Weekly Meal Planning

One of the most helpful ways to maintain a healthy diet is to meal plan weekly.  Meal planning makes your grocery shopping easier too.  If you know what you are going to eat, you know what you are going to need to buy.  This way you do not end up with a fridge full of food and nothing to nosh. 

I don’t always stick to the plan, but most of the time I do.  I rarely throw food out or have food go bad. I don't buy much in bulk and only buy what I plan to eat.  I do keep canned goods in my cabinet and sometimes I change up what we eat.  Next Friday I might not be in the mood for pizza and would rather make sausage and peppers. 

I also like to cook a one pot meal on Sundays so that I have it for the rest of the week for lunch.  Soups, stews casseroles or chili are common in the winter.  During the summer, I tend to slack at this as I eat more salads for lunch. 

I use this simple grid.  I usually just check off  my dairy, fruits, veggies, protein and fiber. I also tend not to be as strict on the weekends with my check boxes (or fill them in at all). 

This is what I have on tap for next week. What do you plan to eat next week?  Do you like to meal plan in advance or do you just wing it? 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thurs	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Coffee +Cream Green Apple smoothie	Coffee +Cream Green Apple Smoothie	Coffee +Cream Blueberry Smoothie	Travel	Coffee +Cream Yogurt orange	Coffee +Cream Eggs Tacos (as brunch)	Coffee +Cream
Lunch	Leftover soup Cheese and grapes	Left over Pork taco  on salad w/ avocado	Travel	Travel	Leftover soup Cheese and apple		Weekly pot of food/Thai pork and noodle soup
Dinner	Green Chili Pork tacos Beans salad	lamb burgers spinach salad saffron brown rice	Travel	Travel	Homemade Pizza (veggie and meat) Salad	Dinner out	Dinner at Moms
Mid afternoon Snack	Yogurt tea	Yogurt tea	Travel	Travel	Pack of nuts tea
Night Sweet Treat	Mini chocolate bar	Ice cream	Travel	Travel	Blueberry pie		Blueberry pie
Dairy	Smoothie	Smoothie			Yogurt
Dairy	Yogurt	Yogurt			Cheese
Fruit	Smoothie	Smoothie			Orange
Fruit	Orange	Avocado			Apple
Veggie	Smoothie	Spinach			Soup
Veggie	Salad	Spinach			Soup
Veggie	Salad	Salad			Salad
Veggie	Chili	Salad			Salad
Veggie	Chili	Salad			Pizza Veg
Protein	Chili	Pork			Soup
Protein	Pork	Lamb			Pizza
Fiber	Beans	Rice			Soup