What you need to know...
Pick a primary ingredient
When building a weekly meal plan this will help streamline the time you take picking recipes and planning a grocery list.
It's ok to not make every meal, every day
Utilize prepackaged ingredients
Build in a 'leftover' meal slot
It's ok to save time and energy by using foods that are already mostly prepped. Salad kits, rotisserie chicken, shrimp, tofu and single serving options are some of my favorite meal prep options.
Target just 1-2 meals throughout your week and build in the others with what you're already doing.
You will have leftover ingredients and prepped meals as you start to perfect your meal planning technique. Build in at least one 'leftover' meal per week.
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Meal plan #1: chicken
Chicken is a lean protein source packed with vitamins ant nutrients to help you meet all your protein and calorie needs. Here is an overview of how you can incorporate a budget-friendly meal plan that overlaps ingredients and allows for variety in your weekly meal plan.
Grocery list
Creating an efficient grocery list is critical to the success your meal planning endevors. It not only streamlines your shopping experience but also ensures that you acquire all the necessary ingredients to prepare a week's worth of meals with minimal hassle. Here is a comprehensive grocery list outlining the sample example weekly meal plan utilizing chicken as a main ingredient.
Fruits and Vegetables: Caesar salad kit, apples, blueberries, mango, that's it bars, tomatoes, English cucumber, red onion, green pepper, red pepper, spinach, salsa and cuties.
Proteins: Rotisserie chicken, eggs, parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast, and chomps stick.
Carbohydrates: Single serving oatmeal cups, Steam-able rice, popcorn, black beans, high fiber tortillas and high fiber pasta.
Fats: Grass-fed butter, parmesan cheese, string cheese, peanut butter, chia seeds and pesto sauce.
Weekly meal plan with chicken
Day 1
Breakfast: Blueberry peanut butter oatmeal
Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad wrap and 1-2 cuties
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken burrito bowl
Snack: apple and chomps stick
Day 2
Breakfast: Breakfast burrito and cutie
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken burrito bowl
Dinner: Chicken spinach and pesto pasta
Snack: Hardboiled eggs and That's it bar
Day 3
Breakfast: Blueberry peanut butter oatmeal
Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad
Dinner: Leftover day or other option
Snack: string cheese and blueberries
Day 4
Breakfast: Breakfast burrito and apple
Lunch: Chicken spinach and pesto pasta
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken burrito bowl
Snack: apple and peanut butter
Day 5
Breakfast: Blueberry peanut butter oatmeal
Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad wrap and apple
Dinner: Leftover day or other option
Snacks: popcorn with nutritional yeast
We meal plan to save time, money and improve the quality of our meals. You learned about the steps it takes to plan the components of creating a weekly meal plan in meal planning 101 and how to make a macro-balanced meal in building balanced meals. Let's see how to put all this information together in some examples of weekly meal plans.
The following meal plans outline nutritious and diverse options for each day, ensuring that the meals utilize overlapping ingredients to minimize cost and prep time. Here, we provide selections for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, accommodating various dietary preferences including a animal-based protein and plant-based protein menu.
Meal plan #2: plant-based
Following a plant-based diet has numerous benefits for your health as well as your budget. Here is an overview of how you can incorporate a budget-friendly meal plan that overlaps ingredients and allows for variety in your weekly meal plan by utilizing plant-based foods.
Grocery list
Fruits and Vegetables: Mediterranean salad kit, apples, cherry tomato, tomatoes, English cucumber, mushroom, spinach, red onion, green pepper, red pepper, bananas, blueberries and cuties.
Proteins: Dried chickpeas, Greek yogurt, chickpeas, firm tofu, soyrizo and nutritional yeast.
Carbohydrates: Single serving oatmeal cups, oatmeal, Steam-able rice, popcorn, black beans, high fiber tortillas and high fiber pasta.
Fats/Other: Cocoa powder, peanut butter, chia seeds and pesto sauce.
Weekly plant-based meal plan
Day 1
Breakfast: Overnight oats with almond milk, topped with blueberries and chia seeds
Lunch: Mediterranean chickpea salad and 1-2 cuties
Dinner: Chickpea pasta with pesto, nutritional yeast, mushroom and spinach
Snack: Apple and peanut butter
Day 2
Breakfast: Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie
Lunch: Leftover chickpea pasta from day 1
Dinner: Soyrizo southwest scramble salad
Snacks: Popcorn with nutritional yeast
Day 3
Breakfast: Blueberry peanut butter oatmeal
Lunch: Mediterranean chickpea salad and 1-2 cuties
Dinner: Leftover day or other option
Snacks: Apple and peanut butter
Day 4
Breakfast: Overnight oats with almond milk, topped with banana and chia seeds
Lunch: Soyrizo southwest tacos with an apple
Dinner: Stir-fried tofu, peppers and onions over rice (using leftover rice)
Snacks: Greek yogurt and blueberries
Day 5
Breakfast: Blueberry peanut butter oatmeal
Lunch: Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie
Dinner: Leftover day or other option
Snacks: Popcorn with nutritional yeast
Putting it all together
Crafting menus that overlap ingredients to make a cost-effective (and delicious) meal plans takes time and typically requires variety to be successful. Organizing your meal plan is a major part of this success. Research and write down the menu and groceries that you will need to purchase.
The easiest way to facilitate this process is by planning around a main ingredient then pick two different recipes to utilize that ingredient. Once you have two recipes selected try to incorporate ingredients from those meals with another meal or snack option. This will allow you to batch cook several meals at once.
You can also experiment with different cooking mediums from crockpots, air fryers, blenders and food processors in addition to the stove and oven. Get creative and explore different cooking mediums as you get more comfortable with building out your meal plan.
Once your meals are cooked, there are a variety of meal prep containers to utilize including microwave safe glass and BPA-free plastic containers. These containers come in a variety of different shapes and sizes including single serving and snack size options.
