Meal Planning Tips to Help you Eat Healthy

Meal Planning Tips to Help you Eat Healthy

One of the best ways to simplify healthy eating – while saving money and time – is to plan your meals. One of the main reasons that a lot of people don’t cook at home is because they feel like it takes too much time. However, cooking at home is very good for your health, and having a meal plan makes it a lot faster and easier to prepare meals yourself.

Here are some tips that make meal planning easier.

Check Flyers

Before you make your meal plan, take a look at what’s available for a good price at local grocery stores and supermarkets. If you don’t get flyers mailed to you, check online. Most stores post their specials (and often their full flyer) on their website.

Consider What You Already Have

The average person wastes a lot of food and the main reason why is because they forget what they already have at home. This means they buy duplicates when they visit the store (leaving the older item more likely to spoil) or they cook meals, forgetting they have certain ingredients (which, again, makes it likely that items will spoil). When you’re making your meal plan and grocery list, take a look in your fridge and pantry and see what you already have.

Plan for Leftovers

One of the easiest ways to plan your meals is to purposely make enough for leftovers with a plan for how you’re going to use them. For instance, you might want to make enough food for dinner on Monday that you’ll have some left over to take for lunch on Tuesday. Or you might want to cook something large early in the week (such as a whole chicken) and then use it in a variety of meals over the next several days.

Schedule Around Your Life

Some days are busier than others. When you’re putting together your meal plan, keep this in mind. If you know that you’re not going to have a lot of time to cook on a certain day, because you’re working late or you have social or family plans, plan to cook some extra food the day before so you have leftovers.