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Today, we break from our usual format to share a full episode dedicated to one of our favorite topics: Meal planning.
We have an interview with Jess Dang, founder of the fabulous Cook Smarts meal planning service.
Also, we have a special gift for you. We made a meal planning workbook for your information and inspiration. Would you like to download this PDF? Join our mailing list to get your free download.
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Oh meal planning! I loved this episode. I’ve recently started meal prepping after attending a webinar at work…such a great idea corporate America! I’m 8 weeks in a LOVING it! After shopping 4-5 times a week for a few ingredients here and there, I was done. I’m in finance, so everything I do must be in Excel…lol. I have spreadsheet with a tab for each week, a freezer inventory, a pantry inventory, and lunch and dinner tabs for some of our easy go-to’s that we always love. I take micro breaks at work tweaking our plan based on what’s left in the fridge, new plans that pop up, etc. On Friday’s I print it before the weekend, and if we don’t have any Friday night plans, I head straight to the store because it’s never crowded on Friday night. I sometimes leave the weekends a little flexible, but have all our week-day meals in there for sure. I make notes for AM/PM prep required each day and try to group things together so I’m only doing “major” prep a couple of days a week. So far I’m making less trips on the store, we’re eating more of the food we have on hand, and we’re eating healthier or at least more balanced for sure. Mexican date night on Thursday, then an extra healthy lunch salad it is! I can’t say that I’m great at doing weekend prep, which is something I want to try and incorporate, but I don’t think I’ll ever go back to no prep at all! The first few weeks I was pretty rigid with myself, but I’ve gotten to a point where I can say…let’s just switch these two nights or pivot when the BF uses some carefully selected lunch ingredients in a breakfast scramble…or drops a whole can of garbanzos on the floor…you know…life!