1-mealer / 2-mealer / 3+ mealer
I have grand plans of writing more in-depth about meal planning, but for starters, I just want to share a work-in-progress list of what I’ve come to consider the building blocks of meal planning…
…which is premised on the idea of the 1 mealer / 2 mealer / 3+ mealer.
Given a weekly calendar of empty meal slots, it’s helpful to have in the back pocket a menu of tried-and-true ideas. And I think defining those ideas by whether they can do the job for one dinner, two dinners, or up to a week of dinners, for example, helps even more.
When planning meals for an upcoming week, we usually first decide if it’s going to be a batchcook/prep kind of week (3+ mealers) or a hodgepodge kind of week with multiple small, easy ideas (1- and 2-mealers).
Anyway, here’s the list so far. (Please note that these ideas are based on a household of two adults, so a 1-mealer would be two servings, a 2-mealer would be 4 servings, etc.)
1-mealers
Spaghetti & meatballs — both store-bought, but might add fresh tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, basil, and parmesan if we have them around
BCD soondubu kit — we’ll typically add frozen clams, zucchini, and scallions
Naengmyun kit (for summer) — we’ll add cucumber and eggs
Beef bone broth packs (for winter) — we’ll add beef, rice, and thin noodles, then season with scallions and salt
Costco frozen cheese pizza — can add any toppings of choice (for example: garlic, peppers, onion)
Frozen dumplings — can’t beat the price at Trader Joe’s, but we’ll get whatever’s on sale or looks interesting at the Asian supermarket (go-to garnishes/condiments: scallions, cilantro, minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, chili oil, ground Sichuan peppercorn)
Trader Joe’s frozen meals (we don’t go to TJ’s regularly, but when we do…)
Kungpao Chicken
Mandarin Orange Chicken
Beef & Broccoli
Shiitake Mushroom Chicken
2-pack burritos
Dumplings!!
2-mealers
Doenjang jjigae (fermented soybean paste stew) — doenjang jjigae is the first Korean recipe I memorized…it’s chill to make, comforting to eat, and dependable as a 2-mealer. The serving size on this recipe feels a little loosey goosey, but I use 5 cups of water, a typical 16 oz. pack of tofu, and 2 heaping spoons of doenjang for two meals.
Soegogi muguk (beef and radish soup) — same note as above re: serving size (a pound of beef and a small whole radish or half of a big one gets us at least two meals, actually probably more).
Tuna kimbap — this can keep decently well for two consecutive meals, so.
Costco frozen cheese pizza (if you bake 2 of ‘em!) — ok this is lame and just basic math, but the point is: the 4-pack frozen pizza situation is very handy! Make one or make two depending on if you need an easy lunch the next day, for example.
3+ mealers
Costco rotisserie chicken for the first meal, then turn leftovers into chicken rice soup in the Instant Pot (adding rice, carrots, celery, and other aromatics).
To be continued!