Meal Planning - how do you do it?

Lilmil

Hi Confused Newbie
Another tip re menu planning is to take into account what you (and your family) are doing that day re work/leisure and how much time you will have to prepare the meal. So if it's a busy day you might want to plan something simple and quick from the freezer or prepare it beforehand and also you are more likely to stick with what is on the plan and use up the food you have bought.
Good Luck
Lilmil

freyasmum

I'm terrible with menu planning. I have tried, but it just wasn't for me - I always fancy something else :rolleyes:

What works for me (and the way I was brought up) is to have well stocked cupboards (and a freezer) - that way I can always make a meal. I buy things when they're on offer and keep them until needed - dried and canned goods are great for this because they have long dates.

Skint_Catt

I start with the freezer too - plan as far ahead as I can out of there, then I add what I would like to eat planning around events/nights out./away.

kazmeister

Hi confused

I've copied a post I put on a similar thread the other day.

Hope some of the ideas help

Hi, here's my thoughts on meal planning

For whatever reasons I had cupboardfuls and freezers full of food but still didnt know what to do for tea each night and invariably went and bought more. OH didnt help either as when he picked DD up from school they used to go to Mr T's and he would come home with carrier bags of yellow stickered stuff.

I however realised it was ridiculous and started by making a list of everything in the freezer which I now keep in a folder in the kitchen which I have been using for over a year now. I date it when I put it in so I can rotate the older stuff as I used to find stuff that had been in there 2 - 3 years! Recently I have made a list of cupboard contents and I have a lot as well.

I now meal plan as follows
1 x Roast day
1 x Pasta day
1 x Rice day
1 x Meat day
1 x Fish day
1 x Snack day
1 x Other day

This gives us a variety and you will soon build up loads of different things to do (I have just recently checked my old lists and found that the max amount we have had 1 dish is 6 times in 15 weeks)

I start with the roast (using what I have from the freezer) as usually I can get another meal for the 4 of us (2 kids 9 and 15). So roast pork on Sunday becomes sweet n sour pork eg on Tuesday (which would become Rice day) so thats 2 days done and to the shopping list I have added veg, a jar of sweet n sour sauce ( i use Sharwoods small jar with no bits in) and maybe a pineapple (as hate tinned). Then I find something from the freezer to fill in one of the other days and then only add things to the shopping list that we havent got. To me its a really easy plan to follow and it seems to work and I dont do anything too complicated. Snack day is usually planned around when we have to rush out to sports clubs etc and need something quick.

Heres some ideas
Roast - Chicken, Pork, Beef. Lamb, Turkey
Pasta - Spag bol, Macaroni cheese, Sausage pasta, Pasta Carbonara,
Meat - Cold roast, chips n beans, Pork chops, Lamb chops, Sausage and Mash. Sausage casserole, Shepherds or Cottage pie (made by mincing leftover roast), Toad in the hole, Beef casserole (with dumplings) Liver & Bacon, Spanish Stew, Stedak PIe n veg.
Fish - Fish fingers, Tuna/Tomato stew, Grilled Rainbow Trout (both kids love it), Fish cakes, Pan fried cod with HM chips or mash, Fish casserole.
Rice - Chicken Curry, Sweet n Sour, Chilli con Carne (mild for kids) Kebabs with a rice salad, Kedgeree or anything served with rice
Snacks - Sausage Pasta, Hot Dogs, Pizza, Tortilla wraps, Fish n Chips, Omelette, Chicken and Ham rolls, Burgers, Quiche, Jacket Potatoes, Salad
Other - Can be a duplication of any other day, a takeaway, Meal out, or leftovers from the fridge/freezer.

By using this plan I have really reduced the contents of my freezer (but not emptied it yet) and if I see a special offer at least now I have the room to put it in. It also means that I can check what I need for the next day and get it out of the freezer in advance so that when I get in from work at 5 we can have tea on the table by 6 instead of 8!

In addition to the above I love Easycook magazine which comes out every couple of months which I get loads of ideas from, a lot of which can be cooked in 30 minutes.

