Meal Planning
Meal planning can be what makes the difference between successful eating, enjoying healthy and nutritious foods or not (opting for ready made meals or take-aways that are high in fat, sugars and salts).
I am a big advocate of meal planning because, being a full-time carer, as well as running my own business and trying to keep my own health in check, planning makes things easier for me, enabling me to shop ahead of time, plan my meals and recipes, ahead of time, and cook up using the ingredients I already have to hand without a mad dash to the shops where I may get tempted (depending on how hungry I am at the time of shopping) with so many goodies that surround me!
Meal Planning
How Much Effort Does It Take?
When planning home cooked meals for yourself and family, begin by deciding how much time you are willing to dedicate to them in the kitchen. If you have have been the kind of cook that relies on ready made meals or sauces straight from the jar or packet, then reconsider how much additional effort it may actually take to cook from scratch, using whole ingredients, controlling what you put into your dishes and using only ingredients that you love!
When you get in the habit of planning, shopping, preparing and cooking, you will see it wasn’t so hard or difficult as you originally may have thought.
Make a List
Begin by taking a few minutes to plan your menu for the week. Write down what you plan to make for each meal. Keep the meals fairly simple, especially at first Introduce variety by choosing different fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices, so that it keeps your meals interesting, tasty and nutritious as well as enabling you to enjoy your 5-10 fresh fruit and vegetable portions daily.
Then make a shopping list and write down the ingredients you’ll need to buy at the supermarket. A written list will save you time and money.
Breakfast
There is a wonderful saying which I love: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper!
This is how I typically enjoy eating, saving my last meal of the day for something light, like a salad or soup, or simply just some fruit, keeping the body light as it starts to relax and is limited to much movement.
Traditionally, breakfast foods are primarily made up of toast/bread, cereals, pancakes, porridge etc. These are all carb based, which is fine however you need to consider adding some protein, fruit and/or vegetables to make the meal a ‘complete’ balanced meal!
A good example is making up porridge oats with half water and half plant-based milk (to add a little creaminess to the dish), topping it with fresh fruits/berries and a teaspoon of your favourite nut butter or toasted seeds for crunch! This is both healthy and nutritious and incorporates carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins and antioxidants.
For a cooked meal alternative, enjoy your favourite bread toasted (wholegrain, sourdough) topped with tofu scramble and 1/2 an avocado.
For a non-cooked meal and perhaps something that can be enjoyed on the go, make up a smoothie using fresh fruit and/or vegetables, green leaves (spinach, celery, kale) with some form of protein (plant-based protein powder, nuts, nut butter, seeds, avocado) blended up with water or plant-based milk.
A Tasty Lunch
Lunch can be a hurried affair, especially if you are working in an office and working at your desk (home or office)!. It is important to take time out, step away from ‘doing’ and enjoying at least half an hour eating a hearty lunch and enjoying it, noticing it and mindfully digesting it.
Soups are a great option for lunch as they can be quickly made fresh, using a good amount of your daily vegetable allowance (making good use of leftover veggies hence reducing waste) as well as using up fresh herbs and spices to really bring it to life. This can be followed up with a jacket potato filled with delicious fillings. Baking a sweet potato will add extra nutrients that your body will love you for. Consider making a bean chilli to add as your filling, and when made up in a big batch, you can save it for another meal during that week or freeze to be used at a later date, therefore saving valuable time later down the line.
Sandwiches are also a great option, again using wholegrain breads and using fillings that are nutritious i.e. hummus, roasted vegetables, avocado and fresh salad/spinach leaves!
As lunch is going to be your 2nd main meal of the day, you can start making some delicious pies and bakes, which like the chilli, can be enjoyed fresh on the day and then kept in the fridge to be enjoyed later in the week or frozen for another time. Some options are: Veggie Shepherds Pie, Veggie Pasta Bake, Lasagne.
You can also start getting more experimental cooking up stews and curries.
Dinner
As mentioned before, because we are starting to wind down for the day with minimal movement, it is best to eat light in the evening, depending on the time you enjoy dinner and what your activities and movements are for that evening.
Of course this will all depend on your lifestyle and other factors (whether you are eat out, entertain family, friends, clients etc) so use your own judgement as to how you eat and when you eat your main meal of the day.
Keep It Simple
To keep to good meal planning, keeping your meals simple will make it a lot simpler for you. Stick to a porridge for breakfast, soups for lunch and a stew for dinner adding a salad or vegetable side dish. You can start introducing making multiple dishes when you have a) got the hang of meal planning and are comfortable and confident in the kitchen b) have more time c) have more energy d) need to cater to multiple diets and tastes e) for entertaining!
