Feeding a family isn’t always easy. Trying to create meals that are enjoyable, nutritious and affordable throughout the week can be a real challenge. One way to make things easier is to plan ahead. By creating meal plans for the week to come, you can save money, eat more healthily and enjoy a delicious variety of meals.
What is meal planning?
Meal planning is simply making a list of the meals you plan to cook throughout the week rather than deciding on a daily basis what to eat. This means you are likely to make better choices – no more grabbing a takeaway pizza when you’re out of inspiration or reaching for ready meals when you’re short of time. It also means you can shop for ingredients more effectively – saving money and cutting waste. In addition, it gives you the opportunity to try new recipes and saves time preparing and cooking meals.
How to get started
So exactly how do you get going with meal planning? The key is to sit down and write a list of the recipes you’d like to cook over a one or two-week period. You’ll be able to easily check that you’ve got a good balance of different meals and ingredients. You’ll also notice where ingredients for one meal can be used again in another. For example, minced beef for a bolognaise could also be used in a shepherd’s pie. Or if you decide to cook roast chicken on a Sunday, you could use the leftover chicken for a curry during the week. This means you can buy ingredients in bulk at the supermarket to save money and can also cook certain things in batches to save time in the kitchen.
Meal planning tips
– Set aside time each week to find new recipes. You could browse through recipe books or use the Internet. Try to introduce something new each week so that you don’t get bored eating the same types of meals.
– Stick your meal plan for the week on the fridge so that you always know what you are going to eat that day.
– Double up recipes so that you can freeze meals to use in future weeks.
– Save all of your favourite recipes in one place so that they are easy to access. This could be in a ring binder or as electronic files on your computer.
– Make a detailed list to take to the supermarket but be prepared to be flexible. For example, if a specific ingredient is out of stock, you may need to switch to an alternative or if there is a special offer on a particular ingredient, you could tweak your recipes to make use of a bargain.
– Keep your store cupboard topped up with ingredients such as olive oil, dried herbs and spices which have a long shelf life and can be used in several dishes.
For recipes and inspiration, visit: www.bbcgoodfood.com
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