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What would you do with $1,175 extra every year? That is the average amount of money spent on take-out in the United States! It adds up to more than $70,000 over the course of a lifetime! That’s a major chunk of change!

The amount of money spent on fast food in the United States each year is staggering. According to one analysis, the $50 billion spent on fast food in the United States each year would be enough to end world poverty for three years. It is undeniable that our fast-food addiction has global consequences.

Fast food is not just a drain on your pocketbook, but it is also a drain on your health! The average fast food meal contains enough calories to last an entire day. In fact, a large soda contains three times the daily recommended sugar intake! Saturated fat, sodium, chemicals, and hormones…it may be quick in the moment, but the health consequences of fast food will follow you for a long time.

If you’re like the majority of people, you KNOW you should eat more meals at home, but you’re too busy. You have a lot on your plate. During the week, you find yourself rushing from place to place, attempting to keep all of your balls in the air. Dinner is a last-minute decision (just as breakfast and lunch were). So, once again, you grab something on your way home.

The Problem With Food Waste

Even if you don’t eat fast food or order takeout, you’re probably wasting spoiled food that you didn’t use.

It’s not just avocados that have gone rotten…

It’s ruined greens, expired food, overdue meat, moldy bread, and unrefrigerated things that have gone bad.

You’re not alone if you feel bad about throwing away food you meant to eat but didn’t get around to.

Each year, about a third of the world’s food output is wasted, resulting in 1.3 billion tons of waste and nearly $990 billion in lost revenue. Consumers in North America, on the other hand, squander 39% of their food!

Take a moment to consider this: as consumers, we waste almost 40% of our food!

Consider how much money we could save if we could just cut that waste in half!

The Solution Is Organized Meal Planning

What can we do to limit the amount of food that is thrown away by individuals? We can plan our meals!!

The “HOW” to healthy living is to get organized and create simple ROUTINES.

Because dining at home is far healthier and food waste is pricey, sticking to a weekly meal planning routine will both trim your diet and fatten your wallet!

You can keep your family nourished and happy while avoiding the drive-through with little pre-planning, a healthy routine, and some easy organization tactics.

Organizing Healthy New Habits

The key to success is to get into an organized routine of meal planning.

To begin, block out time on your schedule to create a food plan. Choose a regular day of the week that works for you (for example, Sunday afternoons) and set aside a time to sit down and plan out your week. After then, schedule that time on your calendar and stick to it!

If making a meal plan feels like a chore, consider the following alternative:

  • What if the twenty minutes you set aside to plan your meals were actually enjoyable?
  • What if it was considered “me time”?
  • What if you turned it into a time to recharge your batteries, rather than simply another “must-do” ?

It’s remarkable how a shift of viewpoint can alter our perception of a situation!

If you dislike the idea of taking time out to do a meal plan, come up with a fun way to do it:

  • While you plan, soak your feet in a footbath.
  • Pour yourself a drink and retire to the back porch to bask in the sun.
  • After each session, reward yourself with something fun.

Organize Your Meal Planning Supplies

To make this process quick and easy and organized, designate a convenient spot for your meal planning supplies. These might include:

  • Pen
  • Sticky Notes
  • Notepad
  • Calendar
  • Recipe Binder
  • Grocery list app for your phone.

Recipe planning can be one of the most difficult aspects of creating a meal plan. According to one study, many people dine out frequently because they are unsure of their own cooking skills.

It may take a few months to get your recipe rotation going, but it will be well worth the effort! Trying new dishes with your family can be interesting and fun (remember to shift your mentality!)

Food cravings are another major reason why people eat out. Find healthier alternatives to fast food favorites to thwart these unhealthy budget busters. We are really lucky to live in a time when you can discover not just one, but dozens of recipes for almost any meal you can think of on the internet. There are also healthy knock-offs of almost every fast food and take-out item available.

And by the way, if you have a voice assistant like Alexa, Siri or Google Home asking any of them for a recipe for almost anything is easy, so doing your meal planning while they are in ‘earshot’ can be very helpful if you get stuck!

Organizing Your Weekly Meal Plan

After gathering mouth-watering, make-you-want-to-eat-at-home recipes, follow this procedure to make a meal plan for the week:

1. Pull out your calendar and plan meals that fit that week’s schedule

As you’re choosing recipes and making a plan, here are some things to consider:

  • What can you make ahead of time? Can you double any of these recipes?
  • What can you prepare in the crock pot for busy evenings with meetings or extracurricular activities?
  • How can you use leftovers strategically? (Some cookbooks think of this for you!)
  • Don’t forget healthy breakfast and lunch items!

Write out your plan in a notebook, in a notes app or whatever way works best for you. There is no right or wrong here, just the right way for you! If you really want to save time you can download my free meal planner template here.

Go Grocery Shopping

If you want to save time, use your grocery list to order your groceries online, schedule a pickup time that works for you, and the store will put the groceries right into your trunk as you drive up!

Not into online ordering? Then, I recommend going to the store to fetch the groceries immediately after you’ve finished your meal planning session. This consolidates your meal planning window into an organized, productive burst. (Any tasks that drag on or are spread over time tend to be avoided!)

You can also get both perishable produce AND non-perishable pantry items delivered to your door through an increasing number of online sources. Amazon is a great choice for those of us in the Houston area, but you can also consider other sources like ThriveGlobal and Misfits Market too.

Get Your Family In on the Meal Planning

Once your meal plan is ready for the week, share it with your family. You can do that via text, by writing it up on chalkboard, or simply by pinning a printout to the fridge. Again, it’s whatever will work best for you! By doing this, there will be no more “what’s for dinner?” inquiries, and everyone will be able to assist in the preparation of dinner.

Some Extra Tips

Here are some more ideas to reduce waste and perfect your planning:

  • Prior to putting away your groceries, take a few extra steps to turn your healthy options into fast food! Hate rubbery carrots?! Wash and cut fruit and veggies for snacking and place at eye-level in the fridge.
  • Add to your calendar any reminders you’ll need throughout the week – to pull out meat or put something into the crockpot in the morning.
  • Containerize leftovers for lunch portions

This organized meal-planning habit will help you eat fewer meals out and more at home. You’ll also waste less food! Your family, body, and wallet will all be grateful.

Need help with any home, office or life organization project? Book a Zoom call here and let’s chat about how Just Organized by Taya can help you.

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