Living alone and meal planning can be a little tricky. I try to do my big grocery shopping day for the week on Sundays. I take into account what are the staples that I am running out of, and what do I have in my fridge that I need to have cooked early in the week. I also try to plan out all my meals, including snacks, for Monday through Friday. I have found that if I don’t have healthy snacks on hand, that’s when I go for the chips, brownies and cookies.

I like to eat healthy and fresh. I use a lot of fresh vegetables and meats when I cook but, to make sure I am not being wasteful with my fresh ingredients, it can be pretty easy to cook large portions just to use the veggies, or whatever, up. Nevertheless, no one wants to eat the same thing over and over again. I’ve become pretty good at making a plan for the week that makes different meals, reusing the same veggies, meats, and carbs.

This week I grabbed two small heads of broccoli, a squash, a pound of russet potatoes (which was way too much) and a small container of baby bella mushrooms. I had ground turkey in the freezer and picked up a package of six thinly sliced chicken breast. I grabbed a half a pound of salmon from the fish guy and pretty much had all of my meals covered for the week.

For breakfast and snacks I try to keep them pretty whole 30 approved, that way I don’t feel so bad if I have pasta for dinner or throw some cheese on my fajita.

For breakfast I always, always have eggs in the fridge. If I have the day off I will make a veggie filled scramble and throw in some goat cheese to cheat a little. Otherwise, hardboiled eggs are a great breakfast or snack to keep me full. For snacks, berries have been my go to these past few weeks. They’re so easy to have on hand and throw in over night oats, yogurt or just as a quick pick me up midday.  Apples with almond or peanut butter are always a quick and easy snack I can have at work or at home or of course my favorites: a LaraBar or a RXBar.

For lunch and dinner I made a meal plan below. The main ingredients for each meal come from the groceries I picked up on Sunday.

I hope this helps for you ladies or gents who live alone. You really don’t have to eat the same meal you made on Monday all week long. Try to be creative!