Meal Planning - how do you do it?

zippychick

as this has dropped down the board ive merged it with our meal planning thread so you can read how others doit

this thread may also help

Zip

Flat_Eric

I am like a broken record. I am forever commenting that I must meal plan yet I never do. To some extent I mentally meal plan but I can visit the supermarket in the morning and buy "x" with the intention of cooking that evening but then I change my mind and it sits in the fridge for days until its on its last legs and I cook it or it gets binned. At this precise moment in time, I have parsnips in my fridge that are looking very sad (bought Friday 14th) and a stir fry veg family veg pack (bought Tuesday) that I have no intention or need to use anytime soon ?

I need to stop this because food prices are extortionate enough without me buying stuff and binning it. I am sure if someone was stood at the end of the checkout and removed one of my shopping bags after I had paid and promptly put it in the bin in front of me that I would kick up a hell of a fuss but at the moment, I seem to be very reckless.

I know I need to meal plan (broken record as above) but why do I never seem to get round to doing it ?

Do you meal plan ? If so how ? on what ? (diary/notepad/calendar?) and how far in advance do you meal plan ? week / fortnightly/monthly ??

quintwins

i have a calander and i take a quick look in my freezer and try and make meals from wat i see, i'll then do a list of what i need to go with those meals then itake my list round and tick off what i already have in and then write a new list, i'll then add in breakfast items and bread.cheese, ham,milk, yogurts if i need them

Jinx

I do a meal plan for the week on one side of an envelope and put the ingredients needed on the other side. So will have breakfast - toast or cereal then lunch, salad, sandwiches or soup and buy a mixture, dinner is eg roast on sunday, leftovers on mon, chicken curry & naan on tues etc. I then stick the meal plan side to the fridge when I get home so I can see what I at least intended to cook! I do however always include an emergency pizza/ready meal for those nights when I cannot be ar**d.

spookybuffy

i do meal plans but i dont always stick to them. But if you dont have one invest in a slow cooker. saves time and helps keeping to plan meals when you know at the end of the day you carnt be asked to cook. got mine for £10 agros sale.

poppy-glos

hi

i write a list with the days of the week on an a5 peice of paper (portait),then i check my diary and write on when we're out, have guests over, if one of us is eating out.

next i check my freezer list (update about three weekly) and the cupboard and fridge, and plan most meals from what i have in.

( i tend to shop at lidl half way through the week and buy the on offer fruit and veg, and in mr t the rest of the time and buy yellow stickers of what we like, so the freezer is like the shop, and the fridge has stuff in i've already bought at good prices)

if i fancy roast chicken, generally the next day will be rissotto (using hm stock and some leftover chicken), and the day after curry from a jar with the last of it.

i bake a snack sweet thing for lunchboxes weekly now, and so i don't eat them pack in sandwich bags (which i wash when they come home in the lunchbox) and freeze portions (ie, cupcake, slice of hm muesli bar) . Then take out and put in the boxes in the mornings. (this stops me eating loads at night when i get the nibbles) (also have built up a bit of a stock and as dd is on the slight side, sometimes pack one of each ).

on the side of my planning list i write the shopping list as i plan for what i need to buy for the week.

hth

Tracykim

I plan weekly in a diary, if I get recipe ideas I will put them in also. I do tend to stick to it but if for some reason it changes i will move the missed meal to the next week so the ingredients won't be wasted.

I start off by looking in my freezer and cupboard and fridge then work out a plan, sticking to the idea that I have some busy and some lazy days - for instance we always have a roast on a Sunday, Monday is always a quick meal day often using leftovers! Fridays are treat days so often pizzas or some sort of home cooked food but based on takeout! Wednesdays is soup day too and we always have a pudding that day too. Just helps narrow down choices when I'm planning!

ChasingButterflies

Hi,

I used to write them for a week ahead on the back of an envelope etc... however the "important" envelope would get moved/lost/coloured in over...

I have a recipe box in the kitchen next to the cooker (this takes 6x4 index cards) So the last time I did a freezer inventory (large chest freezer in garage and freezer in kitchen) I wrote down the contents of each shelf/basket on a separate card.

For instance I had a collection of single chicken breasts so I put them all in the same basket and marked the card "chicken breast 1 2 3 4 5" If I used 3 as the card was handy (being right next to where I was preparing the food!) I would cross off used items so it would read "chicken breast 1 2 [STRIKE]3 4 5[/STRIKE]" If it hadn't been for the cards I wouldn't have realised there were 5 there as I would have only found 1 or 2

I also keep a card running for a shopping list for store cupboard items. Once I know what the meal plan is I can then add the required fresh ingredients...

Until quite recently the bulk of our groceries were ordered over the internet once a week. I would normally go on to the website check out what was on special offer/in season then come up with something make on the 1st few days that needed the fresh stuff to be used (i.e. salad) then towards the end of my weekly meal plan it would be meals from the freezer (i.e. a stew, with mash with some fresh veg from the village shop or frozen peas if there is no time)

I often find that there is a need to swap meals around but I try and make sure the perishable stuff is used up 1st...

