The I will MEAL PLAN and not change my mind thread.....

Nancy888

Welcome Tilly...it does get easier the more you do (as with everything I guess ) - I find myself repeating weeks sometimes from previous months and no-one notices - or at least they haven't yet!!:rotfl:

Here's my week

Sunday - out for Sunday carvery
Monday - Toad in the hole
Tuesday - Chicken kiev and jacket potaoes
Wednesday - Gammon and chips (egg and beans for those that want them)
Thursday - Belly pork and veg
Friday - Spag bol
Saturday - pizza and wedges

Hope everyone is having a good weekend

Tillytrotter1

Well here's my very first meal plan:

Sun: Sausages, mash and beans
Mon: BBQ chicken, potato croquettes, stir fry veg
Tues: Shepherd's pie and veg
Wed: Pork chops, baked potato and veg
Thurs: Fish pie and peas
Fri: Beef burger and chips
Sat: Minced beef and onion pie, mash and veg.

Feeling very pleased right now and all out of the freezer so will only need the basics this week. Thanks to you all for the inspiration to do this

*iluvmymini*

I stuck to it last week - woo hoo:j
Got paid on Friday, so I did my 'meat shop' and portioned it up into the freezer. My D/H has had a real wage cut, and I dont earn an awful lot, so we have only £80 left for the month, but at least the freezer and cupboards are full.

SAT: We had fish finger butties as planned.
SUN: Roasted chicken thighs with roasties, H/M yorkshires and veg.
MON: Leftover potatoes made into a fritatta with salad.
TUE: Chicken casserole, using a few thighs and lots of veg and pulses, with roasties.
WEDS: Baked fish with cous cous and roasted tomatoes.
THURS: Pasta and H/M tomato sauce.
FRI: Y/S pork steaks with a cream sauce and either mash or rice.

Lunches: L/O, sandwiches, rolls, soups, crackers.
Snacks: Biscuits, fruit, H/M flapjacks.

Hillbilly1

It does get easier Tilly! I haver got into it after 3 weeks. I can now plan 5 nights of the week easily in my head and know my shopping list!

However to prevent boredom and stop weekend overspends i write a list for 7 days and check the store cupboards. Just double bought some pasta today while being a muppet... still less to buy nexy week.

Have a browse for recipe sites on OS threads. Always good to try something new. I have managed Toad in the Hole, chicken cordon blu and pizza dough as new recipes in the last 3 weeks. OH loving it (as long as he gets anchovies on the pizza, urgh)

sonastin

Having got into it, I now find I meal plan out of laziness! It is so much harder work to come up with something to cook after a long day at work. Whereas that 5 minutes where you're on hold and can't get on with something else, or you're waiting for the kettle to boil, or a document to print at work, or whatever - I use those odd moments to write a list of meals at random, have a look at the list and decide if its too similar to what we had last week, fits with what's in the fridge needing using etc and tweak the list to "fix" it.

Once the list works, I don't have to spend any time thinking about what to cook - no need to think about what I'm in the mood for, what OH might be in the mood for, what's going to be easiest, what I need to use up, what I can do with what's available because I didn't defrost anything. I can't be bothered to do any of that difficult decision making any more!

With practice. I'm getting better at taking into account what we've got in and what needs using up first time round with the list. Haven't quite mastered the same-y ness of it yet though. OH likes a sunday roast so that is quite easy, and I'm often out monday evening so we usually end up with bubble&squeak from the leftovers on mondays. You'd think that with only 5 meals to fit in around that, it would be easier to introduce some variety!

pollys

This week

Mon jacket potatoes, beans and cheese
Tues lasagne
Wed sausages, mash, broc, cauliflower
Thurs egg, chips and beans
Fri fish, potatoes and peas

Pollys

sonastin

This was my first draft of a meal plan for this week:

[STRIKE]Sun - roast chicken
Mon - LO chicken & bubble&squeak[/STRIKE]
Tue - chicken & mushroom pie, brocoli, spuds
Wed - sausage casserole
Thu - doner kebab, salad, chips
Fri - sausage egg chips & beans
Sat - curry

I've just realised that I'm going to be late home wednesday and thursday so need to do a bit of re-arranging. Sausage casserole can go in the slow cooker but doner kebab & curry both need a lot of prep (want to marinade the meat for the curry first, hence plannig for Saturday). Which means switching Friday's meal to Thursday, which would be sausages two days in a row!

