Meal Planning: Coronavirus edition

A friend of mine wrote and asked that I provide some support on meal planning.  I mean, I AM a nutritionist.  This is what I'm supposed to do.

Ugh, I hate having to help people with meal planning.  

But then I thought.. wait a minute.  I love sharing good ideas.  Why not this? This is something I avoid talking about with people all the time.  Even my clients.  Why is that?

I think it's because I feel like telling people how to plan meals is sort of like telling people what church to go to. ... What religion to have.  While there are some basic principles that you really should look for, where you go is really a matter of taste and past experience.  And there are so many different variables that factor into your meal planning.

Our food preferences are shaped by our childhood experiences

I mean think of it... your family of origin counts for a lot.  Your beliefs, your taste and food culture.  You aren't born liking certain foods (other than sweets).  Your tastes are cultivated. 

Your current life situation matters too.  What food is available to you?  How much money do you have?  How much time do you have to cook?  Who else are you cooking for?  Do you even have a stove and fridge?  And these days, you might not be able to get to the store for another 5 days or more.

How can I help someone meal plan when we all have so many variables?  I don't even know what you like?  Let alone dole out general meal planning ideas on this platform.

But like I said before, there are some basic principles.  And if someone wants my advice, it means they want to get in my head and understand how I approach it.  I do that sometimes.  If I'm new at something, I try on an expert's attitude towards it until I find my own start to emerge.  I find it's a good strategy.  So I'll lay out some basic principles that I use, then show you how I plan to execute them during this whole 'shelter in place' season.  I WISH I could do a live broadcast with my mom.  She's a good meal planner and she meal plans in a totally different way than I do.  Together, we'd make a good team.  But unfortunately, I can't be in the same room as her while we practice social distancing.  So you'll have to settle for just me.

Things you have to keep in mind when reading how I do this:

• I grew up with a mom who cooked and she taught me how to cook.
• I have had some actual culinary training.
• I cook all the time and LIKE cooking.  In fact, I ponder food ideas all the time, thinking about what I could make with this and that.  I'm good at winging it.
• I fill my chest freezer with beef and pork once per year, so I cook with what is there, not with what's on sale.
• I have an absurdly well-stocked pantry even during normal times.
• I cook for a family of 4 with one mildly picky eater.
• I have a garden and chickens.
• I think about food a lot.  So I guess I have the right job!

So apply my words accordingly if your situation differs wildly.  And keep reasonable expectations. I've been told by more than one person that I tend to set the bar unusually high when it comes to daily meals, so keep that in mind.  If you're not accustomed to cooking, give yourself some grace time to learn and make mistakes.

Basic principles of planning your meals:

Now, even this needs a disclaimer.  This is for most people, most of the time.  Let's not get into a low-carb, vegan, keto, raw-food argument.  If you are on a restricted diet, you can take this info and modify it or pay someone to help you with that.  I want to keep this very general.

Used with permission from Feeding the Whole Family, by Cynthia Lair

Each meal: Protein, carbohydrate, bit of fat, some veg and/or fruit and water.  75% produce.  Eat a rainbow.  More whole foods, fewer processed foods.

There are many models about what constitutes a healthy, balanced meal.  This is an image and philosophy I have always loved from Cynthia Lair's book, Feeding the Whole Family (as much an education in nutrition and food as it is a cookbook).


Breakfast: We are fine with the same breakfast every day.  Oatmeal porridge.  It makes our life easier.  We add things like cream, peanut butter, flax, chia seeds, roasted nuts and seeds, bananas, raisins, yogurt... seasonal fruit to it.  

Sometimes I make a protein smoothie for me or busy kids if we're on the go (which we are not, now).

In the summer time, porridge becomes muesli, which we soak overnight and ad toppings similar to the porridge.  

I sometimes make granola.  But since it only lasts about 24 hours (no matter how big a batch I make) I don't make that for breakfast anymore.

Lunch: This is where we diverge as a family.  I am maintaining a sourdough starter and making pancakes for us all about every 3rd day or so.  On the other days, I like to have a leftover soup, eggs, sandwiches and we cut up a big plate of raw fruit and vegetables.  Apples, pears, celery, carrots, radishes, broccoli and some dip if I have it.  I cut up plenty knowing it can be snacked on later in the day and/or used later in dinner.

Dinner:  This is where planning comes in handy.  Because my plan is to do online ordering for my groceries every 7-10 days during our shut-in period.  I don't even know how realistic this, is, but that's the plan for now.

