Weekly/monthly meal plan

Wow that's super organised! I only do a week or so at once. We are a mixed meat eater/veggie household, this week is quite a boring/unadventurous one:

Monday: Lasagne/Veggie lasagne, garlic bread, salad
Tuesday: Ham, egg and chips/egg and chips
Wednesday: Chilli con carne/three bean chilli, wraps, sour cream, guacamole, salsa
Thursday: sausages/veggie sausages, mash, veg
Friday: pizza night, choice of toppings
Saturday: roast
Sunday: roast leftovers/freezer meal...

@maxelly I just been so unorganised the past year that decided to start 2020 right haha
Do you cook separate meat and veggie option every time? That is impressive! I am trying to move towards mostly vegetarian meals at home but have been struggling a bit with inspiration

Basically re the meat/veggie things, some meals (e.g. the sausage and mash we're having tomorrow) I use meat substitutes so the veggie sausages get cooked at same time as the meat ones, we don't really like quorn but there are increasingly good meat substitutes on the market e.g. chicken substitutes. Some meals we have are a complete meal without the meat, so I just add some meat for the meat eaters at the end if they want it (sometimes they eat veggie too but they do like their meat) - the ham/egg and chip example above is not the most nutritious (!) but a lot of pasta dishes work for this, or things like veggie paella or risotto where you can just add some chorizo, fish or chicken to the cooked rice and vegetables.

And then for lots of meals I have a system where I batch cook a meaty version one week and then freeze the extra portions, then the next time we have it I batch cook a veggie version, the meat eaters have a frozen portion from freezer, and the space in the freezer is filled with the leftover veggie version. The next week vice versa etc. So I never have to cook two versions of the same thing.... this works with lots of our family favourites, off the top of my head various curries, chicken/bean stew, chilli, shepherds pie, lasagne, bolognese, burgers, pie all freeze well. Anything made with mince is easy to make veggie as you can pretty much directly substitute quorn or lentils...

I use a week to view diary to plan my menus, helps keep it tidy!

I have one of these blank calendar in the fridge where I fill in the month meals. I also have a simple Excel spreadsheet with our monthly meals, with what I have in freezer/cupboards.

I try to shop once a month for meat and 'heavy' items I.E. tins, frozen and only buy fresh weekly/bi weekly.

My meals tend to be

Sunday - Roast ???
Monday - Leftover - cold meat, chips & salad. Stir Fry noodles/rice
Tuesday - Mince
Wednesday - Chicken or Leftovers
Thursday - Pasta
Friday - I don't cook 'proper' meals. So soup or burgers
Saturday - I normally do more involved dinner. E.g. Fake away.

I do weekly fri-fri
The week we are currently in was
Friday - chana masala
Saturday- salt n pepper tofu
Sunday- has a bag of chips
Monday: Seeni Sambol with rice
Tuesday: “creamy” vegan pasta
Tonight will be mushroom, pea and leek risotto
Tomorrow puff pastry tart with kale pesto and asparagus with baby potato and roast tenderstem

And mine for next week is
Friday- hoisin tofu with pak Choi and rice
Saturday- vegan meatball sub
Sunday - my friend is having us over and she’s a bit of a naff cook so suspect a freezer special! No complaints!
Monday - dhal abd chapatti
Tuesday- ma po tofu
Wednesday - penne puttanesca (which caper instead of anchovy)
Thursday- lentil and mushroom fajita

thank you everyone writing down ideas for February!

Very inspiring! I did this for every month in 2018 but dropped the ball last year. It made a huge difference to our grocery bill in 2018

Our January is a little all over the place as kids are still on long summer holidays and husbands work is gearing up, he will be working 14 hr days (on nights) so I need to be more organised!
I eat low carb so usually just adapt the family meal, we eat a lot of protein + veg meals due to health issues.

Tue 14th– Spaghetti Bolognese & salad (zoodles for me)
Wed 15th– Haloumi burgers with fries
Thu 16th– Chicken and Green Veg stir fry with veg spring rolls
Fri 17th– Steak and Veg for adults, tacos for kids (using leftover portion of Bol sauce)
Sat 18th– Thai green chicken curry & San Chou bou
Sun 19th– Chicken pie, corn on cob and green veg
Mon 20th– Swedish meatballs, sweet pot mash, green beans
Tue 21st- cashew beef and broccoli noodle stir fry
Wed 22nd– roast salmon, lemon cream sauce & green Veg
Thu 23rd– beef stew, pan fried gnocchi and green Veg
Fri 24th– keto chicken pamagania & green veg
Sat 25th– beef burgers and fries
Sun 26th– roast lamb and veg
Mon 27th– BBQ meats and salads (public holiday)
Tue 28th– first day back at school - spaghetti bolognese, salad & garlic bread (kids traditional request for first day back)
Wed 29th– baked pesto & mozzarella chicken & salads
Thu 30th– beef & green veg stir fry

Looking at it seems a little dull, lots of stir fry! but this is summer for us and food generally revolves around not heating up the house - do the roasts on Webber or pressure cooker and finished quickly in oven (and whatever will actually get eaten by the 9,7,6 yr olds without complaint!)

LOVE seeing meal plans. I only do a week in advance though!

