Getting the Most Out of Meal Planning
When it comes to meal planning, what is your approach? Do you plan every meal for the week, cook on the fly? Do you prep items to use throughout the week? We asked Golden Coil contributor, Myndi DeVore to share her meal prep tips for getting organized in the kitchen.
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I started getting serious about meal planning when my first daughter was a toddler. Figuring out dinner at the last minute wasn’t working for us anymore. So I changed my whole approach. Initially the idea of planning out every single meal was too daunting so I began by giving each night of the week a category. It worked out roughly to something like this:
Monday: Vegan
Tuesday: Taco night
Wednesday: Soup/Salad
Thursday: Leftovers/Bowl night
Friday: Takeout
Saturday: Pasta
Sunday: Roast or grill something
This approach made it a lot easier for me to plan out our week. If you don’t love to cook, assigning categories to your days can easily streamline your cooking.
When our second daughter arrived, I began doing some meal prep each week. Initially it seemed like meal prep was mainly used by people following a strict diet or serious athletes. But meal prep has become such a great tool for our family! Here are my tips for getting started with meal prepping each week.
+ First, find a day when you can devote an hour or two to the kitchen. If you have less time, you can still get ahead with a little prep!
+ Get a good podcast or audiobook going.
+ Start by cleaning your fridge. Think about what you want to cook for your week. Try to utilize everything you have and stuff that’s starting to wilt. We want to cut down on food waste!
+ A great place to start is to prepare one item for each meal of the day. Choose one item from each category below. Here are a few ideas for you:
Breakfast: Cook a pot of oatmeal or some hard boiled eggs, bake a pan of granola or some waffles, measure smoothie ingredients into bags for the freezer.
Lunch: Prep ingredients for a vegetable salad or make a pot of soup. Transfer to lunch size containers for easy grab and go at lunchtime.
Dinner: Think of shortcuts that will make dinners easier. Maybe you complete a dish all the way to cooking it off (I assembled veggie burgers for tonight). Or maybe you have a few components on hand. Cook some rice or a pot of beans, blanch some vegetables, roast meatballs, wash greens for quick salads.
Snacks: Bake some muffins or quick bread, make hummus or another dip or brew a pitcher of tea.
+ If you’re heating your oven, bake the longest cooking items first. I usually roast vegetables or bake a snack for the kids. I roast sweet potatoes every week (chop 2-3 sweet potatoes and mix with a tablespoon of avocado oil, ¾ teaspoon each garlic powder and salt, and spread on a parchment lined pan. Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes). I like to rewarm them in a skillet in the morning with greens and eggs. They are great to throw in a grain bowl. They also make a quick side for dinner or even a midday snack.
+ An instant pot is a great tool for stews, soups, oatmeal, homemade stock, hard boiled eggs, etc. Once my oven is going, I usually get something cooking in the instant pot.
+ Quick pickled red onions or vegetables brighten every meal and can go on just about everything. I make a batch of quick pickled onions every week.
+ Vinaigrettes and quick sauces are great shortcuts for the week. My go to vinaigrette is 3 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar. Then I add a spoonful of Dijon mustard, a little honey, and salt and pepper. Throw everything in a jar and shake. Now you have easy dressing ready for salads.
+ Chop vegetables you will eat in the next 1-2 days. Vegetables for snacks, vegetables for salads. This will ensure things don’t go to waste.
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Thank you Myndi, for sharing your meal planning and prep tips! We hope you’ve found this helpful as you think about your own meal planning routine. Happy cooking!