So I think I need to switch something out entirely. I might slide pizza or freezer surprise into thursdays slot and move the kebab to friday. I'm sure OH can live without sausage eggs chips & beans for another week & its not like the ingredients will go off if I don't use them this week.

Sorry for the thinking out loud but it really does help to work it out :T
New version...
[STRIKE]Sun - roast chicken
Mon - LO chicken & bubble&squeak[/STRIKE]
Tue - chicken & mushroom pie, brocoli, spuds
Wed - sausage casserole
Thu - pizza / freezer surprise
Fri - doner kebab, salad, chips
Sat - curry

WantToBeSE

As from today

Dinners:
Tues-kedgeree
Wed-Ifits
Thu-Spicy chicken and veg pasta
Fri-HM pizza and salad
Sat-Stifry
Sun-Lasagna
Mon-Jacket potatoes, salad and LO lasagna
Tues-Spanish Omlette
Wed-chicken curry (SC) and nann bread
Thur-Sweet and sour + rice
Fri-on toast
Sat-Any LOs

Lunches:
Wed-Soup and crackers
Thu-Beans on toast
Fri-Ham sandwich
Sat-Ravioli + HM bread rolls
Sun-hot Dogs
Mon-Soup and HM bread rolls
Tues-Beans on toast
Wed-Ham sandwich
Thur-?
Fri-?
Sat-?

coldcazzie

Have started this early, everything went a bit to pot this month due to going away etc. Actually wrote it a couple of days ago. Have placed my butcher's order for next week, and need to do my online shop in the next couple of days.

T5 - Chicken (fr) & ham (fr) pie, babycorn, mangetout
W6 - Steak & kidney pudding (fr), carrots
T7 - Chicken & chorizo (fr) pasta
F8 - Pizza & garlic bread (fr)
S9 - Fish fingers (fr), chips, broccoli (kids) / Fish soup (fr) & bread (us - date night)
S10 - Roast gammon (fr)
M11 - SC lamb chops (fr) & dumplings
T12 - Jacket potatoes, choice of fillings, salad
W13 - Ham (fr) & cheese pasta bake
T14 - [with mum & dad]
F15 - Chicken kievs, roast potatoes, carrots & babycorn

S16 - Bacon & cheese omelettes, new potatoes, veg
S17 - Roast chicken (fr)
M18 - SC chilli, rice, sour cream
T19 - Shepherds pie
W20 - Chicken fajitas
T21 - Ham, egg & cheese risotto
F22 - Lamb henrys, new potatoes & buttered carrots
S23 - Macaroni cheese
S24 - Roast pork (fr)
M25 - SC sausage casserole (fr) & pasta
T26 - Stuffed chicken, roasted new potatoes, babycorn, carrots
W27 - LO pork stir fry & noodles
T28 - Tuna pasta bake
F1 - Lasagne & garlic bread (fr)
S2 - Tortellini (fr), hm tomato & mascarpone sauce (fr)
S3 - Roast beef (fr)
M4 - SC chicken (fr) casserole & rice
T5 - Pasta, hm lamb meatballs & tomato sauce
W6 - Pork & chive sausages, jacket potatoes, salad
T7 - Honey chicken (fr) & cous cous
F8 - Pasta Bolognese (fr)
S9 - Toad-in-the-hole (fr), mash, carrots, peas
S10 - Cheesy potato bake
M11 - SC turkey (fr) & bacon (fr) casserole, rice

joanne.c_2

I really need to plan and stick to it. Have taken a salary cut at work in order to go into another department rather than be laid off so need to watch the pennies even more.

There is just me and my daughter who is almost 7 and she is quite a good eater (other than salad!)

How do you tend to do your meal plan. Is it a case of sitting with a notebook?