Do you meal plan?

17^th June 2018

You can start over at any moment you choose.

I had a lovely lazy day yesterday, I have to say ‘The Crown’ is a great series to sleep through, I know it’s really popular but it wasn’t doing it for me.  At least I’m caught up on my sleep now. I thought I’d stick with that theme and make today’s challenge to get your beauty sleep. Go to bed earlier, have an early night, better still for the entire coming week go to bed at least 30 minutes earlier than you usually would.  Getting enough rest promotes weight loss, reduces stress levels, improves your memory and decreases inflammation in the body (so I’ve read!)

This week’s meetings have been all about meal planning and budgets, sharing ideas, I think we all went away with some ideas, even the simple one I took which was to put oxo’s in my tinned tomatoes to take away the ‘Tomatoey’ taste and make my pasta sauce more meaty.  I also need to try the fakeaway big mac, using the stand and stuff boats, dry fry 5% beef mince (or chicken I guess) with onions, but in boats with shredded lettuce and slices of gherkin and top with low fat or protein cheese and low fat thousand island dressing.  It’s pretty tasty apparently.  

Mushroom mince was another good idea, apparently you can buy it ready prepared or just through mushrooms in the food processer and blitz, I might give that a go as I have a lot in the fridge to use.  It freezes well also.  The mince can be used for anything you’d use beef mince for and it’s cheaper.

The sauces from the meetings are used a lot too, they’re really low in Smart Points and the lemon one is delicious on fish or for fakeaway Nandos, the BBQ one for hunters chicken.  I still need to try that.

I’d done a shopping list using Asda for prices, everyone has different opinions on which supermarket is the cheapest but Asda’s website was easy to navigate and get the info I needed.  I’ve put that list at the bottom of blog, it all totals up to £80 but you wouldn’t need all of it, it’s just to give ideas of ingredients you could use to make a healthy, meal plan.

Why bother? Well whether trying to lose weight or save money, meal planning will help enormously.   Meal planning-enthusiasts argue most people buy far more than they need because they just grab whatever looks good once they’re at the supermarket and have no overall plan for actual meals to make with what they buy.

Planning means less stress, if you’re busy and / or stressed, get home from work and you haven’t got dinner planned, what’s likely to happen?  It’s unlikely to be a healthy, well thought out meal.  Meal planning stops the “what shall we have for dinner tonight?” question every night. Instead spend half hour once a week deciding for the whole week.

You won’t visit the supermarket as often, no going for a loaf and spending £20 on bits, you shouldn’t be throwing food away either as you’ll only buy what you need.   I also notice if I plan, I snack less because I know exactly what I will eat and when, plus I look forward to those meals.

Meal planning can be made simple, teach yourself how to get organised in the kitchen and solve the neverending problem of what to cook, day in, day out.  Are you stuck in a rut, do you want to feed yourself and your family good healthy yet tasty meals. If you struggle for ideas and end up serving up the same meals or buying the same ready meals constantly but wishing you could be more organised and have interesting, enjoyable meals planned then this is for you. Save yourself time and money with your shopping and cooking. Make use of those cookbooks instead of using them to keep a door open!

GET ORGANISED - GET A PLAN - GET INSPIRED

Where to start?  Get yourself a pad and write down a list of meals you like or look at that shopping list at the end of my blog and make a list of meals you could make with it.

             

Start with how many meals do you want to plan, do you tend to eat the same breakfast every day, in which case you don’t need to plan them,

Do you eat out once a week so you won’t need to plan that either, unless you’re planning what to eat when you’re out to make sure you stay within your Weight Watcher SmartPoints.

Start with an A4 sheet of paper and mark out the days and the meals, for example;

             

You don't have to follow the plan 100%, but at least you always have an idea if you need one and you can change or amend it any time you want to.

             

So to help you compile your plans some things to consider are

- who you cooking for, how many, who's in when.

- who's doing the cooking - you I guess most of the time, but you can live inhope

- where are the recipes if you're cooking from scratch, i.e. which cook book, what page.

- what ingredients will you need that you don't already have.

- any preparations you need to do, i.e. defrost foods, make marinades.

