Did you know that meal planning is a simple way to save time and money?
If you think you’re too busy and too tired to plan healthy meals, this article is for you. The key is to create a simple meal plan that you can tailor to your needs and the needs of your family. Here are seven things to consider when planning meals. Here are seven things you need to think about to make meal planning a success.
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Decide what meals you want to plan.
If you’re a busy professional, and you work late hours, it may be easier for you to plan out lunches and dinners, so you don’t end up buying unhealthy fast food. If you are a stay a home mom, it may be easier for you to plan out all meals a month in advance, so it will help you free up time to spend with your family. You want to fit meal planning into your current lifestyle. Once you have decided the meals, you want to plan you need to pick your favorite recipes and search for some new recipes too.
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Search for recipes
Once you have picked the meals that you want to plan you need to find recipes. If you find recipes in advance, it makes it easier to set a budget and write your grocery list. Many meal planning apps that make searching for and printing out recipes easier. For people who are meal planning on a budget, many meal planning apps can even help you save money by showing you what ingredients are on sale at your local grocery stores.
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Take into account allergies and dietary restrictions
With all the different dietary restrictions and food allergies it is important to take them into consideration, especially if you’re planning for family member’s that have different food restrictions. Many meal plans that focus on dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian or vegan options.
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Check your pantry for staples
If you want to save time and money, make sure you keep your pantry stocked with staples. Pantry staples are ingredients that you use over and over again like spices, rice, beans, pepper and olive oil. You want to keep your pantry properly stocked so that you save money and save time when you go to the grocery store.
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Make your grocery list and set your budget
After you have set your budget, listed any allergies and dietary restrictions, checked your pantry for staples and picked the recipes that you want to plan, now you can write your grocery list. To make shopping easier and more efficient you can organize your ingredients by type, for example, list, all produce together and dairy products.
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Healthy Meal Planning
If you want to eat healthier meals, planning ahead is a great way to stick to a healthy diet. When creating your meal plan focus on protein rich, unprocessed foods and fiber-rich vegetables, beans and legumes.
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Meal Preparation
After you have purchased your groceries, decide whether or not you want to pre-cook some of the meals to save time. Some people choose to prepare their meals in advance and store them in the freezer or refrigerator while others just prepare some of the ingredients and cook or bake the ingredients on the same day.
We are all busy, but meal planning can help you save time and money by making shopping and meal planning more efficient, so you don’t have to stress out about what to eat.
