Hey guys! Hope your week is going well! It’s no new phenomena that meal planning has its perks. From saving time & money, to promoting healthy eating and cutting back on waste, the benefits of pre-planning definitely outweigh the tediousness of actually drafting a menu each week. Since I started K Weigh, a decent portion of my time goes into planning meals for others. The irony is that that I can’t even remember the last time I sat down to write a meal plan for me to follow.
I find that what works for me is to ensure my fridge is well-stocked with healthy groceries. As long as I have ingredients to work with and a few meal ideas floating around in my head, it’s easy enough to come up with a lunch or dinner that’s both tasty and filling…and most of the time well-balanced. As seeing what others eat often gives me ideas for future meals, hopefully putting up a few of my meals from the past couple of weeks will be of inspiration to you!
- Ratatouille topped with feta & a side of quinoa
- Mixed Indian veggies with Greek yogurt & oat lolis
- Shrimp fajitas…with a wrap underneath, but too stuffed to fill 😉
- Chicken Kathi Roll with the remaining tandoori chicken & zucchini on the side
- Shrimp & quinoa stir fry with pesto
- Avocado toast topped with a runny egg & deformed egg whites…and sautéed mushrooms & zucchini
…yeah, I kinda love zucchini 😉
Do you meal plan?
If so what’s for dinner tonight? If not, what was for dinner last night?
I love that, I am exactly like you!! I used to religiously plan out all my meals, but then I figured I prefer to go more with what my body craves. Best thing is, as you say to have my favorite healthy foods at home and throw together what fits.
Tonight dinner will probably be simple and lazy: scrambled cinnamon eggwhites with a side of roasted veggies.
I definitely enjoy my meals more when I go with the flow and eat what seems good at the time!
Those are pretty darn amazing meals for being non-planned. I’m definitely not a planner. I used to spent hours a day trying to come up with the perfect meal plan, and it honestly just burnt me out – I can’t do it anymore. Granted, that might change if I had to cook for someone other than myself, but for now, it works just fine 🙂 I’m actually thinking about breakfast for dinner tonight. It’s been a while since I’ve had it, so either oats or a yogurt mess will be on the menu.
Same here…and every meal had to be very varied from the previous one- gah! And brinner sounds like a fantastic ide, Amanda 🙂
Haha well, my meals are pre-planned 🙂 which helps cause I can get all the ingredients beforehand. I usually plan lunch, dinner and the next day’s breakfast, and then start again the next day. Dinner last night was grilled chicken, tonight it’s tofu stirfry 🙂 And can I just say – the prawn fajitas and the chicken wrap look yum!
And pre-planning is exactly why you are doing as well as you have been these past few weeks :)!
You are lucky that you are so creative!! I think that I would be lost without my meal planning for the week!! :/
And seriously, is avocado toast with dippy eggs the best thing ever, or what?? 🙂
I couldn’t agree more..love the combo!
I haven’t been meal planning lately and I hate it. I plan on getting back into it this weekend. Even though it’s not my favorite thing to do, having a plan for the week helps us save time and money (which is always good!).
I’m sure once I’m married, I will get back into meal planning- it’s a whole different ball game when another person is involved!
You make some amazing non-planned meals! Meal planning is such a necessity for me right now – with getting home at 5 and taking to dog for a walk combined with cooking for two people, it is just so much easier if I come home knowing exactly what I’m making and approximately how long it will take…helps with saving money on groceries, too!
Tonight is a non-cooking night, actually…going out for an anniversary dinner!
Hope you guys have a wonderful anniversary dinner, Sam 🙂
I don’t actually meal plan, but I do buy groceries with an idea of what kind of food I’d be cooking in the week ahead. But agreed, planning will definitely make life easier! Shall try it.
Sounds like you have a good approach, Meenakshi!
I love how you cook your Indian veggies. I might try that.:)
They’re yum when stir fried with curry leaves & mustard seeds 🙂
I don’t meal plan either!
And your meals are pretty darn good for not being planned out. Sometimes I think I should meal plan, but I’ve gone through that road before where I get far too obsessed, so I just figure to not do it at all 😉
Maybe it will change when I get more busy, but for now it works!
Totally know what you mean- there’s a line between being cautious and then becoming obsessed with every morsel you eat!
I am the same way – I can’t remember the last time I made a grocery list. I wander around, get what looks good, and create new things throughout the week.
Not so much strategy to winging it but it works 🙂
I’m madly in love with zucchini right now too; in fact, I’m eating some with my eggs as I type this! 🙂 The other day I pinned a recipe from Skinnytaste for “zucchini enchilada boats,” which I thought was a pretty genius idea. Basically you stuff zucchini with the same ingredients you’d use in regular enchiladas, and nix the corn tortillas.
