Meal Planning 101

These easy steps are sure to put you on track, whether that be for a smaller budget, healthier choices or just plain organisation.

1. Sit down with everyone involved in the meal planning process; roommates, other half, even your kids if you want, and start writing down meal ideas.

I use this kind of template to plan out the week; it lets you visualise your week ahead. Then you can start writing down your meals, and plan for any dinner dates or take-out. This can be handy for limiting your monthly take-out expenditures, as well as give yourself time to try out that new recipe!

Here’s an example:

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Breakfast	Brunch w\ Mom + Dad	Fruit Greek yogurt	Fruit Greek Yogurt	Fruit Greek yogurt	Fruit Greek yogurt	Fruit Greek yogurt	Cereal
Lunch		Left-over Quinoa Tabbouleh	Left-over chicken and salad	Left-over spaghetti	Left-over soup	Left-over stir-fry	Soft steak Tacos Quinoa Tabbouleh
Dinner	Team dinner @Boston Pizza	BBQ Chicken Spinach salad	Spaghetti Garlic Bread	Spaghetti Squash Soup (Pinterest)	Veggie Stir-Fry	Pizza Night	Dinner w/ John +Jim @Green Door
Dessert						Choco-Lava Cookies!

2. Grocery shopping

Once your grid is complete, you can start planning your shopping list. It goes without saying that walking into the grocery store without a list can be dangerous for your wallet.

The list, based off of your weekly meal plan, allows you to avoid wasting food as well as making unnecessary purchases (like that bag of chips you've been eyeing all week, or those rotten mangoes you didn't have the chance to eat…Oops)

Before leaving to pick up your weekly shop, write down what ingredients you need for the planned meals, most times you can use the same ingredients a few times.

3. Meal Prep

If possible, plan ahead and reserve a day, I like Sunday, and spend a few hours preparing some of the meals ahead of time. This way, when you get home and you’re completely exhausted, all you need to do is throw a dish into the oven or add some dressing and voila!

 Anything that needs to be chopped or cleaned, diced and marinated can be done this day and set aside either in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to eat.

*Careful for expiry dates and safe temperatures.