Food Waste Avoidance 9 - Menu Planning / Shopping List

Menu planning helps reduce food waste, save you money, is simple and doesn’t require fancy equipment or knowledge – just a pen and paper – “The most powerful tools in your kitchen!”

Using the menu planner, we have created a version to give an idea of how your weekly Menu Plan and Shopping List including the Vegie Spring Rolls for Monday night’s dinner  will look.



The next step in Menu Planning is to make a Shopping List.
But don’t forget, you only need to buy what you don’t already have in your fridge, freezer or pantry!

Based on my Menu Plan above, my Shopping List looks like this.



Note: I’ve decided to buy a loaf of bread (for my week’s sandwiches) and also use that for the lentil burgers instead of buying an additional burger bun. I’ve also decided to use the potatoes I already have in my kitchen in the soup, rather than buying a ‘new’ sweet potato.

Tip: Besides paper-based Menu Planning + Shopping Lists, other handy, easy-to-use options include:

• The FoodWise meal planner.
• The Love Food Hate Waste (UK) smartphone app (free).