Here’s How I Plan My Meals For The Week

Sticking to a grocery list and cooking plan helps to save money and avoid wasted food. I love planning my meals for the week and going food shopping. I could spend hours pouring over cookbooks, my favorite food blogs, recipe databases, Instagram, and Pinterest to find the best recipes. Usually, I get too ambitious and choose too many - I just want to make it all! I could also spend hours roaming the grocery store aisles, discovering new products.

First, I’ll figure out how many meals I need to cook that week. Then, I’ll take note of what’s in my fridge that needs to be used, and what pantry items can be used, such as rice, pasta, canned items, etc. Next, I’ll decide if I want to meal prep a few dishes, eat the same thing for lunch each day, plan to make dinners and have the leftovers for lunch, etc. Depending on those answers, I’ll then do what I mentioned above - pour over cookbooks, my favorite food blogs, recipe databases, Instagram, and Pinterest for either recipes or inspiration. Once I choose my meals, I make my shopping list, check it against what I have at home, and get to the grocery store! When I get home, I decide what I’m eating each day, and plan when to make it based around my schedule.

As I mentioned, when cooking, I’m either following a recipe, getting inspiration from a recipe, or doing my own thing. Learning how to read and follow a recipe is an important skill! You’ll start to understand common cooking techniques and why they’re essential. Read the whole recipe before you begin cooking, and be sure to read each step carefully, doing exactly as it says. There’s usually a good reason why you’ll need to do something a specific way. For example, if it says to sauté onions until browned, make sure they’re browned and not just translucent. Browning onions develops so much more flavor!

What’s an important cooking technique you learned from a recipe?