Today we are talking about...

I'm not good at meal planing. Since I work for myself, I travel 6 months out of the year, and my schedule is all over the place, I know I could benefit from planing out what I'm eating on a weekly bases. 

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm actually an avid meal planner, and I didn't even realize it. 

Every morning I eat oatmeal and flaxseeds with a touch of honey. 

A few hours later I usually gobble down a salad for lunch, which can usually hold me until dinner. 

Sometimes my boyfriend surprises me and takes me out for a romantic lunch. As much as I love his surprises I also strive to stay on track during these outings. I usually order a salad with grilled fish for protein. If no salads are available then I try to go with a lightly cooked vegetable stir fry, avoiding heavy sauces and anything fried. 

As much as  my man complains about all of my eating restrictions I know he loves it. he is the first one to ask waitresses if something has any meat products in it. I actually think he gets a kick out of it. He's also lost some weight recently, and he's loving his new physic. 

I know I can get a lot better on my meal planning game. 

Lets dive into todays topic

You Will Eat Healthier

This is usually the number one reason to begin planing meals

When you already have a menu of the foods you are going to prepare for the next several days, you can avoid eating out or ordering takeout. 

You Shop More Efficiently  

Since you already know what you will be eating serval days in advance you can comprise a grocery list before heading to the supermarket. This can help you cut down on grocery waste, and also keep you in line to purchase healthier foods then you usually do. Leave those high calorie snacks on the shelves if they are not on your list. 

You Can Enjoy More Variety

Instead of eating the same dish first times a week, you can plan your menu so you are always enjoying something new. Maybe you can cook fish on Monday, Beef on Tuesday..... This is helpful if you have picky kids, or picky significant others.

I couldn't find many disadvantages to meal planing other then its time consuming, and you have to think ahead, and be a little creative. Other then that Meal Planing is a good idea of anyone that consumes food. 

I'm all about Mason Jars now a days. They are cheap to buy and have multiple uses such as....

Efficient Meal Planing  

You have to check out this site!

Mason Jar Meals by Big Red Kitchen

She got really fancy on me with these Corn Dogs! I can't wait to try them

I know, I just went mason jar crazy, but how could you not with all of these creative meals???

I hope they excite you as much as they excited me. All recipes can be found on www.bigredkitchen.com or www.amybites.com

Check out these blogs for some great meal planning menus:

Starting next week, I'm going to take some of my own advice and do some Mason Jar Meal Planning, I'll let you all know how it turns out. 

Thats all today folks

I hope you all enjoyed this post. I enjoyed writing it. 

Blessings my friends

Mary