Your Food Plan: 13 Helpful Tips
Helpful Tips
Track and record your favorite meals
Your Food Plan, It can be really frustrating to forget a recipe you or your family loved — not to mention forgetting if it’s something you enjoyed or not. If you want to avoid cases of food-related dilemmas, it’s useful to keep a record of your favorite and least favorite recipes. This way, if you find out what needs tweaking or how your recipe can be perfected, you can quickly get back into the kitchen.
Always head to the grocery store armed with a list (or shop online)
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Going to the grocery store without a shopping list is a good way to waste time. Having a list helps you focus on what you need and resist the temptation to buy things that you won’t use. Groceries are becoming easier and more efficient to shop for. Grocery chains in some areas offer online grocery pickup at certain stores. One benefit of this is you can choose your own time to pick up or have the groceries delivered. Your RFID card can be a great way to avoid long lines and pre-holiday chaos by getting what you need through the convenience of the internet.
Avoid shopping while you’re hungry
Share on Pinterest Don’t go to the supermarket when you are hungry. It is likely you will succumb to impulse buys. Buy on a full stomach and avoid regretful errors. Prepare yourself before you go out to get groceries and have a quick snack if you feel like it. That way, hunger won’t catch up with you as soon.
Buy in bulk
You can save more money by making unneeded purchases in bulk. This can be done by buying only as much as you need, and also by reducing waste by not purchasing more than you need. This part of the store is the perfect place to buy everyday items such as rice, cereal, quinoa, nuts, seeds and beans. Bring your own containers so you can avoid using any disposable plastic materials to carry your bulk things home.
Plan for and repurpose leftovers
When you want to save time and energy in the food department, it’s a good idea to plan ahead. Making a couple extra servings of whatever you’re cooking for dinner is one way to have lunch ready for tomorrow with no additional effort. If you don’t enjoy leftovers, then think of ways to make them it so they don’t feel like “leftovers.” For example, if you had roasted a whole chicken with root vegetables for dinner, you could use the leftover chicken to make tacos or soup.
Batch cook
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Preparing large quantities of food at once is called batch cooking and is especially useful if you don’t really have much time to cook during the week. One thing you could do would be to use the food in different ways throughout the week, without having to cook anything. Try cooking a big batch of quinoa or rice and roasting a large tray of vegetables, tofu, or meat at the start of the week to use for salads, stir fries, scrambles and grain bowls. You could also make a batch of chicken, tuna, or chickpea salad to use in sandwiches, eat with crackers or add to salads.
Use your freezer
Saving time and money by cooking certain foods or meals in bulk and freezing them for later is a great strategy. It hugely reduces waste and it lets you enjoy favorite dishes without breaking the bank. This method is easy to use for recipes like broth, fresh bread, and tomato sauce but can be used for overall meals too. Recipes such as lasagna, soup, enchiladas, or breakfast burritos are examples
Pre-portion your meals
Containers are one of the best ways to keep track of your food budget. They also make it easy to grab meals-on-the-go and ensure you’re consuming enough food. This method is popular among people who like to keep track of what they are eating or need to lose weight fast. It’s very easy and will help you get ahead in a time crunch. You can make healthy and delicious meals ahead of time that are portioned out and stored in containers. This is perfect if you want to eat your food at any point during the week. The bulk prep also means you spend less time in the kitchen!
Wash and prep fruits and vegetables right away
Preparing fruits and veggies the second you get home can help you eat more fresh produce in your diet. Follow these steps: If you have a selection of fresh fruits or raw vegetables in your fridge, it is more likely that you will pick them out when hungry. It’s always a better idea when you’re hungry to have healthy and convenient choices on hand so that you can avoid reaching for the bag of potato chips or cookies because they’re quick and easy.
Prep smart, not hard
When time or task constraints don’t let you chop vegetables or have time to cook every day, it can be more effective to go for convenience and healthy options that are already prepared for you. Shop carefully to find items that are cheaper and/or in-season — it may also be helpful to either grow your own fruit & vegetables or buy them from a local producer. Remember, not everybody’s meal planning & preparation process will be the same. Paying attention to when you need to scale back your work and improve efficiency can help you stick to your goals in the long-term
Use your slow or pressure cooker
Slow cookers and pressure cookers can make your life a lot easier by freeing up time that you would otherwise have to spend cooking. They also allow for hands-off work, so you’ll be able to do other things while your food is cooking.
Vary your menu
Dieting can often become stagnant and before long you find yourself eating the same foods day in, day out. This not only leads to boredom but could also lead to nutrient deficiencies so it’s important to keep your meals varied. To avoid repetition, try to experiment with new food. For example, if you always eat brown rice, try quinoa or barley instead. If you eat broccoli all the time, add cauliflower, asparagus or romanesco to your diet. You can use the seasonality of foods as a guide to plan your menu. Experiencing a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the seasons can give you more variety in dieting and help you save money at the same time.
Make it enjoyable
Weighing the options of planning ahead or being spontaneous is a tough decision. But if you make meal prepping your new hobby, you’ll be more likely to stick with it. So instead of turning it into a chore, think of it as taking the time to do something good for yourself. If you’re the household chef, consider making meal prep a family affair. Have your family help you chop vegetables or batch cook some soup for the week ahead, so these activities become quality time spent together instead of just another chore. If you prefer to meal prep solo, throw on your favorite music, a podcast, or an audiobook while you do it. Before long, it may be something you look forward to.