Often, I don't plan meals as much as I plan ingredients.  I know I want my family to consume a certain amount of cruciferous vegetables, so I buy one or 2 heads of cabbage (red and green), broccoli and Brussels sprouts.  I know I want a fresh salad with my meals most days, so I buy (or grow/forage) enough salad greens for that.  I also know I will want a lot of brightly colored veg to add to my salad and to cut up for lunches, so I buy radishes, purple cabbage, microgreens, avocado, carrot, cucumbers, celery to last (some of these are also key for making lunch sandwiches.  In a 10 day period, I will be rotating between root vegetables, rice, quinoa and pasta for our carbs.  I can stockpile rice and pasta a bit, but I make sure to order enough red potatoes for roasting, russets for baked potatoes and yams for 5-7 days.  This is one way of planning, especially when you have a freezer full of meat already at home.

Planning meals:

Let's do a fun week starting with Mexican-style food. It's the perennial favorite in our house.  This will assume you can get quite a few ingredients, but I'm optimistic right now.

I like to make a big pot of beans for starters.  Say with 6 cups of dried beans.  Pintos, kombu (if you have it) tomato paste, onions, garlic, bit of bacon (if you have it), cumin and some smoked paprika.

My slaw is key to making it all taste wonderful.  Grate a nice big pile of red and green cabbage with a grated carrot.  Add some chopped cilantro.  Now dress with fresh lime juice, salt and olive oil.  1:1 lime juice and olive oil.  (I bought 2 big bunches of cilantro a few weeks ago, whizzed it up in the food processor with olive oil and froze it in an ice cube tray so that I have fresh cilantro taste when it runs out.  You can do that with basil too!

Here is what your week could look like

Day 1: Burritos with pinto beans, tortillas, slaw, salsa, avocado, sour cream, cheese.
Day 2: Rice bowls: Same ingredients, but cook a pot of brown rice and layer it all in a bowl.  Make extra rice for day 4. (freeze the rest of the beans unless you plan to have burritos for lunch one day.)
Day 3: Chicken tacos: You bought a whole chicken (or two, you awesome prepper!).  Roast it all to perfection, clean off all the meat and make chicken tacos with it using all the slaw, avocados, cheese, etc from the earlier days. Feta cheese is great in this. You might have to make more slaw, but you have all the ingredients.  I like the fish taco recipe from Cookus Interruptus, and you can substitute chicken. Total yum. Now throw those chicken carcasses in a stock pot and make some broth with them.  Package up the rest of the chicken to either freeze for later or use it the next day
Day 4: Take your leftover rice, egg and some of your veggies like broccoli and purple cabbage and make some fried rice for dinner (this could also be a lunch).  Chill your chicken broth.
Day 5: Make a bean soup or a lentil-sausage soup! : Make enough so you can serve it for dinner again or a few lunches. Serve with a nice green salad. Chop up extra veggies to add and save them for tomorrow's salad. Make a simple dressing with red or white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and Dijon mustard (or a fresh egg yolk).  Skim the fat off your chicken broth and freeze what you won't use tomorrow.
Day 6: Make chicken soup with the broth and leftover meat.  Add tons of vegies to it.  Finish it with some noodles.  Make everyone happy.  Make a nice green salad to go with it and use your leftover salad dressing from yesterday.
Day 7: Have leftover something:  Since you don't have to cook much, you could make a pan of biscuits or cornbread to serve with your soup.  That will make you feel like a total bad ass meal planner.
Day 8: Pizza: make a crust or buy one.  Top with leftover sausage, peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts... I don't know, whatever you like.  And pesto.  Instead of a red sauce, I just use olive oil and pesto as the sauce.  Let your kids decorate theirs.  Have a movie night!

So my shopping list would be:

• Oatmeal, pinto beans, brown rice, tortillas, lentils. raisins, nuts and seeds
• 1-2 whole chickens, a pound of Italian sausage, eggs, bacon
• Sandwich bread, tortilla chips (for fun), tomato paste, canned tomatoes, Dijon mustard, olive oil, red wine vinegar, pasta (just in case)
• onions, carrots, celery, garlic, avocado, cilantro, salad greens, radishes, cucumbers, red and white cabbage, 4 limes, Swiss chard, apples, bananas, pears, bag of red potatoes (just in case)
• sour cream, salsa, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese (a nice big block of it to make everything taste better), cheddar cheese. plain yogurt, cream, butter

Be patient

Keep in mind that during these unusual times, you might not have everything you would like.  Don't let that get you down.  Phone a friend, get creative and don't expect everything to be perfect.  

Other themes

I just made roast beef our of a 3 lb rump roast (a delightfully easy task that makes so much yum, and so many leftovers!).  I made extra mashed potatoes and lots of gravy.  I can just heat it all up tomorrow or make a shepherds pie.  I could even cook some rice or noodles and make a sweet stir-fry and slice up my leftover roast beef on top!  

If you have some nice salmon to bake, use the leftovers in pasta.  During the last 4-5 minutes of boiling your pasta, throw in a bunch of broccoli and peas, then toss the pasta with olive oil, pesto and Parmesan and top with leftover salmon.  Here is a great, nutritious pesto recipe that I love making.