- what type of meals do you and your family like

           

Pasta & noodles (pasta with sauce, pasta bakes, stir fries,in soups)

Rice (stir fries, risottos, paellas)

Stews & casseroles (meat, vegetable, pulses)

Soups

Curries

Pizza / bread

Fish

Salads

‘Meat & 2 veg’ / roasts

Chicken

Tarts, quiches & pies

Fast food / takeaway / ready meals

Eggs (omelettes, frittatas, baked)

Puddings & desserts

- do you have favourite meals that all your family like,those regular fail-safe recipes you can do with your eyes closed.

- don't forget the ready meals and prepared things you buy, frozen chips, microwave rice, soup etc.

- go through those cook books and look for inspiration. Don't be afraid to try something new.

So what are you waiting for, have a go at filling in your meal planner, don't be over adventurous otherwise you won't follow it when it’s completed.

Why not start to put together a recipe scrapbook book, print off any you find online, or cut out of magazines. Keep a list of pages numbers and which cook book your favourite recipes are in.

Once you've done your plan you need to do the shopping list, start by making a list of ingredients, if you shop monthly you'll need to maybe do more than one list.

There’s enough to get you thinking there, Alfie is bugging me for his walk.  I’ll try and give you some recipes throughout the week in my blogs, but for now I’m off to take my dog for his walk.

Here’s to an excellent day, staying on, getting that early night, catch ya tomorrow BeYOUtiful. Let’s focus on the healthy & happy, I’m with you, together we will do this!

Carbs
Wholemeal bread	0.55
Porridge oats 1kg	0.75
long grain white rice 1kg	1.17
egg noodles	0.59
pasta  500g	0.45
tinned potatoes  550g	0.35
potatoes 2.5kg	1.50
spaghetti 500g	0.45
lasagne sheets 375g box	0.45
wraps x 8	0.95
wraps x 8	0.50
crumpets x 6	0.40
warburton thins x 6	1.40
Pitta breads x 6	0.49
Smash (serves 6)	1.25

Protein
Reduced fat cheddar 500g	2.49
Philidelphia light cheese 280g	1.50
Chicken breast fillets 1kg	5.79
15 eggs	1.19
longlife skimmed milk 1litre	0.54
fresh skimmed milk 4pints	1.09
tuna x 3 160g cans	2.50
chickpeas 400g can	0.33
red lentils 500g	1.15
chicken (large whole)	3.28
kidney beans	0.30
black beans	0.50
wafer thin ham 400g	1.50
beef mince 500g 5%	3.31
chicken sausages 6	2.50
pressed cod roe 200g	1.50
fish fingers (10 brids eye)	2.00
frozen white fish fillets	3.00
540g (2 for £5)
cook from frozen salmon fillets	3.00
360g (2 for £5)
tinned sardines in tomato sauce	0.34
(4SP for 120g)
pichards in tomato sauce	1.10
(9SP for 400g)

Fruit & veggies
cooking onions 1kg	0.50
carrots 500g	0.30
mushrooms 400g	1.00
tomatoes fresh x 6	0.69
cucumber
iceberg lettuce	0.50
tinned soups	0.39
sweetcorn 326g can	0.35
baked beans 410g can	0.23
chopped tomatoes 400g can	0.35
peas 300g can	0.21
frozen peas  1kg	0.76
frozen spinach 1.4kg	1.50
These frozen veg are 2 for £1.70)
frozen sweetcorn 1kg	1.10
peppers x 3	0.99
frozen mixed peppers 600g	0.95
frozen mixed vegetables 1kg	0.95
frozen sliced carrots	0.95
apples  pack of 6	1.00
satsumas 600g	1.00
bananas 10 pack	1.59
pears 500g	0.80
peaches in fruit juice	0.59
pineapple in fruit juice	0.78
Soup pack - fresh	1.00

store cupboard
oxos x 12	1.00
mixed dried herbs	0.37
garlic x 3 bulbs	0.55
garlic puree	0.78
chilli powder (rajah 100g bag)	0.50
curry powder (rajah 100g bag)	0.50
tomato puree	0.37
passata 500g	0.35
flour  1.5kg	0.45
low fat spread 1kg	2.00
block of butter	1.45
large natural yogurt  500g	0.45
soy sauce	0.49
sweet chilli sauces	1.48