This document provides strategies and tips for easy meal planning. It recommends keeping a well-stocked pantry, dedicating time each weekend to plan meals for the week, and using a meal planning app or notebook. Specific tips include planning meals around seasonal ingredients, cooking in bulk to save time and freeze leftovers, and choosing recipes that overlap ingredients. The goal is to make healthy home cooking easier and less stressful than last-minute takeout.

1. Cristin Stokes, RD, LN
Montana University System Wellness
Program
Fall 2015
Meal Planning Made Easy

2. Objectives
 Do you ever get home from work, exhausted from
your day, and then struggle to find something in
your kitchen for dinner? Do you often have to
resort to take-out or fast food because you didn’t
plan anything in advance? In this workshop, we’ll
discuss strategies for simple, healthy meal
planning, keeping in mind factors such as time
and budget.

3.  “Cooking is probably the most
important thing you can do to
improve your diet. What matters
most is not any particular nutrient,
or even any particular food: it’s the
act of cooking itself. People who
cook eat a healthier diet without
giving it a thought.”
–Michael Pollan, author of Cooked

4. Keep a well-stocked pantry
 Essential to successful, regular meal planning
 Quicker, easier, less-stressful, less expensive
 Allows meals to revolve around fresh ingredients
 Keep a grocery list on refrigerator or in kitchen –
make note if you run out of any of the staples
 See handout for list of suggested pantry staples

5. The Sunday Ritual
 Plan – Shop – Prep
 Commit to making a plan
 Write into the calendar
 Sunday afternoon/Saturday morning/weekday
mornings/after dinner
 1-2 hours on the weekend = less stress during the
week, better nutrition

6. Plan it out

7. Plan it out
 Electronic versions
 Pepperplate
 Ziplist
 Plan to Eat ($5/month)
 Paprika ($5 for the app)

8. Plan it out
 1. Refrigerator inventory
 What needs to be used sooner rather than later?
 Leftovers
 2. Look at schedule for the week
 Which nights do you have schedule commitments?
 Think about amount of time you will have (if any!)
for meal preparation

9. Plan it out
 3. Meal Selection
 1-2 cookbooks, online, standard favorites from
Master Recipe list
 Master Recipe list
 Aim for 10 recipes to start
 3- hole binder with plastic sleeve inserts
 Or:
o On phone
o Online (meal planning apps, Pinterest)
 Per week: 1-2 new recipes; remainder from
Master List
 Add to Master List as your find new recipes you
like

10. Plan it out
 3. Meal Selection
 Cook once, serve twice
 1. Keep it simple
 2. Spice it up
 Examples:
 Roast Chicken  Chicken Enchiladas
 Grilled Pork Chops  Pork Fried Rice
 Good options for 2nd meal: Quiche or frittata,
pasta, soup/chili, salad, stir-fry

11. Plan it out
 3. Meal Selection
 Overlap ingredients
 Start with a single recipe
 Look at ingredient list to help you pick
2nd recipe
oLook at ingredient list of 2nd to help you
pick 3rd recipe
• Etc.

13. Plan it out
 3. Meal Selection
 Consider health!

14. Plan it out
 3. Meal selection
 Meat/protein
 Sales
 Mom’s method: One red, one white, one
meatless
oAdd fish

15. Plan it out
3. Meal selection
 Starch
 Whole grains w/faster cooking times:
bulgur, quinoa, whole grain pasta
 Whole grain bread
 Starchy vegetables: Corn, peas,
potatoes

16. Plan it out
 3. Meal Selection
 Vegetables
 Base your meal around vegetables instead of
meat
o Seasonal, farmers market, etc.
 Dark green/orange vegetables are most
nutritious
 Frozen, canned ok

17. Plan it out
 3. Meal selection
 Other considerations
 Slow Cooker
 Effort/time required for each recipe
 Batch cooking

18. Batch cooking
 Must have adequate freezer space
 Components of meals
• Meatballs, taco meat, cooked beans & rice,
shredded/diced chicken or pork, meat
w/marinade, pizza dough
 Multipurpose sauces – marinara, BBQ, peanut
 Double or triple the recipe
 Once per month batch cooking
 Casseroles, soups, chili, lasagna, meatloaf
 www.onceamonthmeals.com ($10/month)
 www.sixsistersstuff.com (search Freezer Meals)
 Pinterest

19. Batch cooking
 Freezing Tips
o Make-ahead meals should be used within 3 months
for best taste and quality
o Use shallow, smaller dishes to reduce freezing and
baking time
o Foods that do not freeze well: produce with high
water content, flour thickened sauces/gravies,
eggs, mayo, pasta (undercook)
o Thaw food safely – plan ahead
• Do not just thaw on counter all day!
o Keep a list of what is in your freezer

20. Shop
 Make a list
 Write down ALL ingredients for each recipe (even if
you think you have it!)
 Cross off each ingredient that you already have
 Combine with refrigerator door list
 Organize by grocery store section- dairy, bakery,
produce, etc.

21. Prep
 Chop vegetables, cook meat, mix spices, etc.
 Invest in good, clear storage containers
 Label
 Batch cooking
 Get organized beforehand
 Label with directions for reheating

22. Meal Planning Programs
 Fresh 20
 Cook Smarts
 Six O’Clock Scramble
 $5-10/month

23. Other Meals
 Breakfast
 Make ahead items: breakfast burritos (freezer), steel cut
oats, whole grain pancake mix, healthy muffins
 Include protein: eggs, nut butter, yogurt, milk, etc.
 Lunch
 Intentionally plan leftovers
 i.e. Chicken salad made from roasted chicken
 Snacks
 Fruits/veggies
 Include two different food groups
 Late afternoon snack to keep hunger in check while
cooking dinner

24. Cooking for One
 Salad bar, bulk aisle for small amounts of
ingredients
 Halve recipes –
 Shorten cooking time
 Season to taste
 Leftovers = healthy lunches, can be transformed
into different meals
 Recipe for 4 = one for dinner, one for leftovers,
two for the freezer
 Batch cooking
 You are worth a great meal!
 Long term investment in health

25. Meal Planning Keys to Success
 Keep a well-stocked pantry
 The Sunday ritual (Plan – Shop – Prep)
 Plan it out
 Inventory
 Schedule
 Recipe selection
 Master List
 Overlap of ingredients
 Cook once, serve twice
 Consider health
 Batch cooking

26. www.wellness.mus.edu
wellness@montana.edu
montanamovesandmeals.com
www.facebook.com/MUSwellne
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