Do you meal plan? What are you eating this week?

[TwistedBiscuit]

I’ve never really managed to get into the swing of it.

I have two super-fussy children. My rules are that you eat what you’re given or you go hungry, but obviously my ideal meal would be one that we could all enjoy!

If they had their way it would be pasta pesto with cheese and crudités every night.

Tried a frittata last week. Delicious! They had one nibble each

I was one of those kids who ate everything so I’m at a bit of a loss. What are you eating this week?

I sort of roughly plan but nothing on a particular day iyswim? & I shop Weds-Tues.

This week we're having/have had

Sweet chilli beef
Pot noodles (Weds night; I was poorly so dd1 went to the shops )
Southern fried chicken
Roast chicken (today)
Frozen fish, chips, and peas (tomorrow - we're out all day)
Cooked breakfast
Chinese chicken curr

I've missed something but honestly can't remember what else I bought this week.

I meal plan for a fortnight at a time. My rules are similar to yours, so I try to make healthy things that I know the DC like. Regular contenders are:

Chicken Kebab (thighs marinated in yoghurt, garlic, tomato puree and some spices)
Stuffed Peppers
Chilli
Spinach & Chickpea curry
Pulled Pork
Paella
Quiche
Chickpea Burgers
Beef Stew
Homemade Pizza
Salmon Tagliatelle
Lasagne
Veg Cobbler
Roast dinner
Leek Tart
Fajitas
Fish Cakes

I really want to get back to meal planning. Does anyone have a good template, system to help with shopping?

Today we had gammon, mashed potato and peas. Choc chip cookies warm from the oven with ice-cream will be dessert later.

Mon- Macaroni Cheese
Tues- Pork Chops and Garlic Potatoes
Wed- It is a family birthday so we are having a takeaway
Thurs- Chicken Fajitas
Fri- Chilli night (I make a batch of chilli con carne, batch of three bean chilli and rice and then everyone can choose if they want to make burritos or have tortilla chips etc. We freeze the leftovers for another night)
Sat- jambalaya
Sun- Sweet and sour chicken with rice
Mon- tomato soup with bacon butties

That brings us back round to shopping day. I usually shop for two weeks, sometimes four weeks, but I find in the summer its harder to do the four weeks when we like a lot of fresh salads etc.

I'm in a similar boat to you OP DD is going through a very fussy stage and seems to be going off more and more things. She won't even eat baked beans anymore.
Our current meal plans normally consist of
Lasagne
Salmon and spicy rice with veg
Roast chicken
Pizza
Lentil curry
Tandoori chicken

Going to have to change it up again as DD definitely going off the salmon. She loved it afew months ago

I always meal plan, but I try to tweak the meals for fussy kids.

This week is

Mushroom and Gorgonzola pasta

Mac and cheese with hidden veg

Sausages and mash

Freezer lucky dip

Quorn burgers with coleslaw and sweetcorn

Omelette

And takeaway tonight

Ooh what does mac & cheese with hidden veg involve?

Mine say no to mushrooms and broccoli. I even steam the broccoli and cover it in melted cheese, mmmmm, but no dice

This week we will be having ( dont know on which days except today obviously)

Roast (chops not a joint) -today
Mince with pasta in homemade tomato sauce with broccoli
Fresh Burger and chips and beans
Diced Bacon in homemade tomato sauce with pasta and broccoli
Chicken casserole with jacket potatoes and veg
Pizza for kids, soup for me , pie for h
Meatballs in homemade sauce with rice with broccoli

Mushroom & Gorgonzola pasta sounds lovely. I'm hoping to start meal planning and doing more cooking in general but I've got a fussy husband rather than a fussy child.

Today - meatballs & pasta (home made)
Tomorrow - Spanish omelette & salad
Tuesday - ham, egg, air fry chips & peas
Wednesday - 'pizza' chicken, baby new potatoes & veg
Thursday - DH's birthday so we're going out
Friday - maybe a curry

I just cook twice..

How do you kniw what you are going to fancy though?

Totally lost my mojo dp cooks all the time now. We end up wasting food because we either don't have time to cook it or we don't fancy it

I plan every week.

