Meal Planning with Notion (ft Veganuary!)
Some of the biggest things which have affected our spending throughout our travels this year have been the fuel price increases, repairs on our van and if we meal plan…
Couldn’t do anything about those first two!
But meal planning is something I’ve been doing for years and our weekly shopping cost when we planned ahead vs just went into the shop hungry, is staggering! Something which helps me with this, is keeping a list of ‘go to’ recipes that we know we like, but building that list and keeping a record can be a faff! So let me get you started by giving you access to my own Recipe database in Notion which I’ve started moving all my favourite meals into.
And as a bonus, if you wanted to add something extra onto that New Years resolution list; something that would get more fruit and veggies into your diet, save lives all around the world and cut down your carbon footprint, you could use my 100% Plant based Recipe database to try out Veganuary this year for the rest of January!
Read below to find out more:
Image: Veganuary.com
Meal Planning
The way I meal plan and cut down on food waste or over buying is to:
Check ingredients in kitchen which may be left over from previous week, use them to plan upcoming meals |
Pick 3 – 4 dinner meals for the week by checking Recipe List in Notion, 2 – 3 different types of lunch (sandwiches, soups, etc), add snack food and ask what Hubby/Daughter fancy for breakfast this week |
Write out all ingredients that cover those meals, take list shopping and try not to buy extras (Tip: Don’t go shopping hungry…It never ends well…) |
Stick to the meals chosen and cook which ever meal we fancy from our meal plan list that night |
- Tip: Double up on portions for meals you’ve had before, and only cook just enough of new recipes. Less risk of wasting lots of food you may not like!
- Tip: Check kitchen before you go shopping to see if you already have some ingredients!
- Tip: Feel free to plan a meal per night of the week, but we’ve found that didn’t work well for us as sometimes my hubby might be left with a complex meal I had wanted to cook, and that’s when he wants to throw in the towel and order pizza!
Recipe list in Notion
Notion, once you get used to it, has an incredible database system which I've used to build the recipe list below. My database has a list of 20+ recipes, a link to the recipe or meal prep steps within each recipe ‘page’ and is searchable by ingredients to help cut down on your food waste.
So if you have some spare veggies from your weekly shop, type them into the search bar of the database to bring up the list of meals you can make with them, neat huh?
And this really is a link to my personal meal tracker, so as I find new recipes we like, they will be added here.
The linked list is uneditable, but if you think this would be useful for you to add your own bits and pieces to, anyone with a free Notion account can duplicate this recipe list and populate it with whatever you like!
More about Veganuary
Veganuary is a 31 day challenge where participants eat plant-based food during the month of January. I took this challenge 7 years ago, switched my diet entirely and have been vegan ever since! Even though we are already part way through January, there is still plenty of time to make a difference. Are you ready to try it?
In 2020, the non-profit organisation worked out that from the 400,00 people who had took part that year, they had possibly saved over 1 million animals lives and the carbon equivalent 450,000 flights. Last year 629,000 people participated in Veganuary around the world, with Texas being the state with the second highest sign-up in the US. - Wikipedia
Finding plant-based foods and recipes is now becoming easier than ever, especially in January where the supermarkets get onboard with the Veganuary campaign and stock up! But the real challenge is the mindset of changing everyday eating, shopping and snacking habits to foods which have different flavours, textures and techniques. The substitutes do not taste the same, and sometimes you have to try a few different types of a products like dairy free milk to find one you like. Yet in one month, your taste buds change dramatically, and some people go on to prefer the vegan substitutes even after the challenge ends.
The Veganuary.com website has tons of tips for what to buy, answers to questions like “Where do vegans get their protein?” and how to get creative with food in the kitchen.
So add this to your New Years Resolutions list and have fun cooking some new meals this month!