5 Step Meal Planning System to Reduce Food Waste

This is my 5 step approach to meal planning - an effective way to reduce your food waste

One of the best ways to reduce your food waste is to do a weekly meal plan. I generally make sure I plan dinners from Monday to Thursday. These are my busiest days and if dinner isn't planned it can lead to last minute, panic supermarket trips, which are not fun and often lead to food being wasted.

My 5 Step Approach to Meal Planning:

Step 1. Check the cupboards/fridge/freezer to see what I have

Step 2. Make myself a nice coffee and find a quiet spot

Step 3. Sit down with my meal planning notebook and flick back over previous weeks for inspiration! This notebook then lives on my counter so I can see it.

Step 4. Check my planner/diary to see what's on this week

Step 5. List out the days of the week and fill in the meals.

I try to plan a good mix of chicken, meat, fish and vegetarian meals. I also try to rotate between rice, potatoes and breads. This all helps to make sure the meals aren't too boring or repetitive (to cook or eat!). I add notes if there's something I need to defrost or need to remember to cook.

This is definitely a discipline. It's not easy to remember to do it and put aside the time. However, I can tell you that when our meals are planned in advance, there is no panic around mealtime and it eliminates a potential area of stress in my life. It also helps me to keep our food waste down to an absolute minimum.