Meal Planning 101

Lesson # 1 – do not wait until Sunday afternoon to do groceries (unless you go to only one store and take just an hour). I planned my meals on Friday (thank you pinterest) and did groceries on Saturday so I had plenty of time on Sunday. I used a template for meal planning from here.

Lesson # 2 – chop, prep and have everything ready for the recipe before you start cooking. If your recipes happen to share ingredients, chop them accordingly to save time.      

Lesson # 3 – make space in your fridge! Get plenty of Ziplock bags and Tupperware containers ready. Label them if you have a lot of food already in the freezer. 

Lesson # 5 – Pre-soak and cook grains and dry beans because they will stay well in the freezer. Dried beans are cheaper and better than canned ones as well.

Here’s what I cooked for this week:

• Carrot-ginger soup – reheats really well and is delicious. 
• Mom’s savory pancakes – great for lunch as they reheat and transport very well.
• Black bean enchilada – I prepped the filling and used store bought sauce (gasp) for quick Meatless Monday dinner. 
• Mo:Mo (dumplings)– froze them in a large quart-size bag and will steam them right before dinner.
• Stir-fry – chopped veggies like onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms etc in a Tupperware. 
• Chicken* Salad Sandwich – recipe will be in my book.

*Cooked the chicken prior but assembled the salad the day of. 

It looks like a lot of prepping but honestly it was not too bad. Overall I spent roughly 2 hours in the kitchen cooking (dish washing is another story) and was able to make a few meals for the week. Yesterday was day #2 and I have to say it felt great not having to think or spend extra time in the kitchen. I am looking forward to get better at this and have 3-4 meals prepped for the week.

ps. if you are not sure or don’t care about Valentine’s day just make this ice-cream and catch up on Breaking Bad. 

What are some of your favorite recipes for weeknight dinners? 

Staying in or going out for Valentine’s day?