Lunch boxes, Part 2: Planning is key

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The worst part about cooking? When I don't know what to cook. It eats up my time and also my passion for cooking and usually results in me making noodles with olive oil, sea salt, and nutritional yeast. Tasty. But not a lunch box meal, and you don't want to be eating the same thing over and over again... 

And when I do know what I want to cook, chances are, I'll need to go out and shop. So noodles it is. ;)

And in order to prevent this from happening and have something tasty for lunch every time, there is only one solution: Plan well!

Weekly plans

My mother keeps a small notebook in which she writes down what her meal plans are. I do a digital version. I have a google doc in which I make weekly plans for our meals.

I whipped up a little sample file for 2021 for you (nothing special, but it's what I use), which you can download. Just open it and download.

Why do I do this?

1. Getting to cook more quickly at night: I don't spend time wondering what I'm going to cook
2. More effective shopping (plans): I don't have to go to the store as much
3. 2-in-1: I can plan meals that are coordinated so I can save time
4. Seasonal cooking: I can look up what's in season and choose to integrate those ingredients
5. History: I can look up what I have been making, so I don't repeat dishes too much (and I can be inspired by meals I forgot I made)

I have access to the document on my phone. So when I have an idea, I can just add it to the plan. But I usually do sit down on Fridays to plan the upcoming week. This way, after I have made a meal plan, I can also plan my weekly shopping.

I know it's in German. But you get the idea.

One question I've come across in this context was: "What do you do if you don't feel like eating what you planned?" - I have to say, regardless of what I've cooked in the past... when I'm at work and lunch time rolls by, I have never not wanted to eat whatever nice meal I had cooked for myself. So I've never actually faced that problem ;) The secret: Cook tasty meals only!

 

The plans help me mix it up. My basic rule (with a couple of exceptions) is: Never cook a meal more than once a month. In Part 3 of this article, I'll introduce you to my favorite recurring meals.

Weekly shopping

Take a look at Part 1 (Equipment and Pantry) of my articles to see what I always have available at home and what I recommend. There's also a shopping list for ingredients for you to download in the article. But a well managed pantry only takes you so far - you also need fresh ingredients. So I have a clear order I follow: 

1. Write my weekly meal plan
2. Write my shopping list based on the plan
3. Shop

Sounds simple, but I guarantee that it's such a help when you shop and don't have to decide in between the aisles what you're going to eat next Tuesday... to then get home and notice you forgot something for that plan you made at the supermarket. 

I usually shop on two days per week. Saturdays and Tuesdays/Wednesdays. On Saturday I make my main haul, and on Tuesdays or Wednesday I make a quick stop to pick up fresh veggies for the second half of the week.

I have a digital shopping list ("to do" / an Android standard app that also allows you to share lists with partners/family who can add items or check them off the list if they picked them up already). But paper works, too, of course. The important thing is to enter the store knowing what you definitely need to buy - if you decide to pick up some extra items, that won't hurt your cooking plans. I have a list for each shop (supermarket, Asian supermarket, Middle Eastern supermarket, drugstore (German drugstores have a lovely selection of organic pantry basics)...), so I don't get lost on one superlong list for all shops when I am busy navigating through each one.

I have a couple of things that I always buy at specific shops:

• Asian supermarket: fresh tofo, rice, Asian noodles, coconut milk, spices (dry spices, soy sauce, curry paste), mock duck...
• Middle Easter supermarket: Olives, flatbread, fresh herbs (so much cheaper!), chickpeas, stuffed vineleaves, lentils...
• drug store: wheat flour, organic soy milk, special flours, ...
• Farmers' market: potatoes <3 (they are so much better than what I get here at the supermarket)
• Supermarket: pretty much everything else
• Organic supermarket: Special items (especially special tofu products and vegan cheeses)

I have the privilege to live in a city where I easily have access to all sorts of shops (I live in Duisburg and it has a terrible reputation. I actually love it here :)). I know this is not the case for everyone, but I am sure you can adapt this for your infrastructure.

Saving time & ressources

One important point that helps me save time in the cooking process each day, is planning meals with components that can be used on more than one day or so you can freeze them and use later.

When I write my weekly plan, I can coordinate meals and their components:

An example:

• Monday: Thai curry with jasmine rice
• Tuesday: Rice with fried veggies and hoisin sauce 

✔ Both meals can use eggplants, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, and spring onions. That way you are not left with "leftover" veggies (except for broccoli which you'll find on Thurday) Both meals can (optional) use deep (or air) fried tofu. I cook one big batch of rice and have my carb component for both days.

• Wednesday: Potatoes with baked tofu (or seitan or something else) with broccoli
• Thursday: Mashed potatoes with soy curl ragout and green beans

✔ Cooked potatoes once, used them on two days. Used up broccoli "leftovers" from Monday and Tuesday. And the soy curl ragout is great to be cooked in advance and then frozen in portions.

• Friday: Pizza rolls and salad.

A great example of a component that I prep, freeze and then use, is deep fried (or air fried) tofu. I buy 3-4 blocks of fresh tofu (I can even bring my own tupperware for the tofu to my local Asian supermarkets, so I can pick it up without having any packaging/unnecessary trash), deep/air fry them and freeze them. You always need deep/air fried tofu <3

If you're interested in more ideas, I'll write up a third part of my lunch box article: My favorite lunch box meals!

The other two parts of the article:

Part 1️⃣ Equipment and Pantry

Part 3️⃣ My favorite lunch box meals (lots of recipes!)