Meal Planning - how do you do it?

JillS_2

Pauper1 wrote: »

Wow. JillS that is SUPER organised!! Am impressed.

I plan then shop. To be honest, I used to go through recipe books, clippings & mags and then plan what I wanted the next week, but that turned out to be expensive. Last year, I spent a good few hours going through all the meal planning threads on the OS board, and wrote a list of recipes that I like/can cook/are cheap.

Now I have that list, and a list of 'basics' food items that I restock every month & I know that I can always make something if I have those.

I do plan, but just so I don't have to think about what I'm having. I mainly do a massive stock at the beginning of the month (YAY for payday!) and then just get milk, bread & fruit weekly.

Good luck x

Good grief I've just lost my whole post that I'd written, don't know how. Let's see what I can remember.

Yes I'm very organised (on certian things) and good at planning. It's the DOING that I have trouble with.

But since I started meal planning on a regular basis about 2 years ago, inspired by this forum, I've certainly saved loads of time plus used up freezer stocks instead of letting things languish there for months or even years.

I also find I eat better now - instead of wandering into the kitchen at 7pm thinking what can I have to eat right now and ending up with cheese sandwich / cheese on toast / or grated cheese on pasta again I'm having the planned meal that I've taken out of freezer the night before or started preparing an hour earlier.

I know what you mean about spending hours looking through recipe books when planning. That's what I started off doing and putting down loads and loads of new recipes that I then didn't really feel up to making. I'm still constructing my basics list (organised under my eight ingredient headings of course ).

But I still like to try out a new recipe now and again cos I feel my cooking is a bit too stuck in the 60's / 70's - but just not every night.

CFC

Look online to see what is on offer, and then plan for meals using those ingredients. Then purchase.

julietiff

We just have so many dises that we rotate, but if when we
are shopping we see somethin reduced we might alter the
week around to fit it in.

ashaput

Plan then shop; this has been done in my family for years. If you want to save more, even for some families it may sounds weird, you can try my next tips. Our family usually cook in the morning and we made it in quite bulk quantity so we can use it for dinner lol. So we only need to heat up the meal for dinner. and yes this tooks several minutes to find the perfect menu. Have you done it before? many people say this is quite weird to do, but don't care
Not only does save your money but also your time and energy.

uropachild

I plan then shop too. Basically i open the cupboards and see what we already have and then build meals around that. We buy Mr T's 4 for £12 meat every fortnight and make it last 2 weeks and do a shop for veggies twice a week. Usually Thursday night/Friday morning and Sunday. I have to plan before i go so i can work out which ingredients i will need to use first before they go off etc. I also take my mealplan with me, so that if i do see any bargains i can see which parts of the week can be swapped about if they need to be. Also, Wednesday night is always "something crap" night because DD eats at nursery that day and DS just has a baby meal out of the freezer. We only do one "big shop" when DH gets paid and the rest of the time it's just small top ups for veggies and that fortnightly meat shop.

pretz_2

Well I've emptied my freezer and have just placed an order with MR T's but just wanted to rack your os brains to see if im getting the most out of my meal plan with this lot.

chicken and mushroom pies x4
giant yorkshire pudding x2
breaded scampi
king prawns
minced beef 1kg
chicken breast fillets 1kg
bacon joint 1kg
chicken thighs
raw scallops
sausages x3
pork stir fry
pork mince
liver
thin cut steak
cheese
whole chicken

1.roast chicken, roast pots, veg, stuffing
2.chicken and mushroom pies, chips and beans
3.sausage casserole with mash in a giant yorkshire
4.breaded scampi, chips, peas and tartare sauce
5.thai green prawn curry and rice
6.shepherds pie
7.spag bol
8.chilli con carne and rice
9.paprika chicken, chips, salad, colslaw
10.chicken curry and rice
11.chicken noodle broth
12.cola bacon, potato dauphinoise, salad
13.bacon and tomato risotto
14.peri peri thighs, chips, corn salsa
15.chicken casserole, mash and green beans
16.chilli chicken one pot, salad, garlic bread
17.chinese scallops, noodles and stirfry
18.toad in the hole, mustard mash, green beans
19.sausage, bacon, egg, beans, mushroom, grilled tomato
20.pork goulash with herby dumplings
22.pork meatloaf, beans and chips
23.liver, bacon and onion casserole
24.steak baguettes, wedges, salad

I know its chip heavy but they are all home made and done in the oven plus OH isnt that keen on pasta and rice but I get away with it every now and then.

So any pointers

Thanks guys

oldtractor

could you add lentils to some of the meals? eg the sausage casserole could have a handful of lentils in it to stretch it. You could also make chicken and veg soup using the chicken carcass ,add some fresh frozen or dried veg to stretch it and go towards 5 a day. the toad in the hole could have sweetcorma nd red pepper [chopped] added to it. adding pulses and veg stretches meals and gts us to eat more veg. could you have a vegetarian niht or two a week as well.spag bol and chilli can have grated carrot added as well as lentils.

Butterfly_Brain

On the whole you are not doing too badly.
Why don't make your own yorkshire puds?
You can make your own pies from the left over meat on the chicken then use the carcass to make soup.
Is that 3 sausages or 3 packs of sausages?
If you slice sausages they go a lot further in a toad or casserole
I always serve meatloaf with a salad and jacket potato

pretz_2

I already do all that hun thats only the list from the freezer order we always have a veg soup night once a week as well for this month they are

spicy butternut squash
carrot and corriander
tomato soup with pesto
morrocan chickpea soup

and generally we will have omelette, something on toast mid week or pasta and pesto

Thanks for the ideas though

pretz_2

oh meatloaf with salad a jacket hmm might change it to that im a lover of jackets

and its 3 packs of sausages

just because i forgot to add i'm feeding my OH who eats for 2, me and a 5yr old who is very fussy lol