If you’ve been following my vlogs, you’ll probably know I get by with very few groceries every week. I reduce my organic waste to a bare minimum and almost never throw out food, while also managing to try out and come up with lots of delicious recipes. All of this is due to something that shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes out of your week- meal planning!
I like to meal plan at the start of a new week, so that I know exactly what I’m going to eat and what groceries I need to buy.
One Week Plan
I like to plan for the seven days coming up. I plan three sets of two dishes that use a lot of the same ingredients so that I’m sure to use everything up. Since I live alone, vegetables are often too big to finish in one go, but two dishes are perfect. I’ll make sure to always eat the two dishes in a set at least one day apart, to avoid getting tired of the ingredients.
The seventh day I like to keep open in case I unexpectedly have guests over or go out to eat. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll use day seven to finish my leftovers by making a soup, stew or pie with them.
Be Smart
Avoid over-buying by always checking your fridge, freezer and pantry before you meal plan. See what you already have and plan around those ingredients.
I also like to save money by planning my meals around items that are on sale in my local supermarket. Often stores will put items that go together (like tortillas and beans) on sale together, thus doing the planning work for you.
One day a week, pick a recipe from your list of favourite dishes to make. You probably know this recipe by heart and can whip it up pretty quickly- allow yourself a day of guaranteed success!
Spice It Up
A lot of the flavour of a dish lies in the herbs and spices you use, and two dishes that use the same ingredients can be completely different according to how you season them. For example, an eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes can be a French ratatouille on day one and an Italian lasagna on day two.
Also, don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to meals. Chickpeas and carrots can be turned into carrot sticks with hummus dip one day, and a Moroccan stew the next.
Do you meal plan? Do you have any tips to share?
Great tips :) I like that idea of eating those ingredients every other day :)
What a wonderful video. Meal planning is something I’ve always struggled with and these are great tips. I hate wasting packaging and food, so your tips are also very helful in that respect as well. :)