Meal planning offers a wide range of benefits, from saving you time, money and effort to reducing household waste and providing healthier meals for your family. Here are some top tips to help you get started.
Start out by planning your meals for the first week or two. From here, gradually start increasing the number of planned meals.
Reduce any waste by taking 5 minutes before shopping to make a grocery list to make sure what you’re buying is what you need.
Save yourself time at the food store by creating a grocery list beforehand.
Cook in bulk and store the remaining food in air-tight containers or re-sealable bags. Keep them in the fridge or freezer for later use.
A fun cooking activity will not only give them an activity to focus on, but it can be an opportunity to learn some valuable life skills. Take a look at the BBC Good Food page for all sorts of great recipes that are perfect for your child to help prepare and cook!
Frozen food can be kept for longer, so using some frozen fruit and veg can make sure that last-minute meals can still be healthy and nutritious.
Every so often you could try making themed meals depending on the time of year to help make things more exciting for your family. For example, having dinner near Halloween? Spooky pumpkin soup.
For loads of different great healthy recipes, take a look at the Change4Life recipe page.
Looking for a quick refresher on this? Take a look at the video below.
On the lookout for some quick, easy and healthy recipes to try out? Take a couple of minutes to look at the ‘Healthy Eating’ page for all sorts of tasty recipes that are sure to keep the family happy!