Meal planning 1

I love to plan and organise. I also love to research.

It took me 3 hours to decide on a kettle, and that's just an appliance, so you can imagine how much thought has gone into something more than merely boiling water. (And if you can't, just check out my posts on cleaning up my skincare and makeup.)

Cleaning up my skincare

Cleaning up my makeup

I also like a challenge, but am protective of my time and budget, so when it comes to meal planning I created some guidelines that I refer to as my 'pillars'. I think every plan needs a strong foundation, and is where we should start.

Don't start in the recipe book. Don't start in the supermarket.

Start your plan by building your pillars.

My pillars (guidelines).

• Budget friendly.

• Organic, where possible.

• Zero-waste, or at the very least without plastic; (where possible, this is harder than it sounds.)

• As in-line with Dr Greger's recommendations as possible.

• Time friendly - I need to be able to work these inclusions into a routine that doesn't add extra admin to my life.

Getting all of these things to fall in line is no easy feat, nor is it successful 100% of the time.

Using the 80/20 rule here is good.

Budget friendly.

I think sticking to a budget has more to do with having a plan than it does to do with the [extortionate] cost of groceries. The thing about a grocery budget is that we're all trying to control what we spend in this area because we have the ability to influence it, whereas most costs of living are fixed and not directly within our control.

The problem, I think, is that we all have a number we'd like to stick to, and we try to shoe-horn everything into that number. In my experience that's come at the cost of most of the other guidelines I have in place. (For example, choosing the cheapest to stick to a number has usually meant more plastic and less organic.)

Organic, where possible.

This is important to me. It's about voting with my money.

I believe in the benefits of eating a predominantly chemical-free diet and supporting the farming techniques that avoid the spraying of toxins and pesticides.

"Kiss the ground" is a sobering but insightful documentary I watched many years ago about agriculture, and it really got me thinking about how to support local, organic farmers and grow my own food.

Zero-waste, or at least no plastic.

Plastic. It may sound like I'm just jumping on the next 'movement' but I believe it's a real problem. It's in our food, it's in our clothes and it's in our rain. It's in our bloodstream, in our brains and in our way.

The problem is, we are being lied to about recycling. So little of what gets put in recycling bins actually gets anywhere near being recycled.

Choosing zero-waste options or at least avoiding plastic is another example of voting with your money. When you purchase something, you are creating demand. By choosing items that aren't packaged [in plastic], you diminish the demand for supply.

Sometimes this comes at the expense of other guidelines. Here's an example: Organic bananas at my supermarket are tied in bunches with plastic tape, whereas the conventional bananas are loose. I choose the latter, in this case, because they create no waste and are cheaper. Hopefully the supplier of the organic ones will catch on.

Another example is tomatoes. The cheaper ones are pre-bagged.

I pay a bit extra to avoid the plastic.

I also shop at my local refillery. They don't have everything I need, but it's a start. A lot of dried foods like lentils, grains, oats, nuts and dried fruit can be sourced there, and they're organic.

Dr Greger's Daily Dozen and How Not to Age.

This is what dictates the actual things I eat, like adding wheatgerm to my muesli. I like to make salads and smoothies to meet a lot of Dr Greger's recommendations, and this is what drives those choices. It is also what drives choices around what I don't buy. You could say that my shopping list starts here.

These recommendations are the foundation of my meal plan. It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

Time friendly.

This is a big one. The element of making meals I dislike the most is indecision. The lack of forethought about what to have, and thus getting to dinnertime and panicking.

For me, spending a bit of time each week planning is not a waste of time - in fact, I think it gives me time back.

Time, with meals, is not just about the cooking. I like to consider the time spent shopping for groceries, and the time spent cleaning up after cooking. I look for meals that can be cooked all at once in a single pot, for example, and I look for the easiest way to strategise my grocery shopping if I need to visit more than one store.

I make sure to take advantage of supermarket pick-up orders, but I would never pay a separate fee for the luxury.

(Where I shop it's a $50 minimum spend, and you can have a free pick up.)

Pick the most convenient day and time. Put things in your calendar. Create a routine that manages itself. If you get a bigger return on cost when it you have to spend a bit more time, do the time. (For example, if you know when the supermarket has deals on, and you factor your pick up on that day even though it's inconvenient for you, go on that day.) If the specials are scattered and the day doesn't matter, pick a time you're in that area and try to stick to that arrangement. Basically, prioritise what's important.

Lay the foundation across the pillars.

Start a routine.

First, decide when to do your shopping. This could be on a set day of the week due to paycheck, and wanting to start fresh each time with a new weekly/fortnightly budget, or, it could be a set day of the week due to other things in your life, ie. on the weekend or when you're already out and about.

Go over your basic routine and see where is most logical.

Once a week I do a big grocery order online from the supermarket and schedule collection for the same time and day each week which coincides with my partner and daughter heading home from their activities.

• This helps me meet my budget and time management goals. I order it, and then I allow it to come to me. My 'big weekly shop' takes me about 10 minutes.

The other place I shop once a week is the refillery. I have to do this on a Saturday because I'm at work during the week. I walk there with my daughter and we use this to spend quality time together. We go to the markets, look in the thrift store, and then enjoy a little treat on the walk back home.

In good weather we stop to have a picnic.

It's a lovely start to the weekend and also a productive one.

• The refillery helps me meet my organic and zero waste goals. Everything in the bulk bins is organic, and you can bring your own jars and bags.

I don't do one huge shop for two weeks or a month at a time because I find that it actually involves more frequent, smaller shops in between. That was just my experience, see what works for you.

So now we have some basic things we would like to achieve with a meal plan. We know what problems we are trying to solve and we've created a plan that addresses them, with an 80/20 mindset that allows room for setbacks and improvements.

We also have set expectations around when to shop and where. We've looked at our typical lifestyle and factored this in without disrupting our other plans. We've researched stores that support our goals and lifestyle. We've established a self-governing routine.

The next post is about refining some finer details.