This week we're having
Omelette and jacket potato
Roast chicken, New pots and veg
Chicken curry/Chickpea curry for veggie DD
Turkey meatballs/chickpea meatballs
Veg chilli and rice
Fajitas

I have to meal plan for budgeting but also for fussiness and allergies. Rule is that we all take it in turns. One child won't eat potatoes, another won't eat rice, another has dairy allergies and so on. I hate cooking.

This week we're having:

Mon: Enchiladas and sweet potato wedges
Tues: Chicken stir fry
Wed: Smoky bean chilli with jackets and cheese
Thurs: Spag bol
Fri: Chicken and chorizo tray bake
Sat: Tacos

Tacos is the only meal that everyone will eat. I've got years left of this shit. Always promoted the rule of "it's there if you want it, if you don't want it then don't eat it".

I meal plan by thinking about the carbs! So most weeks I have something and rice, something and noodles, something and chips, something and pasta, something and mash, something and bread etc!

This week:
Satay noodles
Veggie sausages, ratatouille and mash
Tofu katsu and special fried rice
Nuggets and chips and mushy peas
Lentil and aubergine pasta
Beanball arrabbiata wraps
Soup and bread

Kinda, Ive looked in fridge and seen what needs using imminently.

Today- chicken burgers and sweet potato fries.

Marinate chicken for tomorrow

Monday brown stew chicken, rice n peas, dumplings, broccoli, roast potatoes

Tues - left overs, bag of salad

Weds- bratwurst plus bag of salad or whatever veg is knocking around

In regards to fussiness, I decide what we eat he decides how much he eats. Whatever I make usually has something he likes. so I know he won't starve or if he does skip a meal it won't hurt him. When it's something he likes he'll go for seconds. I don't pander to him or incentivise with pudding. My mum used to make me sit and eat everything and I'd hate meal times. Was an awful experience.

TheoriginalLEM for me we plan but can be a little flexible. Sometimes there are meals we can switch around or freeze.

That said I've got a bit poor with the planning recently but definitely saved money and had more variety to eat when I did. Used to get the children involved, I have one of those planning note pads with each day of the week so we can put clubs/activities on it which impact on the meals!

This week we had
Spag bol (meat sauce cooked and in freezer so only needed to heat it up)
5 bean chilli and rice
Chicken and noodle stir fry
Fish and new potatoe cubes which are roasted in the oven (peas for veg!)
Home made pizza
Roast chicken

Our next few meals at home looks like:

Spicy salmon & lentils
parnsip, carrot & beetroot roast with couscous
pork shoulder steaks & butter beans
falafels, flatbreads, salad, houmous
pasta with broccoli & chorizo
polenta with spinach
roasted tomato risotto
creamy mushroom pancakes

I find if my DC are involved with the food preparation, they are inclined to eat more of it. Also putting dishes on the table for them to help themselves instead of plating up helps.

@twistedbiscuit well when I say hidden veg it's the butternut squash that's hidden really!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3-veg-mac-n-cheese

This week we are having

BBQ then rhubarb crumble (random I know)
Lasagne
Jackets with homemade baked beans and cheese
Chicken satay, brown rice, green veg
Sausage mash and peas
Freezer food (probably lemon sole, sweet potato fries and veg)
Chicken and ham hock pie and veg

We batch cook a lot so the lasagne and baked beans just need defrosting. I try each week to do a reasonable spread of pasta/rice/potatoes as carbs and beef/chicken/fish/pulses/cheese as protein.

I always add peas, broccoli and spinach to my mac and cheese!

Monday - Chicken Paprikash
Tuesday - Sausage and wedges
Weds - Curry
Thursday - Ham hock pasta
Friday - Asian meatballs
Sat - katsu chicken
Sunday - bbq lamb

I meal plan every week as we are busy and I end up with waste otherwise.

I can't imagine life without a meal plan.

-Roasted vegetable and chickpea flatbreads w. yoghurt and zhoug
-Teriyaki jackfruit, grilled bok choi, egg and veg fried rice
-Roasted vegetable and houmous pie
-Fish tacos
-Sweet potato and bean curry w. rice
-Courgette and chard cheesy pasta bake w. salad
-Veggie burgers and fries w. salad

We're transitioning to vegetarian right now and fish is the last thing to go, hence the weird mix of veggie stuff with the 1 fish meal thrown in.