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    Home ยป Learn About Paleo & Keto Diets

    8 Tips for Easier Meal Planning

    Last Modified: Feb 2, 2023 by Paleo Leaper ยท This post may contain affiliate links ยท Leave a Comment

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    Meal planning is one of the simplest ways you can cut your grocery bill, your time in the kitchen, and your gas expenses in one fell swoop. Here youโ€™ll find some tips for getting started meal planning. Now itโ€™s time for Meal Planning 201: tips and tricks to help you make the most of your planning efforts.

    1. Use Theme Nights

    If Friday is always taco night, then you always know what youโ€™re making on Friday, and you donโ€™t have to give it any more thought. Itโ€™ll get almost automatic to put the ingredients on your shopping list, and youโ€™ll have one less meal to worry about.

    Not big on tacos? Here are some other suggestions for classic dinners that you could serve once a week:

    • Spaghetti
    • Chili
    • Breakfast for dinner
    • Asian food

    You can make a family tradition out of any meal that everyone likes: it doesnโ€™t really matter what the recipe is.

    2. Cook in Bulk (and Use the Leftovers)

    paleo containers

    Thereโ€™s no reason why leftovers canโ€™t be part of your meal plan! If you cook in bulk and plan to work the leftovers into your rotation (maybe as breakfasts or lunches), youโ€™ll save a lot of time in the kitchen.

    3. Plan Around your Schedule

    Always busy on Thursdays? Then donโ€™t plan a gourmet feast! Pencil in your fastest recipes for the nights when everyone is zooming from one activity to the next, and save anything time-consuming or experimental for the less hectic evenings.

    4. Enlist Some Help

    Even if itโ€™s just washing the dishes or setting the table, almost anyone who can eat a meal can also help make it. That goes double if they want anything special made just for them. And if you have any picky eaters in the house, itโ€™s also a good idea to have them come up with some recipes that theyโ€™ll eat, find the ingredients, and add it all to the list: this saves you time trying to hunt down meals that fit everyoneโ€™s taste.

    5. Have a Backup Plan

    paleo mealCover

    No matter how perfect your shopping lists are, no matter how meticulous your spreadsheets look, no matter how nutritionally perfect your meals areโ€ฆyou will mess up at some point.

    Maybe youโ€™ll forget to buy something you need, or maybe youโ€™ll buy something but itโ€™ll turn out to be bad (rotten coconut, moldy carton of strawberriesโ€ฆ). Maybe youโ€™ll make something but end up hating it. Maybe your plans to go out for dinner will fall through and youโ€™ll need a substitute meal in a hurry.

    Whatever it is, eventually you will need a backup plan. So have one! Always have ingredients for at least one more meal than you plan to make โ€“ the easiest way to do this is to stash some extra frozen vegetables and canned or frozen meat. Then you can whip up a quick chili or stir-fry without too much fuss.

    6. Make a List of Favorite Meals

    This is especially true if youโ€™re cooking for kids (or anyone who acts like a kid when it comes to food). If you have a master list of recipes everyone likes, youโ€™ll have a great start when it comes to planning your meals for each week.

    7. Set Aside Time to Plan

    Itโ€™s part of human nature to prioritize the short term. Even though we know that half an hour of planning now will save hours of pain later, we still put it off or find excuses not to make time for it.

    Avoid this by penciling in โ€œmeal planningโ€ with everything else you have to do. Set aside a few minutes to sit down and get it done (preferably the day before you shop, so you have time for all those โ€œoh no, I forgot about the ___________โ€ moments to happen before youโ€™re home with the groceries).

    8. Make your Shopping List at the Same Time

    You canโ€™t cook all those meals if you donโ€™t have the ingredients for them. The easiest way to make sure everything gets onto your shopping list is to write it all down as you put the meals on your calendar. Alternately, you could use an app or an online list โ€“ there are plenty out there, and some of them come with neat features like sharing (so anyone in the family can edit them).

    Got any more tips that work for you? Let us know on Facebook or Google+!

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