Gluten Free, Dairy Free: Meal Planning
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meal Planning
The idea of meal planning and prepping used to scare me. Add food allergies to the mix and I felt like it was never going to work! It actually made my life a lot easier. After running with it for a few months though we came across the odd weekend when I was just too busy to plan my week of meals for the family. The result: the evenings were stressful and busy. Now I always make time for it and believe me, after a while it doesn’t take that long! Let’s take it one step at a time because if you’re new to meal prepping it can be rather daunting.
Planning
Planning is important. Do you know what you have in your refrigerator, freezer, cupboards and pantry? If you haven’t checked then now is a good time to take stock of what you already have and perhaps discard anything that is out of date, beyond being eaten, or you aren’t allowed to eat anymore.
Do you see anything that absolutely needs to be used this week before it goes off? Great! You’ve got some idea of what you’ll be using in your meals straight away. It’s super easy to get some structure to your meal planning when you have certain items in mind to base some meals around.
Decision Time
Sometimes deciding what to make can be one of the most daunting parts. If your in a family you may be worried about keeping everyone happy. Don’t be worried. If you’re totally stumped for recipe inspiration, go online and find some ideas that get you super excited about what to cook. Pinterest boards are great for this and as an added bonus, you can pin anything that looks interesting for trying yourself (check out our Pinterest).
Let’s look at an example week of dinners.
Sunday: you may decide to cook a roast. Why not pick up a larger joint than usual and something that can be used in a couple of meals. Let’s say you picked up pork. What will you serve with it? Roast potatoes, vegetables perhaps?
Monday: you may decide to make BBQ pulled pork burgers. What do you need for this meal? Buns, Baked Potato or Wedges? Salad or Vegetables
Tuesday: you could cut some up and make a Pork curry. A Korma perhaps or a Rogan Josh. Do you need rice, chutneys, poppadom, naan bread
Wednesday: you could have a warming soup, mixing up some meat with any vegetables you had left over from the roast. Perhaps served with some toasty bread?
Thursday: you can have a simple pasta with tomato sauce, kidney beans (meat if you have any left over) and any other veg that is starting to look like it needs using up, Serve with a salad perhaps? Do you have some in the fridge still that looks like it needs using up?
Friday: perhaps treat yourself with a take out, or in future weeks a take in! Something you already have in the freezer which you can just take out and use.
Saturday: I use as a left over day. Anything in the fridge is used up or frozen before the next big weekly shop. The fridge is wiped down (takes 5 minutes when you do it every week) and the fresh food placed inside.
Time to Shop
So you have your list of meals. What do you already have in the house and what do you need to buy to make them. Make the list, add on anything else you need for the week and stick to it when you are shopping. I would also suggest that you make sure your kitchen is full of staples. These can be used in a variety of meals. They include: meats, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, grains such as rice, quinoa and pasta, beans, proteins, flours, nuts, herbs and spices, seasonings, breadcrumbs, condiments and baking ingredients. Remember to include your ‘dairy or dairy alternatives’ on the list. You don’t need to buy these all at once! You can buy some each week and also look out for them in the store when they are on offer. That way you save yourself even more money.
After a few weeks of me doing this the family wondered what I was writing down at the weekend over my coffee in the morning. When they found out it was planning food for the week they soon chirped in with their own ideas. This was also a great time to suggest that if they wanted ‘a taco night’ or ‘a pizza night’ then they could also help me.
I promise, give this a go and not only will you find you save money at the supermarket, but you will also save yourself time during the week and you will be a lot less stressed come the evening dinner ritual. You may also find some new helpers in the kitchen! Meal times have become fun again and at the end of a long day who need the stress of figuring out ‘what’s for dinner?’
If you require any further information or help then please get in contact with me via the form online.
I hope you have enjoyed this information. Until next time!
Emma Alexander-Cook.
