Whether you’re working a full-time job, studying at university, or raising a family, planning meals can be very difficult. Many people find that life is too busy and end up choosing convenience over enjoying tasty and healthy meals. This can lead to them becoming less healthy and overall not being as happy as they should. That’s why we think that everyone should plan their meals, cook at convenient times for them in order to be able to enjoy food again!
Discovering new favourite foods
When you plan and prep your meals, there are so many benefits which you will see.
Firstly, meal planning gives you the opportunity to explore new foods. If your shopping list is the same each week, or you reach for the same items which are not exciting you, you need to find new recipes and plan to incorporate them into your week. It’s a great idea to pick a new recipe from your favourite cookbook and try that each week. If you find a couple of recipes which use similar ingredients, I.e. Carrots or broccoli, then you will get full use out of the ingredients you have bought, but two completely different and delicious meals.
Meal planning is perfect to relieve food boredom, as you can explore new foods and find which foods are best to cook in season. This will push you and your family or friends to try new kinds of fruits, vegetables, and meats, which is overall great for your health.
Easy money saving habits
The next benefit is that you will save money. Do you often find yourself with no idea what to cook, then reaching for your phone to order food online? This happens to all of us. However, it can end up being a costly habit as the cost of ordering a takeaway is hugely more expensive than creating delicious home-made recipes.
Aside from takeaways, meal planning also gives you the opportunity to bulk buy food and cook multiple portions, which can work out cheaper since buying larger quantities of food is less expensive than buying to cook 1 meal. If you do decide to cook multiple portions, or ‘meal prep’ then you’ll also be saving money on the cost of electricity used whilst cooking, which is great news in the current climate.
Reducing your food waste
By properly planning your weekly meals, you’ll likely reduce your food waste in the process. Poor planning means we often find ourselves lacking the correct ingredients to make perfect homemade meals. This can lead to reaching for convenience foods or takeaways, which will leave the ingredients you do have in the fridge to go off and need to be thrown away. It is a common reason for food waste to increase.
By pre planning your meals and weekly shop, you’ll have all the correct ingredients which you can make your meals with, meaning the likelihood of you reaching for a takeaway will be much lower. This will keep your diet healthy and reduce your food waste at the same time.
Creating healthier habits
Planning your meals can be beneficial to your health in so many ways. Whether your goal is to lose weight, reduce body fat or just eat healthier foods, planning your nutrition is one of the best things you can do! By creating weekly meal plans, you can ensure you eat well and reach your health goals. If you find yourself lacking time to cook nutritious meals, planning ahead and meal prepping can fix your problems.
There are an abundance of meals which you can bulk cook and eat throughout the week. By scheduling a time during the week to pre cook meals for the week, you’ll be much more likely to stick to your goals as all you will need to do is reheat the food. Whether this be a weeknight evening, or a Sunday, finding time is a great place to start. Some great meal prep ideas are taco bowls, stir fry, pasta dishes and one pan chicken and vegetables. For some inspiration for meal prep, check out the recipe section of the Dr. Cooker website.
Reduce stress in your life
We know life can be stressful and extremely busy. From work to family life, sometimes we all feel like there is not enough time in the day to complete all the daily tasks. But the benefit of meal planning is that you can be in control of the time you have to create delicious meals and eat nutritious food. By creating a plan on what you will eat for the week and considering meal prepping, you can reduce stress in your life.
This is because you will never be left with no food in the house for dinner, or no idea as to what to make when you are having a hectic day. If there is any reason to create a meal plan, reducing stress is a great one. It will leave you feeling de-stressed and help you fuel your body with healthy foods to keep both your body and mind healthy.
Overall, there are so many benefits to meal planning. From saving money to reducing food waste, it is great for everyone to do. If healthy eating is your goal, finding a time to meal prep is a perfect solution to save time and create healthy meals. We hope this post has inspired you to start meal planning in your home!