I will try and find my list I did for the month and add that too

HTH

Found it
sun 4 Roast Chicken/roasties/veg
mon 5 Sesame pork noodles
tues 6 Chicken Fajitas
wed 7 Iffits - these are leftovers found in either fridge or freezer!
thur 8 mackeral fillets/JP/salad
fri 9 Sweet n sour pork/rice
sat 10 Hot n spicy chicken/chips

sun 11 Roast Beef/roasties/veg *
mon 12 Pea/Bacon risotto
tues 13 Spag Bol
wed 14 Iffits
thur 15 Cheese n potato pie/baked beans
fri 16 Sardines somehow as been in freezer too long
sat 17 Chicken casserole/mash/veg

sun 18 Roast Lamb/roasties/veg *
mon 19 Rainbow Trout/JP/Salad
tues 20 Shepherds pie/veg
wed 21 Liver n bacon/veg
thurs 22 Lamb curry
fri 23 Beefburgers in buns
sat 24 Tagliatelle carbonara

sun 25 Roast chicken/roasties/veg
mon 26 Sweet n sour chicken/rice
tues 27 Seabass/new pts/veg
wed 28 mega omelette
thurs 29 Macaroni cheese
fri 30 Fish risotto
sat 31 steak n chips

and the previous month

Roast chicken/roasties/veg
Salmon Encroute/new pots/veg
Chicken Tikka/rice
Sausage casserole/mash
Iffits
Rainbow trout/pots/veg
Tagliatelle carbonara

Roast pork/roasties/veg
Cheese n potato pie/baked beans
Chicken breast/gravy/mash /veg
Spaghetti bolognese
Omelette/chips
Shoulder Lamb/veg/mash (should have been a fish day but OH got lamb on reduced shelf!)
Pea/Ham risotto

Roast Beef/roasties/veg
Spaghetti bolognese (again - I know!)
Spanish Stew
Cottage Pie
Kedgeree
Cheesy nachos plus chilli n rice as extra peeps turned up for tea
Fish n chips

Roast Lamb/roasties/veg
Fish Risotto
Pork chops/mash/veg
Rainbow trout/JP/Salad (Again but I had about 6 in the freezer!)
Pizza/chips
Iffits
Sausage Pasta

fizzel81

i meal plan and try very hard to stick to it otherwise id buy in more than i need and i find meal planning makes me think more what i need to use and what i have in to meal plan with, i tend to stick to the same things as i know the boys will eat them, waste has gone down an awful lot as has what i spend in asda

sb44

kazmeister wrote: »

Hi confused

I've copied a post I put on a similar thread the other day.

Hope some of the ideas help

Hi, here's my thoughts on meal planning

For whatever reasons I had cupboardfuls and freezers full of food but still didnt know what to do for tea each night and invariably went and bought more. OH didnt help either as when he picked DD up from school they used to go to Mr T's and he would come home with carrier bags of yellow stickered stuff.

I however realised it was ridiculous and started by making a list of everything in the freezer which I now keep in a folder in the kitchen which I have been using for over a year now. I date it when I put it in so I can rotate the older stuff as I used to find stuff that had been in there 2 - 3 years! Recently I have made a list of cupboard contents and I have a lot as well.

I now meal plan as follows
1 x Roast day
1 x Pasta day
1 x Rice day
1 x Meat day
1 x Fish day
1 x Snack day
1 x Other day

This gives us a variety and you will soon build up loads of different things to do (I have just recently checked my old lists and found that the max amount we have had 1 dish is 6 times in 15 weeks)

I start with the roast (using what I have from the freezer) as usually I can get another meal for the 4 of us (2 kids 9 and 15). So roast pork on Sunday becomes sweet n sour pork eg on Tuesday (which would become Rice day) so thats 2 days done and to the shopping list I have added veg, a jar of sweet n sour sauce ( i use Sharwoods small jar with no bits in) and maybe a pineapple (as hate tinned). Then I find something from the freezer to fill in one of the other days and then only add things to the shopping list that we havent got. To me its a really easy plan to follow and it seems to work and I dont do anything too complicated. Snack day is usually planned around when we have to rush out to sports clubs etc and need something quick.

Heres some ideas
Roast - Chicken, Pork, Beef. Lamb, Turkey
Pasta - Spag bol, Macaroni cheese, Sausage pasta, Pasta Carbonara,
Meat - Cold roast, chips n beans, Pork chops, Lamb chops, Sausage and Mash. Sausage casserole, Shepherds or Cottage pie (made by mincing leftover roast), Toad in the hole, Beef casserole (with dumplings) Liver & Bacon, Spanish Stew, Stedak PIe n veg.
Fish - Fish fingers, Tuna/Tomato stew, Grilled Rainbow Trout (both kids love it), Fish cakes, Pan fried cod with HM chips or mash, Fish casserole.
Rice - Chicken Curry, Sweet n Sour, Chilli con Carne (mild for kids) Kebabs with a rice salad, Kedgeree or anything served with rice
Snacks - Sausage Pasta, Hot Dogs, Pizza, Tortilla wraps, Fish n Chips, Omelette, Chicken and Ham rolls, Burgers, Quiche, Jacket Potatoes, Salad
Other - Can be a duplication of any other day, a takeaway, Meal out, or leftovers from the fridge/freezer.

