meal planning - where do i start?

skintchick

I used to find meal planning really hard, until one day I sat down and typed out a list of all the meals that I can make, split into breakfasts, lunches/light dinners and dinners/big meals.

When I realised I had over 30 main meals on my list I felt reassured! Now, I just look at that list each week and pick seven main meals off it, plus two lighter ones (for Saturday and Sunday lunches), and one breakfast (for Saturday as we don;t have breakfast on Sunday - no time before church).

I buy what I need for those meals, thinking about what I have in the freezer and cupboards (make a list! Do not shop without a list!) and then add on packed lunch stuff like crisps if we need them, bread and fillings.

You will soon work out which meals are cheap and which expensive so you can make sure you have a mix. I only buy free range meat and only ever buy chicken as a whole chook as I can get a roast out of it, then a risotto, and then enough soup out of the stock and remaining meat to feel over four people although usually it becomes lunches to take to work with some bread.

We don;t really budget - we spend £50 a week for two people including cat stuff and cleaning things (and wine!) but planning and making lists can help you do things really cheap - before I was married at one point I lived on around £8 a week!! :eek:

Going veggie for a few days a week makes a difference too - meat is so pricey.

dixie06

I have just starting meal planning/trying to budget a bit with my food shopping and have found the advice on the OS boards invaluable i've pinched recipies and meal ideas I'm trying to get my shopping down to £25 per week for two and cat. I also did what skint chick did and wrote down all the meals we like to eat and also had a look through cook books to find cheap veggie alternatives. I also have a "shopping book" which I've got all my meal plans and meal ideas in so I don;t end up having the same stuff all the time. I'm only on the 2nd week but am really enjoying the challenge strangely! This week I got a extra large chuck from Mr S and so far have had 3 meals out of it may even get 4!, roast, stew, sarnies and risotto could even get a stock but can't be doing with messing with the bones. This afternoon i'm making banana bread with my brown bananas....will save on the buscuits with a cuppa.

Good luck!!

abaxas

All OS meal planning involves...

Spag Bol
Chicken curry.

It's the law!

skintchick

abaxas wrote: »

All OS meal planning involves...

Spag Bol
Chicken curry.

It's the law!

i will add 'roastie rice' to this - keep your meat juices (don;t use for gravy) and next day use some of the cold meat chopped up, fry off with some onion and finely chopped courgette, cook some rice, drain it and add to the meat and veggies, then add the meat juices, stir through and serve. Utterly delicious and you don;t need much meat but you DO need the juices as that's where it gets its flavour.

Penelope_Penguin

Hi there! We have an existing thread on how to start with meal planning. I'll add this thread to keep ideas together

Penny. x

Chloe5

I often start with a roast dinner eg chicken on a Sunday. I then have various chicken recipies - rissotto, curry, chicken pie (depends how much time I have each night as to which recipes I use. The chicken can do sandwiches too.

Before I do my shop I check out Tesco's site for special offers and factor those into my plan.

I also go through my fridge and cupboards to see what is there as often there's things that can stretch.

Tonight, we had chicken casserole. There was lots of sauce and veg left over and a bit of chicken but I've got a smallish portion of left over bits from chicken we had last week so I'll keep it all together in the freezer and next week when I'm working out my list I'll simply defrost my casserole leftovers plus the chicken leftovers and add a bit of stock to thin it and make some pastry for a pie on a night when I've got a bit of time to do it.

Sainsbury's often has cheap stir fry veg and with a couple of chicken breasts marinaded in something or other plus noodles it is a quick and easy meal that does 4 people.

If you are starting out with this, it does take a long time. I don't just work out what we are eating I also look to see which days I'm working and how busy the evenings are as it isn't possible to do it all.

Some nights eggs, beans and chips is the best you can do.

DSmiffy

Thanks to all for this fabulou sinfo, I feel inspired and have printed off all the forms from organizedhome.com.

When we had a chicken for sunday roast, we stripped it of the breast meat, then OH would bin it because no one liked the leg meat...:eek:

Can't believe I've just written that, especially on this forum, I'll probably get lynched... OS'ers across the country are fainting at this very moment !!!

I take it that when you've had a sunday roast, you use the leg meat etc for curries and risottos etc? (acutally that's a really stupid question, of course you do !!!:o

usually breakfast for us is just cereals and bacon butties on sat and sunday.
I do packed lunches for me, OH and the kids mon to friday, so just evening meal planning really.

Right, off to count tins in the cupboard.

Penelope_Penguin

DSmiffy wrote: »

I take it that when you've had a sunday roast, you use the leg meat etc for curries and risottos etc? (acutally that's a really stupid question, of course you do !!!:o

We do Then we make stock from the carcase and turn that into a nutritious and filling soup More in this thread - rubber chicken :j

Penny. x

MrMicawber_2

Hi my family get a bit sniffy about chicken legs as well and I'm the only one who will strip the carcass. So, I quite often carve the chicken up and use the white meat for a meal then I'll slow cook the chicken legs and other reasonable bits (When the meat has fallen off the leg bones it suddenly becomes acceptable). Then with the remains of the slow cooked meal and whatever's left on the carcass I have a bash at soup. There are four of us and on a decent chicken we can get 8 meals plus the soup. Is this good or not. Lots of you are obviously proper experts and I'm a bit of an ameteur.

Re planning. We try and plan one week ahead with a set of recipes the same as lots of you above, although we probably aren't quite as disciplined as we could be. One thing we have found is that we can get a bit entrenched in the same meals (i.e. it' Wednesday it must be spag bol) so we do try to add a new menu every now and again even if it's just a variation on a theme. E.g last week I tried doing a mushroom korma which we'd never had (so we're not doing anything fancy). I'm also trying to plan in one meal a week of a cheap cuts from the butchers - eg belly pork, chump chops, best end of neck, or skirt - just to try something different and I'm interested and I love stews and casseroles.

Most important with our meals is to keep them simple or we'd probably give up. (Except we have just started trying not to buy the ready made sauces and to make from scratch, which I'm sure will be easy after a few times because the sauce recipes look a doddle - but my first effort was with the above korma which was sadly more like a hot madras than a korma.

We try hard to do a reasonable balance between cost and convenience. I hate the idea of buying 'value' meat so we don't do that but for example we often plan in a meal of frozen breaded fish which isn't perhaps the cheapest but there's no wastage and it's really easy since you just stick it in the oven. Also sometimes just plan in a pizza. So we're by no means perfect but we both work and we've got two children although one has just gone to uni so sometimes something has to give a bit.

Oh - definitely agree with skintchick above - never shop without a list. It saves us a fortune.

MrMicawber_2

........moving on from last note. I'm obviously a bloke and I wouldn't want you all to think I do all this and either get a reputation I don't deserve or have people think I'm just swinging the lead. My wife is brilliant and she does cook more than me - although I do try (macaroni cheese tonight). Also I do get banned from doing the shopping quite often because although we make a list I do tend go off limits rather too much.