I'm doing a weight-management program right now, which teaches you the skills to maintain a healthy weight. You may think "what a waste of time! I know what to do! More calories out than in!" But have you ever stopped and counted out all of your calories? You might be surprised at what you find when you do! You may think "Sure, I know how much a tablespoon of oil is", or "This steak is about 6 ounces". Little do you know that your 1tablespoon of oil is actually 2, and your 6 ounce steak is closer to 12. These are all things that I've been encountering over the last few weeks with my new program, and it is so eye-opening! K and I are working really hard to make healthy choices not only for ourselves but for Jellybean as well, and it is hard! It's so easy to stop at McDonald's and grab a snack, or to serve cheese and crackers for dinner. But, in going along with the theme of teachable moments, we want Jellybean to learn from us and make healthier choices. This is where making a meal plan and having a grocery list will come in handy.
Let's get started!
First of all, pull out your calendar. It's really hard to know what to plan if you don't know where everyone is going to be. For us, it's not as big a deal as Jellybean is only 3 and K is typically home by 6:30, but if he has to work late or if we're going out, it's important to know what types of meals to prepare.
Once you have your days all figured out, make a list with the days of the week and the calendar day in the margin (ie: Saturday, July 30). Then, start thinking about what types of meals you want to eat. Do you want meals on the go, or formal sit-down dinners? What else do you have going on in the day? Do you have a full-time job or are you a stay-at-home mama like me? Do you have time to do a lot of cooking, or are you running short on time? These are all things that are going to be super important as you embark on the world of meal-planning.
Food planning and prep is also going to be extremely helpful to you. For instance, do you have 2 or three ground-beef meals on your menu? Maybe you have tacos on Monday, Stroganoff on Tuesday and chili on Wednesday. On Monday, cook up enough ground beef for all 3 meals. Then, store it in the fridge in a container with a tight-fitting lid and use it as needed (conveniently enough, the 2-cup prep bowls from the Pampered Chef are a perfect size for this task!! {shameless plug!}.) You can also plan ahead when you buy your meat and vegetables as well. Like if you buy a pack of chicken breasts, separate the breasts into individual meals with enough pieces for everyone. You can even add your marinades and spices before you freeze them, and then they'll marinade as they thaw! I try to keep a supply of carrot and celery snacks in my fridge for snacks, and Jellybean seems to quite enjoy them. Wash the celery and carrots and peel the carrots and slice them into sticks. Then put them in the fridge in enough water to cover them to keep them fresh. The Ziploc Twist and Serve containers work well for this, and Tupperware also sells a gadget that has a handle that you can pull up to drain the water off so you can get your veggies. Then you have go-to snacks in a pinch!
So once you have decided what to make, it's time to make your meal plan!
Once you've filled out the meals you want to make, figure out what ingredients you'll need, and that becomes your shopping list. When you're making your list, don't forget to add essentials like TP and toothpaste, and then take that to the store and DON'T stray from the list! The only exceptions that I make to this rule are if there are things that we regularly use that are on sale. We seldom splurge on things, which not only helps stick to our list but our budget as well. Don't forget to plan out your breakfasts and lunches as well, or you'll find yourself making more than one trip to the store!
And that's it! Those are the basics, and you can adapt it any way you need to. I'll be posting menu plans over the next few weeks!
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