5 Genius tips for healthy meal planning including time-saving tips, money saving tips, and health tips! Meal planning the healthy way.
Meal planning can mean different things to different people. For some, it's an organized system of knowing ahead of time exactly what to prepare and eat each day of the week. For others, it's prepping some ingredients ahead of time to make life easier. For me, meal planning is simply finding any organizational system that WORKS and helps to get healthy meals on the table more efficiently.
If healthy eating is on your list of New Year aspirations then meal planning, to some degree, is essential.
5 Genius Healthy Meal Planning Tips:
1. Create a list of tried and true – It is estimated that most families repeat the same 7-10 recipes over and over again. Although that may sound boring to some, it is actually a lifeline to truly know 7-10 HEALTHY recipes that work well for you and your family. I emphasize healthy because this is where the shift needs to happen. I’ve seen “the- unhealthy- recipe- repeat” create major problems for some of my clients. So, your family loves macaroni and cheese? Great, but that’s a once in awhile food.
You want to find 7-10 healthy recipes for your repertoire, recipes that are tried and true. Take out a sheet of paper right now, either digital or physical and write down 5-10 recipes that you prepare time and time again. This is your jumping off point, your roadmap to meal planning stardom. You can use this information as a template to understand what flavors and combinations you and your family love. Even if they are not the healthiest recipes write them down, this is excellent information to build from.
2. Stock the Staples – Open a notebook or digital notebook and write down 5-10 staple items you always have on your grocery list. Mine looks like this: Eggs, sweet potato, fruit (type varies depending on the season), green vegetables (usually one leafy green and one other), almond milk, and avocado. I know that when I’ m super busy or not able to properly create a meal plan for the week I can at least get by with my staple grocery list and then cook from my pantry or freezer for the rest of the week (see tip #3).
3. Take Inventory – Take a few minutes to take a quick inventory of what’s in your fridge, pantry, and freezer right now. A major roadblock to meal planning is not using what you already have or repurchasing the same items over and over again. I recommend keeping an inventory list in a highly visible space either on your fridge or on a dry erase board in your kitchen. Typically I take a detailed inventory in January and then again in the spring. If this feels like too huge of a task, just take a quick look and jot down some notes i.e., ok I have beans, 3 kinds of grains, veggie and chicken stock and pasta. I actually have lots and lots of pasta.
As I was making my pantry inventory this week I counted 30 lbs. of pasta. That is not an exaggeration. Jordan has a pasta problem, he has officially been banned from purchasing any additional pasta until he gets through the 30lbs.
4. Deal with your produce as soon as you get it home. Grocery shopping does not end when you bring the bags into your kitchen, I wish it did, trust me. Real meal prep begins as soon as you get your food home from the market. Ask for help, if possible, something along the lines of; “Hey babe, can you watch the kids for 30 minutes?” Or “Hey babe, will you take the dog out and leave me alone for 30 minutes ;-)”.
Take that time to organize your grocery haul. Wash and dry lettuce (I wash my lettuce and leave it right in the salad spinner in my fridge), chop some raw veggies, roast a few root vegetables, shred zucchini for quick salads or meatballs. Stack up glass containers of your prepped ingredients in the refrigerator, snap a picture and post on Instagram. Obvi 😉
5. Do Not Over Purchase Food – If you buy too much food overwhelm will set in. If you open your fridge and see piles and piles of food that all has to be cooked or prepared, overwhelm will win. Err on the side of not enough food initially. I know that sounds counter-productive, but I think it takes time to truly figure out how much food you and your family consume.
Over 40% of the food produced/grown in America is thrown away. That is a devastating statistic. Meal planning is an opportunity to become more economical and conscious of your food habits leading to less waste, better economic health, and best of all more healthy nourishing food to eat!
Do you meal prep on the regular? Any tips I forgot? I'd love to hear your take!
[clickToTweet tweet=”What if meal planning was as easy as 1-2-3-4-5? Would you do it? ” quote=”What if meal planning was as easy as 1-2-3-4-5? Would you do it? “]
Dennis Sanchez says
I found it interesting that you mentioned that one of the steps to good meal planning is to not over purchase food so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. My wife and I want to meal plan but we just haven’t found time to do it. We’ve been thinking about finding a professional service that will do the meal planning for us.
Nyxie says
These tips are excellent. I really want to start implementing asap to give my recovery that little bit more of a boost! I have always loved the idea of meal prepping but have never had the patience to do it, that is’t very clearly something I need to change if I want to kick start good, healthy habits.
Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
– Nyxie
https://www.nyxiesnook.com/post-5-quotes-that-inspire-you/
AbraPappa says
One little step at a time. Even if that means roasting just a big tray of veggies and making one delicious sauce each week, that way you always have something yummy to eat 🙂
Maria says
These tips were great! I agree with you. I want to start a healthy life but preparing a healthy meal is not so easy for me.
AbraPappa says
Getting into the habit of cooking healthy is oftentimes the biggest roadblock. Remember that every little step in the right direction can be quite impactful! Glad to hear the tips were helpful 🙂
Talia Koren says
As a meal prep expert, I take planning to a whole different level. There are spreadsheets involved, and every ingredient I buy has already been assigned to a specific meal. I usually cook meals for 3-4 days the second I get home and don’t have to deal with food for the rest of that time! I plan once a week and prep twice a week.
I may have missed this tip if you wrote it, but it’s worth looking at your schedule before planning meals. Some weeks are super busy with social events that have food involved, so you don’t need a home cooked dinner or lunch for some days!
AbraPappa says
You do take it to a whole different level! I love it, I love seeing how others handle meal prep. I totally agree and that’s an excellent point; looking at your schedule before planning for the week is fundamental!