TBH my kids love having the meal plan - they may not "like" what is on it :rotfl: but they can usually spot something they like at least once a week

Our meal plans have only ever been for 7 days (at most!) but getting to the supermarket (and getting the contents home) is a bit of a palava, which is why home delivery worked well for us. There isn't a takeaway/shop on our doorstep so it has probably made me more inclined to make my meal plan work. Although I still find that some stuff get thrown out but I am only human

In a few months we will be moving to a town - in some ways I am looking forward to it, supermarkets 5 mins away/veg stall on the high street/whoopsies and reduced stuff that you don't get online. I think it will compliment the rural (aka my family could still eat even if I was ill for 2 weeks or we were snowed in, again) mentality.

Sorry that was a bit epic - it takes time to find a system that works for you, mine has evolved - although some weeks I find myself adding the same meals just on different days - but at least I know what we are eating and when!

All the best.

Flat_Eric

ChasingButterflies wrote: »

Hi,

I used to write them for a week ahead on the back of an envelope etc... however the "important" envelope would get moved/lost/coloured in over...

I have a recipe box in the kitchen next to the cooker (this takes 6x4 index cards) So the last time I did a freezer inventory (large chest freezer in garage and freezer in kitchen) I wrote down the contents of each shelf/basket on a separate card.

For instance I had a collection of single chicken breasts so I put them all in the same basket and marked the card "chicken breast 1 2 3 4 5" If I used 3 as the card was handy (being right next to where I was preparing the food!) I would cross off used items so it would read "chicken breast 1 2 [STRIKE]3 4 5[/STRIKE]" If it hadn't been for the cards I wouldn't have realised there were 5 there as I would have only found 1 or 2

I also keep a card running for a shopping list for store cupboard items. Once I know what the meal plan is I can then add the required fresh ingredients...

Until quite recently the bulk of our groceries were ordered over the internet once a week. I would normally go on to the website check out what was on special offer/in season then come up with something make on the 1st few days that needed the fresh stuff to be used (i.e. salad) then towards the end of my weekly meal plan it would be meals from the freezer (i.e. a stew, with mash with some fresh veg from the village shop or frozen peas if there is no time)

I often find that there is a need to swap meals around but I try and make sure the perishable stuff is used up 1st...

TBH my kids love having the meal plan - they may not "like" what is on it :rotfl: but they can usually spot something they like at least once a week

Our meal plans have only ever been for 7 days (at most!) but getting to the supermarket (and getting the contents home) is a bit of a palava, which is why home delivery worked well for us. There isn't a takeaway/shop on our doorstep so it has probably made me more inclined to make my meal plan work. Although I still find that some stuff get thrown out but I am only human

In a few months we will be moving to a town - in some ways I am looking forward to it, supermarkets 5 mins away/veg stall on the high street/whoopsies and reduced stuff that you don't get online. I think it will compliment the rural (aka my family could still eat even if I was ill for 2 weeks or we were snowed in, again) mentality.

Sorry that was a bit epic - it takes time to find a system that works for you, mine has evolved - although some weeks I find myself adding the same meals just on different days - but at least I know what we are eating and when!

All the best.

Thanks for your very interesting post. I have hundreds of index cards leftover (from studying) but I had never thought to use them in that way. I like the idea that you use them to keep record of what food you have and then cross off. It sounds like a system that works very well.

chickywiggle

I am the queen of good intentions flat eric!!

Meal planning isn't too bad for me as I rarly buy fresh stuff (farr to expensive). we are fortunate enough to have 2 fridge/freezers (one was ours the other left when we moved in) so we can store a lot if frozen food.

hubby eats: chicken, pork and beef. (normally in a roast - he won't eat mince, soup or them cold in sandwiches!!), sausages, bacon, eggs, potatoes (tho not boiled).
bread, pasta (neither of us eat rice)
and ready cooked chicken/ turkey in breadcrumb out the freezer.
no fruit or vegetables
baked beans (and with a face like I've poisioned him tinned spaghetti)

I eat: all meat hubby does + lamb (love mince, soup is ok, cold in sandwiches is lush), sausages, bacon, eggs, potatoes (anyway cooked).
bread, cereal, porriage, pasta (neither of us eat rice) - my new found love after 29 years.
ready cooked chicken/ turkey/ fish in breadcrumb or batter out the freezer.
apples, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, pears, sweetcorn, peas, carrots
baked beans and tinned spaghetti

toddlerwiggle eats: pretty much anything put in front of him.

tinywiggle eats: well he's just happy to eat.

I only plan main meals.
I now only plan mine - toddlerwiggle tends to have the same but it's not hard to throw him in nuggets and chips. hubby gets choice of eating what I'm having or gets his own. I used to plan for him but he shouted at me for telling him what to eat so now i don't bother.

we do have a slow cooker but I'm not organised/ creative enough to use it properly.

the way I have done it:
- work out what i have in
- pick 7 meals (or 6 + takeaway)
- cross off as I eat.

My fav way of meal planning (and the way I'm going to go back to now I have a freezer full) is:
- inventry the freezer
- get a bit of paper with 28 squares drawn on. into this i throw the meals I can create from what i have (saw a fab idea months ago where someone wrote all possible meals on recepie cards - with ingredients to make this a reallly quick exercise - am going to be stealing that idea)
- cross them off as I go (not necessarily in order as i do whichever i fancy at the time - if i need something to make a certain dish i'll buy it - e.g. if i have run out of potatoes)

however this all goes to pot when you feel rubbish and only want to eat mince so go and buy it.

hope all that makes sense.