Meal planning is a pain in the ass, but so is thinking about what you’re going to eat and having to stop at the grocery store on a daily basis. Especially at the end of your work day when traffic sucks, you’re tired, it’s raining, and Netflix is calling your name.

I hate grocery shopping. It definitely has everything to do with Superstore and its blindingly bright lights and the people that shop with all 15 of their children and don’t follow any kind of shopping cart etiquette, but I do like Superstore’s prices and selection, so I keep going there. And they have clothes.

I digress. Where was I? Ah right. Meal planning. I spend an hour or so once a week looking at recipes/deciding what I’m going to eat. I made this template to make sure that I’ve got all my meals covered. It’s easy to forget to plan for.

Why do I do this? It saves time, it saves money, it ensures we eat a balanced diet, and we waste significantly less food because we only buy what we need.

Monday to Friday, our breakfasts stay the same, as do our lunches. I usually batch cook something on Sunday or Monday night and we take it for lunch the whole week. For snacks we take the same thing every day- cut veggies, two pieces of fruit, and 1/4 cup of some kind of nut snack mix.

I try not to cook every night and I achieve this by making recipes that will serve 4. I know how much we eat, and I’m not afraid to bulk things up with extra vegetables or a side of rice or quinoa. Not having to cook every night frees me up to do other things, or nothing at all. Unfortunately/fortunately eating fast food isn’t an option for me, but at least I know there is something ready to be heated up quickly when I get home.

I’m a little behind this week because I was lazy on the weekend and I was at a secret CBC taping of Mother Mother’s new album last night. Am I allowed to talk about it now? It was amazing, they’re new album is fucking amazing. I cannot wait. Please don’t watch the CBC videos when they come out, I am horribly worried about my awkward dancing. ANYWAY, Instead of batch cooking, I’m going to have to go grocery shopping on my lunch break today and cook each night and take leftovers for lunch. It’s not ideal, so the meal plan is really simple. I already have some of the ingredients in my fridge and pantry which is why they’re not reflected on my grocery list.

Macaroni and cheese http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/01/3-ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe.html serve with steamed broccoli OR I’ll add frozen peas and tuna