Planning Meals for the Week
Posted by andini on Jan 11, 2010 · Member since Aug 2009 · 49 posts
I'm back at school for another semester, and I want to plan out my weeks for food so that I can know exactly what to buy (cheaply!) from week to week without scrambling on a wednesday night before a meeting trying to come up with something. I also want to make sure I'm getting all the nutrients I need day-to-day.
Are there any web tools you know of that allow you to plan your week and count calories and nutrients? Anyone have experience doing this and want to offer tips?
Thanks!
Hmmm.... I don't know of/use any web tools to count calories. I hear FitDay has a good, free program. Personally, I find that if I try to eat a well-balanced diet of mostly whole foods, with the occasional cupcake indulgence, I don't need to count.
Here is what I do. I sit down at the beginning of every week and make a list with two columns. On the left are meals I want to make that week. I skim through my cookbooks or on vegweb and decide which meals I want to make. I try to make a few different things each week. I include snacks, main meals, and desserts. On the right of the column, I put down every ingredient, from all of the recipes, that I will need to purchase. I leave out anything I already have--like if the recipe calls for olive oil, salt, pepper, etc.-- I know I already have that stuff on hand.
Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly motivated, I create a list like this for the month. That way I don't have to be bothered with doing it every week. All I have to do is the shopping every week.
Anyway, don't know if that helps, but I thought I'd share!