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 have the following meals to make this next week or so, in whatever order we fancy them:

Burgers and salad
Taco
Chicken curry
Chicken and chips
Mince and mash
Pizza
Breaded chicken + random carb + veg
Bacon pasta
Cheese pasta
Enchiladas

I’ll need to replenish milk, fruit, and bourbons as we go, but it’s not too shoddy for me.

Home made pizza .
Veg curry(made day before for reheating)with defrosted dhal,rice and fresh chipatis.
Red dragon pie,premade and defrosted with broccoli.
Pasta with prawn/cream cheese sauce.Garlic bread for DD(I'm dieting)
Buddha bowl with any rice,veg in fridge.
Burritos

One good way is to have a theme for each day of the week - like Sunday is roast day.
So, for example:
Monday - Mince (shepherds pie/burgers/kebabs/chili)
Tuesday - Vegetarian (stir fry/ soup and garlic bread/jacket potatoes)
Wednesday - Pasta (spag bol/ tuna bake)
Thursday - Eggs (egg and chips/omelette/frittata)
Friday - Pizza (home-made/frozen/takeaway/with salad)
Saturday - Fish (Breaded cod/fish fingers/fish curry/salmon and veg)

Or whatever type of food suits your family. Generate a repertoire of recipes in each category and then spread those out over a few weeks and your planning is done!

I've started to.meal plan again as I find we waste left if I plan for the week.

Monday - pizza, garlic bread and salad
Tuesday - sausages, spring greens, carrots and mash potatoes
Wednesday - Jacket potatoes with tuna mayo
Thursday - Coked chicken, corn on the cob, green beans and new potatoes
Friday - cottage pie with peas
Saturday - sweet and sour chicken and rice (SD will have Mackel pasta and salad sticks)
Sunday - spaghetti Bolognese

I have my daughter 4 nights a week. She’s 8 and a pretty good eater, but does go through fussy phases, which I ignore.

This week:
Saturday - roast pork and vegetables
Sunday - chicken stir fry
Monday - pasta with Napoli sauce and bacon (nice puréed vegetables in the sauce)
Tuesday- beef casserole

She eats what I eat or a slight variation (I’m T1 and low carb to help control).

I sit down on a Friday and plan meals for the following week, figure out what groceries I need and order it all to be delivered on the following monday morning.
I have 3 children who all like dif things and my 5 year old DD has a tomato allergy which makes family meals tricky:/
This week we are having:

Waitrose mini meals (quick for after swimming)
Pulled pork in buns with apple sauce
Steak pie and veg
Fish pie
Enchiladas (DD at nanas that day)
Peri peri chicken and rice
Roast on Sunday

This week we’ve had:

Pizza and salad
Creamy asparagus pasta
Jacket potatoes with beans and cheese
Pie, mash &veg
Chicken and salad
Spaghetti bolognaise

& one take away

The other meals we regularly include in our meal plan are chilli and rice, fajitas, pasta in tomato sauce, cottage pie, fish fingers, peas &chips.

I'm rubbish at meal planning bit I've made an effort for the coming week.

Mon - caprese stuffed peppers, salad and olive bread.
Tues - Macaroni cheese
Wed - Cottage pie and veg
Thurs - Vegetable fajitas
Fri - Fish pie and veg
Sat - Chicken and chorizo pasta in homemade tomato & rosemary sauce
Sunday - Roast lamb and trimmings

I always meal plan! I do sometimes end up cooking two things if we're having something the kids won't eat but generally we all have the same. I do online shop Sunday to be delivered Monday. I did try an experiment last week of doing my full shop in Aldi but I couldn't get everything I needed so had to go to Tesco too - it took me a whole morning and I spent more than I normally do!! Here's our plan for this week.

Mon - "lazy vegan" burritos (Sainsburys do a frozen mix of beans, veg etc in a Mexican sauce which I put in a wrap, pop some salsa and vegan cheese on top and bake in the oven - soooo good!) The kids have leftover pasta with home made tomato sauce from last night.

Tues - stir fry and noodles - tofu for us and vegan "chicken" for kids.

Wed - DD has dancing so its a soup and sandwich night - this week is sweet potato and coconut soup and toasted panini for the kids, fresh baguette for us.

Thur - "chicken" parmigiana- I use quorn crispy fillets to make it - it's basically a tomato sauce I make, put the fillets in the sauce and melt some vegan cheese on top then serve on top of spaghetti, the kids love this!

