In general, meal planning means writing out what you will eat for the next week, pulling the recipes, and then making a list of what you need to buy.  It can be a useful tool for sticking to a new diet or budget.

There are commercially available meal planners that can help with this.  Those planners either give you a menu for a week and the appropriate shopping list, or let you enter your own menu and then generate a shopping list.  Commercial meal planners can be paid or free.  SortedFood has a paid meal planning app and there are many others, including some for specific diets like gluten free or keto. McCormick offers a free meal planner and you can also find free meal plans from women’s magazines or websites.

A more budget conscious DIY method is to look through the fridge and cupboards to see what needs to be used up.  Then also look through the grocery store circulars to see what is on sale and come up with a plan that uses those items.  If you do it yourself, Reddit can offer advice.  There are cookbooks dedicated to meal planning as well.  My sister used to do once a month cooking when her kids were small and liked this cookbook, but there are others.

As I noted before, my own meal planning is generally pretty vague. I go to the grocery store and see what looks good, then mentally plan a few meals, filling in with what I have in the freezer or pantry. While I’m still not writing out a meal plan, I am being more conscious of what I will make over a week. This is for two reasons.  First, I want to eat at least 6 servings of fruit and vegetables per day, and fish twice a week.  Second, I want to reduce food waste to save money as grocery prices rise and I get closer to retirement.  Having a more defined meal plan helps me meet these goals.

A few tips for those that are dipping their toes into meal planning or who just want to make cooking faster and easier.

A little prep work goes a long way to making it easy to make dinner.  Cut up vegetables, make a dressing or two that can double as marinades.  UCS’s marinade article notes that most recipes he found are a 3:1 oil to vinegar ratio plus flavorings.  That’s also the basic recipe for a vinaigrette dressing.

Picking a cuisine and making two or three meals in that cuisine makes it easier to use up the ingredients.

Things like soup, curries, stir fries, hash, omelets or frittatas, and pizzas or flat breads can use up ingredients. So, include them in your planning.

Stock your freezer with ready made meals by doubling a recipe.  When I make meatloaf or lasagna, I make it in mini loaf pans and put the extras in the freezer.

What are your meal planning tips?