Meal Planning and the Magic of Leftovers
Meal planning. I know what you're thinking, 'bah, that's for overachievers and people with actual organizational skills.' Actually it's not. I'm one of the most disorganized people I know and let me tell you, fair reader, meal planning saves money, stress and time, no matter who you are.
Some things to take into account when doing a meal plan are what time you have classes each day. If you have class pretty much all day every day plan for maybe only cooking one fresh meal during the week and cooking en mass on the weekend so you have something to eat the other days. If you have a day where you only have one or two classes and a lot of free time in between grocery shop then. There will be fewer people in the store during the day. If you have a class that lets out right at the time you eat dinner you may want to plan for leftovers that night because freeing up time for studying and last minuet 'oh-shit-I-forgot-to-do-that-lab-report' sessions is nice, and doubly nice if you can come home after and not have to do any more real labor.
Make A List. I cannot emphasize this enough. Know what you need to cook what you planned for that week. It will keep you from wasting time, wasting money and forgetting things. I'd recommend only grocery shopping once a week for the same reasons listed above. Also, keep an eye out for student discount days; lots of grocery stores have them once a week and as the bills pile up five and even ten percent off can really help.
Some things to take into account when doing a meal plan are what time you have classes each day. If you have class pretty much all day every day plan for maybe only cooking one fresh meal during the week and cooking en mass on the weekend so you have something to eat the other days. If you have a day where you only have one or two classes and a lot of free time in between grocery shop then. There will be fewer people in the store during the day. If you have a class that lets out right at the time you eat dinner you may want to plan for leftovers that night because freeing up time for studying and last minuet 'oh-shit-I-forgot-to-do-that-lab-report' sessions is nice, and doubly nice if you can come home after and not have to do any more real labor.
Make A List. I cannot emphasize this enough. Know what you need to cook what you planned for that week. It will keep you from wasting time, wasting money and forgetting things. I'd recommend only grocery shopping once a week for the same reasons listed above. Also, keep an eye out for student discount days; lots of grocery stores have them once a week and as the bills pile up five and even ten percent off can really help.
Example: Meal Plan and Grocery List for a Week
Meal PlanMonday- Chicken Noodle Soup and Flat-bread
Tuesday- Spinach salad with cheese and balsamic Wednesday- Penne with Vodka Sauce (makes leftovers) Thursday- Cous cous with scrambled tofu (makes leftovers) Friday- Chicken salad wrap Saturday-Hamburgers (makes leftovers) Sunday- Classic Spaghetti (makes leftovers) So next week would look something like this Monday - Leftover penne Tuesday - Leftover Hamburgers Wednesday - Chicken Pot Pie (makes leftovers) Thursday - Leftover cous cous with scrambled tofu Friday - Leftover spaghetti Saturday - Quiche (makes leftovers) Sunday - Pizza (makes leftovers) So you only need to get half of what you did last week and so on and so forth. |
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Leftovers. Oh magical magical leftovers. These also save time, stress and money. Think how nice it would be to come home, not feel like cooking, and still be able to have a good hot tasty meal in a matter of minuets. I know you can't see yourself not feeling like cooking, especially if you like cooking but trust me, there will be days.
Don't be afraid to make things in big batches. Especially thinks like pasta or pizza because thoes things freeze well and they defrost well which make for a good, quick, hot meal when you don't feel like cooking, have a late class or have unexpected guests.
Especially nice is their ability to be fluid within your meal plan. You don't really have to worry about them going bad. In prompt to dinner out with friends? Don't worry, the leftovers you planned to have Tuesday will be good next week as well.
Things That Freeze Well
| Things That Don't Freeze Well
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Know Your Stores
In any city there's two or three big grocery stores you choose from in doing your shopping. They also usually have a weekly flyer to let folks know what's on sale either online or a leaflet. Go online and have a look at both because you may be able to save some money by splitting up your shopping trip.
For university students there's probably no more magical store than the dollar store. Most people don't eve realize that you can get legitimate food there, especially in the larger chain stores like Dollarama. They sell bread, occasionally, and jam, peanut butter, condiments baking supplies and ingredients as well as a myriad of canned and dried goods.
It's defiantly worth hitting google maps to see if there's one in your area.
For university students there's probably no more magical store than the dollar store. Most people don't eve realize that you can get legitimate food there, especially in the larger chain stores like Dollarama. They sell bread, occasionally, and jam, peanut butter, condiments baking supplies and ingredients as well as a myriad of canned and dried goods.
It's defiantly worth hitting google maps to see if there's one in your area.