I am pretty old school when it comes to planning and scheduling. Although I have an iPhone and I know there are tons of apps out there I am still a pen and paper kind of girl. Something about writing and seeing everything visually helps me. And thank goodness forEmily Ley! Without her planner and free printouts I don’t know what I would do.
I usually start my meal planning for the next week on Thursday or Friday depending on my schedule. I will look at what I have leftover from last week (thanks Laura for that tip) so I don’t waste food or let my produce go bad. Then I look at the recipes that I have pinned on Pinterest. I try to pair what I have left in my kitchen to the ingredients that I need to get.
Then I look at my calendar and see what my week looks like. Do I have plans one evening? Do I need easy/fast grab and go meals for lunch? If so I write this on my Emily Ley printout. This is usually a work in progress and will change depending on how my plans change.
Next I start skimming the recipes and I have pinned and pick out a few more if I need them. I check my cabinets and make a list of what I need. I always add a few extra fruits and veggies to the list to have on hand in case something changes or if I need a quick snack. I also check to make sure I have enough almonds and plantain chips from Trader Joes—Lifesaver during Whole30 when you just want something crunchy that isn’t celery or carrots!
On Sundays I go to the grocery store or stores depending on what I need. I will come home and begin my food prep for the week. I tend to cook most of my meals Sunday and will just reheat or add to them as needed. I don’t like coming home from a long day at work followed by a workout at the gym and having to cook. I have tried before and ended up eating out. This is something I have done way before Whole30 and I just incorporated it.
Here are the recipes I am cooking this week.
Sweet Potato Chili
Root vegetables with kale— I added chicken sausage to this
Once everything is cooked I divide them out into individual servings so I can easily pack my lunch or know where things are for dinner and put them in the refrigerator. If there are leftover servings I will freeze them to have on hand if a recipe doesn’t work out right or I just don’t want to cook as much one week. Freezer meals are sometimes my best friends! I keep plenty of fresh fruit on hand to eat throughout the week.
The one thing that I do that is definitely repetitive and doesn’t make sense to anyone but me is I will take my print out and transfer it into my planner and then throw the printout away. The printout is more of a planning tool, as you can see from the many changes I have made this week. My planner is my lifeline! I look at it multiple times a day and use it to know what I need to pack for lunch, what’s for dinner or if I need to pack my dinner for the next day or not.
How do you plan for the week? I would love to know!
–Betty
betty Gets Fit 