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A balanced weekly dinner plan: a practical guide
How do you arrange the week’s dinners so they stay varied and never get repetitive? A few simple, practical principles to begin with.
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A good dinner plan does not have to be exact or strict. It only needs to make your week more orderly and keep dinners from getting dull. In this guide we go through a few simple principles you can try as early as this week.
First, look at what your week looks like
Before picking food, glance at the week’s calendar. Evenings when you get home late, evenings with guests and evenings with more free time are not the same. Each calls for different food.
For busy evenings choose food that is ready quickly and needs little thought. Calmer evenings are a good place for dishes you want to sit down to and enjoy without hurry.
Keep variety simple
Variety does not mean eating something completely new every night; it means shifting a few things around during the week. If you had rice and meat two nights in a row, go for something lighter or a legume dish the next night.
A small rule for arranging the week
One simple rule is not to repeat the main dish on two nights in a row. That small rule is enough to keep your week from feeling repetitive without needing much thought.
What a balanced plate looks like
Instead of counting numbers, look at the plate. A plate with several colours and several kinds of food is usually more balanced than one with a single thing on it. This is only a simple guide, not medical advice.
- A main base such as rice, bread or potatoes.
- A protein such as chicken, meat, eggs or legumes.
- Some vegetables, salad or pickles on the side.
- If you like, something fresh such as yoghurt or fresh herbs.
Balance means a week where everything has its place, not one night that has everything.
Be ready for the demanding nights
There are always nights when the plan falls apart. It helps to have a simple fallback ready so you do not have to decide on the spot while tired. A meal chosen in advance and delivered to your door is one such fallback.
Review the week and improve it
At the end of the week think for a few minutes about which dinners you liked more and which less. Next time put more of the ones you enjoyed in the plan. After a few weeks of repeating this, you have a personal plan that really works for you.
