Meal Planning.
This is not a hard thing to do but I think many of us find ourselves standing in the pantry or in front of the fridge.. umm… ok, what to make? (sigh) or yeah… that pasta has been sitting there since Monday. I guess I should throw it out. Wait! oh there is that leftover dish! uh, has it really been a week? Ya, that has to go. Astagfirullah… look at me! I am being tabdir in throwing food out … I should reeeaaally keep it. But…oh?…what is that spec of fuzzy green on it?… yeap… throwing it out…. Gosh, I am making waay too much food that its going to waste. Or, oh dear… I overate the whole week…because I didn’t want to throw anything out, fatty.
Sound familiar?
So, I came up with a way on making yummy food for the whole week. I have been testing this method out for the last couple of weeks and it kinda works. Disclaimer: I am not a health expert nor nutritionist. I am simply sharing my own methodology in ensuring I am economical and as healthy as can be feeding 3 guys on the go and on a budget.
Here goes:
1st, you want to list out the main foods categories you want to eat each day of the week. Download a meal planning sample here.
Example:
- Monday: Beef
- Tuesday: Chicken
- Wednesday: Fish
- Thursday: Vegetarian
- Friday: Pasta
- Saturday: Fresh & Light
- Sunday: Enjoy
2nd, These themes are to be used for Lunches as well and add: snacks, fruit / fruit cups and bread/rice/potato. I personally like to make extra dinners to then be used for lunches. You can see how I did it in the sample weekly meal planner.
Staples that I usually have in the pantry:
- Trail mix / Walnuts / Almonds / Pecans.
- Fruit cups / apple sauce (unsweetened)
- Crackers
- Bread in the freezer
- Frozen chicken breast
- Carrots/ celery
- Peanut butter & Jelly
- Hummus
- Canned Tuna
3rd, Choose 2 or 3 breakfast foods you can stand to eat all week.
Example:
- Monday + Wednesday = Cereal, fruit, boiled egg
- Tuesday + Thursday + Friday = Yogurt, Fruit, boiled egg
- Saturday + Sunday = scrambled eggs + Fruit
So for breakfasts you can buy (based on the # of people in your family):
- Eggs
- Cereal (that all can eat)
- Milk (I like the sterilized Milk because it doesn’t go bad)
- Fruit
- Yogurt
The goal here is to eat efficiently and as healthy as possible. As you see on the sample week long menu planner I have used the leftovers for next day lunches. I find this efficient and a great way to NOT have too much leftovers hence conserving on food costs, time and energy spent making these meals.
Insha Allah this of benefit to you and your family!
Download the sample menu and shopping list here:
For a blank Weekly Menu Template click here!
