planning your meal ahead of time will save you time, stress as well as money. this will also help you eat healthy, try new cuisine and dishes. you will be able to enjoy a stress-free family meal with your entire family.
- pick a day of the week where you can spend at least an hour and plan your meals for an entire week.
- take stock of your pantry and refrigerator and make a shopping list based on the menu you have planned.
- have a good meal before you go grocery shopping - grocery shopping on empty stomach makes you buy more junk food. stick to your grocery list as much as possible.
- do any prep work required to prepare the dish. you can clean, chop or dice chop vegetables, portion size them based on the dish you are going to prepare.
- enjoy your special family bonding time.
these meal plans are not etched in stone. use these as guidelines or ideas that you can use to include a variety of dishes - grains, proteins vegetables, and fruits in your diet on a daily basis.
the dishes i share are mostly from my blog, what I cook on a regular basis for my family - mostly Indian food, but occasional variety cuisines.
a note about Indian meal: a typical Indian meal revolves around either rice or roti (chappathi) - an unleavened flatbread made with wheat flour. along with the rice and/or roti, there will be a dal/beans dish. add to it a sabji (a dry stir fry made with seasonal vegetables). if your family eats non-vegetarian food, then you can also add meat or egg to your meal. along with this, there will be yogurt or buttermilk(homemade, this is usually the liquid left behind when you remove butter from curd/yogurt), pappad (thin deep-fried lentil wafers), and achaar(Indian pickle with spices).