Easy Meal Planning For Busy Families and Professionals
Does determining what to prepare for dinner feel like a chore? Cooking your own meals empowers you to provide your family with healthful nutrition. That said, time is tight, which may leave you scrambling to decide what to make at the end of a long day. Here are some easy meal planning tips and tricks.
#1 Stock Up
While you may head to the grocery store more than once a month, plan one big grocery shopping day a month. This is when you stock up on fridge, freezer, and pantry essentials. This can include items from health food stores, standard grocery stores, and bulk grocers such as Costco and Sam’s Club.
Stock up on:
Whole grains
Nuts and seeds
Whole grain or vegetable noodles
Low-fat dairy
Lean protein
Lean seafood
Olive oil
Herbs and spices
Healthy prepackaged snacks
Canned goods
Frozen vegetables
Fruits and veggies with a long shelf life
And more!
#2 Identify Whole-Week Recipes
Whole-week recipes are designed to simplify cooking and minimize food waste by utilizing a similar range of ingredients. You can find whole-week recipes online or invest in cookbooks. These options are typically designed to be budget-friendly too.
#3 Sheet Pan Meals
Sheet pan meals require minimal prep, but deliver maximum flavor. You chop veggies and lean protein, toss in olive oil and seasonings, and bake. If not a sheet pan, fast and easy Instant Pot, crockpot, and air fryer meals.
#4 Use AI
Have a bunch of ingredients in your fridge, but aren’t sure what to make? Type (or speak) the ingredients into your search engine of choice for an instant recipe. Do the same for easy meal planning using your preferred AI tool. Include prompts for dietary restrictions and personal flavor preferences. A great option for this is Ollie.ai as it allows you to modify meals based on your preferred dietary choices and dietary restrictions.
#5 Use an App
There are a variety of apps designed to help you meal plan. Some of these apps also track your nutrition. CNN dives into the best meal planning apps of 2024 and their key features.
#6 Cook to Freeze
Invest in freezer-safe containers to cook soups, grains, meat, casseroles, and countless other dishes in bulk. Once cooled, portion them into containers for meals you can defrost in the next 3 to 6 months. Also freeze leftovers you won’t have time to eat in the next 3 or 4 days.
#7 Prep in Advance
Schedule at least one day a week to chop fruits and veggies and prep grains for the next few days. Grains are good for up to 4 days, so you can plan your side dishes in advance.
#8 Utilize Healthy Delivery
You won’t have time to prepare all your meals, so create a list of health food restaurants, delis, and individual menu items you can order last-minute. If they don’t deliver, places you can pop in to bring healthy meals home. This includes doing some (or all) of your grocery shopping digitally.
#9 Work With Me!
One of the most challenging parts of easy meal planning is ensuring your meals are healthful. When you work with me, I’ll tailor your weekly meal plan to your individual lifestyle and health objectives.