Meal Planning - how do you do it?

ifonlyitwaseasier

i tend to batch cook but then freeze in meal sized portions so i have hm ready meals, so like you masses of mince then split it into two person portions and when i defrost it i then add the extras,
so for lasagne i'd make up a base mince then when making it up add tinned toms, peppers, mushrooms etc,

ioiwe

Meadows

We eat what I fancy cooking on any given day and that changes sometimes as I start to prepare the meal, if suddenly a different idea comes to mind using the same ingredients.

The only time I plan a meal is if I have meat or vegetables in the fridge that need to be used.
Yesterday I needed to use up some leeks, carrots, celery, peppers & rocket. I got some Quorn Chicken pieces out of the freezer (we are meat eaters), when I started to chop the vegetables I decided to do it all with a curry paste and some coconut milk, I served the rocket on the side.
I have a cauliflower that needs to be used, some cheese sauce in the freezer and a smoked sausage in the fridge, so today will be cauliflower cheese with smoked sausage sliced into it.
Thursday, nothing needs using and so I will come up with some idea as tomorrow progresses.

helyg

I plan meals every week. We tend to eat meals based around the same ingredients each week, for example a roast on Sunday, something made from the leftover roast on Monday, then usually a fish dish, a mince dish, a sausage dish and a veggie dish for the rest of the week (Saturday we eat out or have a takeaway). But I will change what the dish is, so for example one week we might have spaghetti bolognese with the mince, the next week chilli, the next week cottage pie, the next week lasagne etc. The same meal tends to come back round every 3 or 4 weeks.

I personally find it easier to plan this way, I do a grocery shop once a week and then I know that I have exactly what I need in and I can go on autopilot for the rest of the week!

pixie1

helyg wrote: »

I plan meals every week. We tend to eat meals based around the same ingredients each week, for example a roast on Sunday, something made from the leftover roast on Monday, then usually a fish dish, a mince dish, a sausage dish and a veggie dish for the rest of the week (Saturday we eat out or have a takeaway). But I will change what the dish is, so for example one week we might have spaghetti bolognese with the mince, the next week chilli, the next week cottage pie, the next week lasagne etc. The same meal tends to come back round every 3 or 4 weeks.

I personally find it easier to plan this way, I do a grocery shop once a week and then I know that I have exactly what I need in and I can go on autopilot for the rest of the week!

This is exactly what I am trying to so, i just need two weeks to start off and then i can rotate things better. This is what i have so far but its very WIP.

Hubs and i both take lunches to work but he loves tuna and i dont like it hense diff lunches, also we are trying to eat veggie one night per week (will expand to try and eat more veg as Im not a huge veggie fan...baby steps and all that) and our treat of the week is homemade pizza as i have recenty brought a pizza maker :j

This is what i have so far - any suggestions are welcome

Sunday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch Roast chicken, veg
Dinner Omlette or toastie or soup

Monday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch sandwich - chicken & mayo x 2
Dinner chilli with rice

Tuesday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch sandwich - tuna mayo x 1, ham & mustard x 1
Dinner lamb pie with veg

Wednesday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch sandwich - tuna mayo x 1, ham & mustard x 1
Dinner lasagne with a large salad

Thursday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Veggie day! Lunch sandwich - cheese & tomato x 2
Dinner pasta with pesto or tomato sauce and parmasan

Friday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch sandwich - ham & mustard x 2
Dinner Homemade pizza, one each

Saturday Breakfast breakfast muffins or crumpets
Lunch Soup & half a toasted sandwich
Dinner bbq pork quesadilla & salad

Sunday Breakfast breakfast muffins or crumpets
Lunch leg of lamb with the works
Dinner soup, omlette or toastie

Monday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch Tuna Salad x 1, ham & mustard sandwich x 1
Dinner chicken curry with rice

Tuesday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch Tuna Salad x 1, ham & mustard sandwich x 1
Dinner chicken pie with veg

Wednesday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch Tuna Salad x 1, ham & mustard sandwich x 1
Dinner cottage pie with veg

Thursday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Veggie Day! Lunch Cheese Salad x 1, cheese sandwich x 1
Dinner tomato and chilli risotto

Friday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch Tuna Salad x 1, ham & mustard sandwich x 1
Dinner homemade pizza (1) shared with a huge green pepper salad

Saturday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal
Lunch soup with half a toastie
Dinner Scallops in garlic with a side of either risotto or salad



The roasts will provide enough meat for the actual lunch and pies for the following week and hopefully the curry. I know its a lot of mince based meals but that the kind of thing we enjoy, i will try and make the mince go further by adding mushrooms, peppers and kidney beans where possible. Soups will be homemade, along with the bread for sandwichs, i may also make some flapjacks as treats.


