Whats on your shoping list/ meal planner? .... I just spent £108 at ASDA for2people

Hi Doodle

this is a copy of something I posted about a week ago, it might help you as well.

For whatever reasons I had cupboardfuls and freezers full of food but still didnt know what to do for tea each night and invariably went and bought more. OH didnt help either as when he picked DD up from school they used to go to Mr T's and he would come home with carrier bags of yellow stickered stuff.

I however realised it was ridiculous and started by making a list of everything in the freezer which I now keep in a folder in the kitchen which I have been using for over a year now. I date it when I put it in so I can rotate the older stuff as I used to find stuff that had been in there 2 - 3 years! Recently I have made a list of cupboard contents and I have a lot as well.

I now meal plan as follows (one week at a time)
1 x Roast day
1 x Pasta day
1 x Rice day
1 x Meat day
1 x Fish day
1 x Snack day
1 x Other day

This gives us a variety and you will soon build up loads of different things to do (I have just recently checked my old lists and found that the max amount we have had 1 dish is 6 times in 15 weeks)

I start with the roast (using what I have from the freezer) as usually I can get another meal for the 4 of us (2 kids 8 and 15). So roast pork on Sunday becomes sweet n sour pork eg on Tuesday (which would become Rice day) so thats 2 days done and to the shopping list I have added veg, a jar of sweet n sour sauce ( i use Sharwoods small jar with no bits in) and maybe a pineapple (as hate tinned). Then I find something from the freezer to fill in one of the other days and then only add things to the shopping list that we havent got. To me its a really easy plan to follow and it seems to work and I dont do anything too complicated. Snack day is usually planned around when we have to rush out to sports clubs etc and need something quick.

Heres some ideas
Roast - Chicken, Pork, Beef. Lamb, Turkey
Pasta - Spag bol, Macaroni cheese, Sausage pasta, Pasta Carbonara,
Meat - Cold roast, chips n beans, Pork chops, Lamb chops, Sausage and Mash. Sausage casserole, Shepherds or Cottage pie (made by mincing leftover roast), Toad in the hole, Beef casserole (with dumplings) Liver & Bacon, Spanish Stew, Stedak PIe n veg.
Fish - Fish fingers, Tuna/Tomato stew, Grilled Rainbow Trout (both kids love it), Fish cakes, Pan fried cod with HM chips or mash, Fish casserole.
Rice - Chicken Curry, Sweet n Sour, Chilli con Carne (mild for kids) Kebabs with a rice salad, Kedgeree or anything served with rice
Snacks - Sausage Pasta, Hot Dogs, Pizza, Tortilla wraps, Fish n Chips, Omelette, Chicken and Ham rolls, Burgers, Quiche, Jacket Potatoes, Salad
Other - Can be a duplication of any other day, a takeaway, Meal out, or leftovers from the fridge/freezer.

By using this plan I have really reduced the contents of my freezer (but not emptied it yet) and if I see a special offer at least now I have the room to put it in. It also means that I can check what I need for the next day and get it out of the freezer in advance so that when I get in from work at 5 we can have tea on the table by 6 instead of 8!

In addition to the above I love Easycook magazine which comes out every couple of months (new one out 16th Jan) which I get loads of ideas from.

Let us know how you get on

Hi

I have pages for meat, fish, homemade food, readymade food, fruit n veg, bread pastry and cakes, sweet stuff and desserts. The columns I have are obviously the item, the amount (ie 1 or 2 packs or ind), date (that I put it in the freezer) and location (either which drawer or in my case which freezer as well as I have 3!)

