Planning and preparing your meals for the week not only saves you a lot of time and money but also helps you in leading a healthier lifestyle.
Ever find yourself short of time to cook meals so you end up eating takeaways or junk food? You will slowly find yourself with an increasing waistline and rising food expenses. Meal Planning, simply refers to planning all your meals for the week in advance. This helps you budget your food expenditure perfectly well as you know exactly what you need to eat and shop for groceries accordingly. Besides, preparing your meals in bulk also uses less electricity and water since you won't be cooking more often. But how do you get started? Here are 3 simple steps of meal planning that you can easily implement - 1. Check all the items that you have in your pantry. Write them down on a list or use an app such as Evernote. Look for the expiry dates, make sure to include the ones expiring soon first as part of the meal plan for the week. This is to avoid any food wastage. 2. Plan a menu for the week, you can choose to prepare for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks. Use simple recipes that consist of fewer ingredients and majorly revolving around ingredients that you have. Avoid recipes with special ingredients or complex and lengthy cooking procedures.
Tip - Opt for recipes that have less than 5 ingredients. Pinterest is a goldmine when it comes to recipes. Alternatively, you can use an app like Sidechef for some great recipes. Supercook is also great for looking up recipes with ingredients that you have.
3. Buy all your staples in bulk. These are items that you plan on using quite often and are long-lasting. Seasonal produce costs less as well. Compare prices for all your grocery needs across various supermarkets. Look for promos and special deals. Store brands are cheaper than other brands. There are also options to order your groceries online with lots of offers taking place every now and then. Many retailers have a rewards program that you can Sign-Up for and benefit from discounts and coupons.
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Tip - Use leftovers from takeaways or other meals and prep them as salads or sandwiches, the goal is to avoid food wastage. Don't meal plan for days you know you would be eating out. List down the recipes that you've tried and loved, preparing meals is more fun when you prepare them again.
Don't forget to mix it up and enjoy variety in your meals. Have themed nights, you can then look forward to preparing your meals with the same excitement as devouring them.
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