Meal planning?
I know, I know it sounds intimidating, boring and a lot of work.
No one wants to hear about it.
And no one wants to do it.
To me there is nothing worse than having food go to waste in the fridge, getting overwhelmed by making too many new recipes or eating leftovers for days on end.
I thought meal planning meant a combination of those scenarios.
My husband wanted nothing to do with a structured meal plan. He was worried it would stifle his creativity. He's been a professional chef his whole life and he was not too thrilled that I wanted to take over the Airstream kitchen by imposing a meal plan structure.
Now, it's been three years since I came up this ↓ weekly meal plan
and we both love it.
It simplifies EVERYTHING and we make better and more exciting meals. Even now that we live full time in our 27 foot Airstream.
Meal planning works in the tiny Airstream kitchen where fridge and pantry space is limited because strategic weekly shopping is the simplest and most effective way to handle the limitations without compromising the quality or the joy of creating fun meals.
While traveling from A to B, having a weekly meal plan is excellent because it frees the mind. When traveling with the Airstream I prefer to think about hiking and exploring new places instead of worrying what I can creatively throw together from the items in my fridge.
It's nice to return home after a long day of fun, knowing it's BBQ night and I have everything I need.
But let me say this, weekly meal planning is NOT the same as meal prepping. Meal prepping involves making things ahead of time and batch cooking! My type of meal planning does not involve that.
My type of meal planning can inspire diverse meals for each day. This is done by planning a menu and shopping for the ingredients once per week. All food is still cooked and prepared fresh each day.
For example, my husband and I plan and shop on Sundays. It's a nice activity to do on a relaxed Sunday morning. We write down the meals we're excited to eat in the coming week and then we purchase our weekly groceries. If we are on route to our next camping destination on Sunday or Monday, then the Airstream comes to the store with us. And I love the convenience of loading groceries from the shopping cart right into the fridge or pantry.
Because the shopping list is small, heading out to the store or stores is a quick endeavor, even with the Airstream in tow and sticking to that shopping list helps me maintain an intentional food budget. Our weekly food budget is generally below the $100 mark.
And for the final point, I've noticed that the meal planning helps to eliminate food waste. All fresh items that were purchased for the week will get used up. I totally love that.
a new recipe, a day for a favourite meal (Pizza is ours, but yours might be something else), and several occasions for finishing leftovers (at lunchtime, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays) or dining out.
Of course the meal plan also has a space for weekday breakfasts, more elaborate weekend feasts and a spot for baking or making a treat. I decides on this weekly baking project in order to curb buying candy, cookies, ice cream or other treats. It's working.
MEAL PLAN | TO BUY |
MONDAY - NEW RECIPE . . . . . . . . . . . |
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TUESDAY - HOMEMADE PIZZA . . . . . . . . . . .
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
WEDNESDAY - LEFTOVERS . . . . . . . . . . .
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
THURSDAY - SOUP or SALAD . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
FRIDAY - BURGERS or SANDWICHES . . . . . . . . . . . |
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TREAT of the week . . . . . . . . . . . |
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WEEKDAY BREAKFAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
SUNDAY BREAKFAST . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
STAPLES - TO REBUY
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The categories of the meal plan are supposed to simplify the decision making. Recipe ideas go on the left and the ingredients needed are added to the right. At the bottom of the meal plan I've also added a space to jot down any grocery or household staples that need to be replenished while shopping.
I'm including a free downloadable file of my meal plan here. Please feel free to print the file to start meal planning. 😃
That being said, I currently use this Meal Planning Pad and I follow the same recipe schedule as outlined above.
These are COOKBOOKS I use often:
by Chloe Coscarelli
by Kate O'Donnell
- My Bread
by Jim Lahey
Please do leave me a comment if you give meal planning a try. 😃
♡ Nina
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