Meal Planning- Save Time & Money While Reducing Food Waste
Why meal plan?
- Reduce Food Waste
- Save Money
- Save Time
- Help Cooking Fit Your Schedule
- Make Cooking Fun
Food Waste
According to the USDA, “In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply.” This waste comes from many different areas including: consumers desire for “pretty,” uniformed, unblemished fruit and veggies, food spoilage in grocery stores, and waste in our own homes among many other areas. Besides using and purchasing less than perfect produce, the number one place we as consumers can stop food waste is in our own kitchens:
- Cooking with what is oldest first
- Not over buying
- Buying in season produce
- Knowing how and where to store food
- Getting creative with using leftovers
- Using freezer to prolong foods edible life
- Having a few go-to recipes for using up scraps
- Meal Planning
Saving Money
If you over time work these concepts into your kitchen and mindset about food, not only will you reduce your food waste, but you will SAVE MONEY! Every scrap of food or old apple you throw out is your hard-earned money going out the window. Also, a reduction of over buying will reduce unnecessary food spending on your wallet.
Saving Time and Fitting Cooking into Your Schedule
Meal planning can help you save time in a few areas. First, it can save you time trying to figure out what to cook. Depending on your method of meal planning, it can save you time/trips to the grocery store, because you know exactly what to purchase. And it can help you save time by making cooking better fit into your schedule.
Personally, I know that my evening commute is typically between 45-75 minutes depending on traffic and when I leave work. So, after a long day, I do not want to have to cook for an hour. Meal planning allows me to schedule out how much cooking fits into each night of the week. Mondays I come home tired; I want a meal that was cooked over the weekend to make dinner an easy re-heat night. On Tuesdays and Wednesday my teaching load tend to be less draining, so I might be willing to spend 20-40 minutes making or refashioning dinner. Thursdays seem to be my longest days, so we reserve Thursdays for Date Night and eat out (or these days takeout). Fridays are the start to the weekend, which is when I normally grocery shop. I use Friday to create a meal with whatever has not been eaten; that may be unexpected leftovers or fashioning a quick pasta topped with odds-and-ins. Then Saturday and Sunday are often when I make up a meal or two or components that take time to cook like bean or a batch of veggie sausage. By making meals or components ahead it makes later mealtimes easier. I can save valuable weeknight time and making cooking fit my schedule.
Make Cooking Fun
Some people see cooking a chore. Meal planning can make that chore into more manageable bits. For me though, cooking is a creative outlet. Cooking allows me to experiment and create with a delicious art form. That being said, I do not have the time to play around and create new fun meals every night. Meal planning allows me to plan into my schedule the “new recipe that I have been wanting to try.” Or opens the door to experimenting with a new veggie or sauce. I go through phases of how meal planning and experimentation fit into my life. During this time of Covid-19 and working from home for months, I have used the time gained back from commuting to experiment more. As I transition back to working on campus full time, I will swing back to standard formula. Plan out 90% of the meal with recipes that I have made previously. Then that allows me room to play with an experiment when there if time to fully enjoy it. If you grew up or function in a similar way to my family growing up, you have a standard handful of recipes you rotate through for meals. By allowing for one or two “new” recipes each week, you are bringing variety and possibly adding a new meal to your rotation.
Before You Start
No matter your method of meal planning, the one tip that will save time in cooking and shopping is to make a list of staple items as you use them up (Or even as they are running low). This will cut down on extra trips to the store and will ensure you have everything you need when it comes time to cook. You could have a note pad on the fridge or a running list in your phone. Just make sure to take note of what you need as the ingredients are used. Finish off the last of the cumin – writer it down. Only have a few tablespoons of peanut butter – write it down. So that way you will never forget, because if you do not write it down… you will.
Meal Planning Method #1- Plan Before you Shop
This method allows you to see what you already have that needs to be eaten first and plan meals around that. Next you plan out the rest of the meals for the week. You then end up with a grocery list of exactly what you need as well as a plan on how to make it happen.
1. Check what you already have that needs to get eaten/used.
- From that list what can you make?
- Do you have the other ingredients for that dish or recipe?
- What do you need to purchase to complete those meals?
2. How many meals left do you need?
- Do any of those need to be:
- Eaten on the go?
- Make ahead and reheat?
- Of those meal left to fill in:
- Pick 1 new recipe - pencil that into a space where you have more time.
- What ingredients do you already have?
- What ingredients do you need to purchase?
- What old recipes/meals do you like to cook - where do they fit into the schedule?
- Will there be leftover (does it make enough for 2 meals)?
- What ingredients do you already have?
- What ingredients do you need to purchase?
3. Leaving 1 or 2 slots open during the week for eating out, take-out, improv if you know you like to eat out or simply eat cereal for lunch on Saturdays.
Meal Planning Method #2- Plan After you Shop
Method #2 allows you to go shopping with a less concrete list, and then form a plan with what you have purchased. This method takes adapting to what is freshest to prevent food waste and a little more creativity to be able to make combinations from the pool of ingredients you have brought home. If you are a member of a CSA or like to shop what looks the freshest at the Farmers Market, this method is for you. After bringing home your groceries and produce, you will take stock and figure out what can be made.
1. Check what you already have from last week that needs to get eaten/used.
- From that list what can you make?
- Do you all the ingredients?
- Would you need to purchase something to complete those meals?
- Can that be substituted for something else?
- Or is there a better meal plan to use that ingredient using what you have?
2. How many meals left do you need?
- Do any of those need to be:
- Eaten on the go?
- Make ahead and reheat?
- Of those meal left to fill in:
- Pick 1 new recipe to keep life interesting.
- What old recipes/meals do you like to cook - where do they fit into the schedule?
- Will there be leftover (does it make enough for 2 meals).
- Think about what produce will spoil first and plan around that.
- Get creative with recipe – switch out ingredients as needed.
3. Leaving 1 or 2 slots open during the week for eating out, take out, improv if you know you like to eat out or eat cereal for lunch on Saturdays.
4. Lastly, after forming a plan, what will not be using up?
- Is it going to go bad before the week is out?
- How can you fit it into the planned meals?
- How can you preserve it for future use?
- Will it freeze as is?
- Could you make a quick pasta sauce to freeze?
- Can it be pickled?
- Will it last longer than a week?
- Go ahead and start thinking about how to use it next week.