Sitting down and planning meals takes very little time, and in turn saves you time, money, and sanity.
Meal prepping is nothing new to me, but I struggle with consistancy. We listen to the lies we tell ourselves like "I don't know what I'll want to eat that far in the future", "I don't have time" etc but it is important to recognize them as excuses.
Meal Prepping actually saves time. Figuring out what you are going to eat for dinner every night is time consuming. If you wait until the day of or wait until it is close to dinner, it could even be harder to make a sound decision. Do you have enough ingredients at home or do you need to stop at the store? No time to cook before everyone is "hangry" let's just stop and get something on the way home. What's open? What's affordable? What's close? When you sit down and plan your meals for the week, you take the guessing games out of the picture, you already know what's for dinner!
Meal prepping reduces waste. How often have you gone to the grocery store without a list and brought home a bunch of junk and forgot half the things you needed? This happens to me every single time I go to the grocery store without a plan. I buy tons of delicious fruits and veggies, a few snack items and essentials, and then the rest of my cart is filled with whatever junk my wandering eye saw on sale or with a cool looking lable. That's called impulse buying and it is exactly what happens when you fail to plan. A week or 2 goes by and you notice that those new chips you wanted to try are going stale, you bought way too many bananas and you only drank a quarter of the gallon of milk you bought. Not only is waste bad for your pocketbook, it's bad for the environment. Globally we are wasting a third of all the food we consume. They key to reducing food waste is not just eating all the food on your plate, like your mom used to make you, the key is to reduce the amount that you are putting in your fridge, so that companies will produce less as demands drop. But as long as we are wasting food companies will gladly produce the food to waste.
I like to plan my meals on Saturday nights, when I'm in a good mood and fully satiated, not hungry. This allows me to be grounded in what I want for myself in the next week. I can be practical in choosing foods that will nourish my body, not go off of cravings.
I know myself and I am realistic in planning my meals. I don't try to force myself into anything that feels unnatural to me. I have never been a morning eater. I dont like breakfast foods and I am rarely hungry before noon. If I try to schedule myself a full complete breakfast 5 days a week, I am setting myself up for failure. I am realistic and I plan a small brunch around 12 or 1 pm and then a big dinner and a snack just in case.
I try to plan meals that I can easily repurpose and reheat. Typically I'll do one type of meat for my husband and kid, and then use vegetables and sides to make mulitple different meals. For instance I might make them a pound or two of ground Turkey for the week, and turn it into tacos and spaghetti. Since I prefer to eat vegetarian I only eat the sides and vegetables so I make site that everything is seasoned to taste good alone or together. The meat is used as an accessory not as the main focus.
I plan my meals on Saturday evening. On Sunday I grocery shop and cook 2 large meals; the family eats whatever they want and I pack up the rest into individual serving sizes. Throughout the week my family has an option of 2 dinners. On Saturday if there are left overs they have to be eaten. If there are no left overs we can reward our efficiency by going out.
I like to drink smoothies as a tasty way to ensure I get all of the nutrients and vitamins in fruits and veggies. I buy a bushel of kale, spinach, a pound of strawberries, a whole pineapple, some peaches and plums, pints of blueberries and raspberries/blackberries, some bananas and enough probiotic juice for the week. Then I blend it all up, layer it in mason jars, shake to mix it up, then stick them in the freezer (I usually make 10, 5 for me and 5 for my husband). The night before take I it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.
It may seem monotonous to eat the same few things everyday for a week, but a week goes by a lot faster than you may think. Your meal plan is a guideline for the week but it doesn't have to be law. If you have a super strong craving and want to give in go a head, within reason of course. I personally find that if I am craving a dish throughout the week I can usually just add that to my meal plan for the following week and stick my schedule.
Overall planning and cooking my meals ahead of time saves money, time and effort.
See below for a sample of my week. Remember the goal is to be realistic with yourself and plan your meals based on what YOU actually feel is right for you. You can plan to eat as little or as much as you realistically are going to eat. You can plan to eat fast food too! Just make sure that whatever your plan is that it feels right for your mind, body, and your soul.
Homework
- Take a moment to really think about how you truly want to eat (not how you think you should eat necessarily, but what actually brings you joy and makes you feel good). BONUS: Try to separate your true desires from societal or cultural norms. This may require prayer or meditation, and can evolve over time.
- Plan your meals for the week. Be realistic and plan your meals based on YOUR desires and lifestyle. BONUS: Do your planning at a peaceful time, so you have a clear mind and can make good decisions.
- Do whatever you can to prepare the meal ahead of time. Maybe you pick a day or a few days to cook, maybe you just prep all the ingredients ahead of time. Just make sure that you are making things easier for yourself when it is time to eat. BONUS: Pick a meal either (lunch or dinner)and prepare all the meals for your week.
Extra Credit: Take notes throughout the week as you keep up with your plan. Did you stick to it? Were you hungry? Did you have alot of leftovers left? What type of cravings did you have? Note your feelings and make adjustments to the following week's plan accordingly.
Shop for tools to help you meal prep at Marie's Market.
Stay in touch! Share your progress with me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snap @Mariesmonologue use #MariesMonologue or #MMmealplan. I'll share my favorite post throughout the week so that we can all encourage and motivate each other