Meal Planning - how do you do it?

MrsE_2

How do you construct your weekly meal plans?

I have lots of cook books I like to cook from, but struggle with what to pick each week.

I have toyed with doing a chart like

1 pasta dish
1 rice dish
1 fish dish
1 red meat night
1 veggie night
1 roast
1 surprise

And use it to create for example

1 spag bol
1 chicken curry
1 salmon fishcakes
1 steak
1 vegetable & squash tagine
1 roast beef
1 chicken maderia

But each week using a format to help inspire you?
I like to have a variety of different meals & recipes.

Does anyone have any tricks or a format?

ETA I'm looking for inspiration on how to make mine easier & still varied. I need to do one now & get down the supermarket.

Pink.

Hi MrsE,

I try to do mine on a four weekly basis so there isn't too much repetition. I usually have two meat based meals, one pasta dish, one rice dish, one or two meat free meals, one pot luck meal depending on what I have that needs using up, and I try to introduce one new dish every week.

Of course that's not set in stone and I aim to be flexible so if I see something reduced, on special offer or we just fancy something else, I can easily switch the planned meal to another time.

This thread should help you to see how other people do their meal planning:

Meal Planning - how do you do it?

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the ideas together.

Also for inspiration see this weeks meal planning thread:

MealPlans WB 7th December 2009


Pink

Matody

I have days of the week for particular meals ie - meat, pasta, fish, leftovers, casserole, soups etc etc

I have a folder with sections for the recipes for particular dish so under the fish there's recipe like fish pies, fish curry etc then I plan four weekly. The first two weeks are around my freezer / fridge content and the next two are things we haven't had for a while or new recipes, then I get a shop delivered.

As pink-winked said mine isn't set in stone and I swoop and change depending on reduced / offers that I get.

On a Sunday oh makes two HM pizza for tea, which is used up for lunch next day.

If there's a new recipe that goes down well I print it out and add it to my folder

jinky67

How do you construct your weekly meal plans?

very badly in my case:rotfl:

maryb

Sunday is a roast

Monday is leftovers (or if there aren't any, a storecupboard or vegetarian option)
Tuesday is mince, stew or sausages
Wednesday is eggs/cheese
Thursday is chicken
Friday is fish
Saturday is a treat/ something a bit more elaborate

LittleMissAspie

I'm not very good at this either. I can never think of interesting things and we end up eating the same sort of food all the time.

I would say though that we like to have a soup night the day before the weekly shop so that we can throw the old vegetables in it and use them up.

paulabear

I too am rubbish at this, so thanks OP and thanks Pink-winged
If I manage to meal-plan I have to first write out what the schedule for the week is - me at home with the younger children through the day, my husband eats later than us at tea time, then does two late shifts at the weekend - then I write what we'll have, which is usually pretty same-y - a curry night, a mince-and-mash night, a fish night; I love browsing through what everyone else on here's having, some of the dinners look much nicer than what I can cook/my family'll eat!

Penny-Pincher!!

I usually do ours by main meal items weekly:

Monday is Sausage day and have either Toad In Hole, Sausage & Mash or Sausage Cassarole. Sometimes I may do a Lamb Stew and dumplings if no sausages in or on offer...really fussy with them:o
Tuesday is quick meal night as Im at the hospital and DD has after school stuff. Usually Quiche, New Pots & Salad or Shepherds Pie & Veg already made day before.
Wednesday is usually a roast or meat, spuds and 2 veg meal.
Thursday is easy night as the cleaner has been in and dont want it messed up:p Usually Egg, Chips & Beans or reduced Pizza & Salad
Friday is usually fish or maybe a take away curry.
Saturday is normally Steak, Spagbol, Chilli or Lasagne.
Sunday is always Roast Dinner day

If we have got some reduced main meal items we will us that.
For instance, tonight we had a Spagbol and the best mince was reduced to 40p, value spagetti 30p, garlic ciabatta to 15p and ragu 40p...total £1.25 for approx 4 HUGE helpings.

HTH

PP
xx

freakyogre

I don't like the idea of having a set meat, fish, pasta night etc as would get bored to be honest. I tend to do it a bit backwards and buy things and then decide what i'm going to have as that seems to work better with offers/reduced items.

Some weeks I do have a meal repeated more than once, like for example last night I made a sausage pasta bake which made enough for another 3 meals, so what won't fit in the freezer will be dinner tomorrow/Monday.

I do tend to have the same thing every so often (like sausages, chicken) but am trying to add a new recipe each week as have collected a lot but never used them!

rosieben

I cant post my real list as I've not unpacked the ext hd yet! but I do something vaguely like this

- roast /meat - joint, chops, lamb shank, etc
- leftovers - bubble and squeak, pie, curry
- sausages or bacon - egg and bacon pie, saus casserole, saus toad
- pasta or rice - lasagne, spag bol, tuna pasta bake
- veggie - lentil slice, roast veggies, cheese and onion quiche
- fish - chippy lunch, hm fish cakes, fish in parsley sauce, fish pie
- easy - jacket potato, soup and crusty bread, something on toast

I can swap days about as it suits me and for each meal base I have at least 5 options so this list will cover a month's meals without repeats. Quick and simple meals are useful for busy/shopping days.