Top 5 Meal Planning Tips
Planning out your family meals in advance is one of my big #mumhacks and strategies to making healthy family meals with less stress!
As a busy working mum I know that putting extra time into planning your family meals can seem daunting and it can be challenging when just getting to the supermarket is hard enough!
However I can hand-on-heart say it is worth it in the end, especially when 5pm rolls around and you have little hungry mouths demanding to be feed instantly! Plus...like any habit - the more you do it, the easier planning becomes.
You can read more in an earlier blog of mine (Dream Meal Times) on the benefits of meal planning and below is my top 5 tips on how to go about doing this!
1. Have a planning day - set aside one day in the week (I always do Sunday) which is when you do a big food shop and plan out your weekly meals as it really helps to do both at once and you could also so some meal preparation/baking for the freezer as well.
2. Plan your meat - when really sort on time (and energy) I just plan out the meat for the week - at least this forms the basis of a meal and if I need to get something out of the freezer I can remember to do this!
3. Have the same breakfast - Variety always makes things interesting but having the same breakfast can keep things really easy, and create time extra time (or extra thinking time) from having this the same for the week.
4. Have a planner - seriously this really helps! The reason I designed my Magnetic Meal Planners was to have a planner on the fridge which could easily be used, and whipped down for the next week (I use to have blue-tacked bits of refill paper up!). Having a planning system makes this process so much easier, plus I find having it up on the fridge reminds me to do the planning each week. You can get paper pad planners from shops like ...(but of course I think mine is pretty awesome!).
5. Keep emergency food supplies topped up - Make sure that your supplies of foods which can easily form meals (or the basis of meals) are always topped up such as eggs, tinned tomatoes, baked beans, cheese and frozen vegetables (as key examples).
More planning tips!!
For those in Christchurch and Dunedin, at my upcoming talks there I will be talking more about meal planning and don't forget our awesome special this week of a FREE tea towel and FREE white board marker with every magnetic meal planner purchased (ends this Sunday!)
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale
As a busy working mum I know that putting extra time into planning your family meals can seem daunting and it can be challenging when just getting to the supermarket is hard enough!
However I can hand-on-heart say it is worth it in the end, especially when 5pm rolls around and you have little hungry mouths demanding to be feed instantly! Plus...like any habit - the more you do it, the easier planning becomes.
You can read more in an earlier blog of mine (Dream Meal Times) on the benefits of meal planning and below is my top 5 tips on how to go about doing this!
1. Have a planning day - set aside one day in the week (I always do Sunday) which is when you do a big food shop and plan out your weekly meals as it really helps to do both at once and you could also so some meal preparation/baking for the freezer as well.
2. Plan your meat - when really sort on time (and energy) I just plan out the meat for the week - at least this forms the basis of a meal and if I need to get something out of the freezer I can remember to do this!
3. Have the same breakfast - Variety always makes things interesting but having the same breakfast can keep things really easy, and create time extra time (or extra thinking time) from having this the same for the week.
4. Have a planner - seriously this really helps! The reason I designed my Magnetic Meal Planners was to have a planner on the fridge which could easily be used, and whipped down for the next week (I use to have blue-tacked bits of refill paper up!). Having a planning system makes this process so much easier, plus I find having it up on the fridge reminds me to do the planning each week. You can get paper pad planners from shops like ...(but of course I think mine is pretty awesome!).
5. Keep emergency food supplies topped up - Make sure that your supplies of foods which can easily form meals (or the basis of meals) are always topped up such as eggs, tinned tomatoes, baked beans, cheese and frozen vegetables (as key examples).
More planning tips!!
For those in Christchurch and Dunedin, at my upcoming talks there I will be talking more about meal planning and don't forget our awesome special this week of a FREE tea towel and FREE white board marker with every magnetic meal planner purchased (ends this Sunday!)
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale
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