Argh - I totally suck at meal planning! Help me make it work.

[Watchagotcha]

Despite being thought of as a well-organised person according to my friends and family, I am really, really struggling with meal planning. I know the theory - I just can't seem to apply it in practice.

The specific things that throw me off are:

• trying to satisfy picky eaters and gourmet foodies in one meal: DS1 is ultra picky, DH is pretty disappointed if it's pasta "bake" at the end of a long day (he'd never complain but I know that he looks forward to nice food when he's having a shit time at work).

• tight budget: we're not in the UK, food is really quite expensive here. I try to shop in Lidl - but get thrown off as they often don't have the ingredients I am looking for, so I have to either change the plan or go elsewhere.

• hectic / ever-changing schedules: our week is pretty messy anyway. I work part-time, flexible hours and they tend to change every week depending on what else I am doing - going to the tip, collecting a parcel, having a dentist / physio rdv, meeting a friend. Often these things are proposed at short notice - and I'm not going to turn down a catch-up with a friend just because I had planned to go to the market that morning (am I? should I?). DH works very full-time but non regular hours (sometimes he's home for dinner, sometimes he's home all day). He too often has fairly short-notice changes. Two children are fairly routine at least.

• not having a regular "big shop" day. To save money I tend to split the food shopping between, Lidl, another big supermarket and a fruit/veg market twice a week. For the shops, I can take the car. For the latter I am limited to a shopping trolley. Plus, as above, I often change my tentative plans to food shop if I get a better offer - or some other random thing comes up.

• trying to be low-carb. DH and I both find it easier to maintain a good weight if we eat fairly low carb. This is not cheap though, and it inevitably takes more time to whip up a salad than making a sandwich.

• trying to reduce meat / eat free-range / eat "happy" meat / eat more veggies. Again, to satisfy these criteria within our budget I have to shop around which is so time consuming. Plus both DSs are dedicated carnivores.

So tell me where I am going wrong (lack of discipline and trying too hard to keep people happy I suspect) and where you go right. What are your Meal Planning Golden Rules?

Start with a huge Long list of the meals you like.

I then look at the ones that needs adaptations for the fussier needs.

So, one won't eat mash. If it's sos and mash, I'll add the mash alternative next to it.

Then I try and see what will make say 2 meals out of one. So a spag bol, make double, enough to freeze or make a lasagne for the next night.

Always have a stand by meal in (we have a couple. Omlette and salad. So I always have eggs and salad ingredients in. The other is filled pasta with spinach, pesto and avocado)

Freeze as much as you can and label it. It's great to be able to get out a portion of curry if you're in a hurry!

And from your master list look at what you want for the coming week. My meal plan always has a little calender of where everyone is on the day too.

First come up with a list of meals that work for you/DH/DC. Depending on the age of your children, you might ask them to write a list of the meals you like.

Next, set up a basic one or two week chart with spaces on it for 3 meals a day. For each week add in any pre-existing commitments.

Match up the meals you'd like with the slots on your planner. Have a couple of 'just in case' meals that you can make using store cupboard/freezer ingredients.

I just cook twice. DH and I like nice food and the DCs tastes aren’t quite so refined yet! We eat roast together on a Sunday, but that’s all. There’s less waste that way too. You can low-carb your meals more easily that way too.

I factor in a meat free meal a week, red meat is 2 x a week max and we eat fish twice a week.

I find Lidl pointless for fresh stuff as they don’t have enough choice. Just do a massive shop there once a month for non-perishables.

This is me! Following

I have sat down and drawn up a master list of 15 meals that we like / can be adapted to accommodate low carb / fussy eaters plus a “mix and match” list for nights when the dc are eating and we aren’t, AND a “treat” night list to keep DH happy.

But from reading yr posts I’m wondering if it isn’t the meal planning that’s an issue so much as the shopping... how do you juggle time / budget / ethical constraints?

For example, say I put Traybake Lemon and Garlic Chicken on the menu. For the chicken, I can hope that Lidl has some free-range chicken portions when I go there. But they don’t - so do I buy the conventional chicken that they do have? Or do I go elsewhere? Or do i just bin that menu idea and buy what I can get in Lidl instead - even if it’s not on the Plan and I have to buy new ingredients?

This is the kind of thing that trips me up.

You are overthinking that bit!! If you cant buy the chicken, buy a plan b, dont shop unnecessarily. If you have 15 things everyone will eat, can you tweak it so you have 20 or so? If sausages are acceptable but with different sides, get the sausages and rethink your plans. If you cant buy the chicken you want, can you get a whole free range chicken and do a roast/joint it?