Planning & Shopping

Do you often find yourself wracking your brain for inspiration for tonight’s dinner, and on those extra busy days resorting to take-aways just to get food on the table? Preparing healthy, delicious meals for your family can be complicated – you have to consider your budget, what’s in your pantry/freezer, likes and dislikes, time available etc. With just a little planning you can avoid the 5pm run-around, save money and ensure that your family is eating a healthy diet packed with nutritious veggies and fruit!

5 Meal Planning Tips

Look out for bargains. Page through your local newspaper and look out for advertised supermarket specials. Make a note of the items you would like to include in your meal plan this week.

Go with the season. Use our Seasonal Availability Charts to choose veggies and fruit that are in season. Fresh produce that is in season is often cheaper and has a better carbon footprint than imported out-of-season produce and so is kinder to the environment.

Be Inspired! Treat yourself to a new recipe book, dig out your old favourites or search for recipes online (check out our Fresh Recipes section). Once a week sit down with a cup of tea and choose recipes that inspire you, that include the week’s specials and that your family will enjoy for each night of the week. Include your family and have them pick out some recipes too. Write out a basic menu for the week.

Balance your plate. To ensure that your meals offer balanced nutrition, bear in mind the principles laid out in the Healthy Eating Guide. Balance is all about variety and proportion – check it out!

Make a shopping list. Now that you have your recipes for the week, write a list of all the ingredients you don’t have. Don’t forget to include staples that you may be running low on including breakfast, snack and lunch items. Take the list with you when you go shopping so that you don’t forget anything or get distracted!

5 Shopping Tips

Eat before you shop! Make sure you have eaten before you go shopping or you may end up buying treats and other goodies not on your list just because they look delicious!

Half should be fresh! A good yard stick for shopping is that, in keeping with the Healthy Eating Guide, half of the volume of food in your shopping cart should be fresh or frozen veggies and fruit.

Be price conscious. Take advantage of unadvertised specials such as ‘2 for the price of 1’ specials. Larger containers may be cheaper so compare products by their unit prices, often listed on the shelf under the item (e.g. R4.99 per kg). Also use unit pricing to compare prices of different brands. Pre-prepared vegetables and fruit (e.g. peeled and chopped butternut) are usually more expensive than whole produce so weigh up the cost versus the time saving when making your choice.

Colour check. Scan your shopping cart before you pay – have you chosen a variety of brightly coloured fresh produce that includes all 5 Colour Groups? Remember a colourful diet is packed with a greater variety of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.

Keep frozen for last. The freezers should be your last port-of-call when shopping as it is important to ensure that your frozen veggies do not thaw before you get home. If you don’t plan on going straight home after shopping make sure that you bring a cooler bag and ice blocks along for your frozen foods. Always buy packs in which the vegetables feel loose and free of large blocks of solidly frozen mass.