How to : December/Christmas meal plans

Angelraesunshine · 19 November 2007 at 3:18PM

Ok so far i am doing really well on the meal plans, i started writing out Decembers - i do a month at a time - but i am not sure what to do about over xmas. I always get a turkey that will only just fit in the oven as i love left overs and can normally get another 2-3 meals out of it.

But with the meal plans how do you work this in? do you write out the plan as normal and ignore left overs then use them at the time and thats days meal just carries over to next month. or do you just give your self a few blank days and hope for the best.

this is probably so simple but not having done meal plans for over xmas before i am not sure what to do for the best.

pollyanna24 · 19 November 2007 at 4:46PM

Wouldn't it be nice if this is all we had to worry about, eh? :rolleyes:

What I would do, and is what I do now, is pretend that it will only last one meal and if there are leftovers, then that is a bonus, and I just shifty along everything by one day. I like it when I see the days at the end of the month and I have still have meals that don't fit (I see it as having to buy less for the next month).

QOTD · 19 November 2007 at 4:56PM

Good question, I started doing my December meal plan yesterday and got really confused with Christmas being there, so I gave up after only doing the first few weeks.

I couldn't work out whether to factor in Christmas Parties and being invited out. Thanks for the advice Pollyanna I think I'll ignore any days that I know I don't have to cook and be left with more in the freezer/cupboards!

elly2 · 19 November 2007 at 5:50PM

sorry for hijacking a thread but is there any good tips on how to plan monthly i find that i am hopeless at just doing the weekly meal plan, do ppl buy a lot of staple ingredients which will last the whole month and how many times are the meals duplicated. there must be thousands of recipes somewhere so how come i have such a hard time of choosing something to cook for the week?

rosieben · 19 November 2007 at 6:45PM

elly2 wrote: »

sorry for hijacking a thread but is there any good tips on how to plan monthly i find that i am hopeless at just doing the weekly meal plan, do ppl buy a lot of staple ingredients which will last the whole month and how many times are the meals duplicated. there must be thousands of recipes somewhere so how come i have such a hard time of choosing something to cook for the week?

have you tried planning for, say, a fortnight and then repeating with some variation, eg mashed potatoes instead of roast or chips instead of boiled? liver and bacon/liver and onion, different vegetables, small variations like that should make quite a difference. I sometimes just plan a 'sausage meal' and then decide on the day whether to have sausages and onions, sausage toad, sausage casserole, grilled sausage etc; if you have the main ingredients you will have some flexibility.

Someone mentioned on a thread here (sorry cant remember who or which thread) that the best way to meal plan is to start with the carbs and build the meal plan around that. so you might have 3 potato meals, 2 pasta meals, 2 rice meals in one week, or maybe 2 vegetarian, whichever your family likes. Not tried this myself but it might work for you.

would you shop just once for your monthly plan instead of weekly? Might be a good idea, one big spend instead of 4 smaller ones? probably will depend on payday ?

I'm tempted to try monthly as I'm now having just one tesco delivery monthly and buying fresh fruit and veg as I need it.

forgot to say that the mega index isnt working since the site went down last time, but there are loads of recipe threads in the os forum. try searching for the key ingredient

kethry · 19 November 2007 at 7:17PM

The other thing i would do is to try to build in some storecupboard or freezer meals for the period immediately after christmas. That way, if you've been eating leftovers, or people aren't hungry (due to eating too many sweets) or you've been out, you can "drop" a meal or two without worrying about ingredients going off. Then you can just cycle those meals through to January.

I have a couple meals like that: minestrone stew is a good one as it involves bacon bits from Aldi (which keep for a month or two, depending on the use by date), vegetables which can come from the freezer or tins, and boullion stock which comes as a powder. oh and parmesan which keeps for ages in the fridge, and bread which i can make.

in all honesty what i tend to do is to fill the fridge/cupboard with things like cold meats (either deliberately bought like ham or leftovers), cheeses, bread, crackers, crisps, various salad stuff and so on and tell my OH that we're sorting out own meals out for a while (i.e. half a week or so). LOL. that way i get a break from cooking for a bit, and by the time all the really rich luxurious food has gone, we're sick of it anyway and ready to start eating healthy.

