Treat this blog post as a food inspiration of what you could implement into your meal plans for the week. I've put together a variety of meal ideas that cater to different times so you don't have to spend ages making some of these dishes, and some can even be batch-made.
I am going to go through the meals and recipes that I have put together. Some which I made up on the spot, and others as inspiration from Instagram, Pinterest, and Tik Tok.
It is important to have a good relationship with food, and to not get stuck in the mindset of good food has to be all veg, and super healthy. Some of these meals can be catered for what you like, and that's exactly what I did with a lot of the foods here.
There is no limit to how adventurous you can be with your meals, some can even be so straightforward. It's about what works for you.
I find planning meals effective in a way that you can work with what you have in the house and see what kind of dishes you like having that you could make more of in the future.
Breakfast
Now, this meal is the one I struggle with most. For me when I used to wake up quite late, I wouldn't bother having breakfast as I ended up waiting for lunch instead. A lot of the time I'll wake up and just grab something out of the cupboard and it can be anything. It's only been during the pandemic where I have properly thought of breakfast meals and what I could make that is quick and easy, but most importantly, something that I can keep up a routine of.
So the list below will guide you through some of the meals that I enjoy making. It can be as adventurous or simple as you like, as long as you know that it'll fulfill your needs right up until near enough lunchtime, then that's great.
On the other hand, if breakfast isn't your thing, or you struggle with this meal first thing in the morning, a brunch (breakfast and lunch) might be a better option for you. This meal effectively is two meals in one and as long as you have a variety of good foods in there then it can make out to be a great meal of the day.
Morning Meals:
Croissants with bananas, golden syrup, and roasted hazelnuts: This I have been having a lot recently. Mainly because it doesn't take long to make, it tastes amazing, and the last thing, it doesn't require many ingredients, so if you are looking for something cheap to make, this is a meal for you.
Granola, yogurt, and fruit: Here we have another simple meal that can be put together in no time, and you can put whatever ingredients you want in it, which makes it an exciting meal to have each day of the week. For me, the problem with breakfast was having the same thing over and over again, and I get pretty bored of it, so having the option to change it up slightly each day, encouraged me to stick with this meal plan and avoid going back to square one of not bothering with breakfast. In this breakfast meal, I have included ingredients such as chia seeds, coconut flakes, raspberries, and dark chocolate chips, to make this bowl of goodness look appetizing.
Baked oats: This one is quite a popular meal based upon what I have seen on Tik Tok, and Instagram. The times where I have had it before, I have made up the baked oats with banana, and then once it was done in the oven, I would finish it off with a tablespoon of Nutella and some chia seeds, sometimes even some raspberries if I have them in the house. I am looking to get back into making this meal soon as I have a few ideas of what types of baked oats I would like to make. Some that I have seen on social media sound so good, such as the funfetti (vanilla flavouring and sprinkles), banana bread, cookie, and many more!
Lunch Time
This time of the day is my favourite, and as you read on further, you'll see that I have a lot more meal inspiration here than breakfast. On the other hand, if you wanted to make this meal a brunch, nothing is stopping you from doing so. We all have different schedules for the day, so you do what works best around your time.
As I have been getting more and more into content creation, I have discovered so many mouthwatering recipes that I just had to try out for myself. I tend to pick out a couple of recipes to change up the meals every other day of the week so that it is more interesting, but other times, I may even just dedicate a week where I have a certain lunch, it all depends on my mood. Some weeks I'll find that I am happy with keeping with the routine of making this certain meal for lunch, and other times where I want to have something new every other day.
Mid-Day Meals:
Pitta Pizza: This one is up there as one of my favourite meals to have. It is so delicious and because you can change up the toppings each time or have a white or wholemeal pitta, it is a sustainable lunch to have. When I have this lunch it fulfills me right through a lot of the afternoon, which is great as it avoids me from snacking too much during the rest of the day. The types of toppings that I have had on my pizza have been spinach and mozzarella, chicken sausages and red onion, and cheese and onion.
Toasted Baguette: This is a new one that I have recently started having for lunch. I love how minimal it is, and all you need is a baguette, Philadelphia garlic & herb spread, cucumber, and finishing off with salt & pepper. Now and again to change up the dish, I'll add an egg or some Emmental cheese.
Croissant sandwich: It may sound basic, but ham & cheese in a croissant, or even taking it a step further with toasted, it tastes pretty good. Sometimes if I have something filling for breakfast I don't have too much for lunch, so this is something that does not fail to fulfill my needs at this time of day. Why only have croissants for breakfast when you could have them for lunch too.
