How to plan meals while living alone

While living alone has some of its benefits, cooking for one is not amongst them. Prepping and cooking a meal from scratch is not only hard when you live alone, but it is close to impossible to maintain a healthy diet.

With the current situation when everyone is quarantining and you cannot eat at the office or grab a bite at your favourite joint, you find yourself skipping meals and ultimately not living a healthy lifestyle.

Here are tips that can help you better plan your meals:

Have weekly plans

When you have to shop daily for meals, it makes it very hard for you to maintain the routine, because nothing motivates you to go to the market.

When you plan a week ahead, it is easy for you to guess the foods you are likely to eat all week through and buying enough supplies to get you through the week.

Planning also helps you avoid the possibility of eating the same meal every day since you would have planned and shopped a variety of food items.

Stock up on breakfast cereals. This is a good way to start your morning without worrying about cooking as the first thing you wake up to.

Cereals and milk in the morning is also a healthy start to your day. Plan meals that you will most likely enjoy preparing and eating.

When you buy food stuffs you don’t enjoy, chances that you will miss a meal are high.

Make use of your fridge

This is the best time to make your fridge your best friend. Not only will you be able to buy a week’s supply of food and store them without worrying that they will go bad, but also you can store your leftover meals and have them later on in the week.

In case the process of prepping vegetables is tiring, you can always take a day to cut all the vegetables you use to cook and store them in plastic tins in your fridge. This will reduce the amount of time you spend prepping for meals, which can eventually discourage you from cooking all together.

A fridge also saves you money that you spend every day shopping.

Also, keep your fridge organized and use colourless containers to keep you abreast with what is in your fridge.

Cook meals that overlap to the next day

Organization is key when you live alone. Plan your meals in a way that you can have them for breakfast or lunch the following day.

Cooking three times a day is not easy. You can always prepare meals that can be eaten with a variety of compliments like beef stew or beans.

You can also use your leftover meals to prepare novel meals that do not take up much of your time. This way all your food is utilized and none goes to waste.

Avoid eating junk foods and buying more than you need. They may be readily available but they are not keeping your health intact and they cost a lot of money.

This is why cooking healthier meals that can go for longer can save you the temptation of getting junk foods.

Go for quick recipes

Most people do not enjoy or like cooking because of all the time you spend standing while cooking not to mention the complex recipe procedures that some meals require.

Unless you want to please yourself with your culinary skills or you are experimenting a new recipe, it is best you go for quick recipes that last 20- 30 minutes during preparation.

This way you can finish quickly and do enjoy your food while you still have the energy and appetite.

Try and enjoy the whole process. You can turn on some music while you cook or read a book while something boils. When you enjoy what you are doing it makes the process much easier and fun.

Stock up on fruits

Having fruits in the house can help you tame the urge to constantly munch something.

Fruits are healthier and do not require a complex preparation recipe. You can make salads or fresh juice and keep them refrigerated. This way they stay for longer.

Living alone can prove challenging especially to your diet, but with these few steps you can find your path back to easier and healthier living.