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    Urban Bliss Life » Blog » Healthy Meal Planning Recipes and Tips

    Published: January 2, 2018 / Updated: February 16, 2023 by Marlynn Jayme Schotland · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Healthy Meal Planning Recipes and Tips

    50 shares

    From vegetarian to paleo, from freezer meals to lunchbox ideas, these healthy meal plans, recipes, and tips have something for everyone!

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Happy New Year!

    As the new year begins, I find myself in the typical clean-up and organize mode, focused on creating a fresh new start for me and my family. Out with the old, in with the new! Do you get the same way around the new year?

    For me, this includes taking control of our family meals. As a food blogger and recipe developer, you would think this would be a piece of cake, but in fact, it's often quite tricky balancing the food wants/needs of my family with the recipe needs of clients and the blog. Yet I am determined to make it all work better this year, and that starts with putting systems in place that help me better organize our meals.

    That's where meal prepping comes in!

    Top Healthy Meal Planning Tips

    So far, my personal top meal planning tip is: buy food staples in bulk. 

    Meal Prep tips using bulk veggies

    The main food you buy in bulk will be different for everyone, but here are the top bulk food items that me and my family buy for meal prep:

    • Carrots - diced and separated into 1 cup portions in freezer bags, and then sliced and separated into snack portions for each family member, each day.
    • Celery - diced and separated into 1 cup portions in freezer bags.
    • Onions - diced and separated into 1 cup portions along with 1 cup each of diced carrots and diced celery. I use these regularly for the base of many soups and chicken dishes!
    • Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries/marionberries - during the summer, we'll pick these fresh from local farms and then separate them into both gallon size freezer bags per berry, and then also combined for individual smoothie bags that we can just grab and pop into the blender.
    • Chicken thighs - separated into family meal servings gallon-size freezer bags.
    • Pork chops -separated into family meal servings gallon-size freezer bags.
    • Rotisserie chicken - I'm a big fan of buying rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli or making my favorite easy lemon chicken recipe, and then cutting up the meat and saving it in portions for anywhere from 2-4 additional meals later.

    Meal Planning Basics

    Right now, that's almost the extent of my meal planning: buying in bulk and then separating into easy grab & go portions. I'm determined to do more and do better this year!

    So I turned to some of my fellow food blogger friends for their advice. Many are longtime experts with top meal planning tips and recipes. Here are some of their best tips to help you get started with meal planning basics!

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    First-time meal planning? Check out this post on How to Food Prep: 5 Tips for Beginners from The Lean Green Bean.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Here's another great post for those just starting out: 10 Meal Planning Tips for Beginners from The Rising Spoon.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Meal planning to lose weight or incorporate healthier habits? Check out 101 Meal Prep Tips From Successful Weight Watchers from Simple Nourished Living.

    Here's a great tip post for all meal planners, new and established: Meal Plan Smarter: Estimating Real Recipe Prep Times from Two Healthy Kitchens.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Of course, meal planning isn't just for those of us with kids. I love One Dish Kitchen's Cooking for One: 5 Simple Tips.

    Save Money When You Meal Prep

    Planning your meals in advance like this helps save money in that it keeps us from those pesky expensive last minute take out orders from our favorite restaurants when we're short on time. But with a little planning, there are other ways that you can save money when you meal prep, too!

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    I think you'll love everything on Project Meal Plan's site, but definitely start by reading 15 Totally Doable Ways to Save Money When You Meal Prep.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    The Frugal Navy Wife lays out some great tips for how you can Change How You Cook to Save Money.

    Making Meal Prep Fun

    Meal planning is a very practical, helpful practice to incorporate into our lives, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    I love the ideas that Leslie-Anne from Pasta to Paleo shares on having themed nights to make meal planning fun for everyone! Read her post: How to Use Theme Nights to Make Meal Planning Fun

    Healthy Meal Plans and Recipes to Get You Started

    Once you've got a road map down for how you're going to get started with meal prep, you'll need some delicious recipes.

    Here are recipes from fellow food blogger friends that were made for meal prep. You're sure to find some here that you and your whole family will love!

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Gotta love freezer meals for busy weeknights! Green Healthy Cooking has some delicious ones in her post 10 Healthy Freezer Meals with Chicken.

    Chicken Burritos Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    These Easy Chicken Burrito Meal Prep Bowls are gluten-free and look absolutely delicious!

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    If you find it challenging to eat a healthy breakfast during busy mornings, try The Schmidty Wife's Meal Prep Roasted to Potato Breakfast.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    One Dish Kitchen has some yummy looking individual serving recipes in her post Cooking for One: Meal Plan Week 1.

    Don't Forget Lunch!

    So often when I chat with fellow moms and dads about top meal planning tips, the focus is on family dinners. Don't forget to factor in lunches too when you are meal prepping!

    Here are some great lunchbox ideas to get you started.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    I want to make and devour all of Fun, Food, and Frolic's 16 Best Packed Lunch Ideas for Work.

    Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Happy Kitchen Rocks has some beautiful, healthy non-meat meal prep dishes in her post 20 Healthy Vegetarian Lunchbox Ideas That Are Actually Delicious.

    Chicken Fajitas Top Meal Planning Tips and Recipes for the New Year on UrbanBlissLife.com

    I'm salivating over My Food Story's Chicken Fajita Meal Prep Lunch Bowls.

    Do you meal prep? If so, what top meal planning tips would you have to add to those who are just starting out? If not, what's the main thing holding you back from getting started? 

    More Meal Prep & Grocery Shopping Tips

    • How to Use Fred Meyer's ClickList
    • Costco Meal Plan and Grocery List
    • My cookbook: The Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Meal Prep Cookbook
    • Easy Holiday Meal Planning
    « Cabezon Portland: Sumptuous Seafood in Northeast Portland
    5 Good Health Habits for the New Year »
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      Reader Interactions

      Comments

      1. Sharon Smith says

        September 17, 2018 at 12:41 pm

        Omg! Definitely amazing tips for meal planning!
        Watering from my mouth. your items Making me hungry :)

        Reply
      2. Shakib Khan says

        September 15, 2018 at 1:58 pm

        Very Useful article.
        Thanks for sharing this information

        Reply
      3. zooni cooking recipe says

        April 09, 2018 at 6:40 am

        Your recipes are much delicious
        i tried your meet recipes that are owsome

        Reply
      4. Claire Smith says

        March 25, 2018 at 4:02 am

        Wow! I learned a lot from eh 2 save money tips posts. Thanks! I'm definitely going to use a few of them for my meal preps.

        Reply
      5. Alan Yates | The Natural Side says

        March 23, 2018 at 2:03 am

        Hi Marilynn! Thanks for sharing these useful tips and recipe ideas. I really like it.

        Meal Planning is a vital part of Healthy Eating, It saves time & money, reduces the wastage and improves nutrition.

        Every family should have a meal plan :)

        Reply
      6. Andy says

        March 15, 2018 at 4:31 am

        Hi Marilynn,

        You did a great job, I really like your post especially images of the great dishes feel appetite. You are doing a great job for your audience. I have bookmarked this website.

        Thanks

        Reply
      7. alan ceil says

        January 28, 2018 at 2:58 am

        This is a really great idea. I like your article. This article has beautiful and essential information. Thank you for shear a great article.

        Reply
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      Marlynn Jayme Schotland 2021 profile pic

      Hi! Thanks for stopping by! I'm Marlynn - a cookbook author, writer, photographer, and mom of two teenagers + a lovable lab retriever. Here you'll find my fast, easy, and delicious recipes, wine pairings, and travel guides. I hold a WSET 2 with Distinction in wine, and am a member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA).

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