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We all know that to make the most of Ramadan, we need to start planning ahead of time.
Being organized will help us to use our time more wisely during this Blessed month. This includes spiritual preparation, physical preparation and practical preparation.
As a busy homeschooling mum, cooking and preparing food takes up many hours of the day. This Ramadan I have decided to meal plan for Ramadan so that I can spend less time in the kitchen, and have more time doing other acts of worship insha’Allah.
For more about meal planning in Ramadan:
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This blog post was written as part of a Meal Planning Collaboration with loads of other bloggers. You can find links to their articles or videos at the end of this blog post!
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Benefits of Meal Planning in Ramadan
Grocery Shop before Ramadan
When you are fasting, shopping for groceries can not only be tiring but make fasting more difficult than it needs to be. By planning what you will be eating for the month, you can purchase many things ahead of time and minimize the hours spent trawling the supermarket shelves.
Eat more Nutritious Food
After a few days of fasting, we often slip into the mistake of just making whatever is easy or satisfies our cravings! If you plan your menu ahead of time, you can consider what foods are more nutritious and beneficial for you to eat before or after you fast. Taking to the time to think about nutrition, and food that will give you long-lasting energy and hydration will help to make your fasts easier on your body insha’Allah.
Less Time in the Kitchen
Meal planning allows you to be efficient with your time. You will know precisely what to cook and prepare, and so you can use your time most effectively. This may mean marinating something the night before, or preparing vegetables earlier in the day when you’re less tired. Whatever works for you! You may even be able to prepare some dishes ahead of time before Ramadan begins, and keep them in the freezer.
Also spend some time thinking about what you are going to give your children to eat. When you are fasting, it can be hard to keep up with the demands of hungry children. Try to plan some nutritious and easy to make lunches and snacks for your kids.
Less time in the kitchen means more time in ibadah! It will also give you time to rest in the afternoon, so you can pray taraweeh insha’Allah.
Less Wastage
Wasting food is a sin. However, sometimes due to our disorganized lives, food does go to waste. In this blessed month, the last thing we want to do is to commit bad deeds. Meal planning will help you to minimize food wastage insha’Allah, because you will only buy what you need. Also, it allows you to plan your meals so nothing is wasted. For example, if your curry only requires half an onion, you can plan to use the other half in the vegetable side dish.
Free your Mind
Knowing that the meals for Ramadan are planned, and the shopping has been done, will free your mind!
Instead of spending time wondering what you will cook that afternoon, you can use that time to reflect on more important things!
The Ramadan Meal Planner
My gift to you this Ramadan is this RamadanMeal Planner. I hope that it will help you be prepared for Ramadan, and make the most of this Blessed month insha’Allah.
You may wish to plan out suhoor, iftaar, and kids meals; or you may only need to plan iftaar. Please use these FREE PRINTABLE sheets in whichever way suits your family.
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How to Use the Meal Planner
Think about WHAT you want to cook
This first step it to plan the meals that you and your family enjoy eating in Ramadan. Sometimes, your family’s preferences and the type of food you eat during Ramadan are different from other times in the year.
Personally, I know my family prefer to eat lighter foods, and foods with a lot of sauce! This is the stage where you can consider the nutritious value of the meal, and if it will sustain your family through the long fast or the long taraweeh prayer.
Use our Meal ideas sheets to plan out what you will be serving your family. I have included a page for suhoor, iftaar, and for kids’ lunch.
Now is the time, before Ramadan starts, to get out your cookbooks. Look through Pinterest or Google now. Looking at all the yummy recipes out there is not easy when you’re fasting. Do it now! Try to choose recipes that are simple to make, or that you can prepare now and freeze ahead of time.
Fill in the Weekly Chart
The next step is to fill in the weekly chart. Print out 4 copies of this chart and, using the Meal ideas pages, fill it in. You will probably be repeating some recipes throughout the month. That’s ok! My planning out the month, you can make sure those repeated meals are not too close together.
Write your Shopping List
Use our shopping list to write out what you need to buy, and refer back to your weekly plan. You may want to print out several copies of this and use one for the butchers and one for the supermarket.
Also, print one out for this you can buy now ahead of time (like rice, lentils, canned tomatoes etc.). Then write a shopping list for each week of Ramadan. It will be so nice for you, when Ramadan begins, to have everything already written out!
Having your meals planned out before Ramadan begins is a wonderful way to free your mind and free up your time during Ramadan.
I hope you will try it and let me know how you are getting on!
More About Meal Planning
This blog post was written as part of a Meal Planning Collaboration with some other amazing bloggers including work at home mums, homeschoolers and even a certified nutritionist!
