Breakfast: Do you make a unique breakfast sometimes, or do you generally eat the same thing each morning? Lunch: Do you eat out while at work, or do you pack lunches? Dinner: What days do you cook? What days do you eat out or eat leftovers? Snacks: How quickly do you go through snack foods? Do you need these foods, or do you just eat them because you were around. [1] X Research source
Sites and apps like FoodGawker let you search recipes by style, time, ingredients (including ingredients you want to avoid) and popularity. Remember to look up sides too, like salads or vegetable dishes, and not just the main course. [2] X Trustworthy Source Dairy Council of California Resource center focused on providing nutrition education to help consumers make healthy choices about eating and lifestyle habits. Go to source
Think of each dinner as three separate parts – a grain, a vegetable, and a protein. Pick three simple recipes instead of trying to make one all inclusive dish each night.
Be sure to check your fridge and pantry before going to see what ingredients you already have. Some people find planning all meals daunting at first. If so, just start with dinners, then buy the rest of your groceries like normal.
Try having a “cook’s choice” night, which you leave open to figure out later that day. This is often a good choice for your shopping day, as you can easily buy the right ingredients for that night’s meal on the fly. While meal plans are a good way to limit costly eating out, you should still free to head out every once and a while. [4] X Research source
For example, you might do a chicken salad one night and chicken tacos the next. You can cook all the chicken the first night, then reheat it in taco sauce or seasoning the next. [5] X Research source
