Meal Planning provides an opportunity to be creative in the foods that you eat. It will save you time, energy, and keep you from reaching for not-so-healthy options. It is never too late to meal prep! It can help elevate stress by knowing you have dinner’s plans, but it also can provide satisfaction in knowing you are eating healthy foods. If you’re new to the idea of meal planning, talk with friends, and share recipes, go to the farmer’s market with a friend and split the cost of volume veggies and fruits.
Engage with family members in planning a meal and writing the shopping list! Getting kids involved in the cooking process will make them interested in the food they eat. The idea of “Social Meal Planning” can help expand your recipes, provide support for eating healthy, and can save money. It initially may take time, but it eventually turns into a routine. Habits that took years to build take time to change
Quick tips for Meal Planning
- Have a note pad or phone app to jot down ideas.
- Keeping in mind the recipes should be easy to make. Start with listing some of your favorite dishes and add a new method that a friend may have shared, or you saw on a social media site. Every time you try a new recipe that is enjoyable, you will then begin to increase your list of favorite dishes and have more of a variety to choose from.
- If you really enjoy a certain dish, plan to make enough for leftovers. You can also freeze leftovers! This way, you have meals prepared for the following week.
- Cutting veggies can be time-consuming, but you can cut extra vegetables to keep for your other recipes. You may also consider it. A Cuisinart or Dicer to speed up the process.
As we continue to improve our health and nutrition, the benefits of planning our meals will assist in reaching our goals.
Individual and Family Benefits to Meal Planning include
– Portion control
– Saves money
– Saves time
– Develop and create a healthier relationship with food
– Improved performance both mentally and physically
– You will inspire others and can develop a robust social network of meal planners
Environmental Benefits to Meal Planning include our ability not to waste food. By meal planning, we are using only the ingredients needed to make those savory dishes. As we know, each time food is wasted all the resources such as land, water, and energy that went into producing, processing, packaging, and transporting that food is wasted too. Meal planning not only provides individual health benefits; we are also contributing to a healthier planet.
There are so many more tips for planning, storing and preparing your food plus endless recipes that are available. These two resources relate not just to food planning, but also how not to waste food:
Book: Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook, A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money By Dana Gunders
Internet Site: Save The Food Planning is a web site that provides tips and tools to help start planning meals and saving food.
For additional information on health and nutrition planning, contact us.