Friday - veg enchiladas

Sat - sweet potato and lentil dahl with home made naan bread

Sun - home made pizzas

I meal plan every week too, although I often give kids something slightly different to us (but similar if that makes sense)? So a typical week may be like this:

Roast chicken with trimmings
Pasta with bolognaise sauce (homemade)
Singapore noodle stir fry with leftover chicken for dh and I, (for kids noodles, broccoli and chicken goujons)
Salmon, rice and veg (littlest wont eat salmon so she has fish fingers)
Burgers with salad (littlest will have pasta sauce)
Sat is often even pizza and salad, or curry for dh and I. Kids will have plain cheese pizza with maybe some baked beans and chicken nuggets as a treat.

My littlest is so fussy, she is 3, my 7 year old DD was the same but she now eats a pretty big range of stuff. They both eat things like nuts, eggs, fruit and some veg but it is hard sometimes as I am often on repeat with meals as well!

I shop Weds - Weds. This week is:
Jambalaya
Sausage & mash
Smoked haddock in parsley sauce
Jacket potatoes, cheese/beans/tuna
Corned beef hash
Chorrizo pesto pasta
Use up leftovers / omelettes

It's a bit different this week as I'm expecting DC3 any moment so need meals DH can cook or ones I can manage with minimal effort!

To the PP who was asking for tips on how to menu plan, I've written out a list of all the meals we eat, under headings of chicken, veggie, pork, etc. Then I just pick 1-2 fish, 1 veggie, 2-3 chicken and 0-1 meat dishes for the week. Balanced with their carbs (ie make sure it's not all pasta dishes) and what we've already got in the fridge to use up.

Its pretty easy once you've got the system going.

Just done mine this morning:

M - carrot and kidney burgers with sweet potato wedges and broad bean salad
T - scrambled egg stir fry
W - Chinese poached chicken & rice
T - cod with bacon, lettuce and peas
F - chicken schnitzel caeser

I've given up on accommodating fussy DS1, I've moved onto focusing on DS2 who is still in the try everything stage.

So this week I have planned:

Picky tea with ham, salad veg, potato salad, crisps
Lentil/spinach/tomato curry (for DS2 and me, 2 nights) - DH and DS1 will eat pasta or something.
Big spaghetti bolognese batch cook in slow cooker, with garlic bread
Jacket potatoes with leftovers/beans/cheese (DS1 prob have cheese/beans on toast)
Frozen pizza
Freezer stuff and chips

I tend to meal plan by picking 3-4 protein sources which are a mixture of "proper" meat and fish, plus cheap meat - ham, bacon, sausage, convenience - fish fingers/chicken nuggets/burgers and a couple of non-meat (mushrooms, beans, lentils/chickpeas)

3-4 seasonal veg that we like/want to try

Then the carb list is mainly long life so we have all options all the time, I pick 7 from this and use it as my starting point. Can repeat but no item more than twice.
Chips
Roast potatoes/wedges
New potatoes
Pasta
Spaghetti
Rice
Jacket potato
Noodles
Nice bread/toast
Wraps
Pita
Garlic bread
Mash
Pizza dough
Couscous/gnocchi
Pastry

I just do all of that with a randomiser. Makes it fun/sort of a challenge (small things :o)

I plan our evening meals for a month, go to Aldi and fill two trolleys, get remaining items from Asda, then just pick up fresh stuff every 2-3 days. (It’s quite normal for me to buy 18 tins of chopped tomatoes for a month 😀) I do have 3 chest freezers so that I can store copious Tupperware boxes of pre-made family meals, ready to defrost and quickly reheat on one of our late nights/extra busy days. Hubby and I are seriously limiting carbs to lose a few pounds so we tend to forego the pasta/pots/rice/bread, plus I’m gluten-free due to sensitivity. Meals for this week:

Lentil bolognase (from freezer) served with gluten-free pasta and grated cheese.
Mediterranean cod with brown rice and steamed veg.
Coq au vin with baby pots and crusty bread (I do miss bread!)
Mushroom and lentil tagliatelle (from freezer) with grated cheese.
Mixed bean chilli (from freezer) with gluten-free pasta.
Tomato and chickpea curry with rice and naan.
Chicken, sweet corn and mushroom risotto.

My friends laugh at how ocd I am but it’s my way of staying within a very tight budget and managing a larger family (4 kids) with a very busy lifestyle.

I meal plan every week. That way I know exactly what to buy at the supermarket.

