Menu Planning Tips + Free Recipe Download

This simple habit is a major time, and health saver, yet it blows my mind how many people don’t put any forethought into their meals each week by simply planning a menu. 

​The benefits of planning a menu are many - It saves time each week as you don’t have to duck to the shops continuously for supplies, it saves money as you shop to your menu and don’t buy unnecessary extras, you are less likely to waste food as you are simply buying whah you need, it prevents turning to not-so-healthy convenience options because you can’t be assed thinking/cooking at the end of the day, and by writing down your menu you can see clearly if you’re eating a variety, and a healthy balance of different foods through the week.

If you’re in that category, and planning-a-plan seems all too hard, then here are a few tips to make it a smidgen easier for you: ​

1. Start with planning your dinners first (Or simply only plan your dinners), this is the meal that can cause the most hiccups when we don’t have it pre planned. Come the end of the day we are too busy, tired and unmotivated to feel inspired to shop for and then create something healthy. So everything done in advance stops you from both eating out too often, or begrudging your meals.
2. Look at your weekly schedule or diary first, and plan simple and quick meals for the busiest days. For example, on the afternoons that I have commitments, or I am tending to the childrens bedtime regime on my own, I always plan a slow cooker or traybake on that day, so come the busy patch, I do not have to spend any extrta time in the kitchen.
3. Follow the same template each week, for example; vegetarian on mondays, fish on Tuesday, slow cooker Wednesday etc. so come each menu planning day it’s easy to just fill in the days with new recipes without having to think “too much”. Come menu planning day simply Google "Chicken Recipe" and so forth for fresh ideas.
4. Schedule in a freezer friendly meal each week, then defrost that meal on a following week to save time (keep a list on your freezer door, or save it on your phone). 
5. KEEP your weekly menu plan, and recycle it again a month or two down the track. You are still getting plenty of variety, without having to spend too much extra time coming up with ideas. 

Need some fresh inspiration? Download these simple traybake recipes to add to your next menu plan!

pdf_traybakes.pdf
File Size:	59 kb
File Type:	pdf

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