EASY PEASY Meal Planning System - never worry about meal planning again!

vegan-victoria

Twig’s Amazing Meal Plan Idea!

1. Choose six different vegetables (not white potatoes, but can include sweet potatoes)
2. Choose three different carbohydrates (including white potatoes)
3. Choose two beans/pulses
4. Choose two meats or vegetarian/vegan alternatives
5. Plan meals around these thirteen items, if you get really stuck, add something extra
6. You can then add items to your shopping list such as dairy, seasonings, sauces, cereals etc.

For example
· Vegetables: tomatoes, onions, carrots, peas, courgette, sweet corn
· Carbohydrates: Couscous, potato, pasta (lasagne)
· Beans/pulses: Chickpeas, kidney beans
· Meat/alternatives: sausages, mince

Monday: Sausage, mash, peas and gravy
Tuesday: Tomato and potato bake
Wednesday: Chilli (tomatoes, courgette, onion, kidney beans, carrots, mince), rice
Thursday: Lasagne (mince, courgette, onion, peas, tomatoes, white sauce)
Friday: Sausages and couscous salad (couscous, chickpeas, sweet corn, peas, onion, tomatoes)
Saturday: Spicy bean burgers (kidney beans, mash potato, peas, sweet corn, seasoning) with chips
Sunday: Hotpot (Sliced potato topping, mince, peas, onion, tomatoes, carrots, courgette)

I made these on the spot in a matter of minutes - you could also use 'supercook' which is a website where you type in your ingredients and it gives recipe ideas (it is American however), or just have a good all rounder recipe book in front of you.

This helps you cut down on wastage of vegetables, get desired amount for each one. If you buy frozen veg, you can include this on your next weeks list of veg to cut down costs (or add to other 6 for more variance)

Then add around, so for example I will want buns to go with my bean burgers – I could also use some of these for lunch so I will make extra. The excess buns could be used for other lunches, as could the couscous salad.

I would buy some lettuce and cucumber to make a salad with the tomatoes for lunches. I could even make some soups out of the vegetables I have (or add a leek for leek and potato soup), or add a tin of chopped tomatoes to make stew bases.

Toast and cereal are perfect for hearty breakfasts without the extra price tag.
Fruit for lunch/breakfast/snacks.

So now my weekly food shopping list now looks like this (obviously I'd put quantities in, and I'm assuming I have all the herbs/spices and cupboard basics such as stock cubes);

Tomatoes, onions, carrots, peas, courgettes, sweet corn, lettuce, cucumber, leeks, apples, oranges, couscous, potato, pasta (lasagne), chickpeas, kidney beans, sausages, mince, cobs/buns, loaf of bread, cereals (bran flakes), chopped tomatoes, milk (for white sauce).

I hope you love this idea as much as I do! It massively cuts down on my shopping bill as buying in bulk tends to be the cheapest way to shop, especially with fruit/veg. It also keeps it small, and away from buying large packs of items you only need one or two of (I hate that!)

mervyn67

How nice to see someone who realises that there are other people who might like the meat,without being critical of that choice.Thank you.

TryingHardToSave_2

Thanks. I meal plan alot an that looks such an easier way of doing things x

sharloid

That's a good way of thinking about it, i'm impressed.

I don't think I'd be able to do it though, as we're always being extra to store away and there's always snacks/herbs/treats etc that I just can't help but put in the trolley! May I ask how much your usual spend is? Do you literally just stick to your list no matter how many bargains you find?