Meal Planning?!
Meal Planning?
Can anyone help? I am trying to get better at preparing more meals at home. I am married and have a 2 year old. I am also doing WW. I am looking for any resources that would help me with weekly meal planning - healthy simple meals. Also advice regarding grocery shopping, stocking my pantry etc.
Answers:
You need a good basic cookbook with pictures and menu ideas. A good choice would be Betty Crocker's ring-bound cookbook. You could go online to my favorite food web site which has links to other recipes, cookinglight.com. Good luck with the weight loss!
Subscribe to the weekly paper and get coupons and sale ads They are usually in the Wednesday edition and additional coupons are published on Sunday.
I am married to a corporate chef, so I have everything from Moroccan, organic Argan oil to home-grown zucchini.
I wouldn't stock any less than these:
Cooking oil (canola and olive)
Salt
Sugar (granulated and confectioner's)
Pepper
Butter
Flour
Spices (cinnamon, Italian seasoning, garlic salt, etc. I order from penzeys.com)
Baking soda
Baking powder
Chocolate Chips
Oatmeal
Onions
Potatoes
Garlic
Chicken and beef broth
Pasta
Spaghetti Sauce
Parmesan Cheese
Tomato paste
Canned diced tomatoes
Eggs
Canned tuna
Milk
Celery
Parsley
The best recipe website is allrecipes.com. They have a guide for stocking your pantry with things you can use everyday, that won't go bad and can be very versatile with a lot of meals. They also have a Healthy Living section (which I swear by) that contains recipes geared towards losing weight, low carbs, low cholesterol, low and fat-free sugar, etc.
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-li...
Plus, all the recipes are rated and reviewed by users, so you know they've been tried before by people like you and me who are just looking to cook a good meal for our families! Good luck to you - I hope this helped!
Try and take a few minutes (yea, right - with a 2 year old?) and sit down with your SO (assuming you have one) and just discuss "So, whatcha want to eat this week?". Jot down what all you decide, make your grocery list from that and off to the store. Don't have a clue as to what you want? Go to www.cooks.com and check out some of the recipes there. Keep an eye out for sales on your basic items, such as canned veggies, flour, spices and stuff and stock up then. And if your store has a reduced for quick sale meat area check it out! (I always called it the used meat bin) - you can often get some great buys and the meat is still perfectly fine if used or frozen within the next few days