Welcome to Part 2 of this series.  If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, go and do that now.

I hope your month has been going well and you have been recording your most common meals and building your meal idea list.  In this post I will be describing the process of how I plan for the week.  The meals that I choose are easy to make after a long days work, left overs can be taken for lunch and the ingredients don’t spoil after a week of storage in the fridge.

Task 2:  What is your most typical weekly meal plan?  How many days a week do you cook?  Do you bring left overs for lunch?  When you plan meals, try listing out the ingredients that  you will need to buy in order to make them.

When I plan for the week I like variety.  As I mentioned in my last post, I like to start off with the starch.  I also only plan for 4 days in the week as Friday is my lazy leftovers day. But I am including a Friday meal for you!  I typically do not have left overs, just enough to bring to work for lunch.

An example of my initial plan

1. Monday: Rice
2. Tuesday: Noodles
3. Wednesday: Potato
4. Thursday: Pasta
5. Friday: Bread

Also pasta is my go to Thursday meal as my husband likes to carb load before his work out day on Friday.

My next step is choosing the  meals for the week.

• Monday: Rice: Curry and Rice
• Tuesday: Noodles: Stir fry Udon
• Wednesday: Potato: Steamed Potato and Baked Chicken
• Thursday: Pasta: Pesto Pasta
• Friday: Bread: Vietnamese Sandwich

Now choose the other ingredients you want.

*Tip:  Monday and Tuesday you can pick veggies that don’t store well. For example mixed green salad, baby bok choy, butter lettuce.  For Wednesday and Thursday you can pick veggies like broccoli, cabbage, and salads like spinach. These ingredients typically stay fresh longer.

• Monday: Chicken Curry and Rice with Broccoli
• Tuesday:  Stirfry Pork Udon and Nappa Cabbage
• Wednesday: Steamed Potato and Baked Chicken and Baked Root Vegetables
• Thursday: Ground Beef Pesto Pasta and Spinach Salad
• Friday:  Chicken Banh mi Sandwich and Salad

Another example of another week:

• Monday: Chinese Beef Rice and  Sauteed Green Beans
• Tuesday: Naan Pizza and Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Wednesday:  Pierogi Casserole, Sausage and Broccoli
• Thursday: Zaru Soba, Dumplings and Ponzu Spinach
• Friday: Black Bean Slow Cooker Pork Ribs, Rice and Stir fry

Stay tuned for the next post on how to make a shopping list that works for you.

If you liked this, check out our other posts: https://eatitnoworeatitlater.com/recipes-list/