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StitcherHave you ever been told, “She ate and left no crumbs”? It usually means someone did an amazing job at something—like meal planning! You use what you have and leave no waste. In this episode, Jen and Jill, together with Jess Dang of Cook Smarts, help us get more creative with meal planning and explore its benefits for both our wallets and reducing food waste.
Meal planning is fruitless if you don’t consider reducing food waste.
Sponsors:
- 14 days. We just recently said we spend about 20,000 minutes a year just planning food. But what if we can have that food planned for us for two weeks? You can! Because Cooksmarts offers 14 days FREE and if you pay for the subscription, you get 20% OFF. Give yourself a couple hundred minutes back.
Check out some relevant episodes
Jess Dang is the founder of Cook Smarts, an online meal plan service that’s been around since 2013. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and 3 kids.
Meal Planning Mistakes
Not meal planning itself is the mistake, according to Jess. Because you need a meal plan to create a grocery list, and going to a grocery store without a list or not knowing what to buy is what leads to the biggest amount of food waste.
She also explains the misconception that meal planning means cooking every single night. Instead, she defines it as using what you have at home and creatively putting meals together throughout the week.
Make More, Waste Not
Jess shares three ingredient efficient tactics when meal planning. First, when meal planning, use perishable ingredients first and save less perishable ones for later to avoid waste (and guilt) in case of sudden takeouts.
As proteins often take center stage in meals, she suggests doubling up to creatively repurpose them for other dishes. Cooking big batches not only saves time but also allows for flexible planning, making the most of sales while reducing effort throughout the week. To repurpose leftovers, focus on ingredients that don’t need to be perfectly matched. Pair them with a simple foundation—like bread, sandwiches, burritos, stir-fries, soups (just add broth), or even pasta.
Cooking with Confidence
Practice, practice, practice. Jess emphasizes that building confidence in cooking through your meal plan comes down to putting in the time and practice. She also highlights the importance of using all the resources that you have.
For her, understanding your kitchen is the key. Aside from following the recipes, it’s important to understand the steps, the formula, and the foundation of every recipe, like why one ingredient comes before another. Because only then you’ll realize how easy it is to get creative on your own.
Ways to Cut Down on Waste
Shopping is the biggest factor in food waste because it’s where we get our resources. Jess suggests always going to the store with a list and sticking to it. She also recommends creating a meal plan that fits your lifestyle, so it’s easier to stick to and match with what you already have.
What basic cooking skills do you think everyone should know?
- Jess: How to use a knife properly.
- Jill: Knowing what temperature and for how long to cook (or heat up) something.
- Jen: Knowing the ratio of oil for the vegetable to crisp perfectly.
Get more from Jess
Website: Cook Smarts
Instagram: @cooksmarts
Youtube: Jess Dang
Bill of The Week
Thank you Jess for sharing your high credit card bill and being HAPPY about it 🙂
Thanks so Much for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening. We love love love reading your kind reviews and we especially loved this one from:
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Gets better every week
I started this podcast in the middle right after hearing Jill on 3 in 30 and I just kind of skipped around with episodes that interested me. I forget which episode but one of them had them saying whatever you do don’t go back to the beginning and listen in order so of course I had to do exactly that. This podcast started out great and got even better with age. So many action items and tips (“mindset” stuff annoys me). Absolutely love all the grocery and investment episodes. Love you ladies and your work!
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