Get organized with our weekly dinner meal plan featuring 5 easy, healthy, and tasty recipes for the family. Start your week right with homemade wholesome meals.
- THIS WEEK’S Dinner MEAL PLAN #01
- GRAB THE GROCERY LIST
- Tips For Meal Planning
Meal Planning is the process of organizing and preparing meals in advance for a specific period, such as a week or a fortnight. This process involves selecting recipes, creating a shopping list, and sometimes prepping ingredients or even cooking in advance.
Using a weekly dinner meal plan has several benefits that make life easier, healthier, and often more affordable. Here are some key reasons why you might want to consider planning meals each week:
1.Saves Time
- Meal planning helps you avoid the daily “what should I make tonight?” dilemma. Instead, you have a roadmap, so cooking becomes more efficient.
- It allows you to make a single grocery trip, saving time you’d otherwise spend on multiple store visits.
2.Reduces Food Waste
- When you plan, you can buy just what you need for each meal. This prevents extra food from going bad in the fridge.
- You’re also more likely to use up ingredients, especially perishable ones, reducing waste and saving money.
3.Save Money
- Having a list of dinner recipes and a grocery allows you to be more mindful at the grocery store and avoid impulsive buying.
- You’re also a lot less likely to randomly get take-out and eat out at restaurants which saves a lot of money.
4.Keeps You Healthy
- Eating home-cooked, wholesome meals helps you control calorie intake, portion sizes, and avoid pre packaged or frozen food.
THIS WEEK’S Dinner MEAL PLAN #01
Here’s a week-long dinner meal plan that includes nutritious, tasty, and balanced meals, with an emphasis on healthy recipes :
- Monday: Vegetable Millet Khichdi + Kachumber Salad
- Tuesday: Rajasthani Boondi Ki Kadhi + Ragi Roti
- Wednesday: Quinoa Fried Rice
- Thursday: Moradabadi Moong Dal + Sourdough Bread
- Friday: Curried Noodles Soup with Tofu and Veggies
- Bonus Salad Recipe : Roasted Fresh Fig Salad
Helpful Meal Prep:
- Homemade Vegetable Stock
- Homemade Set Curd
GRAB THE GROCERY LIST
Tips For Meal Planning
- Taking print outs of dinner menu and grocery list always help. Or update a reusable meal planner manually.
- Stick the meal plan on the most visible corner of the kitchen like refrigerator or cabinet door.
- Sort the dinner recipes first and then jump start on the grocery list.
- Subsitute protein like paneer/tofu/chicken as per personal preference.
- If you are planning to include more side dishes, dont forget to make them part of the grocery list.
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Ginger Garlic Paste is a staple ingredient in many Indian recipes. Learn how to make adrak lehsun ka paste at home with this failproof recipe. Be sure to watch the video!
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- Watch Ginger Garlic Paste Video
- My Tried and True Tips
- Storage Suggestion
- Ginger Garlic Paste Recipe
If you love cooking Indian dishes, a ginger and garlic paste bottle is a must-have spice blend in your refrigerator. Like garam masala , spice box , and ghee, ginger garlic paste is also a quintessential part of the Indian pantry .
Ginger is known as ‘adrak’ and garlic as ‘lehsun’ in Hindi. Hence, in India, this paste is also known as adrak lehsun ka paste. It is a gluten-free, vegan wet paste of ginger and garlic.
Homemade vs Readymade
Nowadays, packaged ginger garlic paste is readily available in supermarkets worldwide. But I still prefer making it at home because:
- there are no harmful preservatives, chemicals, or artificial tastemakers
- one can make it in the desired quantity and store it for days to months
- the taste is natura l and adds a great depth of flavour to the dishes
- making it at home is a fuss-free, no-cooking process
- it is full of nutrients and medicinal benefits
- meal prep , budget, and freezer-friendly
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ginger root without its skin and roughly chopped. Look for firm, mold-free ginger root. Wash and get rid of all the dirt/mud before peeling.
- Garlic: I prefer to buy peeled garlic from the supermarket. It saves me a lot of time and effort. You can use a head of garlic and peel the cloves at home.
- Salt: I add half a teaspoon of table salt to the paste. It acts as a preservative.
- Oil helps bring the paste together and extends its shelf life. Any light and flavourless oil works well. Do not use ghee, mustard oil, or intensely flavoured oil.
Equipment: Wet Grinder or blender with a strong blade
Watch Ginger Garlic Paste Video
My Tried and True Tips
- The perfect ratio of ginger to garlic is 1:1 (equal amount of ginger and garlic).
- Wash ginger roots well with water to remove dirt and mud. Pat them dry using a clean kitchen towel before scraping/peeling them.
- AVOID USING WATER to grind the paste. It reduces the blend’s shelf life. If you want to use it within the next few days or freeze it, adding 1 – 2 tablespoons of water is OK. Otherwise, avoid using water.
- DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH SALT OR OIL. The ginger and garlic paste should not reek of salt and oil. The key flavour of the paste should be natural ginger and garlic.
- DO NOT LEAVE IT at room temperature for more than 1 hour, especially in a tropical climate. Always store it in the refrigerator or freeze it.
Storage Suggestion
For immediate use (within a week or fortnight), transfer ginger garlic paste to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. Always use a clean, dry spoon to scoop out the quantity needed.
For freezing , transfer the paste to silicone ice cube trays and cover them with a lid or cling foil. Keep the tray in the freezer. Once frozen, you can store the paste cubes in ziplock bags or containers.
You can store ginger garlic paste for a week to months at your convenience.
More Indian Kitchen Staples
- Garam Masala Powder
- 4 Indian Curry Paste
- Homemade Butter
- Vegetable Stock
- Indian Spice Box
- Pickle Masala
- Chai Masala
Ingredients
- ▢ 100 gram ginger, peeled and diced
- ▢ 100 gram garlic cloves
- ▢ 4 tablespoon refined oil (see notes)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Scrape the skin of the ginger using a spoon or peeler. Rinse it with water to get rid of dirt and mud. Pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Roughly dice it.
- Add diced ginger and two tablespoons of oil to the blender. Grind to a smooth paste. This takes 1 minute because to make a smooth paste you have to stir and scrape the ginger at regular intervals.
- Once ginger turns into a paste, add garlic, salt, and the remaining oil. Grind all ogether to a smooth cosnistency.
- Ginger Garlic paste is ready. Transfer it to a clean jar and store it in the refrigerator. Or you can freeze it for months.
Recipe Notes:
- You can use any flavorless, light oil for making ginger garlic paste – groundnut oil, rice bran oil, or olive oil.
Nutrition
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