If you are trying to lose pregnancy weight, you will know that healthy eating is the best place to start.
But if you are trying to feed your family on a budget, you may be wondering what healthy eating foods you should be including that won’t break the bank.
You can enjoy a smoothie or some leftovers for lunch; and a smoothie for your breakfast or something simple like porridge or eggs.
Focus firstly on dinner as this tends to be where the most effort is put (and generally the biggest cost, as it is to feed the family).
10 TIPS FOR MEAL PLANNING DINNER AND SNACKS
1. Check your fridge, pantry and freezer and make a list of what you have on hand. For instance if you have some mince, plenty of brown rice, and a kilo of pumpkin note this down.
2. Check out the Lose Baby Weight website and our cookbooks to see if you can find some meals that include the ingredients that you already have. For instance for the items above you might decide to cook some Vietnamese Meatballs for Monday night, some steamed fish with brown fried rice for Tuesday and some Pumpkin Soup for Thursday. These can form the basis of your meal plan. Note down any ingredients that you need to make these meals.
3. Note down any days that you know you are busy, home late, or out, and be sure to plan accordingly. For instance you could cook a double batch of the meatballs on Monday night to serve with brown rice; and then use leftover meatballs to serve with a green salad or steamed veggies on the Wednesday night when you know you are home late.
4. Secondly, use the website and the cookbooks to decide on some other meals that use budget-friendly ingredients for the week (see ideas below). You might add a Shepherd’s Pie for Friday night, a mexican style lasagne for Saturday, and a Roast Chicken for Sunday night.
5. Always try to choose something for Sunday night that is great for leftovers for lunches the following week – think roasts, rissoles, soups, lasagne etc.
6. Try to spread out the meals so that you have a good mix of vegetarian options, as well as various protein bases (chicken/lamb/beef) and some seafood meals too.
7. Decide on a couple of healthy snacks that you will make and eat for the week. Why not try one sweet (how about the Carrot Cake Muffins) and one savoury (some 7 delicious home made dips with rice crackers), with chopped strawberries and Greek yoghurt for another after dinner option.
8. Make your shopping list and go to the supermarket or online to buy your food for the week. Buying online is a great way to shop on a budget, as you can watch your tally as you go, stay within budget, and make changes as necessary.
9. Find a time in the week to do a big cook up. If there is no time currently, you will have to schedule a time where your partner or a friend can watch the kids. Get as much prep done as you can and you will thank yourself through the week when you don’t need to cook from scratch every night. For instance you can make the healthy dip, the muffins, the double batch of meatballs and the soup.
10. Watch your portion sizes. Often we are serving ourselves far too much protein and not enough salad or vegetables.
