I have mentioned in a few posts that I do meal planning. While this remains true, I have been struggling for about the past 6 months with the “planning” process. Every week, I think about what I want to eat for the week but I haven’t been writing down the plan. I would just kind of think about it but I didn’t really make a menu for the week. In 2017 and most of 2018, I did really well with this part of it.
One of my patterns is that I tend to either get bored with food or become interested in a different eating pattern. I don’t follow any specific plan (though maybe I should) but I do like to find foods that are lower in sugar and higher in protein.
I use a mini happy planner to menu plan. My goal is to plan for all three meals. I find that I eat best when I plan all three meals and not just one. What I’ve very recently realized is that I have not made provisions for re-making recipes that I have really liked or plan for days when I don’t want to eat the food I’ve prepared. Making sure there is some flexibility in the plan is required.
My current plan is to pull out all of my recipes, of which I have collected many, and sort through which I’ve liked and want to eat again and recipes that I want to try. I’m going to put those in a binder and each week or two when I meal plan, I’ll use the binder to help figure out what I want to eat. I’ll also go through my pantry and freezer and meal plan around what I already have on hand.
I’ve been meal planning on a weekly basis but I think I’m going to try planning for at least a couple of weeks at a time. Honestly, sometimes I just get tired of thinking about it, so if I can think about it less that may prove helpful.
Also, in the past, I have been reluctant to make new recipes because I feel like it’s a waste of money to buy the ingredients, make it and then hate it. I have finally come around to the place where it’s okay to make something new and find that I don’t like it. The reality is that the only way I’m going to find new foods and recipes is to try them. For each one I don’t like, it just gets me closer to understanding my own palette better.
Trying new recipes is also a way to work on bettering my cooking skills. I’m not a good cook but the more I do it the better I get and the better I understand what I like. It’s a food adventure!
I recently found a recipe online for Skinny Cinnamon Raisin bagels. It has many ingredients that I don’t typically eat (yogurt and chia seeds) that I was at first hesitant to try it. However, I LOVE bagels but they are generally super high in carbs. This bagel was one that offered the possibility of me being able to eat bagels more regularly while also keeping the carb count lower.
I made the recipe and LOVED it!! This is definitely going on the list to make again and regularly. I am allergic to raisins so I substituted dried cranberries. Next time I make these, I will increase both the cranberries and the cinnamon. The recipe calls for 1/4-1/2 cup of the dried fruit. I used 1/4 cup but next time I will do 1/2 cup. I found that the flavor of the cranberries really enhanced the flavor of the bagel. Also, the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of cinnamon but I’m going to up it to 2 tablespoons. I like the cinnamon flavor so I’m going to increase it. The more I make them, the prettier they’ll get too!
I also recently placed a few recipe books on hold at my local library that I am looking forward to flipping through and getting some new ideas as well!
Cookbooks: Skinny Taste One and Done
Hungry Girl-Simply 6
Air Fryer Cookbook
I got an air fryer at Thanksgiving and have used it a few times but I’m looking for some extra information and YouTube hasn’t been terribly helpful!
I’ll update you on my progress after I’ve gone through the recipes and created the binder I plan to work from.
Do you meal plan? Any tips?
Share in the comments!
