Why and how I meal plan
In the years before M joined us, we never planned our weekly meals. When in New York, coming back from work on the subway, Lachlan would look up a recipe to make, and then stop at the corner shop next to our place to get the ingredients for dinner. Then M joined us and for the first few months I didn’t have to think what to feed my child. But then one day, at the four months check up, the paediatrician told us we can start introducing M to solid foods. And I wasn’t ready.
My response was to immediately acquire numerous books about introducing foods to small humans. This was the first shift in consciously thinking and planning what we eat so that M gets a balanced diet and the nutrients she needs to grow healthily. But even then, we were not doing a weekly meal plan. The whole idea seemed foreign to me and I resisted. However, in 2018 we decided to give it a go and we haven’t looked back since.
I was talking to friends about cooking the other day. They said that with full time work, kids, and other commitments, they do not have the mental capacity to be creative in their weekly meals selection. One said that she relinquished the responsibilities of food shopping and cooking to her partner because they have more free time. Another said that trying to come up with meals to cook was like staring at a blank canvas. I can understand that. When I need to pluck ideas of what to cook from thin air, it is hard to come up with ideas.
We find having a meal plan reduces our mental load because we don’t have to think about what to cook on a daily basis. That decision was made for us already; by us! It makes our week extremely easier. It also makes it easier to cook more complicated dishes because we can plan ahead for them. We can put the veggies to roast during our lunch break so they are ready for dinner, and thus save us an hour of prep (benefits of working from home). We could also do this the night before, or over the weekend. So how do we determine what goes in the meal plan?
Firstly, I keep a list of recipes I’d like to cook that makes it easier to choose from. I found that I needed to add a comment next to each recipe of what the main ingredients are, so that if I want to make something with eggplant, I can search for it in my list. Second, I look at what I already have and would like to use up, and find recipes that use those ingredients. Then I consider what we haven’t had for a while or what’s in season and select recipes accordingly. And lastly, I try to vary the meals so we don’t have pasta every day, and ensure there are various protein/fibre/fruit/veggies/legumes/fermented ingredients in the mix.
As much as I enjoy looking up new recipes to try each week, and the variety of meals we eat, we still have favourite recipes we return to quite regularly. And even when making a plan, there are nights when we just don't feel like cooking, and have some fresh bread and delicious cheese instead!
Here are this week’s recipe suggestions for you to try:
White bean and tuna salad — 25 minutes to make a fresh and light salad to go with a lovely piece of bread
Tamago sando — I love egg salad sandwiches. Here is the Japanese version.
Easy chicken korma — another quick and simple meal
Caramelised Brussels sprouts pasta with toasted chickpeas — fast and satisfying vegetarian weeknight pasta (paywall)
Beetroot Pesto
500g beetroots, roasted, peeled, and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
60g almonds
60g grated hard cheese (parmesan or pecorino)
Salt to taste
How to?
Process all the ingredients in a food processor.
Adjust quantities to your taste.
Serve with pasta, cut veggies, or bread.
Note: I bought already cooked beetroots from the shops. If they are not already cooked, clean the beetroots, trim their tops, cover them in foil, and roast them at 200ºC until fork tender, about 1 hour.
Our meal plan from last week can be found at: https://foodfamily.app/public/meal_plans/12da4904-e0bc-41a0-838a-21dd12f65404
Once again, please let us know if you make any of these recipes, how you found them, what you changed, or just drop us an email to say hi.
Thanks and see you next week,
Elle, Lachlan, M, Ginger, and Edward