HTH

keth
xx

Angelraesunshine · 19 November 2007 at 7:47PM

kethry wrote: »

The other thing i would do is to try to build in some storecupboard or freezer meals for the period immediately after christmas. That way, if you've been eating leftovers, or people aren't hungry (due to eating too many sweets) or you've been out, you can "drop" a meal or two without worrying about ingredients going off. Then you can just cycle those meals through to January.

Thanks i had not even thought of that xmas falls when i would normally be ordering my next online Shop at Tescos so i won't be doing that now till later so yes must get a few meals in extra to cover a bit longer.

I think that the nights i know we are out already i will leave blank and i will then cover the few days after xmas and pretend that the turkey will last only one meal like Pollyanna suggested then all extra meals from the turkey are a bonus. you never know the cat might attack my turkey so there wont be left overs lol

Ok off to finish the meal plan

Elly i tend to base my weeks on certain foods each week but then change how its cooked will post Decembers up in a bit for you to see what mine looks like.

shimmigirl · 19 November 2007 at 7:51PM

I know it may be a mammoth task but I would love to see decembers meal plan for those that do the whole month, I want to do shopping for month and xmas shop all in one weekend - and only get fresh bits, and I need some inspiration for my shopping list

thanks

Angelraesunshine · 19 November 2007 at 8:32PM

Right here goes not sure that it will be much inspiration but it suits my family at the moment.

DH has to have pasta on a monday and likes fish on friday ( i do change the fish adn chips to a fish pie but only about once every 2 months as he does not let me much more than that), is a bit traditional

Red ~ Pasta Blue ~ Rice Green ~ fish Purple ~ Mince Orange ~ Roast

well i hope that makes some kind of sense to you all i star off by trying to put one of each on each week and then fill up from there.

Sat ~ Lasagne
Sun ~ Roast chicken quarters roast pots veg
mon ~ pork spaghetti bol
Tues ~ Beef stir fry
Wed ~ Chicken risotto
Thur ~ Turkey meatballs & pasta
Fri ~ Fish & chips
Sat ~ Shepherds pie ( lamb)
Sun ~ Whole Roast chicken roast pots veg
mon ~ Tuna pasta
Tues ~ Sausage & mash veg
Wed ~ Pork chops
Thur ~ Chicken curry & rice
Fri ~ Fish & chips
Sat ~ Steak & saute pots & veg
Sun ~ Roast Lamb roast pots veg
mon ~ beef spaghetti bol
Tues ~ cottage pie
Wed ~ sausage & bacon casserole
Thur ~ Chicken risotto
Fri ~ Fish & chips
Sat ~ Ham, egg & potato wedges
Sun ~ Roast Beef roast pots veg
mon ~ beef spaghetti bol
Tues ~ Turkey & all the trimmings
Wed ~ OUT
Thur ~ Shepherds pie
Fri ~ Fish & chips
Sat ~ Turkey curry
Sun ~ Roast chicken quarters roast pots veg
Mon ~ greek pasta bake

elly2 · 19 November 2007 at 8:49PM

Wow thanks for that i dont seem to be able to do a week so a monthly meal plan seemed like such a huge task but you have some great meals in there(might just take some of my insperation from your post if thats ok)

Angelraesunshine · 19 November 2007 at 9:05PM

elly2 wrote: »

Wow thanks for that i dont seem to be able to do a week so a monthly meal plan seemed like such a huge task but you have some great meals in there(might just take some of my insperation from your post if thats ok)

YW

I find it helps that i do not have to stick to it i have it all written on a A4 pad in the kitchen but by the end of the month you will often find lines drawing to one day from another as i did not fancy one meal or unexpected guest has caused me to change to something i can stretch out or add to.

Also i have an American fridge freezer and a large chest freezer so i can buy everything for a month and only buy fresh produce each week everything else is frozen all my ham and milk etc i make all my own bread. I find this helps me greatly. i spend less and can easily change the plan as i know i have something else in the freezer i can get out i don't have to worry if i do not fancy something as i don't have to go to the shops to replace it i just take from another day.

Also if i see meats reduced i can buy it up and freeze it (i do this often) it helps for the following month then nearing the end of the month i count up what extra bits i have in the freezer and start planning the meals then online shop to top up the rest whit a tescos for Decembers i ave only had to buy in for about 3/4 days as i have bought in reduced or bogoffs in the last 4 weeks and it has mounted up to nearly completing Decembers but at the same time has not really cost me any extra to my normal monthly bill. means i can spend more on treats for December or towards presents.

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How to : December/Christmas meal plans

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