The question I get asked most once people learn that I am a Dietitian is, “Write me a meal plan”. There is no magic formula to help you lose weight or to eat healthier, it is simply about changing your lifestyle.
Organise your kitchen. Once you have stocked your kitchen this will help you to create healthy meals throughout the week with ease.
Meal Planning– Write up a meal plan each week so you know what food you need to prepare, what food to buy more of what food food to take out of the freezer the night before. For example, If I plan to make spaghetti bolognaise on a monday then I will look at my plan on the sunday and know to take mince out of the freezer to defrost, I will already have my stock cupboard staples like tinned chopped tomatoes etc and will put on my shopping list if i need to buy any fresh ingredients for it like peppers.
Shopping – By planning ahead you will only need to buy what you need for your weekly shop rather than buying extra items which are often wasted. By doing this you will save both money and wastage.
Leftovers– You are bound to have some form of leftovers during the week. If you have any leftover food that you are able to freeze then package up, label and freeze on the day. If you have leftovers in your fridge incorporate them into your meal the next day.
This is a fantastic website dedicated to helping you waste less food https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com You are able to type in what leftovers you have and turn them into recipes.
Food prep – At the start of each week you need to dedicate a little time to preparing your food for the week. I usually do my meal prep on a sunday and even though it can seem like a chore it will save you so much time during the week that it is definitely worth the effort. I even get my little ones involved with the prep, sitting them down at the kitchen table slicing and dicing my veggies for me! Check out my shop for kiddie cutter knives which are brilliant for little fingers.
Once I have planned out my meals for the week I will do as much of the prep as I can on a Sunday in readiness for the week e.g. pre-chopping vegetables like broccoli and carrots, washing and slicing salad leaves. I also put a container of fruits in the fridge for the kids to access to ensure healthy snacking.
To save time during the week I also prep as many meals as I am able to so that they are ready to go. For example, if Falafel is on my menu for Tuesday I will make up the mix and the patties all ready, cover and pop them into the fridge so that when I come home from work on Tuesday they are oven ready!
My Meal planner
I would honestly struggle to make healthy meals for my family every day without planning them. It makes life so much easier when you know what you are having and you don’t need to stick to the days rigidly you can swap and change if and when you need to.
You can purchase these magnetic meal planners on Amazon or you can print off your own to stick on the fridge.
Download our free weekly food planner here:
You can plan weeks ahead if you need to which can make life easier. All recipes can be found in the recipes section of the website.
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