Meal planning...which way works for you?

Mrs_A.

ahem, after just returning back to full time work after 7 months of being off sick i am really fed up of eating out of the chip shop i feel like we have ate fich n chips every night for the past 2 weeks i really need an idiots guide to meal planning and batch cooking so please keep this thread going i used to be not bad at it now its all gone to pot not to mention my purse is emptying fast
regards
mrs a

tinselfairy

DH works a 6 week shift pattern and I have finally worked out a rolling six week menu. Every other week he's not here for an evening meal so it's just me and DS.

So I made a list of all the meals they both like and divided these over the 3 weeks we eat together.

I also made a master shopping list for all the different store cupboard and freezer ingredients needed for each of them so hopefully if I did have to swap a meal over for any reason then I would have plenty of other options to cook instead.

I have written the meals in my diary so only I know what's going to be cooked as I found that DH didn't like knowing before hand what the meals for the week were going to be.

Mrs_Flittersnoop

I do my supermarket shop on a Wednesday morning so on a Tuesday I sit down with my master list (I'm lucky and have it all stored on a PDA) and my cookery books and sit and plan for the next week's meals. I often don't include veggie side dishes etc because I pick up what looks nicest on the day. I try and include one beef, one chicken, one fish, and one other meat dish during the week for variety, and then on a Friday OH has his favourite meal of the week, his pizza (prefers bought not hand made :mad: ). I try and do one veggie meal and obviously use up leftovers whenever possible too.

Must admit it doesn't usually occur to me not to cook what I have planned I just go into zombie mode and do it. It makes my life so much easier to know what's for dinner though, I've been doing this for years now and although actually sitting down and planning ahead is sometimes a trial, I'm always glad that I've done it in the end.

Good luck!
MrsF

Gingham_Ribbon

I find out what I'm getting in my veg box for the week, then plan round that. I don't decide what I'll have on what day. Some of the meals are really quick, others take a bit longer, so I just do the ones that take longer when I've more time (ie when the baby is sleeping.)

I make sure there are plenty of quick meals and try to include meals that I can part prepare at some point during the day (like a slow cooker meal, soups etc.)

I do one shop per week and we make bread daily.

This is the kind of thing I cook.

newlywed

I make a meal plan and type it up on the computer. I've got all the month's meal plans since January. That way if I'm in a rut and can't think what to cook, I can look back and think what did we eat 2 month ago. I'd get bored if I just repeated the same things every few weeks.

I usually plan one week's meals and then print the whole month's chart out and add to it as I think of things or see them on offer in the supermarket. If there's anything that appears twice in one week - like curry or sausages then I juggle them around through the month.

I also check out the meal plans thread and if I see something I fancy then I add it on to the plan for later on.

I get bored cooking the same things every week so swap things about and add in new recipes for days when I know I have more time and will be less stressed (or have a standby in case it all goes wrong!!)

Vashti

Thanks all so much for these great tips and ideas.

I really needed to get new enthusiasm for my main job as meal planner/cook/washer upper. Why did no one ever tell me it would be so difficult? Or have I just no imagination...

Sometimes a little enthusiasm from the recipients would be nice too huh! Not just....sausages again Mum??

stefejb

I sit down once a week with a recipe book and write down the page nubers of 5 recipes that I would like to cook over the week. I shop everyday just picking one of those out each night and writing a list of what I need. I found that if I did a weekly shop then I would waste a lot of food if I didn't get round to cooking all the meals. Also if I have a lot of leftovers or a bulging freezer I can just plan something with them and leave the recipe for another night. I must admit I don't really take into acocunt what other people here like to eat selfishly figuring that if I'm the one doing all the cooking and washing up then I should at least enjoy the meal. There is always plenty of bread and cheese in the house but dd is not all that fussy actually and exoh, who eats here about three nights a week, knows where to go if not satisfied with the current catering arrangements
Vashti tell those food critics to go ....... cook for themsleves

npsmama

This may be useful:
https://www.mealsmatter.org

Fivenations

I'm goofd at planning a week's menu, even longer, but I dont stick to daily plans - I chop and change or even make something new but with the same ingredients depending on how I feel, what my father brings home. But because I plan there is always food on hand to work with.

Vashti - we have a similar house rule to stefjb - Cook chooses what to eat! I'm prepared to shop to order if others offer to cook, given enough warning, but I usually cook what I fancy unless I get help. I dont think it is selfish as our tastes usually match - just dont see why I should put myself out when no once else is prepared too.

overlykeensaver

i usually do my shopping on a Friday so me and OH will plan our menu for the following week over Weds/Thurs. We have a look to see what is in the cupboards/freezer and build our menus around that. We tend to stick to the meal we have chosen for each day as it means we don't have to think when we get back from work/recover from looking after our 10month old daughter all day.

For ideas, I have a scrap book of quick weekday meals cut from food magazines over the years, and we also have a look through recipe books if we have the time.

We have recently had a veg box delivered and this has shaken up our planning as we have to incorporate our veg so we have had new things on our menus which is great.

Although we can go "off-menu" or chop and change if plans during the week change of course.