Meal Planning Tips and Tricks

With a busy week ahead filled with school, work, or kids, meal planning can feel like an extra burden. You already have so much to think about and having one more item might make you explode. Through my own journey I have found two things to be key: planning and taking small steps. If you can’t plan a whole week, try planning for a day or two. 

Biggest nutrient bang for your buck 

Plant foods are going to be the biggest bang for your buck nutrient wise. There are a few plant foods I intentionally incorporate throughout the week to hit certain nutrient targets 

• Sweet potato for Vitamin A

• Wheat germ, quinoa, and sweet peas for zinc 

• Lentils, tofu, and tempeh for iron and protein 

• Bell peppers or lemons for vitamin C 

• Mushrooms, sweet peas, and tempeh for spermidine 

• Hemp seeds, flaxseeds, and chia seeds for Omega-3 

Meal Prep Outline 

• Mornings are usually a smoothie with hemp s

  eeds, flaxseeds, and chia seeds along with spinach, kale and fruit. You can pre make the smoothie the night before as well to have it ready to go in the morning!

• Batch made quinoa for the week. I will usually put two cups of uncooked quinoa to boil and have it ready to eat throughout the week. 

• Lentils can also be batch made. You can vary the amount. I usually place one cup of raw lentils to cook for the week. Season it with spices!

• Tofu and tempeh are also excellent ways to get protein during the week. Tofu can be prepared raw or cooked. 

• Mix lentils, tofu, or tempeh with quinoa along with mushrooms, sweet peas and bell peppers and you have yourself a nutrient dense meal at the ready!