Due to being in culinary school and fulfilling my internship with a catering company, my motivation to cook at home is lacking. We have been ordering takeout on the evenings when Anthony and I work late, so this week I tried to get back into my meal planning.
When I used to live in an apartment with my friends, I often found myself wasting food because I would over-buy for myself and not get through the food quick enough. So now I have a different system: At the beginning of the week, I look ahead at our schedules to see what kind of time I'll have for each evening. I then write out dinner for each night, and from there I make a grocery list based off of what I'll need. I do have kitchen staples that I try to keep stocked in order to make different dishes so the weekly grocery orders don't break the bank (would you be interested in a post dedicated to what my "kitchen staples" are?).
I also aim to have leftovers after dinner so I can pack lunch for the next day.
Another tip that I follow: when planning out the meals for the week, I organize it efficiently so certain prep can benefit the next day's meal. For example, if I need to dice peppers for a Tuesday dish, I'll dice more than I need and store the rest for the next day. Or if I buy a big bag of potatoes to get the better deal, I'll plan out more dishes that utilize potatoes so nothing goes bad.
It all sounds simple, but I've noticed that we're sticking to a food budget without throwing away food.
With that being said, there are a few go-to meals that we make when it needs to be quick or simple.
#1 Taco Bowls
This is the simplest dish we can throw together at the end of a long day. Reoccurring items that are purchased include ground turkey (or beef), bell peppers, red onions, and avocados. I'll cut a bunch of peppers and onions ahead of time. I also keep our freezer stocked with frozen vegetables, and a main necessity is frozen cauliflower rice. I just have to season the ground meat, cook it, pop the cauliflower in the microwave, sauté the peppers and onions (or leave them raw, it's up to you), cut into an avocado, and we build our bowls. Sometimes I add salsa, other times I make sauce (in the picture I made chipotle aioli), or I just eat it as is.
#2 Slow-Cooked Dinner
If you have a crock pot, UTILIZE IT! We buy various meats in bulk (lately it's been different types of chicken to help with Anthony's liver) and I'll break it down into gallon bags so they're easy to grab out of the freezer. Then I'll experiment with a marinade or sauce, throw the meat in the crock pot, and it will be ready by the time we get home in the evening. Depending on the flavors of the sauce, we'll pull out prepped veggies to serve with it. My current favorite is honey & soy glazed chicken thighs, or slow cooking chicken legs so we can shred it off the bone. This is also super helpful with leftovers for the following day's lunch.
#3 Breakfast for Dinner
For the nights that we don't have enough ingredients for a substantial meal, we know that we at least have eggs and breakfast meat (mainly because I have a hearty breakfast every single morning). This week we had breakfast sandwiches with whole wheat buns, over-medium eggs, sausage, and bacon. I also used leftover potatoes to make home fries. You could even make a "dump omelet" and throw in whatever you need to use up. Or simple eggs with avocado toast! There are endless easy possibilities.
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This seems like a simple post, but I'm often asked how we manage to make dinner every night. The reality is that we don't; there are plenty of evenings when we pick up food on the way home from a long work shift. But in order to save money, looking ahead at the week for dinner has done wonders for us. I know how easy it is to accidentally let groceries rot away in the fridge, so I encourage you to make a realistic plan that works with your schedule. Something I am constantly reminding myself is "don't be the hero." For me this means don't plan a bunch of elaborate dishes that will be too time-consuming on a random night when I just want to go to bed.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting me. I'll talk to you next week!
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