Halloumi Wrap: That's a wrap! A fulfilling wrap with seasoned and fried halloumi, lettuce, tomato, egg, and perinaise. This is a great meal, especially for the coming season. I can imagine having this a lot more in the warmer months with the cold, fresh and crunchy salad in the wrap.
Dinner
Now we get to the end of the day. This is the time of day when I am feeling very inspired by what direction I can go with my meals.
Depending on what I am feeling around this time of day, will depend on whether I go to town with my meals, or quite literally make them as simple as I can, but equally as delicious.
You will at least see a burger, and pizza on this list for sure, because you can't go wrong with those dishes, and you can also get creative with them.
I am a lover of pizza and pasta dishes, I think they are super scrummy, and especially during the warmer months, it is such a vibe to enjoy these meals in a warm environment with a nice cold drink.
One of my favourites to have is pizza. It is made completely from scratch and I love the process of making the dough, picking out the toppings (which changes each week), and during the spring and summer months, my family uses the pizza oven outside, which adds to the overall fun of making this meal.
Evening Meals:
Pizza: I would put this meal up there as one of my favourite ones to have. You can go as light or as heavy with the toppings as you like. It is that type of meal that anyone in your household can get involved in making, from preparing the dough to adding your different toppings. Depending on my mood, the different seasons, and what we have in the house at the time, I like to keep my toppings quite minimal and not overcrowd my pizza base. What I tend to have on my typical pizza toppings are chicken, spinach, mozzarella, and cheddar, with some Italian seasoning.
Oven-Baked Risotto: A meal that was hugely inspired by Hellofresh. As part of my university experience, I tried out a few weeks of Hellofresh for inspiration and to discover more foods, flavours, and combinations. If you love mushrooms, this meal is an ideal one for you. What's great about this dish is that you can add a variety of mushrooms, or you can keep it simple, it's up to you. It's preferable to make this meal with the main ingredient mushrooms, however, if mushrooms aren't for you, then I am sure that you can make this risotto without that main element and replace it with something more likable. It's a great fulfilling and flavoursome meal that you can add additional things to the final dish such as a poached egg.
BBQ Mushroom in a Bun with Cheddar, Chips, and a Salad: If you like your burgers, and want to venture out to different outcomes, I would suggest creating a mushroom burger. If you like your veggie foods or are a vegetarian, I feel that this meal has so many possibilities to become a great dish for you.
Tuna & Sweetcorn Potato Salad: Now this one could be a main or a side depending on what you fancy. For me, I was alright having it as a main, especially because I had this a lot in the Spring and Summertime where I didn't fancy eating warm foods like pies, and roasts. I love how colourful and jam-packed this meal is because you have all those main salad elements with some added extras. If you didn't want to use tuna, you could use salmon, prawns, or any other fish.
Rigatoni Caprese with Pine Nuts, Mozzarella, and Red Wine Vinegar Tomato Salsa: Another good HelloFresh inspired meal here. I think this is such a great combination of amazing ingredients and flavours. I think it is great that I could have a different type of pasta in this dish other than the ones that I regularly have. Not only could this be a great dinner, but you could also portion it up for the week, and even have it for lunch on one of the days if you like. It is certainly a go-to meal for me as I love anything to do with pasta, and this dish opened my eyes up to variations of ingredients and combinations that came together so well in this tasty dish.
Mac & Cheese: I think this dish is a classic one. One that even if you kept to the very basics it can be such a warming dish, but you know me, I like to try and venture out and see if I can enhance these dishes to give more potential for these dishes to develop. I wanted to add more colour to this dish and I don't mean that you have to cram a load of ingredients into the dish, I mean just adding a couple or so, to enhance it a little. For me I put things in such as peas, sweetcorn, red onion, and spring onion, so nothing too over the top, just something to run through the dish.
That is this food post all wrapped up. I hope you have felt inspired by all if not some of the meals here. I would love to know in the comments if you have tried any of these dishes, or if you like the sound and look of any of these in particular.
I shall leave my Instagram below if you would like to see more food-related content daily. I will also be continuing to bring more food and drink blog posts to this page too, so keep an eye out for that.
My Pinterest also has a board where I save a lot of food inspiration, so you don't have to follow me on it if you don't want to, but I'll leave a link to that below if you want to have a browse through that.
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