Make meal planning stress-free! Here is a minimalist healthy frugal meal plan for 2.
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After getting married, my life became even busier than ever. I’m sure it will only get busier as time goes on, having kids, etc, but so far, I’m pretty busy during the week!
Between work, homemaking, and family time, there is always something for me to do! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and I love serving my family is these ways. Despite being busy, I still have been able to slow down by living a more minimalist lifestyle. I like to make time for the things that matter and cut the things that don’t.
When I first got married, I was still figuring out how much food to make, what to make, and how often to get groceries. Not surprisingly, I was often buying too much, not enough, and was not meal planning at all! This lead to overspending and wasting food, or not having enough food and having to go back to the store multiple times a week.
Finally, after some trial and error, I was able to figure out how much food we needed each week and what meals we both liked to have. I eat a plant based diet and so does my husband for the most part, so keep in mind this is a vegan/vegetarian meal plan. Honestly, eating a plant based diet has saved us so much money! Let’s start with some plant based grocery staples that I always like to have in my kitchen.
Healthy Cheap Staples
- oats
- rice (white or brown)
- potatoes
- beans (dry or canned)
- tofu
- frozen veggies
- pasta
These are all ingredients that I use every single week! I always make sure I have these staples on hand before each grocery trip and plan meals around these ingredients. It helps me ensure that I make well balanced meals with healthy carbs, veggies, and plant based protein. Creating a list of your staples is the first step to creating a minimalist meal plan.
Related: Cheap & Easy Trader Joe’s Meals + Grocery List
Tips on Creating a Minimalist Meal Plan
Here are some other tips on creating a minimalist meal plan and keeping your meal planning simple and stress free.
1. Shop Weekly
I have found that shopping for groceries weekly is what works best for us to keep this simple and minimal. Remember, we are only a family of 2 and our home is small so shopping weekly works great for us. We tried shopping bi-weekly and even monthly but that created a lot of clutter in our kitchen and food was going to waste. I think that weekly shopping works best for most people especially if you don’t have much space and aren’t very good at freezing leftovers (like myself!).
Try to use up everything (or mostly everything) during the week so that you can start fresh each week when you get groceries!
2. Avoid Shopping In Bulk
The next minimalist meal planning tip is to avoid shopping in bulk (unless necessary). This works for nonperishable items and things like toilet paper, paper towels, and other cleaning supplies but I would avoid it when it comes to regular food items, especially produce. There is a higher chance that it will go to waste and you will waste both food and your money.
3. Plan 3 Main Meals
I used to plan our dinner meals for each week night, totaling 5 different meals that I would shop for each week. However I quickly noticed that we were having a lot of leftovers that would sometimes not get eaten. I decided to simplify my meal planning even further and only work around 3 main meals for the week. These 3 meals get us through the entire week because we have leftovers that we have for lunch and sometimes another night as well. It also works better because now I need less different ingredients and just make more of one thing. It saves me time and money! At the end, I share an example of our weekly meal plan so you can get a better idea of what this looks like.
Related: How to Save Money on Your Groceries
4. Clean Out Your Fridge Before Shopping
Another thing that helps me keep my meal planning and grocery shopping minimal and simple is to clean out my fridge before I go grocery shopping. It not only helps me keep my fridge clean and organized, but it allows me to see what I already have. If I have some ingredients that I still need to use, I will plan my meals around them. This helps me spend and waste less. Before I started doing this, there were plenty of time that I ended up with duplicates in the fridge that would eventually go to waste!
5. Have 2-3 Go-To Breakfasts
Along with planning 3 main meals to have for lunch and dinner throughout the week, I like to plan a 2-3 breakfasts. These breakfasts are actually almost the same each and every week for us to keep it simple. I might only switch it up during the weekend every now and then. Other than that, we are happy eating the same 2-3 meal variations for breakfast every single day. This makes it a lot easier because I know exactly what I need for our breakfasts each week.
6. Avoid One Time Ingredients
Believe it or not, I sometimes like to get fancy with our meals. Usually this is only for special occasions though. When I do make a fancier/special meal, I try to avoid buying one time ingredients that I will only use for that recipe. Instead, I try to create “fancy” recipes that use ingredients that I will be use again.
Minimalist Meal Plan Example
Breakfasts:
- Oats
- Tofu Scramble
Dinners/Lunches:
- Spaghetti & Meatless Meatballs + Veggies
- Lentil Veggie “Meatloaf”, Veggies
- Teriyaki Tofu, Steamed Rice, Veggies
Snacks:
- PB&J’s
- Granola Bars
- Protein Shakes
Treats/Desserts:
- Dark Chocolate
- Popcorn
As you can see, my weekly meal plans are are minimalist and simple. I don’t go to much into depth and I just jot down my meal ideas for the week so I can then write my grocery list. I also like to include what snacks, treats, and dessert I would like for the week. I used to not include them and regret it later! I do like my treats here and there and having snacks is a must!
I hope this was able to help you create your own minimalist meal plan to save time, money, and waste less food.
Sincerely,
Denise XOXO
