Meal Planning
While I have never been much of a meal prepper, I absolutely love meal planning and usually use my downtime one day a week to sit down and make my grocery list.
Meal planning is going to be your ‘easy button’ when it comes to meeting your goals. Whether you are on a macro or habit based program, meal plaonnnig can be key in whether you seee the results you’re seeking or not.
Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years to help you get started!
Keep it simple. The easiest thing you can do when starting out is to hold off on the complex new recipes (just for now :)) and go with simple basics. For most dinners I have a little formula I follow of protein + veggie + carb. It’s simple, easy, and super easy to track when using hand portion sizes or a macro/calorie tracking app. Once I have about 4-5 more simple dinners planned for the week then I’ll throw in 1-2 new or fun recipes to try that week if I have more time to make dinner one night.
It starts with protein. I like to start by choosing what proteins I want to use or already have on hand for the week and go from there. Our proteins don’t typically vary that much from week to week because we have a few that we all like and are quick and easy to cook. Choose what works for your family, budget, lifestyle and of course what you enjoy eating! Some of our favorites are Salmon, ground beef/bison, ground turkey, chicken thighs, chicken sausages, and steak. If you need more ideas I have a whole blog post on proteins and options coming soon!
Choose a Vegetable (or two!). After I have my proteins squared away I like to choose my veggies to go with it. We have our go to veggies that my kids love but it’s always a good idea and fun to vary it up with the seasons and try to get in a variety of colors. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of veggies and like to try all the varieties of fruits and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s still always fun to try new things! Pick at least one veggie to go with your meals and if you are feeling on top of the world and up to it, go for two!
Choose a carb. Lastly, I’ll choose a carb. Save the best for last right? :) Carbs are essential and delicious and the options are endless. I could and will do a whole post on carbs. Have fun with them, but keep in mind that the more nutrient dense and filling they are the more satisfied you will be after your meal. However, sometimes you just need that warm, crusty bread or steamy pile of white rice and if that’s what you need then go for it!
Have fun with it. Basic and simple doesn’t have to mean boring. If you’re up for it, go ahead and make your “basic” meals a little more fun by adding on a quick sauce, fruit, some herbs or caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. Just some fun flavor to round things out.
Leftovers are King! One of the benefits of making easy dinners that you love is leftovers. Cook a little extra and have it for lunch the next day! You can even throw tomorrow’s lunch in a container when you are packing up dinner leftovers and have it 100% ready to go the next day. Trust me, tomorrow’s you will thank you. If you absolutely hate leftovers (like most of my family) go ahead and plan out about 2-3 lunches that you can rotate around throughout the week.
Don’t forget breakfast and snacks! Once I have dinners planned (and lunches too since I’m just eating leftovers) I try to figure out about 2 snacks that I’ll have on repeat for the week. They are generally almost a mini meal following the same protein + veggie or fruit + carb formula.
I have the same smoothie for breakfast every. single. morning because I love it so much (post coming soon) but I usually plan about 3 breakfasts (again, same protein + veggie or fruit + carb formula) to rotate around throughout the week for my kids and that’s it! See, meal planning is fun!
Feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments!
