...a good plan.
If meatless March has taught you anything, it's probably that I'm a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to planning my meals. I will be the first to admit that it is true...I sit down at the beginning of the week and decide then what I am going to cook over the next seven days.
I promise that my reasons are good.
Reason #1: Avoiding the "What am I going to make tonight?" moment
We've all had those days...you get home after a busy day and finally have time to think about something other than (school)work, and you're faced with the fact that you have to make something for dinner. Then you think of something that you want to make and realize that you don't have all of the ingredients...and then you end up ordering pizza.
Planning ahead avoids those days. First, you can buy the ingredients early on a day that you have the time to do so. Then you can plan easy meals (or leftovers) for nights when you know that you're not really going to feel like cooking. Finally, I find that having a delicious meal planned gives me something to look forward to...and gives me that little bit of extra motivation to get things done.
Reason #2: Delicious (and healthy) lunch
I'm not a big sandwich fan, nor am I fond of getting all my pots and pans out to cook in the middle of the day. As a grad student I'm also not flush with cash, which further limits my noon hour options. My solution was simple: leftovers. By planning my dinners I can also plan to have enough left over for lunches throughout the week. Saves time and money...and is oh so much healthier.
Reason #3: Waste not
As a person on a budget who lives alone, I desperately try to avoid wasting food (another reason that I'm big on lunchtime leftovers). This is a problem when it comes to produce: fruits and veggies are perishable. Having a plan ensures that I'm able to use everything in my fridge before it goes bad...remember the various kale applications from week 1, or the eggplant that ended up on my pizza? Planning prevents waste...and saves money, especially if you can make your plan work with whatever produce happens to be on sale that week.
Reason #4: Try new things
I don't think I'd cook as many new recipes if I didn't plan ahead at least some of the time. Whenever I don't want to do school related things (which is more often than I care to admit), I go through my cookbooks and pick out recipes that I haven't tried yet (or that I haven't made in a really long time)...staving off boredom.
Reason #5: Variety
When you're busy it's quite easy to fall into a rut where you cook the same things over and over again. It isn't necessarily a conscious decision...it just happens that way. Planning forces me to deal with the reality of what I actually eat because I write everything down: I know I'm getting into a rut when I find myself writing the same thing ("pasta" or "chicken") over and over again...once I know I can change things up to prevent myself from getting bored.
Reason #6: Health
Finally, writing down everything you're going to make forces you to come face to face with what you're actually cooking, teaching you what your bad cooking habits are. We all have these bad habits...mine is that I cook a lot of pasta and don't always balance my plate with an equally large serving of vegetables. The goods news is that once you realize what your bad habits are they are easy enough to change: I know that I have a tendency to overlook vegetables at dinner, and so I make an effort to add a large serving of these to everything I cook (case in point, cauliflower puree).
And there you have it...the reasons behind my obsessive meal plans. I don't expect that you're going to want to go from no plan to a full week, so start slow. Maybe you buy a couple night's worth of groceries at a time. Maybe you start getting a little more in tune with your schedule and realize which nights are tough for you and plan easy meals. Maybe you just plan to make a casserole or stew on Sunday nights that will feed you through the week (something that I do quite often). I know what works for me...take some time to figure out exactly what works for you!
If meatless March has taught you anything, it's probably that I'm a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to planning my meals. I will be the first to admit that it is true...I sit down at the beginning of the week and decide then what I am going to cook over the next seven days.
I promise that my reasons are good.
Reason #1: Avoiding the "What am I going to make tonight?" moment
We've all had those days...you get home after a busy day and finally have time to think about something other than (school)work, and you're faced with the fact that you have to make something for dinner. Then you think of something that you want to make and realize that you don't have all of the ingredients...and then you end up ordering pizza.
Planning ahead avoids those days. First, you can buy the ingredients early on a day that you have the time to do so. Then you can plan easy meals (or leftovers) for nights when you know that you're not really going to feel like cooking. Finally, I find that having a delicious meal planned gives me something to look forward to...and gives me that little bit of extra motivation to get things done.
Reason #2: Delicious (and healthy) lunch
I'm not a big sandwich fan, nor am I fond of getting all my pots and pans out to cook in the middle of the day. As a grad student I'm also not flush with cash, which further limits my noon hour options. My solution was simple: leftovers. By planning my dinners I can also plan to have enough left over for lunches throughout the week. Saves time and money...and is oh so much healthier.
Reason #3: Waste not
As a person on a budget who lives alone, I desperately try to avoid wasting food (another reason that I'm big on lunchtime leftovers). This is a problem when it comes to produce: fruits and veggies are perishable. Having a plan ensures that I'm able to use everything in my fridge before it goes bad...remember the various kale applications from week 1, or the eggplant that ended up on my pizza? Planning prevents waste...and saves money, especially if you can make your plan work with whatever produce happens to be on sale that week.
Reason #4: Try new things
I don't think I'd cook as many new recipes if I didn't plan ahead at least some of the time. Whenever I don't want to do school related things (which is more often than I care to admit), I go through my cookbooks and pick out recipes that I haven't tried yet (or that I haven't made in a really long time)...staving off boredom.
Reason #5: Variety
When you're busy it's quite easy to fall into a rut where you cook the same things over and over again. It isn't necessarily a conscious decision...it just happens that way. Planning forces me to deal with the reality of what I actually eat because I write everything down: I know I'm getting into a rut when I find myself writing the same thing ("pasta" or "chicken") over and over again...once I know I can change things up to prevent myself from getting bored.
Reason #6: Health
Finally, writing down everything you're going to make forces you to come face to face with what you're actually cooking, teaching you what your bad cooking habits are. We all have these bad habits...mine is that I cook a lot of pasta and don't always balance my plate with an equally large serving of vegetables. The goods news is that once you realize what your bad habits are they are easy enough to change: I know that I have a tendency to overlook vegetables at dinner, and so I make an effort to add a large serving of these to everything I cook (case in point, cauliflower puree).
And there you have it...the reasons behind my obsessive meal plans. I don't expect that you're going to want to go from no plan to a full week, so start slow. Maybe you buy a couple night's worth of groceries at a time. Maybe you start getting a little more in tune with your schedule and realize which nights are tough for you and plan easy meals. Maybe you just plan to make a casserole or stew on Sunday nights that will feed you through the week (something that I do quite often). I know what works for me...take some time to figure out exactly what works for you!
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