I have a spreadsheet that lists all the cupboard contents - currently I have:

Savoury tins:

Chickpeas X 4, Blackeye beans, Refried beans, Tomatoes, Lobster bisque, Chilli con carne X 2, Tomato soup X 3, Macaroni cheese X 2, Mushroom tortellini, Baked beans X 3, Sweetcorn X 2, Beef & onion pie, Steak & kidney pie, Cook-in chilli sauce, Tuna X 6, Sardines, Cod's roe, Mackerel, Tuna/sweetcorn/mayo X 3, Spaghetti in tomato sauce, Cook-in korma sauce

Sweet tins:

Pineapple X 3, Prunes, Peach slices, Ambrosia creamed rice

Dried pasta:

Penne, Spaghetti, Fusilli, Macaroni, Tagliatelle, Lasagne, Chow mein noodles, Rice noodles, Glutenfree fusilli

Rice:

Paella, Basmati, Easycook, Brown

Misc:

Tofu tomato paste, tomato puree, Marmite, Mustard powder, Soy sauce, Chicken gravy, Beef gravy, Various stocks, Golden syrup, Maple syrup, Creamed coconut X 2, Herb/onion matzos, Crispbakes, Jam, Marmalade, Dried soya mince, Red & green lentils, Cashews

In the column next to each item I have a Comments section on how I might use something up eg. matzos - crush and use as a topping for savoury bake instead of breadcrumbs. Some of those things I'll use up and not replace while others are staples that I aim to keep in stock so I record that as well.

I haven't been through my freezers yet but I have a vague idea of what's in there. I tend to stock up on meat and fish on the 25th of the month when I get paid, and do smaller weekly shops for milk, bread, fruit and veg. The upstairs freezer I use for portions of meals already cooked (in tubs labelled and dated - I take them out in the morning before work and put them on a plate in the microwave to defrost during the day), while downstairs is for raw meat, fish, veg and bread.

When I use something from the list, I strike it through on the spreadsheet or reduce the number of tins accordingly. I generally meal plan on a Wednesday because we foodshop on the weekends; I take the weekly list with me and only buy what I need.

I usually do a roast on a Sunday and chop and freeze anything left over for use in curries/stirfries. Currently I have a cooked chicken to pick apart; I didn't make my curry yesterday so I'll do that today and freeze extra portions. We have a basic 20 recipes in a Word document, and I'm going to type them up step-by-step for DH to follow:

1. Bolognaise with pasta or spud and cheese.
2. Pasta bake with cheese and breadcrumbs.
3. Lasagne.
4. Chilli with rice or spud, yoghurt and cheese.
5. Curry with rice or spud.
6. Stirfry with rice or noodles.
7. Shepherd’s pie.
8. Meat, potatoes and veg – chops, roast, steamed or baked.
9. Sausage and mash.
10. Salmon, spud and veg/salad.
11. Risotto – meat or veggie.
12. Crockpot stew with dumplings and veg.
13. Egg on toast.
14. Omelette.
15. Cauliflower and bacon cheese.
16. Wraps with meat, veg, yoghurt.
17. Toad in the hole.
18. Cheese on toast with soup.
19. Chicken in Campbells mushroom soup, with pasta
20. Gnocchi with arrabiata sauce.

I use the crockpot a lot, and blend homemade soups with a handblender once they've cooled down a bit. Eventually I'll have the stock list and recipes in a house folder by my computer. The weekly meal plan gets pinned to the fridge so we can see at a glance what we're having when we've reconciled our diaries; if I'm on my own because DH is out one evening I'll have a tin of soup rather than an elaborate meal.

Hi Doodle, I think you need to look at everyones suggestions and take on board the approach you prefer, or elements of different approaches.
The superduper organised people have probably developed their system over time and it may seem daunting to you, but start with small 'systems' and approach it methodically.

So maybe today, write a list of everything you have in the cupboard / fridge / freezer (your recent receipt will help). Then tomorrow start a list putting food into meals, even just 3 or 4 days worth in no particular order to start with.
Then when you've stuck to your rough plan, repeat it for a few more days, until you start to run out of ideas / food. Then write a list of things you need to buy to turn your remaining ingredients into meals. So for example you may have pork, but need to buy tomatoes to make into something interesting.

I personally have quite a relaxed system as otherwise I tend to find myself spending ages writing list and not sticking to it, but you may prefer a stricter regime.