Start meal planning to get healthy and save money

Meal planning is one of the key strategies I get my clients to use to help keep them on track with their healthy eating.  Not only does it help solve the “What shall we have for dinner?” issue, it also helps you save money and reduce food wastage.  You’ll just buy what you need and not waste food that you haven’t used.  It’s so much easier to reach for the healthy option when everything you need is already home in the fridge.

Unfortunately, I got a little lazy with meal planning at near the end of last year, and ended up wasting vegetables, and spent more money than I needed to going back and forth to the supermarket. Plus there were more takeaways than normal.

2013 is the year of regular meal planning for me.  Trust me, the little bit of effort involved makes it so much easier.

Here’s how I meal plan.
1. I check out the freezer/fridge to see what’s there and what needs using first.
2. I look through my fairly large stash of recipe books/magazines for recipe inspiration and pick 2-3 recipes to try, using some of what I already have at home.
3. Fill in the other days with old favourites that I don’t need recipes for such as wraps, steak and vegetables or chicken pieces with vegetables and some type of carbohydrate – either potato, kumara, brown rice or something similar.
4. Friday or Saturday is usually home made hamburgers or home made pizza and salad.
When I’ve got the meals planned, I do a shopping list of everything I need to get to make my meals, taking into consideration what I already have in the fridge/freezer/pantry.   I also use my blackboard to write down what I’m having for meals.

We have takeaways about once a fortnight – usually Thai or sometimes Subway.  Occasionally when we’re feeling really lazy I’ll get a Seared chicken burger from McDonalds. Yep, that’s right – sometimes I eat McDonalds (the lower fat choices).

When I meal plan, I spend about $20 less a week, sometimes more, than when I don’t.  And the best bit? Coming home and not having to stare into the fridge/pantry and think “What am I going to make for dinner?!”

What are your favourite dinner recipes? Do you meal plan?

A couple of recent meals (iphone pics!):