黑料网

Do you feel like you鈥檙e always asking yourself (or being asked) 鈥渨hat鈥檚 for dinner鈥�? Do you struggle with maintaining healthy eating habits? Is ordering out your go-to when you don鈥檛 feel like cooking or have nothing in the pantry? If you find yourself answering 鈥測es鈥� to these questions and are looking to stress less over what you eat, there鈥檚 one thing that can help you do just that: meal planning.

Plan meals together! Share this plan with your family

The benefits of meal planning

Not only is meal planning the key to helping us answer that dreaded 鈥渨hat鈥檚 for dinner鈥� question, it also saves us time, money, and stress. Let鈥檚 explore some of the many benefits of meal planning:

• Save money: By making a plan before you head out to the store, you鈥檒l know exactly what items you need to get. You’ll be less tempted to pick up items you don鈥檛 actually need and therefore avoid overspending on unnecessary food items.
• Eat healthier: If you don鈥檛 have a plan for what to eat during the week, it鈥檚 a lot easier to eat conveniently鈥攐rdering out, eating fast food, or grabbing a last-minute meal at the store鈥攚hich aren鈥檛 always the healthiest options. Planning your meals in advance requires you to think about what you鈥檙e going to eat before you eat it, when you鈥檙e in a better frame of mind to make healthier choices.
• Less stress: Not having a plan can be stressful. After a long day at work, trying to figure out what to eat for dinner at the last minute can result in decision fatigue鈥攚hich can contribute to unhealthy food decisions and stressing over what you鈥檙e going to eat.
• Less waste: Meal planning ensures you only buy what you need. You don鈥檛 buy too much or too little of an ingredient, but just the right amount. When you do this, there鈥檚 less room for waste.
• Save time: Meal planning saves time. No need for last-minute or multiple trips to the grocery store each week. No time wasted wondering what you鈥檙e going to eat that day. By doing just 30 minutes of planning each week, you鈥檒l save yourself a whole lot of time in the week to come.

5 steps for creating a meal plan

Now that we know just how beneficial meal planning can be, let鈥檚 jump in! Follow these five easy steps to start meal planning like a pro.

1. Choose a day for meal planning

The first step to meal planning is as simple as choosing a day to start. By designating a specific day of the week for meal planning, you鈥檒l begin building it into your routine, which will help it become a habit.

Meal planning on a specific day also helps you get into the routine of doing your grocery shopping on a certain day鈥攅nsuring you don鈥檛 have to go to the grocery store more than once a week.

Which day is the best day to meal plan? There鈥檚 no right or wrong answer, but generally, the weekend or the Friday before is a good choice. By doing so, you鈥檒l be able to get your meal planning and grocery shopping out of the way before the business of a new week sets in.

2. Consider your schedule for the week ahead

When planning out your meals for the week, the second thing you鈥檒l want to do is think about your upcoming week and any plans you might have. Do you have dinner with friends scheduled? Are you going out of town? Have a work event or family commitment? Depending on what you have planned, you may or may not need to plan a meal for that day.

For the days you鈥檙e going out to dinner or leaving on a trip, you likely won鈥檛 need to plan a meal. But on days where you have commitments like an after work happy hour or a kid鈥檚 basketball game, you鈥檒l want to take note. You can schedule in an easy, low effort meal and your future self will thank you later.

3. Choose your recipes

Now, onto the meat and potatoes (pun intended) of meal planning. It鈥檚 time to select your meals! At this point, you should have a good idea of what the week ahead looks like. You鈥檒l know how many days you need to meal plan for and which days you鈥檒l need something quick and easy to cook.

When it comes to choosing your meals for the week, here are a few tips to get you started:

• Have a go-to list of your favorite recipes: Come up with a list of your favorite recipes, the ones you find yourself eating over and over again. These are your go-to recipes. Having a list of 8-10 recipes you love at the ready will make it easy for you to start your meal plan. To ensure you鈥檙e not eating the same meals all the time, choose 4-5 of these meals each week, and then fill in the gaps with new recipes to try.
• Balance your proteins: You might love chicken, but you probably don鈥檛 want to eat it every day of the week. When you鈥檙e meal planning, try not to include more than two or three meals with the same protein. Having this variety will ensure you don鈥檛 get bored eating the same thing and that you鈥檙e eating a well-balanced diet. Try varying your meals to include a mix of proteins鈥攃hicken, beef, pork, fish鈥攁nd sprinkle in a day or two with meals that have no meat at all.
• Incorporate fruits and vegetables: Plan your meals with fruits and vegetables in mind. As part of a healthy diet, it鈥檚 recommended that adults eat 1.5-2 cups of fruit and 2-3 cups of vegetables each day, but according to the CDC, only 1 in 10 adults meet these recommendations. When you鈥檙e meal planning, you can intentionally plan to include these amounts in your daily meals to ensure you鈥檙e getting enough fruits and vegetables. This could be as easy as adding a side salad to dinner or planning to make a smoothie for breakfast.

