39. meal planning
how to not lose your mind while cooking for two and a full time job
Last night, after an intense few hours meal planning for next week, I had a dream about a rotisserie chicken that refused to cook, upending my Sunday plans. So that’s this week’s topic of inspiration! I am by no means an expert, I meal prepped plenty of times back in college and, more recently, ahead of large projects work projects that require me to be onsite for several weeks. I’ve outlined below several ideas to meal planning.
There’s so much fanfare about how meal planning can change your life that it’s easy to blow its effects out of proportion. And while it does solve so many problems, you’ve got to tailor it to fit your needs (which means you’ve got to be clear on what those are) and give yourself lots of leeway to experiment and find a system that works for you.
1. Embrace the planning stage
The key to successful meal planning lies in crafting a well-structured schedule that doesn't leave you exhausted after hours of cooking. The Kitchen recommends adopting a weekend model, allowing more flexibility on busier weeknights while still enjoying delicious meals. Choose your meals for the upcoming week, finalize the plan by Friday, shop on Saturday, and dedicate Sunday for meal preparation.
Start by browsing online for recipes or dust off your trusted cookbooks. Meal planning apps can also provide a variety of meal plans with overlapping ingredients. Create a master list of ingredients or design a meal plan template. If you opt for a shopping list, organize it into sections at the supermarket, such as meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables, and canned goods.
4 Rules for Picking the Right Recipe
Choose meals that can double as leftovers: They’re the gift that keeps on giving.
One new recipe each week + family favourites: This is a pro move! Assemble that master list of recipes you know by heart — the ones you make week after week and know your family loves. Trying a new recipe each week is a great way to arm yourself with options, but be aware that new recipes can take longer to make because of its unfamiliarity.
Pick recipes based on common ingredients: Avoid selecting recipes that use obscure ingredients that you may never use again — saffron, fennel seeds, za’tar, cardamom. The purpose of meal planning is to provide you and your family with healthy, filling meals.
1:1:2 plan: To help B and I meal plan for a week I try to remember to include: one protein (chicken, beef, turkey mince), one carb (rice, pasta, bread, wraps, noodles, couscous), and two or three vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, carrots, canned beans). I use this method as a way to build the foundation of a meal and then switch the seasoning up for each.
2. Share the love (& ingredients)
A fundamental rule of meal planning is evaluating the contents of your pantry and fridge. Avoid the common pitfall of purchasing duplicate spices or canned goods. Personally, B and I’s spice cabinet resembles a culinary tornado because we keep forgetting to check what we have, yet our fridge often remains empty. Smart shopping for a healthy meal plan involves buying only what is necessary, reducing food waste.
3. Mise en place
If you’re only cooking for three days and want to eat fresh meals for other days in the week, you can still save yourself a lot of time during the week simply by pre-cutting freshly washed fruits and vegetables. This means cutting up your garlic, your onion, peppers and marinating your meat. This could very easily reduce your cooking time in half. You can easily store them in ziploc bags or silicone bags like these.
Meal preparation saves you from stacks of dirty dishes throughout the week, but careful planning can also save you dishes on prep day.
4. Experiment with a slow cooker and one pot/sheet pan meals
Having one slow-cooker meal can be super helpful because you can freeze any leftovers you may have and use them throughout the week. B makes a delicious bolognese that I’ve asked him to prepare on Sunday. We can eat this for two meals (lunches and dinners) and alternate it with other recipes throughout the week.
5. Practice & Patience
At the end of the day, meal planning isn’t rocket science but it does require a level of organisation, patience and practice. Remember that meal planning for one person or two can be very different to doing it for four people or with children.
For B and I, we don’t like to cook meat too far in advance, so having it marinated and then ready to cook in the evening and the vegetables pre-cut, is ideal for us. I like to have variety for meals throughout the week so I do a mix of hot and cold dishes. B will eat simple oatmeal at work for breakfast and I usually just have a coffee, so breakfast is then eliminated from the meal prep plan.
If you have a go-to meal that you eat each week - Let me know below!
A fabulous road map for seamless catering in our busy lives, Natalie - thank you soooooo much! 🙌