I went shopping yesterday :

Sunday - Roast Chicken
Monday - homemade Kiev and dauphinoise with salad
Tuesday - Chille, sweet potato and green beans
Wednesday - Peri perk chicken pittas with paprika new pots , salad and coleslaw
Thursday - Italian chicken in a bag with roasted veg and part baked rolls on the table
Friday - spaghetti/courgette Bolognese
Saturday - Angus beef burgers, flat mushrooms and salad for me , bun and fries for DH.

I also try and plan lunch boxes too, so always do a sandwich list. Mine are sales, DH are sandwiches. This week

Monday - left over roast chicken and stuffing in part baked baguettes
Tuesday - Egg and cress
Wednesday - Ham salad
Thursday - Cheese and coleslaw
Friday - Tuna wraps

I find by doing all of this I don't have to think, I just get onto autopilot. It saves me alot of money As only go to the shops once a week. Maybe a top up of bread and milk but that's about it.

Yes, we meal plan. Our evenings except Monday are busy so need to plan ahead. I work part time which helps.

Sun - roast chicken, roast potatoes and veg
Mon - bean and chorizo stew with rice
Tue - chicken risotto made with left over roast
Wed - kids have noodles, adults left over bean stew with left over roast potatoes
Thu - meatballs and spaghetti (made with passata and bought meatballs)
Fri - lentil soup
Sat - homemade pizza

I have fussy kids too so there is always homemade soup in the fridge and crudités with hummus available on the nights they don't like what's being served. They are expected to try a bit though.

I plan a week at a time on a Sunday morning before we go to the supermarket. I'm veggie and DH and DC are meat eaters so I plan 2 meals but as close as I can get them.
This week is:

Pork chops/ veggie sausage, mash, veg and gravy
Tacos with beef chilli/pulled jackfruit, lots of salad
Roast chicken/roasted squash with spicy rice
Chicken curry/ chickpea and spinach curry, cauliflower rice
Tomato pasta and meatballs
Flatbread pizzas, sweet potato wedges

Does anyone use a meal plan app? I've tried a couple but find them a bit rubbish.

I find it really helps to meal plan and do one big grocery run a week. It totally eases the mental load for me as I work full time and often overtime.

The last couple of weeks we have lapsed and sorted day by day due to a ridiculous schedule for both myself and dh and we have ended up with FAR too many take aways and now I feel horrible.

Thinking of making a meal plan for this week and shopping on the way home from work

We do meal plan as that makes one less thing to think about in the evenings

Today chicken & chickpea curry with rice (we make 2 pots of the curry, 1 with chilli, the other not so hot for the dc and the dc have a swirl of yoghurt on there portions)

Tuesday home made fish cakes, paprika wedges, peas and broccoli

Wednesday pulled beef brisket, mash. Peas, carrots, broccoli

Thursday creamy asparagus pasta and garlic bread

Friday home made pizza

Saturday pork in cider and cream, baby potatoes, broccoli

Sunday going out for a meal

@BenWillbondsPants 😂 at your username!

No meal plan apps here. Pad and a pen all the way. I check the chest freezer first for what we already have in, meal plan around that as much as possible. Then ask DH and DCs for some input, they say "oh I dunno anything??"

I then do my list based on the meals I don't have ingredients in for and what DD and DH want for their packups.

Then add gin, always add the gin.

I plan a week ahead as it makes grocery shopping more efficient. Meals are based on recipes I would like to try (inspirations from a combination of New York Times Food sections, Leites, Serious Eats, and the Guardian Food section).

This week:
Today: Wagu beef burgers, grilled asparagus, green bean and roast tomato salad with pesto dressing, grated carrot salad. Dinner will be a recycling of the leftovers from lunch.

Tuesday: Miso gilled salmon, soba noodles, kimchi, soy ginger broccoli

Wednesday: Cauliflour adobo with white rice

Thursday: Thai red curry with chicken, wide rice noodles

Friday: pasta primavera

• Lentil and veg soup and wholemeal rolls
• Vegan sausages, potato wedges and salad
• Salmon, rice/quinoa mix, asparagus and/or broccoli
• Bean and veg bowls
• Butternut squash soup and rolls
• Pasta with a tomato-based sauce of some kind
• I don't know - something based on what's in the cupboards

@benwillbondspants I much prefer pen and paper. I have a notebook to write down meals, then I can refer back to previous weeks for ideas and to try and keep things less repetitive.