By using this plan I have really reduced the contents of my freezer (but not emptied it yet) and if I see a special offer at least now I have the room to put it in. It also means that I can check what I need for the next day and get it out of the freezer in advance so that when I get in from work at 5 we can have tea on the table by 6 instead of 8!

In addition to the above I love Easycook magazine which comes out every couple of months which I get loads of ideas from, a lot of which can be cooked in 30 minutes.

I will try and find my list I did for the month and add that too

HTH

Found it
sun 4 Roast Chicken/roasties/veg
mon 5 Sesame pork noodles
tues 6 Chicken Fajitas
wed 7 Iffits - these are leftovers found in either fridge or freezer!
thur 8 mackeral fillets/JP/salad
fri 9 Sweet n sour pork/rice
sat 10 Hot n spicy chicken/chips

sun 11 Roast Beef/roasties/veg *
mon 12 Pea/Bacon risotto
tues 13 Spag Bol
wed 14 Iffits
thur 15 Cheese n potato pie/baked beans
fri 16 Sardines somehow as been in freezer too long
sat 17 Chicken casserole/mash/veg

sun 18 Roast Lamb/roasties/veg *
mon 19 Rainbow Trout/JP/Salad
tues 20 Shepherds pie/veg
wed 21 Liver n bacon/veg
thurs 22 Lamb curry
fri 23 Beefburgers in buns
sat 24 Tagliatelle carbonara

sun 25 Roast chicken/roasties/veg
mon 26 Sweet n sour chicken/rice
tues 27 Seabass/new pts/veg
wed 28 mega omelette
thurs 29 Macaroni cheese
fri 30 Fish risotto
sat 31 steak n chips

and the previous month

Roast chicken/roasties/veg
Salmon Encroute/new pots/veg
Chicken Tikka/rice
Sausage casserole/mash
Iffits
Rainbow trout/pots/veg
Tagliatelle carbonara

Roast pork/roasties/veg
Cheese n potato pie/baked beans
Chicken breast/gravy/mash /veg
Spaghetti bolognese
Omelette/chips
Shoulder Lamb/veg/mash (should have been a fish day but OH got lamb on reduced shelf!)
Pea/Ham risotto

Roast Beef/roasties/veg
Spaghetti bolognese (again - I know!)
Spanish Stew
Cottage Pie
Kedgeree
Cheesy nachos plus chilli n rice as extra peeps turned up for tea
Fish n chips

Roast Lamb/roasties/veg
Fish Risotto
Pork chops/mash/veg
Rainbow trout/JP/Salad (Again but I had about 6 in the freezer!)
Pizza/chips
Iffits
Sausage Pasta

What a brilliant post!

Thanks for posting all of this Kaz, I have just printed it off as I keep intending to meal plan but fancy something else at the last minute.

:rolleyes:

kazmeister

sb44 wrote: »

What a brilliant post!

Thanks for posting all of this Kaz, I have just printed it off as I keep intending to meal plan but fancy something else at the last minute.

:rolleyes:

Thank you for such a positive reply. Its nice to know that I might have actually helped someone

PS If you subscribe to easycook mag this time round you get 6 issues for £9.99 (instead of £15) and a free enamel roasting tin and rack which has got to be worth the tenner the subscription costs

PPS Any info on any of the recipes just PM and I'll provide

shopndrop

Just read this thread and agree with sb44 what a fantastic post from Kaz. I also keep meaning to plan ahead and can never seem to get my head around it so will use the basic suggestions of roast day, fish day etc. Thanks.

pavlovs_dog

kaz you beat me to it. feels like we are stalking each other


sb44 you might like to read the whole thread which can be found HERE- its really broken down my meal planning barriers

sb44

kazmeister wrote: »

Thank you for such a positive reply. Its nice to know that I might have actually helped someone

PS If you subscribe to easycook mag this time round you get 6 issues for £9.99 (instead of £15) and a free enamel roasting tin and rack which has got to be worth the tenner the subscription costs

PPS Any info on any of the recipes just PM and I'll provide

I will have to have a look out for this, ta.