Food planning

This is my most useful kitchen gadget.

I love it! It isn’t my magimix food processor (which I love) or my airfryer or even the fancy garlic press my sister gave me for Christmas claiming it was the best one ever.

It is a simple diary. 

It is a page to a week January to December diary from Flying Tiger which costs £4 and I use for meal planning. 

I sit down once a week and plan our family evening meals. 

I write down:

• the meat and veg left in the fridge from the previous shop,

• what is in this week’s veg box delivery,

• who is in which evenings and who needs dinner which nights,

• what I want to cook,

• which nights I have time to cook.  If I’m out all day it might be a meal I batch cooked earlier and froze.

I will add some lunch ideas and some breakfasts.  I will then do an online grocery shop with the food I need from the plan, along with our basics like fruit, extra vegetables, salad, milk etc.  This whole process takes around twenty minutes and definitely saves me time down the line and aimless trips around the supermarket, and saves money too.

This way we always have enough in the fridge for a quick lunch of salad or something.  We will have enough in the fridge for breakfast, often scrambled eggs, a smoothie or granola with fruit and yogurt.  I love cooking and love a recipe book.  This method means I know what we are having when, we don’t need to order out or rush to the shops and we can eat home cooked food every evening.  It also helps us avoid food waste.  I only ever plan 5 days ahead as plans always change and so there is scope to move a meal around by a day or two, or freeze extra meat.  I often will make extra and either freeze it or have it for lunch the next day. 

I have bought this diary for 4 years now. I was gutted the year I couldn’t buy this diary. It was either discontinued it or just ran out of stock. Any diary or notebook would do, or use your phone diary, notes app, wipe clean white board or an excel spreadsheet.  I would highly recommend finding a method (and in my case a piece of stationery) that you love using as it makes meal planning easy and fun.  If you like doing it, you will do it.

Meal planning is key to success in making good choices around food. 

If you would like me to help you start meal planning and eating healthier meals please get in contact at www.n8healthcoach.com