At the end of a long day, there are so many ways a hungry person can go wrong. Maybe the fridge is empty or
filled with wilted vegetables. Chopping something sounds exhausting. Or last-minute schedule changes make
the drive-through irresistible.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Experts say that whether cooking for one, two, or an entire family, a little advance
meal planning can ease the relentless pressure of life’s most enduring riddle: “What’s for dinner?”
Try these nine tips for working healthy eating into your week:
- Get out the family calendar.
Start small by looking at just a few days at a time.
Once you know which nights people are going
to be home, decide what you
want for three or four meals.
- Do a quick inventory.
Check the pantry, fridge, and freezer
to see what’s already on hand. Are you
low on staples like rice, quinoa, and pasta, the
kinds of foods that mix-and-match with many
proteins? How about eggs, milk, and yogurt? It’s
also likely there is too much of some items, so
concentrate on using them before restocking.
- Plan for no plan.
On any given night, dinner can get derailed.
Have some ideas for several “do it yourself”
meals, like single servings of frozen leftovers,
wraps, or canned soup.
- Make a list.
Armed with what you need, what you have, and
some DIY alternatives, resist the temptation to
wing it. Research has shown that people who
routinely shop with a list have a better diet and
maintain a healthier weight than those who don’t.
- Get chopping.
Once you’ve
shopped, take
time to prep all your produce. You’re more
likely to cook if you’ve already diced the onions
or eat a salad if the peppers and cucumbers
are pre-sliced. Once you’ve prepped your
vegetables, store them so they are visible in the
fridge so they don’t go to waste.
- Start a tradition.
Whether it’s meatless Mondays, taco Tuesdays,
or Friday night pizza, designating a day or two
each week to the same kinds of meals makes
planning easier—and you can vary foods
while sticking with the theme.
- Cook in batches.
Double up on recipes like chili, soup,
meatballs, and casseroles and use Tupperware,
plastic bags, and masking tape to store, label,
and date leftovers. Cook other simple recipe
components, like plain chicken and ground
meat, in advance which can easily be thawed
and added to recipes later.
- Think beyond dinners.
Make breakfast foods, like breakfast
burritos or healthy muffins, in
enough quantities to freeze.
- Go on. Be lazy.
Buy frozen vegetables that
are recipe-ready, such as chopped onions,
cubed squash, or stir-fry medleys. The more
easily you can throw a recipe together, the more
likely you are to make it.