Similar to meal planning, menu planning in nutrition is important in a variety of ways. In this post , we will identify the various advantages of menu planning.
- It saves time -Once you identify a list of ingredients and recipes to utilize, you save adequate time, and are able to prepare meals effectively.
- It saves you money -You are likely to work within your budget when you already have a pre-determined list of the items you need .
- It encourages a diversity of foods -When menu planning, you avoid monotony of foods , hence you likely integrate a variety of dishes you can prepare in your menu. This helps you achieve a variety of nutrients as well.
- Reduce food wastage– Menu planning allows you to minimize food wastage . You only purchase foods you need and in enough quantities.
When menu planning you also want to consider factors that can enhance the palatability and appeal of the food.These may include:
- Colour -You may include foods with various colours .For example, a salad may include tomatoes , onions, celery, red cabbage etc. This way you will enhance the appearance of the food.
- Consistency-For example, you may have some thick soup as an appetizer and later include finely blended juice.
- Flavour-Some foods in a dish can be sour, while others have some sweetness. Others can have some spice while others can be bland.
- Texture-Perhaps you can consider some foods that also vary in texture as either crispy, mushy, smooth, hard etc.
- Different cooking methods-You can also incorporate different cooking methods for the different foods to be included in a meal . For example, you can grill the chicken, boil rice , steam the vegetables etc.