Thanks

Pix

Meadows

[QUOTE=pixie1;24342999
Sunday Breakfast fruit or porridge or cereal[/SIZE]
Lunch Roast chicken, veg
Dinner Omlette or toastie or soup [/QUOTE]

Don't forget to boil the chicken carcass for stock or soup, add the vegetable peelings as well.

Bunny200

I do something similar mainly to give me a starting point for the menu planning, theres nothing worse than a blank piece of paper and a blank mind! Some of the things I do on different days are to do with the day and how busy I am, e.g. slow cooker meal on Thursday as its my silly day, Friday - only 1 child to worry about so we often have 'grown-up' meals on Friday and ED has fishfingers etc.
Sunday - Roast
Monday - Leftovers - meat in pasta, risotto etc
Tuesday - Veggie - lentils, chickpeas, beans, etc can be curry, pasta, anything
Wednesday - Mince - make up a base and then freeze then on the day get it out and turn into spag bol, chilli, lasganse, mince pie etc
Thursday - slow cooker - anything just a meal thats ready to eat when I walk in the door
Friday - Grown Up Food! - Thai food, curry, pasta, anything but usually spicy!
Saturday - Treat - hm pizza, sausages, mexican wraps, things the kids think are a treat!

I find it helps to list all the likely meals in each category and then mix and match them into the various days, e.g. I don't want pasta 2 days running etc. I also do a monthly meal plan as I find it such a chore sitting down with this blank piece of paper I only want to do it once a month!!!:o hth

helyg

pixie1 wrote: »

This is what i have so far - any suggestions are welcome

Sounds fab, only points I would suggest:

as Meadows said, you can use the chicken carcass for stock

I couldn't see anything with the leftover lamb from Sunday on the second week, perhaps there aren't any leftovers though.

Personally, if I weren't a fan of food without meat, I would have meat at lunchtime on the day when dinner was veggie. I do this with my husband who is a big meat fan.

But it definitely looks like a good plan. How often do you do your shopping?

helyg

Bunny200 wrote: »

I find it helps to list all the likely meals in each category and then mix and match them into the various days, e.g. I don't want pasta 2 days running etc.

Same here. We tend to have pasta twice a week, rice once a week, baked potatoes once a week and boiled/new/mash twice a week but I try to alternate them so that we aren't having the same one two nights running. I also try to do the pasta differently on the two nights in the same week, for example one night will be a bake or a lasagne and the other will be spaghetti or pasta with a sauce.

Also because the kids have school dinners I try not to cook the same thing as they have had at lunchtime, for example they always have fish on a Friday so I wouldn't cook fish on a Friday night.

It sounds really complicated but it isn't when you get used to it!

pixie1

helyg wrote: »

I couldn't see anything with the leftover lamb from Sunday on the second week, perhaps there aren't any leftovers though. If there is any left I will make pies for the following week.

Personally, if I weren't a fan of food without meat, I would have meat at lunchtime on the day when dinner was veggie. I do this with my husband who is a big meat fan. Great idea!

But it definitely looks like a good plan. How often do you do your shopping? I normally go as and when but im hoping that if i can follow this plan then it will be a big-ish shop once a fortnight or even once per month when i get better at it and then once a week just for fruit, milk and veg

Thanks for all your suggestions, its all helping :j I have failed so many times trying to meal plan but Im determined to suceed this time, i need to because of $$$. I suppose I have a lot of time to prepare for it though as our container doesnt arrive from the UK for a few weeks and as we are in unfurnished accomadation i cant really cook that much right now. So i get lots of time to menu plan and tweek where its needed :beer:

I cant wait to get started!

Thanks again,

Pix

helyg

pixie1 wrote: »

I normally go as and when but im hoping that if i can follow this plan then it will be a big-ish shop once a fortnight or even once per month when i get better at it and then once a week just for fruit, milk and veg

I find it definitely helps with the £s to limit your number of shops. The worst thing you can do is just "pop" to the shops on a regular basis as you are bound to pop little extras in your basket. I shop once a week, with a list made from my meal plan, and buy practically nothing in between.