Meal Planning Can Actually Be Fun!
You might think of me as crazy for thinking something as mundane as meal planning can be fun. Yes, I said FUN.
I mean really, is it fun to have to schlep to the store, sometimes with cranky children, navigate busy aisles with your cart and then aimlessly roam around because you’re not sure what to buy? Definitely not, but you can probably imagine that’s not my vision of meal planning and shopping!
I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not a big fan of going to the grocery store. It’s always seems to be busy and there are far too many people for my taste! I like to get in and out with minimum interruption, and in a perfect world, I’d be able easily navigate all the aisles, find exactly what I’m looking for and have a grocery staff at the ready to help me, when I couldn’t (which does actually happen when I shop at Trader Joe’s). So I make the whole experience of meal planning much more interesting by doing a few simple things:
- I do my planning on Saturday morning and time it so that I’m listening to Car Talk or Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on NPR, which always puts my in a good mood and makes me laugh
- I make sure to have a favorite drink (like a fresh vegetable juice that I’ve just made) or breakfast (this time of year it’s raw oatmeal) while I’m brainstorming the week’s meals
- I go to the farmer’s market, either on Saturday or Sunday morning and get inspired by the fresh produce I see. I build the week’s menu around at least some of the fresh items. So I have a general plan that gets more specific once I scope what looks fresh (like Sunday I saw some delicious looking green beans that I decided to buy)
- I get in an even better mood when I go the farmers’ market. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t see someone I know, stop to talk and have a few laughs. On Sunday it was simply gorgeous outside and I ran into my friend Glen who owns a raw food cafe in West Haven. We caught up and he told me about the nature walk and raw food dinner he was planning for that night
- I keep the planning simple. No elaborate meals here. Bruce and I talk about what we might feel like eating. This time of the year our diet is very light - lots of fresh fruit and veggies and fresh fish. So we focus on meals with minimal prep and time in the kitchen. And I keep a binder of go-to recipes, our favorites, which I’ll consult to help me with ideas. I have about a dozen simple entrees that we can quickly whip up
What do you do to make meal planning fun and interesting? How does it support creating a healthy lifestyle? Please share your thoughts.
And stay tuned for my next post about simple tips to make shopping more efficient and enjoyable.
Filed under: Food preparation, Healthy lifestyle, Healthy Meals, Meal Planning, Food Shopping, Locally Grown Food
I have been enjoying listening to your blogs each time you send them to us and thanks for the tips on eating healthy. I finally got a chance to try some dried kale greens at the Farmer’s Market on Church St. in New Haven a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t stop eating them, they are so good so no I have to make them at home. Talk to you later…..
Hi Renee,
I’m so excited that you tried the kale chips - that is great. Keep up your healthy eating efforts and let me know how it goes when you make them at home!
Wendy