{"id":2733,"date":"2015-04-24T19:13:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T19:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yousaytomatocooking.com\/?p=2733"},"modified":"2022-11-17T15:43:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T15:43:26","slug":"how-to-plan-to-cook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/tips\/how-to-plan-to-cook\/","title":{"rendered":"How to plan to cook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning what we’ll eat each week is the only way I manage to cook from scratch, stay healthy, avoid waste and save money. I love to cook but I don’t like cleaning up or visiting the grocery store more than twice a week. I’d rather spend time cooking and eating than shopping!<\/p>\n

I know from the cooking classes I teach that for most people, it isn’t an inability to cook, but a lack of planning that stops them finding time to cook in their busy lives. I know how easy it is to slip into eating less than healthy food, or spending a fortune on ready-made food or eating out just because it is suddenly 7pm, you’ve just got home and everyone is starving. I’m no angel, I know the lure of take out or toast when I’m tired.<\/p>\n

Here’s a typical menu plan for me and my family. And below are my tips on how to make and stick to a plan.<\/p>\n

\"Unsaved<\/a><\/p>\n

Plan a (realistic) week at a time<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sit down for half an hour once a week with a pen and paper and a cook book, blog or magazine. Grab your list of what is in your freezer too (see below). Write out a menu plan for whoever you are cooking for, who’ll be in on what days, then write your grocery list. I write my list by aisle at the store so that I can get round fast.<\/p>\n

Don’t try to make 6 new recipes a week. Life gets in the way. Pick 2-3 recipes you can make without a recipe with your eyes closed. Pick a couple of nights you’ll have leftovers or food from the freezer then try 1-2 new recipes a week if you want.<\/p>\n

In my plan you’ll see how I plan to use leftovers for lunch on lots of days. And which things I plan to grab from the freezer vs. make from scratch.<\/p>\n

I like to leave the weekend a little looser and assume that we’ll eat up what is left in the fridge. I often come up with my best new recipes when I’m using up leftovers. On Saturday we often just grab all sorts of things out of the fridge and make our own sandwiches, soup or salads for lunch.<\/p>\n

Grocery shop once a week<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have so many students who tell me they don’t have time to cook, but they go to the grocery store every day. Try hard to shop once or twice a week (using the list you make when you plan) and use that time instead to cook. There is no way I’d have time to cook if I went shopping every day. You’ll save money too.<\/p>\n

Tough love
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Think about recipes that have a pick and mix element to stop you feeling like a short-order cook. I cook for myself, a never-full husband and my boys – aged 3 and 5. But I only cook one meal – they just pick which parts they will eat.<\/p>\n

Get out of jail<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the best laid plans fail sometimes. Have some ‘get out of jail’ dinners that are quick but healthy, things you can pick up from the store and do very little to to make a meal. My go-to is organic rotisserie chicken with made in store guacamole, a pack or tortillas and a bag of baby spinach. I shred the chicken, warm the tortillas and throw oil and lemon on the greens then let everyone make their own plates.<\/p>\n

Multitask<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you’re cooking, think about what other jobs you can get done while your kitchen is already messy and while you’re already in there. Maybe make a batch of houmus or pesto. Chop veggies for the next day. Roast some meat for salads or tacos. Cook some rice or quinoa and freeze it in individual containers. You’ll make your life much easier on subsequent days if you have some prep done.<\/p>\n

Stock up your freezer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plan that a couple of times a week, you’ll make double or triple of whatever you’re having for dinner that night. Freeze the extra portions ready for a night off cooking in future weeks. Stews, chili, curries, pasta sauce are all brilliant to freeze. I love pyrex containers with lids (from my shop) for freezing my goodies.<\/p>\n

Keep a list of what is in your freezer and refer to it when you make your menu plan for the week. You will forget what is in there.<\/p>\n

Embrace and plan for leftovers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leftovers get a bad rep but used well they are a gift. Plan to use them for some of your meals each week and life gets a lot easier. 9 times out of 10 my lunch is some leftover dinner from the night before plus a handful of slaw. The important thing is to put a new spin on day 2 of leftovers – refresh the flavour and texture to keep it interesting. Add a fresh salad, sprinkle with some toasted seeds or if all else fails throw it in a taco.<\/p>\n

I have certain dishes I know I’m making as much for the leftovers as for the initial meal. A roast chicken is a perfect example. We often have a roast chicken on a Sunday. I swat hands away from a second helping so that I’ll have enough leftover to make salad, risotto or soup the following night.<\/p>\n

I often challenge myself to push my grocery shopping day until I’ve used up what is in the fridge. It is all too easy to always go shopping on the same day each week out of habit but chances are you have enough in to make dinner without shopping that day.<\/p>\n

I’m happy to chat you about more of my strategies for keeping cooking fun while fitting it into a busy life. Just send me a comment with your questions\/issues and I can help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Planning what we’ll eat each week is the only way I manage to cook from scratch, stay healthy, avoid waste and save money. I love to cook but I don’t like cleaning up or visiting the grocery store more than twice a week. I’d rather spend time cooking and eating than shopping! I know from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2187,2182,2223,2181],"tags":[846,84,2216,2222,2174,2177,124,2219,2220,2221,2218,913,2217,691],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to plan to cook - Cook with Gem<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Having a menu plan of what we'll eat each week is the only way I manage to cook from scratch, stay healthy, avoid waste and save money.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/tips\/how-to-plan-to-cook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to plan to cook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having a menu plan of what we'll eat each week is the only way I manage to cook from scratch, stay healthy, avoid waste and save money.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/tips\/how-to-plan-to-cook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cook with Gem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cookwithgem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-24T19:13:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-17T15:43:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Unsaved-Preview-Document-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1912\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"gemma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gemcwade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gemcwade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"gemma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/tips\/how-to-plan-to-cook\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/tips\/how-to-plan-to-cook\/\",\"name\":\"How to plan to cook - 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