The Plan

Funny thing about Plans... they actually kind of need... you know Plans. In this case I'm talking about meal planning. Meal plans sort of save my life, a lot. I sit down when I'm in the mood and have the energy, usually sometime over Saturday/Sunday (my days off) and think about the things I want to cook. I've got a file folder full of recipes on my computer that I keep meaning to try so I tend to grab a few of those that sound interesting (and have over-lapping ingredients) and fill in the blanks with tried-and-true foods.

There's two three approaches to this. You can sit down and plan out what you're going to eat for each and every meal of each day. Or you can just put together a list of 7 Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners, making whatever strikes your fancy that day. Then there's the way I do it.

I've got a pretty set schedule, I like my life to have routine and my job is fairly set. This means I know what days I can spend 2 hours making dinner (it's fun for me, really... what else am I going to do?), and what days the microwave almost seems like too much effort. I plan my meals around that. Got a bunch of free time in the afternoon? Awesome... homemade ravioli and pasta sauce it is! Not getting into the door until 8 feeling like death? Nachos anyone?

Knowing your schedule and habits are essential to making a meal plan work. Don't give up if you don't get it right to start with. Give yourself a few weeks of paying attention to how you feel around meal times to work the meal plan into your life. When you really want to start getting fancy you can look ahead to the weather forecast and make your best guess as to what sort of food you might be wanting. Especially if you live in biopolar Lower Mainland like I do. Storms on day, sunshine and heat the next, oh and then the rain... yeah.

The last part of a really effective meal plan is something I touched on earlier, over-lapping ingredients. It would be perfect if we could go to the store and ask for 3/4 C of ricotta cheese, 1/2 C of Panko bread crumbs, etc. Except we can't. And in some cases buying in bulk and saving for weeks in the future makes sense (hurray for bulk boxes of Panko!), and in some cases it doesn't. Using up all of what you buy will really help your food budget stay reasonable while still allowing exotic and fun foods!

Meal planning aren't just for people with big families either! I highly suggest ANYONE in charge of cooking, even if like me you're cooking for one point five!

Which brings me to the final point about why everyone should start using meal plans. Budget. Oh yes, it comes back to money. It pretty much always does; stop fighting it now, you'll be happier. A good meal plan will make your budget happy. It greatly reduces food waste which is basically just tossing money into the bin.

To recap, a little bit of prep can save you a lot of stress, headaches, and money.