Nutrition and Dietary AdviceNutrition and dietary advice from a professional

Menu planning can be the most time consuming part of grocery shopping, and it can be extremely difficult to plan in advance what you will be eating for the next week, two weeks, or month.

However, if you’re particularly busy you may find that having a list of pre-thought options makes cooking meals for the whole family a breeze!

5 quick tips for successful menu planning:

1. How often

Decide how often you want to visit the supermarket, whether it’s once a week, every two weeks, or once a month - ultimately it will depend on your schedule, and your family’s needs.

2. Number of meals

Work out how many meals you will need in that time frame. Remember to take into consideration main meals, side dishes, dessert, drinks, eating out, special occasions, expected visitors, and leftover nights.

You may want to have a simple list of meals for the week ahead, but rather than assigning a day to each of them, you can choose something from the list depending on your daily schedule. However, if you prefer to be more organised, you could write down exact meals for each day of the week.

3. Menu rotation

You may choose to write up two weeks worth of menus, or you could opt for a month’s worth. Remember to leave a few nights blank when you can try out new recipes, or have leftovers. You should also take into consideration the seasons, so that you can buy produce when it’s cheaper, and fresher, and include more soups and stews for winter, or salads for summer etc.

4. Dietary requirements

Use menu planning to help you meet your dietary requirements, for example including more fish each week, or eating more vegetables each day. To keep your menu varied, try using broad categories as the basis for your menu plan, such as:

• Poultry
• Fish
• Pasta or rice based
• Vegetarian
• Red meat
• Beans
• Eggs or cheese

5. Shopping list

Write down exactly what you will need by using a meal planner and shopping list, perhaps based on categories such as dairy, frozen foods, grains/pastas/cereals, canned goods, drinks, fruit and vegetables. Or, you may find it easier to base the shopping list on your normal route around the supermarket.

What are your menu planning suggestions?

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You may also like to read the following:

• 5 Tips for Healthy Food Shopping!
• How to Be an Organised Food Shopper
• Practical Tips for Organising Your Weekly Menu