For example, if you’re trying to incorporate healthier meals, you’ll likely want to look at health food blogs or balanced eating cookbooks for ideas. You might also want to choose certified organic produce, meat, and dairy products. If you’re trying to save money, plan to do some coupon-clipping during your meal planning sessions. If you need less chaos in your life, consider adding 1-2 crockpot recipes to your weekly docket. These usually produce leftovers, and they can cook all day without you needing to lift a finger to check on them.
The season can also determine recipes based on which vegetables you’d like to purchase. While everything you need will be available at the grocery store year-round, in-season options may be locally sourced and less expensive than out-of-season produce. [3] X Research source You could also find in-season fruits and veggies at a farmers’ market.
Pinterest’s Internet plugin allows you to easily “pin” recipes you like to your board as you’re browsing online. You can also create a Google Doc for your recipes. Cut and paste any links to recipes you love right into the doc!
Dedicating different sections to appetizer, entree, side, and dessert recipes. Organizing recipes by their level of difficulty, or whether they’re “easy” or “hard” to prep. Filling a few sections with seasonal or holiday recipes.
If you prefer to pick out the weekly recipes on your own, that works, too! Just double-check that what you’ve got on the docket sounds good to everyone who’s going to be at the table. Look for recipes throughout the week and finalize your choices on Friday.
Eating out gives you a much-needed break, and it also exposes you to new recipes! However, it will cause your weekly food costs to climb. If you’re hoping to stick to a strict budget, try to only go out for special occasions. You might also consider having a few themed nights each week. For example, maybe every Tuesday is taco night, Wednesday is for crockpot meals, and Friday is pizza night. This, too, will simplify your planning.
If you and your family members are tech-savvy, consider using Google Calendar. You can share this calendar with your family members and add reminders or lists to it if you’d like. Then everyone can access it from their devices whenever they’d like!
Don’t forget to add whatever weekly staples your family needs, as well. You don’t want to run out of toilet paper on Wednesday morning and need to dash back out! It’s a good idea to finish making your grocery list the night before your shopping trip. This will get you ready to go shopping the next day.
You can also shop right before the store closes. Especially on the weekends, it won’t be quite as crowded. Depending on your store, fresh items should also have been replaced by this time of day.
Olive oil, as well as white and red wine vinegars. Salt and pepper. Chicken and/or vegetable stock. Rice, pasta, and noodles, as well as beans and lentils. Canned tomatoes. A natural sweetener like honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup. Canned coconut milk.
Wash and chop vegetables and mince herbs. Be aware that some veggies may get a bit wilted after they’ve been chopped. You can refresh them by soaking them in a bowl of cold water for 5-10 minutes before cooking with them. [16] X Research source Make marinades and sauces. Cook ingredients (like chicken) that will be used in dishes within the next 3 days.
All food has different freezer expiration dates, which you can easily look up online. However, most items can last somewhere between 6 months to 1 year in the freezer. Take frozen meals out of the freezer about 2 days before you plan to eat them. This should give them plenty of time to thaw out.
