Tips On Meal Planning

Recently a reader asked me about sharing a few tips for meal planning. Meal planning is a hot topic and one that clients ask me about the most.

This particular reader is looking for meal prepping tips along with suggestions for quick and easy meals.

Let’s start with foods that can be prepped ahead of time:

  • Rice
  • Pasta
  • Beans
  • Veggies like lettuce, carrots, broccoli, celery, greens
  • Precooking some chicken to be added to meals

All of those things can be cooked ahead of time and be ready to go when you are ready to assemble a meal.  Plus they are all easily portable!

Brown rice is great for breakfast mixed with some yogurt, granola, and some fruit.  Or a splash of nondairy milk, granola, and fruit.  It can also be added to a salad or mixed up with some beans and sauteed veggies.

Also having some canned salmon or tuna on hand makes for quick protein addition to meals.

Hard boiled eggs can be prepped ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to a week.

When looking for meals on the go or putting together something quick, these ingredients can come in really handy.

The day that is your least busiest day of the week should be your prep day.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be the same day as your grocery store day.  It needs to be a day where you can spend some time in the kitchen getting ready for your upcoming week.

Look at the week ahead and determine which days you’ll have time to cook and which days you’ll want to make sure you have leftovers.  Don’t knock leftovers, they can come in really handy! Leftovers means that you’ll have meals ready to go in your fridge to be heated up thus reducing the need to order out or heat up a microwave meal.

Making large batches of items, like soups and stews will ensure that you have leftovers that you can either use later that week or to store in your freezer.

By having foods prepped in the fridge you will have ingredients on hand ready to be used when you’re ready to cook or create a meal.

A few other tips for meal prepping:

Pack your lunch the night before.  As you’re cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, take a few minutes to pack your lunch.  This way when you’re leaving for work or school, you can grab it and go.

If you’re short on time in the mornings, take this opportunity to also prep your breakfast.  Have the ingredients handy and all measured out so you can assemble it and get on with your day.

By planning and utilizing your time well, you can have meals on the table quickly and efficiently.

My Keep It Simple series is all about quick and easy meals.  I also have few other recipes that are easy to put together like:

Kale Hash

Late Night Pasta Toss

Haluski

Just to give a few examples.

Make life simple by prepping ahead and you’ll be eating well!

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