• Pick one or two quick and easy meals: We all know that life gets busy. That鈥檚 what these meals are for. Choose one or two meals that are easy to make with little effort, need only a handful of ingredients, and require little cleanup. Even if you don鈥檛 have a busy schedule, things happen鈥攜ou鈥檙e exhausted after a long work day, you feel under the weather, whatever it is鈥攜ou鈥檒l be happy you have a few easy recipes in your arsenal.
• Consider ingredients you already have on hand: Chances are you already have a pantry full of ingredients and a fridge lurking with unused items. Think about how you might be able to use what you already have on hand. Have some extra lettuce or a box of unused pasta? Try building a meal around those ingredients. Not only will you save money, but you鈥檒l also waste less. Which brings us to鈥�

• Be conscious of expiration dates: When you plan your meals, think about how quickly some of the ingredients might go bad. This is particularly important for fresh ingredients that have a short shelf life or need to be used or frozen within a couple of days after purchase. Try to minimize the meals with ingredients that might go bad quickly and for the ones that do, plan those meals to be eaten earlier in the week to prevent less waste.
• Think about ingredients that could be used for multiple meals: Another tip for preventing waste includes asking yourself what ingredients could be used across multiple meals. Have a meal that calls for cilantro but not enough to use the whole bunch? What other meals can you incorporate into your plan so that you use the entire bunch and nothing goes to waste? Approaching meal planning this way can also help you save money at the grocery store. If you鈥檙e planning for multiple meals that use chicken, you can opt to buy in bulk to save money.

Save time on grocery shopping

Explore Shopping List

• Try theme nights: One easy and fun way to plan meals is to choose different daily themes. You could try Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Sandwich Saturdays. The possibilities are endless! You can designate certain days for grilling, casseroles, or even choose a day for trying something new. Not only does this help you mix things up, but it can help you plan faster too.
• Plan for leftovers: Have a recipe that makes a lot of food? Save the leftovers for the next day. Do you prefer to have extras for lunch? Size up your recipe to ensure you have enough. Meal planning allows you to be smart about leftovers so you never have too much or too little food leftover.

When it comes to meal planning, there鈥檚 no right or wrong way to do it, but these tips will help make the process easier. If you鈥檙e just getting started with meal planning, ease into it by filling your week with those go-to meals that you already know and love. Then, as you start getting into the swing of things, you can start to get even more creative with your meal plan.

4. Schedule your meals for each day

Up next, scheduling out your meals for the week. Take the recipes you chose and pick a day of the week for each. This is especially helpful when you know you have a few busy days in your schedule. Go ahead and schedule your quick and easy meals for those days.

One important note: while scheduling out your meals for each day solidifies your plan, it isn鈥檛 absolutely necessary. You may prefer to choose your meals but leave them unscheduled鈥攁nd that鈥檚 100% ok! The great thing about meal planning is it helps you create some structure to what you eat each week, but it also allows you to be flexible if needed.

If you have a meal that requires a bit more effort but you鈥檙e exhausted by dinner time, go ahead and switch things around. It鈥檚 totally ok to shift meals around based on how you鈥檙e feeling that day. Even better, anticipate that this likely will happen from time to time so schedule in an extra quick and easy meal for days like these.

Make meal planning even easier with . Save all of your favorite recipes to one place and then add them to Meal Planner. Drag and drop recipes to specific days of the week and when you鈥檙e ready, turn your meal plan into a shopping list with just one tap.

5. Make a grocery list

Once you鈥檝e chosen your meals and scheduled them out, it鈥檚 time to build that grocery list. Before you dive in, here are four simple steps for creating your grocery list:

1. Review your planned meals and write out all the recipe ingredients you鈥檒l need.
2. Take your written list and check your pantry, fridge, and freezer for items you might already have on hand. Cross out any items on your list that you already have.
3. Before or while you鈥檙e checking your fridge and freezer, go through and clean out any expired items or food that鈥檚 gone bad.
4. Lastly, take note of any staple items you might be out of or running low on. Items like spices, olive oil, cooking spray, tin foil, and any other kitchen staples or one-off items.

There you have it. Your grocery list is ready to go!

Want to make this step even easier? You can! When you use to plan your meals, all it takes is one click to turn your entire meal plan into a shopping list. When you鈥檙e ready, just click 鈥淎dd meal plan to shopping list鈥� and voila! You鈥檙e ready to hit the grocery store.

How to build meal planning into your routine

Building any new habit into your routine takes time and repetition. Realistically, there will be times when you fall behind on planning and weeks where you hardly plan at all. That鈥檚 ok. Here are some obstacles you might face and tips for how to overcome them:

• Your life changes: Whether your kids are going back to school or you鈥檙e working from home, your daily routine might change and make it more challenging to stick with meal planning. This is a perfect time to rethink how you can make meal planning work for you. It may be as simple as changing your designated meal planning day or enlisting the help of another family member. Check out how you can use Whisk鈥檚 shared meal plans to collaborate and meal plan with other members of your household.

• You get stuck in a rut: Over time, meal planning can sometimes become repetitive. A few of the tips we mentioned earlier will hopefully prevent this from happening, but if you find yourself feeling less excited about what you鈥檙e eating, don鈥檛 be afraid to mix things up. This is why we recommend leaving room in your meal plan for trying new recipes, whether it鈥檚 just one night a week or two. Pinterest, blogs, and magazines are all great places to find new inspiration for your meal plan. If you鈥檙e looking for meal inspiration from home cooks like you, join Whisk Communities to discover new recipes based on shared food interests, diets, and more.

Know that just by starting today, you鈥檙e making progress towards making meal planning a part of your routine. If there ever comes a time where it鈥檚 not working for you, don鈥檛 be afraid to reassess and make the changes you need to get back on track.