Today
B: Smoothie
L: Bacon Sandwich
D: Homemade burger and homemade garlic wedges

Sunday
B: Bacon, Scrambled egg and Avocado
L: Probably skip!
D: Fish tacos with chipotle slaw and nachos

Monday
B: LF Greek yogurt, honey and fruit
L: Piri Piri Chicken Salad
D: Lamb koftas and halloumi in turkish breads

Tuesday
B & L same as above
D: Beef stir fry

Wednesday
B: LF Greek yogurt, honey and fruit
L: Leftover stirfry
D: Spaghetti Bolognese

Thursday
B: LF Greek yogurt, honey and fruit
L: Leftover spaghetti
D: Chorizo, feta and spinach omlette

Friday:
B: LF Greek yogurt, honey and fruit
L: Treat lunch , something near work!
D: Steak , homemade chips , mushrooms and peppercorn sauce

I plan weekly and I’m trying to get rid of any midweek top up shops/takeaways.

Saturday
B - Maple & bacon french toast
D - Quesdilla and barbecue potato wedges & salad

Sunday
B - Bacon, onion & potato frittata
D - One pot Mediterranean chicken orzo

Monday - chicken & mushroom stir fry
Tuesday - vegetable tagine
Wednesday - Cajun dirty rice
Thursday - chicken & leeks in blue cheese sauce with lazy mash
Friday - cauliflower base pizza

Tonight: lentil bolognese
Tomorrow: out for a pub lunch
Monday: west African peanut stew
Tuesday: ma po tofu (meant to have this last week but went out instead)
Wednesday: leek and mushroom pie with roasties and veg
Thursday: beans on toast
Friday: off on me holidays

OP you have leftovers quite alot - interested as would be fab not to cook every night. Of course, i do batch cook some meals but your leftover days dont seem to be after what I'd call 'double-up' meals. Do you make double quantites, or do you have a kind of 'pot luck leftover' drawer in the freezer or something?

We're going a month of buying no meat so its all veggie apart from using up some pork mince that i have in the freezer.

Sat : Lunch : Beans on toast
Dinner : Linda McCartney mozzerella burgers, home made fries, salad

Sun : Lunch : Homemade cheese & onion pasties, with salad
Dinner : Chicken Ramen

Monday : Veggie sausage & butter bean casserole, jacket potatoes, veg

Tuesday : Butternut Squash & Sage risotto

Wednesday : Tortellini Soup + Home made bread

Thursday : Halloumi fajitas

Friday : Sweet potato & lentil curry, poppadums etc, naan bread

@Africa2go I make extra so I have leftovers for lunches, saves time on extra prep to me!

So your first 2 days, salmon on Wednesday and Leftovers Thursday - is that 2 x dinners? Do you just make double and reheat on 2nd day?

Overwhelmed by this thread! I barely do any cooking from scratch & there are so many meals here that I could make. Actually ashamed that I don’t really plan, don’t research recipes & hardly ever experiment. We tend to raid the freezer, have something simple like pasta & pesto or I buy ready meals such as Asda curries. Very unadventurous!

Bunny I meal plan cause I live in a rural place and I've to be organised cause it's a total pain and really expensive (fuel/time) if I forget ingredients/ neglect planning. Takeaway options are severely limited (Plus I m total a cheapskate and hate/avoid paying for food I could make myself better) but I also have a lot of time on my hands to cook so swings and roundabouts 😀 If I worked full time or lived in civilisation I wouldn't be as organised

Adding to this thread as I have the momentum going and have just finished Febs plan....

Sat 1 - chicken Kiev & veg
Sun 2 - chicken tikka Marsala & sides
Mon 3 - honey & soy drumsticks & veg
Tue 4 - beef & broccoli noodles
Wed 5 - DD birthday choice (likely Bol pasta & choc cake)
Thu 6 - beef pies & veg
Fri 7 - school BBQ
Sat 8 - baked southern chicken, corn cob & veg
Sun 9 - chicken parm & veg
Mon 10 - sausage tray bake
Tue 11- chicken & green veg stir fry & spring rolls
Wed 12- haloumi burgers
Thu 13- pasta carbonara & salad
Fri 14- grilled chicken patties & veg
Sat 15- fish cakes & salad
Sun 16- steak, veg & fries
Mon 17- minestrone soup & spinach ricotta pastries
Tue 18- spaghetti & meatballs
Wed 19- lemon baked chicken & veg
Thu 20-quiche, wedges & salad
Fri 21- sausages & veg
Sat 22- cheeseburgers & sweet pot fries
Sun 23-chicken schnitzel & veg
Mon 24- beef tacos
Tue 25- filo chicken parcels & veg
Wed 26- beef & noodle stir fry
Thu 27- baked pesto chicken & veg
Fri 28- lemon, feta & herb chicken pasta & salad

I love the brain space doing this gives!

Friday: pizza (with no cheese)
Saturday: hummous, flat breads, falafel and tabouleh
Sunday: out - not sure
Monday: Penang tofu
Tuesday: Cajun jambalaya
Wednesday: lentil and bean chilli with wedges
Thursday: veggie sausage pasta
Friday: going out to a very good vegetarian Indian restaurant

@WhatTheFronti do you have a recipe for your minestrone soup and pastries? Would love to give it try.

Just finished this week’s plan:
Saturday: breakfast is lemon and blueberry baked oats. Out at friends for dinner
Sunday: Apple and cinnamon pancakes for breakfast. Dinner is campfire stew.
Monday - sweet potato and butter bean tikka masala
Tuesday - hot and sour soup
Wednesday - chicken, Rice and veg bake
Thursday - leek & bacon tartiflette
Friday - fish and chips with peas