meals ready to go when you're busy. Make the most of your faithful frosty freezer friend!
Declutter the Kitchen
Declutter the fridge and pantry. Organize your fridge based on how you will consume food. For example, my breakfast is usually fresh fruit and muffins or scones or toast. So I keep the fresh fruit and baked goods on the top shelf so I can easily grab it every morning. I also can easily see when I'm running low on anything. And nothing is hidden and hard to find, or can hide in the back and spoil. Also organize food by how the fridge is designed, like condiments on the small door shelves.
Get rid of extra dishes, appliances, linens, utensils that you do not use. Clear off countertops. A clutter-free, neat and tidy kitchen is so much easier to use, and makes food prep quicker and more enjoyable.
Don't Forget the Pets!
Don't forget Fluffy when you're prepping food for the week. Make extra chicken for topping off the dog's kibble. Create individual portions for refrigerated food. Have snacks ready to go too, in a "cookie" jar in the pantry or on the kitchen counter.
Extra Tips to Save Time & Make Great Meals
Prep the coffee maker at night before bed.
Run the dishwasher at night before bed so you can start the day with clean dishes.
Try roasting leftover vegetables at the end of the week. Grab whatever is hiding in the produce drawers and the back of the fridge and toss it into a parchment paper-lined plan with a little olive oil and your favorite spices. Cover the vegetables with aluminum foil and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes. You can eat the roasted vegetables as is, or toss in a blender and make a delicious soup or sauce. Store what's left over in a reusable container in the freezer!
About Kendall: My mission as a home organizer is to help families and communities take SMALL STEPS to organize and declutter at home in an eco-friendly way that starts to build BIG CHANGE in the world. Consider becoming an Official Declutter Buddy by joining my Email List. Click HERE to get in touch or fill out the Subscribe form below.
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