How to make healthy meal plans for your week!
It’s Monday evening at 6PM and you have no clue what you’re feeding your family. Stomachs are rumbling and you resort to a drive-thru or maybe even cereal for dinner. Hey, it happens to everyone and it isn’t the end of the world. However, my goal is to help you let this happen less often by making healthy meal plans BEFORE your week starts.
Here are some tips to get started:
Set aside some time to plan meals. Generally I think of Saturday or Sunday being a good day, but it really is just what works for you. Visit my website,your favorite cookbook or magazine, or allrecipes.com.
Pick out at least 3-4 recipes and plan to make enough for two nights so that you can have left overs. That way you’ll have some nights that only require a reheat. You may want to consider making Sunday night one of your cooking nights so that your first working day of the week doesn’t require cooking. You may even consider making one of the meals big enough that you can freeze some of it for a night several weeks away.
Be realistic. Think about what you have going on in the week and pick meals that you have time to make. Don’t be afraid of long ingredient lists because that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will take a long time. Recipes that require a lot of chopping, long cooking times, multiple steps, or a lot of cookware to clean are what take more time. You can cut corners by buying pre-chopped vegetables. Just be aware that they cost more and will go bad more quickly than the fresh ingredients. Another way to save time is by using dried herbs when it calls for fresh. In my opinion it just tastes SO much better with fresh herbs, but sometimes you just don’t have time!
Write down the name of each recipe, where it came from, and the page number. Organization is key! I like to just put this information in my phone. Before we had kids, I would make a list and put it on the refrigerator. Whoever got home first would start working on the recipe for that day. That worked really well for us, but now I cook 99% of the time so having the info on my phone works just fine! So, find a system that works best for your family.
For each recipe that you find, go ahead and check for ingredients that you already have and add ingredients that you need to your running grocery list. That way, whenever you’re ready to hit the store, you are prepared with your ingredient list.
Try to take notice of ingredients that are in more than one recipe for the week. For instance, if chopped red onion is in two recipes, go ahead and chop enough for both recipes when you make the first one. That will save you time for the second.
If you can, try to venture out of your comfort zone for one recipe each week. Whether it is a vegetable you have never tasted or prepared, or a flavor combination that is new to you… try something new!
Here is an example of what our menu looks like this week! Before you look at it, let me just say that Eating Well magazine is not paying me to promote their recipes! It just happens to be a magazine that I get because I bought it during a fundraiser at my children’s school. Also, it just so happens that I LOVE it! Whenever it arrives, I usually spend a week or two making many of the recipes that look the most amazing. So, if these recipes sound good to you, go pick up the January/February 2020 issue.
Meal #1 Edamame Burger Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce: Eating Well Jan/Feb 2020 p 20
Some great reasons to pick this recipe: You can prep it one day ahead! It contains protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables so it is all you need to put on the table. My sister already made this one and said it is fabulous. If your family likes a little something extra, throw some fruit on the table as well.
Meal #2 Kale, Pear & Feta Salad: Eating Well Jan/Feb 2020 p 38 and Grilled Chicken
Why do I love this one? You can prepare the dressing, seeds, and other ingredients ahead of time and put it all together when you’re ready to eat. This looks like an amazing salad with protein, fruit, vegetable, and carbohydrate. We will probably just add a little salt and pepper to our grilled chicken and add it to the salad. You could add some whole wheat rolls if your family needs a little something extra.
Meal #3 Beef Tenderloin with Pomegranate Sauce & Farro Pilaf: Eating Well Jan/Feb 2020 p 86 and Roasted Broccoli
So this just sounds amazing and it contains the protein and carbohydrate. I will chop up broccoli, sprinkle it with a little garlic powder, salt and throw it in the oven along side the tenderloin. The oven is already heated up, so this sounded like a great, easy vegetable to have with it.
Meal #4 Slow-Cooker Potato Soup: Eating Well Jan/Feb 2020 p 12
This can go in your slow cooker for 8 hours on low, so if you prep it all the night before, you can just start it in before you go to work. Most likely you are gone for more than 8 hours, so you can either have your slow cooker go to the “warm” setting or leave it on low until you get home. I don’t think a little extra time will hurt it. The magazine also gives directions for a quicker stove-top version and several different variations for toppings. I will probably use this to clean out my refrigerator. Maybe a little left-over broccoli on top, a little pesto from the refrigerator…who knows?! This is definitely a recipe that could be doubled so that half could be frozen for a later date.
I will try to add some pictures as we eat these delicious meals this week. Hopefully you found a few good ideas somewhere in this post that will help you with your meal planning!