Meal Planning, while there may be a few who enjoy it, most of us find it daunting. I get it!
I have to admit, I used to procrastinate with planning meals to the point that I would end up going to the grocery store when the fridge was empty with no list.
Honestly, without a meal plan and impulse shopping I did actually make some super meals.
But, if I look back at the time I spent thinking about it, again and again and again through out the week. Not having a plan was a time suck and I can only say that because, I lived it!
The trick is to pick out your proteins first, and decide what method of cooking you use as you pull them out of the freezer or buy them.
I do this on Sunday afternoon and grocery shop Monday. So, I open my mind for 10 min to think about the week, our mood, the season and take out 4 packages of meat and fish. I put them on trays in the top shelf of my fridge.
Then, whenever I do my scheduling for the week I commit to what days each type of protein will be cooked.
Then I choose sides and add them to my shopping list on my phone. If I am looking for a new recipe, I’ll read the recipe before Monday's shopping run and add them to my list in my phone.
To Review-my 3 step process
Choose my proteins and cooking method as I get them out of the Freezer and place them in the refrigerator on trays (2 min)
Place proteins on the weekly calendar (2 min)
Choose the sides and review recipes if necessary and add ingredients to shopping list (6 min)
It gives you time to look forward to cooking(instead of feeling like you don’t want to cook, because you don’t actually feel like cooking)
You can binge cook or prep, to save time and messes in the kitchen if you know what you are cooking.
I find that meal planning secures even more time savings because I can cook once and eat twice by planning ahead and skip cooking from scratch 2-3x/week.
Easy leftover re makes are totally awesome.
Thanks for being here and please share your tricks with me too!! I love learning. Cheers, Amy