When I come home from work, everyone is hungry. "What's for dinner?" is the stock question. I used to not have an answer and hoped I could whip up something fabulous, healthy and great-tasting from the pantry without any forethought. Occasionally I would please everyone, but for the most part I was failing miserably. I'd think of something to make but not have a key ingredient. Or I'd have the ingredients but not the time it takes to prepare them. And forget about new recipes. Those were for weekends when I had the time and more energy to shop. I figured I needed a way to plan meals with my schedule in mind.
I found that if I spent an hour or two on Saturday morning planning meals and grocery shopping, the depressing question of "what's for dinner?'"goes away. By the time it's mid-week, it's too late to decide. I have a small notebook specifically for planning meals that I pull out and write the days of the week going down the left side. I check the calendar and include any specific times the meal has to be ready by and note the time next to the day. I leave a large empty space at the top for specific ingredients and commodities that need to be replenished. I then pull out the cookbook du jour and flip through recipes to see if any attract me. I write the recipes I want to try or have enjoyed in the past next to the day with the name of the cookbook and page number. Then I write all the ingredients I don't have at the top of the page. As a final thought to the planning stage, I write in the recipe book any changes I make to recipes and how much the recipe is enjoyed. I don't want to make something again if we didn't enjoy it the first time!
The next step in planning meals on a busy schedule is actually doing it! We always have fish early in the week and I like spicy Mexican food once a week. I start filling in the days with what's for dinner, then I go over the list and write in side dishes so I know what to purchase at the store. The list might look something like this:
Plan Meals On A Busy Schedule, Example for a Week:
eggs milk yogurt
lettuce carrots/celery apples/pears/bananas
mushrooms
Mango chutney
bread fettuccine
1.5 lb pork tenderloin
3/4 lb low-fat turkey sausage
Sat: Homemade Split Pea Soup, Cornbread
Sun: HC p.64 Pork Tenderloin w/Chutney Dressing, baked apples
6:00 Mon: Fish (sole), brown rice, broccoli
Tue: Taco, spanish rice, beans
Wed: HC p.66 Fettuccine w/Sausage, Mushrooms
5:30 Thurs: Chicken, sweet potato, salad
Fri: Salmon, green beans, brown rice
HC stands for Healthy Cooking Cookbook, a favorite of mine by Williams/Sonoma.
Now I tear out the list, grab my cloth shopping bags and visit my favorite grocery store. I make sure I purchase everything I need for each meal, plus anything I might need for breakfast, lunch and healthy snacks. So if I put sole on the menu for Monday I don't need to write it at the top, because I check each meal to make sure I purchase what I need. I check at the end of each section of the store; produce, meat, dairy, frozen that I've picked up what I need at the top of the list and on the meal plan for each day.
When I get home from the store, I freeze any meat that I'm not eating before the due date and prep any vegetables that need cutting. Now when I get home from work, nirvana! I know what's for dinner and about how long I need to prepare it. With my plan for meals on a busy schedule out-of-the-way, the entire family can sit down for a healthy meal and lively conversation!
Cynthia Simmons is a Weight Management Consultant. She recently
found a wonderful solution to her long term weight problem. She has
personally helped many people manage their weight loss safely without
drugs or being hungry. Her long-term goal is to build a team of happy,
healthy people to share this life-saving information with others
suffering from the same weight problems she had.
To find out more about Cynthia, see Plan Meals
To find out more about Cynthia, see Plan Meals
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