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weekly zero-waste menu

5/4/2017

6 Comments

 
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Meal planning is not something I love to do...it just happens too often. I've tried different approaches over the years, but for the last few years I have used this method. I have a sort of outline of meals for the week. It takes into account which days I am cooking for just three of us...or need to make a quick meal...or have people eating at different times. I like that there is a sort of framework, so that I'm not starting my grocery list from scratch each week. It really helps in regards to keeping things zero-waste too, because I know that these meals work that way.

When I make the grocery list, I fill in more detail for each meal. For example, Tuesday's bowl might include cauliflower, radishes and feta along with chickpeas and rice...because I already have rice, there are chickpeas in the freezer, chives in the garden, and cauliflower and radishes are in season. I can get feta from the salad bar in my own container...and it will all be "zero"-waste. Next week the bowl might look a little more like this or this. The outline still allows lots of room for variety...and I can always deviate.

Over the years, with different schedules + preferences, the meal choices have changed...but here is what I am working with right now. (We eat pescatarian at home.)

Monday :: soup or salad
Tuesday :: legume + veg + grain bowl
Wednesday :: improvise or out
Thursday :: breakfast
Friday :: fish + veg + grain
Saturday :: legume + veg + grain bowl
Sunday :: root veg + protein

We eat the same things for breakfast each morning:
-Mr. Tribe + me :: homemade yogurt + bulk granola and coffee + milk from a glass jug
-the girls :: toast + milk...fruit too, if we're lucky.  :)

Lunch is a sort of free-for-all... + fruit...sometimes it's a bulk bagel, leftovers, or Julia's favorite: the occasional organic mac + cheese.

Snacks aren't an every day occurrence, but might be an apple + bulk peanut butter, a few bulk cashews + a shared grapefruit, homemade cookies, smoothies, or banana bread.

I'm all for keeping it simple...but when considering taste, nutrition, budget, organics, variety, and zero-waste...it gets a little complicated...so I like all the shortcuts I can find.

Love, 
Jane
6 Comments
Kari
5/3/2017 09:56:16 pm

My husband is the cook in our family, so fortunately I don't have to menu plan. But as long as there's bulk dark chocolate in there somewhere, I'll eat almost anything.

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Jane link
5/8/2017 08:57:21 am

That is lucky + I'd have to agree about the chocolate!! :)

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Celia link
5/4/2017 01:26:06 pm

Your bulk bags always make me smile. Love this simple approach to meal planning!

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Jane link
5/5/2017 04:48:06 pm

Thank you!!! :)

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Heather link
5/4/2017 03:21:10 pm

This is so helpful! Currently, I don't normally shop at a store with a good, plastic-free bulk section, but we live about thirty minutes from a large Whole Foods. I'm getting more and more interested in the zero-waste lifestyle and wondering if it's at all worth the extra twenty minutes of driving each way to buy bulk and glass-bottled milk. Perhaps it is, if I'm planning better and going to the grocery store fewer times per week! Also, Whole Foods does have better prices than my local grocery store, on a lot of organic products, like milk. Thank you for the meal planning ideas! :)

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Jane link
5/5/2017 04:16:54 pm

That was exactly the choice I had to make when I decided to try zero-waste. We drive past 4 grocery stores on our way...but it is totally worth it to me. It is honestly one of our favorite things to do + it makes me purposeful about going only once per week. :)

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