Your delicious-looking meals definitely prove that eating well doesn’t require meal planning! I’ve taken the same approach for years – I always stock my fridge with versatile ingredients so that I have lots of available options on hand. If a particular recipe catches my eye, I’ll plan, however that only happens a few times/month. 😉 I imagine that once (IF) I have a family, my approach will change a bit, but for now, what I’m doing seems to be working pretty well!
When do you leave for London? I’ll be living vicariously through you; I SO wish I was going, too! Huge hugs! <3 xoxoxo
Oh yum! I love the sound of those zucchini enchilada boats- thanks for sharing, Sara! I leave on Sunday…hopefully we will be there at the same time soon enough 😀
Yum! Your meals look great, and it seems like not meal planning is working out for you 😀 I plan my dinners three days in advance or so, but on the weekends I just go on the fly. I need to know what I’m eating so I know what to buy at the store!
That definitely makes sense- the worst thing is wanting to eat something and having all but 1 ingredient…and that too, the most crucial one!
i normally dont plan meals but when i buy groceries i have recipes on my mind i can make on the weekdays. This past weekend though I tried making few things before hand and have been reheating it. For dinner I had soba noodles with tuna meatballs 🙂 I want that kathi roll for dinner tonight.
Love the sound of your dinner- such a yum twist to the regular ‘spaghetti & meatball’ dish!
Yum! I’m loving the shrimp fahiti/taco idea! I bought some frozen shrimp the other day so I could easily throw together a healthy dinner, perfect idea!
So quick and so delicious- DO IT!
I totally don’t meal plan, i just tend to prep food for some time that week.I honestly like going with the flow when it comes to things like that
I’m more a fan of meal prepping than planning to…it definitely helps streamline mealtime during the week!
Ooh avocado on toast is just a perennial favourite in my books- eggs on top is so delicous! All your meals sound impressive- fajitas, stirfry, ratatouille I think I’ll come join you for a meal, if you’ll have me 😉 I don’t meal plan either, I actually shop at markets everyday and get fish off the wharf (papa had to stop work because he is to sick now- but in his honour my family still gets free fish!) so I just go with the flow and what sounds good or produce looks good on the day – I also get a lot of takeaway or street food depending on what I’m doing (it’s very fresh and I like to make sure they ate using local ingredients) have a great Friday Khushboo xo Sophia
I know I’ve said it before but I truly love how fresh your diet is- I can only imagine how delicious your meals are, Sophia 🙂
Oh thank you Khushboo! I always think how creative, delicous and just generally awesome your diet looks 🙂
Oh my gosh those meals look so good. Especially that shrimp fajita and shrimp and quinoa pesto stir fry! I’m drooling. Last night my meal was a salmon salad which is one of my favourite dinners – I enjoy the warmth of the pan seared salmon with the coolness of the spinach, avocado, tomato etc. Especially during summer time! 🙂 I’m def. going to try a couple of the above though!
YUM! That salad has “summer” written all over it! I love adding blueberries or strawberries to spinach salads for a hint of sweetness!
All those meal ideas sound wonderful! I need to add more quinoa to my life. I love, love, love it but am far too impatient to wait for it to cook 😉
I hardly ever plan a meal. I just try to keep a well-stocked fridge like you and roll with what I feel like at the time! I do wish I planned some meals so I would have some clue of what I was making when I walked into the kitchen. Of course, sometimes even when I do plan a meal, I decide at the time that I don’t actually want it haha!
Haha that’s one of the reasons I don’t miss packed lunches- the worst is not wanting all what’s already in front of you!
Oh my gosh, those shrimp fajitas look AMAZING. ahh i want that for lunch now! i’m so bad at meal planning, I need to take some of these tips. and I lol’ed at the summertime meal plan of popsicles, ahh so true 🙂 love summer.
Ice cream/popsicles is a summertime necessity- glad you agree 😉
I just wanted to let you know that thanks to this post I had to go out an buy a bag of zucchinis… 😉
Oooh yeah…that’s sound about right to me 😉
Your non-meal planning meals look great. I’m kinda like you in that I don’t meal plan, although I do have meal ideas.
I also like to jot down the ideas before I go to the grocery store to ensure I have everything to make said ideas. Then it’s there and I’ve got some idea mid-week of my options, when I’m going what the heck can I eat tonight. Sometimes I make the things on my idea list and sometimes I just eat a grilled cheese (like last night). Have a great weekend!
Sometimes I also leave rambling comments. Oops.
It’s a good thing I love rambling comments 😉
With work I do a bulk of my cooking on Sundays… and it lasts until Wed or so. My hubbs loves Indian food so I guess it kinda works out with just eating different subzis everyday. I do plan my weekly meals a bit, and then we end up eating out a couple times a week, so it all balances out. Tonight – I made Mushroom Risotto. Post tomorrow. Hope you had a great weekend K.