THINK:
Pasta with a topping (mushroom bolognese)
Rice covered with a sauce (curries, stews)
Soup and wholesome bread/crackers or roasted beans/seeds/nuts for crunch
Make Quantities
The serving size may cause you some concern if you are cooking for only one or two however we suggest that you still should make at least the full quantity called for by a recipe and refrigerate or freeze the leftover portions. This will save you preparation time later, and will enable you to find something tasty available for a future meal. Most of our recipes freeze well.
Shopping Habits
Supermarkets and Natural Foods Stores
With the list you’ve made for the week’s menu, start shopping at your local supermarket. Pick a shop that is interested in supplying good fresh fruits and vegetables as well as offers alternative products (wholefoods, healthy foods, supplements, world foods etc). As well as shopping at the supermarket, start exploring more independent shops as they tend to offer more ‘alternative’ items that can’t be found in your regular supermarkets. Also, find your local markets and farms to buy your fresh sustainable fruits and vegetables, with more variety and freshness than what the supermarket can perhaps provide. Also find a good ‘health’ shop where you can source additional supplements i.e. alternative foods, protein powders, vitamins, etc).
Reading Labels
The key to effective shopping is careful reading of labels. Ingredients are supposed to be listed in descending order of amounts in the package. Manufacturers can deceive you with the present food labels. Sometimes simple sugars, like sucrose, corn syrup, fructose and fruit concentrate, can be listed individually, in order to remove “sugar” as the first ingredient on the list. Manufacturers have found ways of hiding fats in ingredient lists by calling them “monoglycerides,” or “diglycerides.” You might recognise “triglyceride” as being a complex fat, but are likely to overlook the mono- and di- forms as some sort of additive, unrelated to fats.
For me personally, when you buy fresh and whole ingredients, you will be buying less jars and packet foods, therefore won’t have your mind blown away with names of ingredients you can’t pronounce let along know what they are or contain. Of course, with things likes store bought breads, always check these.
The main thing to remember is that the less ingredients a product has, the better and if you can make a food/dish, then make it! It will serve you and your health for longer and promote overall good health and wellbeing!
If you need a little help and assistance in this area of your life, we, as ROOTED VEGAN KITCHEN, offer a personalised meal planning service where we create a meal plan for you specific to your dietary requirements and goals, over a set period of time (determined by you) as well as providing a full shopping list and access to recipes that have been included in your meal plan.
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Here is what some of our customers say about our
‘Meal Planning & Nutritional Coaching’ Services!
“Living a busy life and with 3 children all wanting to eat different things at different times, I worked with Guilda to create a personalised meal plan over a 3 week period (to kickstart Veganuary 2024) simply to give me an idea of what to eat, when as well as find some new recipes to try. Not all my family are vegan however I did cook all vegan over the 3 weeks and surprised at how accepting my children were of the new dishes I made. Already cooking for 5, I made more food so that I can freeze for future use saving me time! I highly recommend Guilda and the team in creating a meal plan that otherwise would have seemed quite daunting to me to do on my own!”
— Kate H January 2024
“I work in the City and after getting back into travelling and work earlier this year, I wanted one less thing to worry about. I contacted Rooted Vegan Kitchen to put together a meal plan for me with the focus on me eating more plant-based and healthily as well as enjoying healthy snacks on the go, with the aim of losing a little bit of lockdown weight. That is exactly what I got and have signed up for the team to create a 3 month meal plan for me to help me in moving forward”
— Sonya A. June 2023
“After signing up for a 3 week personalised meal plan, I felt better knowing I was feeding my body better foods as well as learning some new dishes to make for my husband and I. ”
— Susannah K. September 2023
Since Covid and setting up a new online business, life has been pretty hectic and I can’t even begin to thank Guilda. She initially cooked meals for me based on the meal plan I selected and my goal (stay healthy and enjoy gluten free meals). We did this for about 6 weeks and then I thought I needed to take more control. So I subscribed to the 3 month plan which gives me all my meal plans geared to my diet restrictions (Coeliac), the shopping list and all the recipes. Really worth it for busy people and value for money when you think how much you end up spending buying ready made meals and takeaways and not feeling so great after lapping them up.
— Karen H. February 2022
I signed up to a challenge Guilda was running which I followed online and after completing this, I decided to sign up for the one week meal plan, just to see what it was all about and after a couple of weeks decided to sign up for the 3 month plan. I am certainly not disappointed and have a wealth of recipes to cook up that all delicious. I even signed up for a 121 cooking class which was 3 hours in duration which my husband and son joined in on. It was fun, light hearted and educational. Highly recommend making use of Guilda and her knowledge (especially if you want to learn online with her cooking classes).
— Samantha R. August 2022