Photo by Sam of the Vangsness' Tuesday meal
By Sam Vangsness
I’m not a meal prepper, I’m a meal planner.
We all know that planning can save time and money, especially during busy seasons of life. If I can plan one thing for the week it’s supper. Sometimes things get thrown around but nothing feels better than having a plan for supper when you get home from work.
Each week, I survey what we have on hand from our fridge, pantry and freezer and work first from there. I then start with what we want for dinner that week and I make a plan. It’s usually not fancy but it’s nutritious and works for us!
Pot roast with all the fixings!
For example, this week I pulled three pounds of ground beef, a beef roast, and some bacon out of the freezer. Levi, my husband, asked for meatballs and gravy, so I added that to the list. And then I go from there. I will plan meals like a classic roast with carrots and potatoes, breakfast for supper, and meatballs and gravy. As for what we pair with meals, it’s usually roasted veggies, potatoes, or rice, all things we have on hand. But now that produce is getting tastier, we have been making a few quick salads to pair with meals, and it has been refreshing!
Another helpful tip is that our suppers are always lunch the next day. This saves us time and money during the week. This goes into my beginning of the week planning as well, knowing that each supper will need to get us two meals a piece.
When I plan meals, I also use the ingredients I have on hand and try not to buy specialty ingredients, which often will only be used to make one meal. For example, if a recipe calls for red wine vinegar but I have apple cider vinegar, I will use what I have on hand.
Don’t get me wrong -- some nights it is chicken nuggets from the freezer or 2-for-1 burgers from the truck stop, but I find if I sit down for 15 minutes on Sunday, place my grocery order online and make a plan, it sets me up for one less thing to think about each evening.
Breakfast for supper!
Here is a sample menu for the week:
Sunday: Beef roast and roasted potatoes and carrots
Monday: Soup made with the leftover roast and veggies, plus adding in some frozen veggies
Tuesday: Meatballs and gravy with roasted Brussels sprouts
Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner (waffles, eggs and bacon)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Beef taco bowls
Saturday: Never really sure what a Saturday brings so I don't normally plan for it. If we are home we will have leftovers or breakfast for supper!
Sam lives in rural Morton County with her husband. She enjoys being outside working alongside her husband, but equally enjoys being in the kitchen cooking nutritious, delicious, simple meals, and sharing tips, tricks, and recipes along the way.