Health A to Z — 6 minutes

Meal planning: Save time and eat better

September 30^th, 2024

Biron Team

info@biron.com

Adopting better eating habits, whether you want to eat a more balanced diet, gain muscle mass or lose weight, can sometimes seem complex. Between work, the kids, social activities and everything else, we often find ourselves asking the same question at the end of the day: “What’s for dinner tonight?” And quite often this leads to some quick, but not always ideal, options.

The solution? Meal planning. With the right tools and a little organization, not only will you eat better, but you will save time and money.

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Before getting down to the nitty-gritty, let’s remind ourselves why good nutrition is so crucial. This is not about aiming for an ideal body or falling for trends on social networks. It’s about taking care of your health and well-being over the long term. The right intake of nutrients helps your body function optimally, boosts your immune system and helps you avoid certain serious illnesses. The more balanced your diet, the better you feel in body and mind. So, the aim is not to change your physical appearance, but rather to give your body better tools to stay in tip-top shape.

In a nutshell, meal planning helps you avoid improvising an uninspiring supper or ordering out because of a lack of ingredients.

The principle is simple: You set your goals for the week, identify the times when you can cook, estimate the number of meals to prepare and choose what you feel like eating. Doing this manually is entirely possible with a recipe book and a grocery list. However, let’s not forget the most important thing: It’s all about making life easier, right? Plenty of apps are available to help you plan your meals without too much effort. How do you choose the right one?

Think about what is important to you. Are you short on meal ideas? If so, an app that offers new recipes could be your best ally. Do you prefer planning your grocery shopping based on the specials of the week? In this case, choose an app that lets you browse flyers. Do you have trouble planning meals for the whole week? An app that shows meals in a calendar format will greatly simplify your organization.

Here are some criteria to keep in mind:

Accessibility: Is the app available on all your devices, such as your mobile phone, tablet or computer?
Personalization: Can the app be adjusted to your dietary preferences and those of your family?
Ease of use: Is the interface intuitive?
Functionality: Does the app include features you are looking for, such as recipe importing, automatic grocery list creation, or menu planning for the whole week?

If you share meal planning with your partner or other members of your family, be aware that some apps let you synchronize the menus and grocery lists of multiple people.

Meal-planning apps and websites are a dime a dozen. Some are free, others charge a fee, some offer a wide range of features, while others focus on ease of use. To help you get started, here are two options from Quebec that are worth checking out:

Plani-Menus

Plani-Menus is a free app available for computers, tablets and mobile phones. It works like a calendar designed specifically for meals, featuring a ton of recipes that you can easily add to the calendar to plan your week.

What we especially like: the ability to add recipes from other sources directly into the app and include them in your weekly planning. In addition, the recipes proposed by Plani-Menus are created by a team of dieticians/nutritionists.

Discover the app here.

Please note that this site is available in French only.

TADA! from IGA

With the TADA! app from IGA, you can plan your meals using the store flyer and create recipes inspired by Ricardo’s favourites. Available for your mobile phone, it also lets you filter recipes based on your dietary preferences and exclude recipes of less interest to you.

What we especially like: the ability to filter recipes based on preparation time. This is extremely useful for those hectic weeknights when you want to enjoy a good meal without spending too much time making it.

Discover the app here.

It’s not an app for planning your grocery shopping, but the website Tout simplement bouffe does offer a full menu for your week, based on discounts from major grocery store chains. What’s more, the “Vide-frigo” tool suggests recipes based on the ingredients you have on hand.

Please note that both this site and its associated tool are available in French only.

The Ricardo Menu also features a weekly meal plan, designed to inspire you and make your cooking routine easier. A selection of tasty recipes is available each week, along with a detailed grocery list to simplify your shopping. Whether you are seeking quick-to-prepare dishes or ideas for more elaborate meals, you are bound to find something to satisfy your tastes. Moreover, you can adapt the menu according to your preferences and seasonal ingredients, helping you maintain a balanced diet while enjoying the freshness of local products.

The key thing to remember is that meal planning is all about simplifying everyday life. With a few clicks or by taking down a few notes, you can transform your eating habits and achieve your goals, whether they involve eating a more balanced diet, saving money or better managing your time.

So, are you ready to make meal planning part of your routine? With a little organization and the right tools, you will see that there is nothing simpler than taking care of yourself, stress-free and with pleasure!