I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. By making a contribution, your comments will be printed, crediting you and/or your blog, and you’ll get free copies of the book. In addition, for each section, I’m consulting an expert blogger – for this excerpt, it’s Karen Evans, author of Fitness: A Journey Not a Destination.

I am not the world’s most organized person; and if given the choice between spontaneity and planning, I’d prefer the former. Fortunately, I have two things working in my favor: organized friends and a grocery store four blocks away. Not everyone has these luxuries!

Regardless of my (bad) habits, there are many advantages in planning ahead.

• Save time and money by avoiding last minute trips to the market
• Alleviate stress by knowing what you are going to prepare when
• Avoid waste by buying only what you need (and actually using it!)
• Eat more healthy foods!

Though this particularly topic may not be my strong point, I will suggest some helpful hints that have worked well for me, many of which I have learned from others. Karen Evans is helping me out, too, with some wonderful suggestions.

Planning – before shopping

Having at least a rough idea of some dishes you will make in the upcoming week saves time and money, while also preventing unneeded headaches!

For great advice on how to plan meals in advance, previous contributor Shaina Olmanson, shares her weekly dinner menu. Her mantra is: “One of the things we strive for when planning our menus is making everything fit together into one nice, neat little package. We look to use ingredients in different ways throughout the week so that we’re benefiting from the ability of do-aheads and being able to buy in bulk.”

Here are some other ideas to help you plan in advance.

Plan a recurring shopping day/time. To some, grocery shopping is about as fun as paying bills. And like bill-paying, minimizing the number of times you have to endure the task will contribute positively to your basic sanity. Setting a time/place to stock up on needed items will help simplify the shopping experience.

Shop solo. If possible, leave the little ones behind when it’s time to shop. When I take Luke with me, I spend so much time entertaining him, I forget why I went to the store in the first place. Not to mention, to keep him in the basket, I buy far more fruit rollups and chips than I should.

Make lists. If you make lists and post them in a highly visible place in your home, you and your family members can make contributions as the week unfolds (and it helps forgetful moms, too). You can even create a tailor-made list of commonly purchased items and save it on your computer. Each week, after printing it out, you can check items as needed.

Use technology. If paper isn’t your thing, there are also iPhone and Blackberry apps to generate lists. Grocery IQ helps create custom shopping lists drawn from a 130,000 item database. This application organizes shopping by store section, then assimilates all the products into an email friendly list. Many web sites now automatically generate grocery lists for recipes, too.

Cut coupons. Regardless of where you shop, there are a myriad of web sites for coupon-hunting individuals. A few of these are:  www.couponmom.com, www.dealseekingmom.com, www.savings.com, and www.shortcuts.com. Even if there aren’t any deals to be had on whole foods, you can always save a buck or two on detergent, paper products and other non-perishable goods.

Compare prices. Each region of the country has its organic markets, discount grocers and wholesale clubs. Though it may take some extra time to visit multiple locations, the money saved may be well worth the effort.

Meal planning – after shopping

After the weekly grocery visit, Karen has some wonderful suggestions to plan ahead for the week. Her mantra: “With a little preparation once a week, I find that I can create my own version of ‘fast food,’ not the type that will make the scale rapidly creep upward, but the kind that our bodies need.”

Here are a few of her great ideas:

Chop it. If you set aside time once a week, usually just after the weekly grocery shopping trip, to cut up enough fruit and vegetables for a variety of meals each week, it is fairly easy to get nutritious meals on the table in short order. Trim up your vegetables and put them in storage containers to keep them fresh until you are ready to use them. And don’t forget to chop up extra vegetables to add to salads.

Pack it. If you pack a lunch, prepare small bags of fruits or vegetables that you can easily toss in a bag before rushing out the door in the morning.

Create it. For quick salads, I like to keep a large bag of baby spinach on hand. With the addition of some of the chopped vegetables, a salad can come together in no time. Pre-shredded carrots and cabbage and grape tomatoes can be added to salads if you don’t have time to chop vegetables. I like to keep a large salad in my refrigerator at all times, for side-dishes and snacks.

Boil it. Hard boiled eggs are a great source of protein, especially the egg white that contains high levels of protein, but low levels of fat. I like to prepare a dozen at a time. They are great for any time of the day and they are also a perfect choice if you don’t have a lot of time in the morning for a decent breakfast. If you don’t care for the yolk, toss it.

Slow cook it. A turkey breast can be cooked in a crock pot. Turkey breast is delicious, full of protein and low in fat. Just place a 5/12-7 pound turkey breast in the pot before work. The aroma is wonderful, and a week’s worth of sandwiches is even better (not to mention dinner). Chicken and pork tenderloin are other options as well.

About Karen Evans

Karen Evans is the author of the inspiring and informative blog, Fitness: A Journey Not a Destination. Karen majored in Public Administration/Community Service, but at the age of 37, was inspired to start a career in the field of health and wellness. That is what led her to attend massage therapy school and become licensed to practice. She is a wife and mother of two on a journey to lead the healthiest life possible through exercise and nutrition. She firmly believes we can all lead healthier lives if we have the desire to do so. She maintains her own health and well-being while helping others do the same.

Photo courtesy of: www.myfixedbudget.com.

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Comments

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2. Karen@WaistingTime

   
   07/28 2010

   I am a huge planner but somehow planning meals is a constant struggle for me. Must have something to do with the fact that I am so culinarily challenged.

3. karen@fitnessjourney

   
   07/28 2010

   Thanks again for the opportunity to contribute, Melinda. I love the idea of using technology to help with planning. I’m a little slow to catch up in that area, but I can definitely see the benefits.

4. bobbi

   
   07/28 2010

   This is my HUGEST downfall. I am a terrible meeal planner which leads to me wandering through my kitchen at 5 o’clock with no CLUE what I’m going to make, which leads to very boring crappy meals. I will be taking pointers from this one for sure…