How to Create the Best Meal Plan

What are some of your challenges when it comes to preparing meals? For me, there are two that both have to do with not planning in advance: cooking for one and not having everything on hand that I need. Not being careful to plan our meals can lead to fast food and other unhealthy or expensive choices, if we are not careful.

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What I have found that is very helpful for solving the problem of cooking for one is meal prep, or making all of your meals for the week on one night and then portioning them out for each day and storing them in the refrigerator. The drawback to this is that you generally have to eat the same meal each day for 4 days or so, but that is outweighed by the convenience of only having to heat it up when you are ready to eat.

How to Meal Prep With Mason Jars

You can prep a week’s worth of overnight oats for breakfast or salads for lunch for yourself. Or you can prep breakfast for your entire family the night before. You can use mason jars to prep many types of meals; in addition to salads and overnight oats, mason jars can also be used to prepare omelettes, burrito bowls, parfaits, soups, detox drinks and desserts, to name a few. Check out this site for recipe ideas and this site for infused water recipes. Mason jars can even be used to blend pre-measured smoothie ingredients on your blender; see how to here.

Make sure that you order the correct type and size of mason jar for what you are preparing to make. For blending smoothies, you need a regular mouth mason jar; for preparing omelettes, you need smaller mason jars; and for preparing larger meals like salads, you will want a wide mouth mason jar. I have linked all three types of mason jars above.

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What about those times when you have not planned your meals, which for me is more often than not? Fortunately I like to cook, so I have found some ways around not always having all of my meals planned in advance. I have learned that if you keep the following items on hand, you will be able to prepare something for dinner quickly and easily. However, that has not stopped me from taking the time to learn recipes and to practice my cooking skills so that I will be prepared for the times when I have to cook for others, but more on that later.

Single Woman Pantry Items

• Eggs
• Frozen veggies
• Whole grain pasta
• Parmesan cheese
• Plant butter or margarine
• Black beans
• Rice
• Grilled chicken strips
• Laughing Cow cheese
• Tuna Sensations
• Bagged salad
• Couscous
• Veggie burgers
• Frozen shrimp

Produce that is in season tastes better and is not as expensive, so add your favorite fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs to the list. Check the Seasonal Food Guide to find out what is in season near you.

As for those recipes that I have been practicing, there are several items that are in season in the spring in California (and elsewhere, I am sure) that I used to make the following dishes:

Homemade Chicken Fried Rice

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This is not a quick and easy recipe if you will be chopping fresh veggies for it. Initially, my goal was to practice one recipe per week, but as it turns out, that was way too ambitious! Weeknights were much too hectic for that. My new goal became once a season. Now, I make a much quicker modified vegetable fried rice. It only has five ready-made ingredients: Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown (or the fried rice variety, if you’d like); Birds Eye Steamfresh Asian Medley frozen vegetables; 2 eggs (per serving); Sesame Oil; and low-sodium soy sauce.

A day in advance I make both the rice and the vegetables and refrigerate. This is necessary because the rice has to be cold to make fried rice. Also, you will not want to add frozen vegetables with the rice because they will not finish cooking before the rice.

When you are ready to prepare this meal, just heat the sesame oil in a pan and add half of the cooled rice and half of the veggies and begin stir frying. Crack two eggs in the middle of the pan. I add pepper to them at this point and then scramble them. Slowly, I incorporate the rice and veggies in with the scrambled eggs. I add a few small splashes of soy sauce and cook through and dinner is served in less than 10 minutes. Quick and easy.

The next day, I make the same meal with two more eggs and the other half of the rice and veggies. Though I have never tried, I am sure you can also make this with chicken or shrimp or tofu.

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Shrimp Bowls

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Shrimp is very quick and easy to make, especially if you already have a spice blend prepared to season them with. I had to measure out spices for both of these meals, but even then, it did not take more than 25 minutes to make because shrimp cooks quickly and I just added steamed veggies and ready rice.

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For this season’s new recipe, I am planning on learning to make a mason jar salad to begin with and maybe a mason jar egg white omelette. What about you? What are you planning to make? Please let me know in the comments below.

Until next time!

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