Meal Planning

I frequently get questions about my meal planning and how I manage to cook every night of the week. Really it's quite easy to make healthy, delicious meals for dinner, and ultimately it will save you time and money (who's guilty of standing in front of the fridge at dinner time, unsure of what to eat??)  It's ALL about the planning and it will only take you a whopping 20-30 minutes once a week.

Here's what I suggest:

1) Set aside a specific time each week to plan (schedule it in). Don't think of it as a chore- make it fun. Typically I meal plan on Friday afternoon after work, and sit down with 3-4 cookbooks, a pen, a shopping list and sometimes even a small glass of wine. I turn the tv on, lounge on the couch, and browse my cookbooks.

2) Find some good cookbooks. This is essential. I'm a picky cookbook reader...if it doesn't have pretty pictures, I'm not interested. My favorites are The Best of Clean Eating, "Clean Eating Magazine," and Make it Paleo. If you don't currently own any good cookbooks, get online and invest in a few. Also, Pinterest is another great resource.

3) Choose recipes that seem simple and doable. If you're like me, working a full time job (and a part time job, and in school), you don't want to spend an hour each evening cooking. I want something that is quick, healthy, and tastes good. I also don't want to buy a million ingredients for one dish, or go on the hunt for something I've never even heard of (kombu anyone?). If it seems to complicated, I don't even attempt it.

4) Don't be afraid to experiment. It's the only way to find new dishes. I've made several dishes that were AWFUL (ahem...leek and curry soup) and I will NEVER be making them again. However, I've also tried dozens of dishes that I was unsure about, and they have turned out to be our favorites. I just don't recommend trying out these dishes for the first time with company (sorry mom!) :)

5) Keep a running list of your favorite recipes as you discover them. This will make future meal planning even easier. I several go-to recipes that I repeat, so typically I only have to find 4 recipes for the week, and the others are just 'repeats.'

6) Do a double duty. As you write down your meals for the week, jot down the ingredients you will need as well. I keep one list where I write down my groceries, and at the bottom, I just quickly jot down the meals and the pages I found them on. Writing everything down will save you money in the long run, because you won't be buying items at the grocery store that you don't need, and nothing in your fridge will go bad because you'll be using it up by the end of the week :)

So...what's for dinner next week?