How To Effectively Meal Plan
With groceries rising 5 to 6 percent each year, many of us have been forced to streamline our grocery budgets. It’s no longer as affordable to just pick up a bunch of ingredients and figure the rest out later. One of the best ways to save money, reduce stress, and decrease food waste is to meal plan.
Meal planning takes the guesswork out of what to eat for dinner. Also, a pre-planned schedule of balanced meals can help fight the urge to pick up unhealthy takeout. Check out these tips to get started meal planning today!
Start With 3-4 Days
A whole 7-day meal plan of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners can be pretty overwhelming, so it’s important to start small. Try to plan out three to four lunches and dinners. It’s ok to have the same lunch multiple days in a row or even plan out leftovers for lunch.
Hunt For Recipes Together
Pinterest is a great resource for finding dinner ideas. Type in “dinner ideas” or “meal planning” and endless lists of meals for any budget and dietary concern are at your fingertips. Sit together with your family and talk about which dishes they would be interested in trying. If you’re brave, download the Allrecipes Dinner Spinner app and let fate decide.
Make A Double Batch
One of the best ways to save time and money is to make a double batch of whatever you’re cooking and freeze it for later. In a week or two, when you might be busy at work or attending an extra-curricular activity after school, you can pop it right into the oven.
Involve The Kids
Kids as little as one and a half can help prepare meals. Start them with something small like rinsing produce in the sink, pouring out liquid and dry ingredients, or stirring. Big kids can help with more complicated tasks like pre-heating the oven, kneading dough, or chopping vegetables.
Food Storage Containers
If you plan to cook all of your meals at the same time and store them, make sure that you have containers that are the appropriate size and have matching lids. Glass containers are better for the environment and less likely to leach chemicals into your food.
Make A List
The best way to stay on track at the grocery store is to make a list and stick to it. Even better if you online shop, as you won’t be tempted by precariously placed tasty treats. Apps like Mealime have grocery lists built-in to their recipes, further streamlining the meal planning process.
Hopefully some of these tips will be helpful in your journey to find the right balance of meal planning for your family. Try to stay consistent, but if you fall off the wagon as we all do, just remember that next week is brand new opportunity to try again.