This document provides strategies and tips for easy meal planning. It recommends keeping a well-stocked pantry, dedicating time each weekend to plan meals for the week, and using a meal planning app or notebook. Specific tips include planning meals around seasonal ingredients, cooking in bulk to save time and freeze leftovers, and choosing recipes that overlap ingredients. The goal is to make healthy home cooking easier and less stressful than last-minute takeout.
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Meal Planning Made Easy
1. Cristin Stokes, RD, LN
Montana University System Wellness
Program
Fall 2015
Meal Planning Made Easy
2. Objectives
Do you ever get home from work, exhausted from
your day, and then struggle to find something in
your kitchen for dinner? Do you often have to
resort to take-out or fast food because you didn’t
plan anything in advance? In this workshop, we’ll
discuss strategies for simple, healthy meal
planning, keeping in mind factors such as time
and budget.
3. “Cooking is probably the most
important thing you can do to
improve your diet. What matters
most is not any particular nutrient,
or even any particular food: it’s the
act of cooking itself. People who
cook eat a healthier diet without
giving it a thought.”
–Michael Pollan, author of Cooked
4. Keep a well-stocked pantry
Essential to successful, regular meal planning
Quicker, easier, less-stressful, less expensive
Allows meals to revolve around fresh ingredients
Keep a grocery list on refrigerator or in kitchen –
make note if you run out of any of the staples
See handout for list of suggested pantry staples
5. The Sunday Ritual
Plan – Shop – Prep
Commit to making a plan
Write into the calendar
Sunday afternoon/Saturday morning/weekday
mornings/after dinner
1-2 hours on the weekend = less stress during the
week, better nutrition
7. Plan it out
Electronic versions
Pepperplate
Ziplist
Plan to Eat ($5/month)
Paprika ($5 for the app)
8. Plan it out
1. Refrigerator inventory
What needs to be used sooner rather than later?
Leftovers
2. Look at schedule for the week
Which nights do you have schedule commitments?
Think about amount of time you will have (if any!)
for meal preparation
9. Plan it out
3. Meal Selection
1-2 cookbooks, online, standard favorites from
Master Recipe list
Master Recipe list
Aim for 10 recipes to start
3- hole binder with plastic sleeve inserts
Or:
o On phone
o Online (meal planning apps, Pinterest)
Per week: 1-2 new recipes; remainder from
Master List
Add to Master List as your find new recipes you
like
10. Plan it out
3. Meal Selection
Cook once, serve twice
1. Keep it simple
2. Spice it up
Examples:
Roast Chicken Chicken Enchiladas
Grilled Pork Chops Pork Fried Rice
Good options for 2nd meal: Quiche or frittata,
pasta, soup/chili, salad, stir-fry
11. Plan it out
3. Meal Selection
Overlap ingredients
Start with a single recipe
Look at ingredient list to help you pick
2nd recipe
oLook at ingredient list of 2nd to help you
pick 3rd recipe
• Etc.
14. Plan it out
3. Meal selection
Meat/protein
Sales
Mom’s method: One red, one white, one
meatless
oAdd fish
15. Plan it out
3. Meal selection
Starch
Whole grains w/faster cooking times:
bulgur, quinoa, whole grain pasta
Whole grain bread
Starchy vegetables: Corn, peas,
potatoes
16. Plan it out
3. Meal Selection
Vegetables
Base your meal around vegetables instead of
meat
o Seasonal, farmers market, etc.
Dark green/orange vegetables are most
nutritious
Frozen, canned ok
17. Plan it out
3. Meal selection
Other considerations
Slow Cooker
Effort/time required for each recipe
Batch cooking
18. Batch cooking
Must have adequate freezer space
Components of meals
• Meatballs, taco meat, cooked beans & rice,
shredded/diced chicken or pork, meat
w/marinade, pizza dough
Multipurpose sauces – marinara, BBQ, peanut
Double or triple the recipe
Once per month batch cooking
Casseroles, soups, chili, lasagna, meatloaf
www.onceamonthmeals.com ($10/month)
www.sixsistersstuff.com (search Freezer Meals)
Pinterest
19. Batch cooking
Freezing Tips
o Make-ahead meals should be used within 3 months
for best taste and quality
o Use shallow, smaller dishes to reduce freezing and
baking time
o Foods that do not freeze well: produce with high
water content, flour thickened sauces/gravies,
eggs, mayo, pasta (undercook)
o Thaw food safely – plan ahead
• Do not just thaw on counter all day!
o Keep a list of what is in your freezer
20. Shop
Make a list
Write down ALL ingredients for each recipe (even if
you think you have it!)
Cross off each ingredient that you already have
Combine with refrigerator door list
Organize by grocery store section- dairy, bakery,
produce, etc.
21. Prep
Chop vegetables, cook meat, mix spices, etc.
Invest in good, clear storage containers
Label
Batch cooking
Get organized beforehand
Label with directions for reheating
23. Other Meals
Breakfast
Make ahead items: breakfast burritos (freezer), steel cut
oats, whole grain pancake mix, healthy muffins
Include protein: eggs, nut butter, yogurt, milk, etc.
Lunch
Intentionally plan leftovers
i.e. Chicken salad made from roasted chicken
Snacks
Fruits/veggies
Include two different food groups
Late afternoon snack to keep hunger in check while
cooking dinner
24. Cooking for One
Salad bar, bulk aisle for small amounts of
ingredients
Halve recipes –
Shorten cooking time
Season to taste
Leftovers = healthy lunches, can be transformed
into different meals
Recipe for 4 = one for dinner, one for leftovers,
two for the freezer
Batch cooking
You are worth a great meal!
Long term investment in health
25. Meal Planning Keys to Success
Keep a well-stocked pantry
The Sunday ritual (Plan – Shop – Prep)
Plan it out
Inventory
Schedule
Recipe selection
Master List
Overlap of ingredients
Cook once, serve twice
Consider health
Batch cooking