I have a bit of a weekly ritual. Every Thursday I plan out our meals for the week ahead, every Friday I grocery shop, and every Sunday I take two hours to prepare the majority of the food for that week. You know that saying, ‘It’s only effort until it’s habit’? That especially applies here.
Planning ahead not only saves you a ton of money, it makes it easier to grocery shop, easier to plan your meals and easier to maintain your health. It’s much more difficult to walk into the grocery store, guess what you should buy, hope it’s healthy and have no actual plan. And let’s face it, you might just walk out with a bag of gluten-free Oreo imposters, a tub of guacamole and a bag of chips (I’ve literally done this before).
To help you out, feel free to copy and paste my simple weekly meal planner and grocery list. You can enter your meal for each box, then make a grocery list based on only the items you need to make those meals (saving $$$!).
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | |
| Sunday | |||
| Monday | |||
| Tuesday | |||
| Wednesday | |||
| Thursday | |||
| Friday | |||
| Saturday |
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit the massive amount of food I made into one picture. Also, it’s now getting dark at 5pm. So lighting is NOT my friend.
For breakfast for the week, I chose a broccoli, grass-fed cheddar and tomato frittata. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees, mixed about 18 eggs in my blender, then poured them into a baking dish. I added broccoli, chopped cheddar and cherry tomatoes. Baked for 25 minutes, then portioned these out.
For Scott’s lunches, I made mashed sweet potatoes, herbed cod and cabbage. When the eggs were done cooking, I tossed four pieces of cod that I’d coated with a pre-made herb seasoning into the oven. I baked them for about 10-12 minutes. While they were cooking, I chopped up the cabbage and onions and began to sauté in butter and olive oil. I also cut up about three large sweet potatoes and put them on to boil. After about 15 minutes, the cabbage was cooked and the potatoes were soft. I mashed them with butter and portioned it all out.
I boiled four eggs for snacks. You can boil much more.
I steamed some broccoli for sides. I also had a ton of mashed sweet potatoes as well as cabbage leftover for sides.
While all of this was going, I was simmering some beef bones in my crockpot on low. I’ll drink this throughout the week and maybe even make a soup.
So in total:
- Breakfast for two people for five day – 10 meals
- Lunch for Scott for four days – 4 meals
- Four eggs – 2 snacks
- A ton of mashed sweet potatoes – 4 sides for dinner
- Leftover sautéed cabbage – 2 sides for dinner
- Bone broth – who knows, but tons of healthy goodness!
This is roughly 22 dishes, so not entire meals but still a ton of food you can throw together to save time.
I switch this up every week. I never make the same thing because I get bored easily. I often buy a whole chicken, roast it, take the meat off (for salads, tacos, wraps, etc) and make bone broth with the carcass.
Feel free to make whatever you like. The key is to plan for it. Make a meal plan, then add only what you need to your grocery list to make those specific meals. This will save a ton of money and ensure that you’re not buying the gluten-free Oreos!
© Mikeaubry | Dreamstime.com – Preparing The Ingredients. Photo
15 Comments
Awesome. Just a quick question: how do you store these meals? Fridge or freezer? Is the consistency of the frittata still fresh when you eat it? Is the beef still good?
Fridge, and all tastes great!
Omg please post what you do every week! I make breakfast, lunch and dinner for my partner every week and it gets intimidating and hard to be creative. Super helpful! Thanks!
It is safe to eat cooked things after they have been in the fridge after 5 days?? lol I usually have a 3 day rule
I do. As long as food smells and looks okay, I just eat it. I’m probably way too lax about this.
I usually have a 3 day rule with things I cook and put in the fridge… 5 days is ok? Especially the fish!
Oh yeah. I go to about 7 days. But I also am REALLY lenient with that kinda stuff. Probably too lenient, haha. I always do a smell test though. If it smells fine, it’s probably fine.
Is there a substitute for collagen for vegetarians?
Unfortunately not, but collagen is a great addition to a plant based diet due to the fact that there are no plant based forms of it.
Do you peel the eggs after boiling them or leave them in the shell until you eat them?
Either way works! It’s so convenient to peel them all at once.
I would love to love cooking but I don’t and since I’m truck driver is ever arder to prepare stuff to go. But great post thanks
How long would you say you reheat the fish for? Do you use microwave or oven? Also does it ever get dry or over cooked or do you under cook things to take into co soderation reheating?
Definitely don’t ever undercook things, especially meats. A toaster oven is perfect for reheating.
Fantastic plan. I love to cook but hate to meal plan. I am heading back to work so it is no longer optional. Thanks for making it seem doable