Meal planning for 2 adults per week - advice appreciated

[Bizjustgotreal]

Hi there.

Better half and I are trying to get our weekly shop down.

I'm on mat. Leave atm so need to be more budget conscious (esp. as DS is mostly formula fed at about £60 p/w - we never managed to establish BF due to various reasons but I pump to bottle feed him).

I struggle to make a cost effective meal plan for us both. Could you please share your tips, experience and resources?

Thank you!

Sorry £60 p month - not p week!

Do either of you follow a specific diet/have preferences? We tend to base our meals on meat because thatvs what we like to eat and dh has various allergies which make other meals much more challenging. So found a local butcher that does a meat pack for £23 and base my meals on that as it's high quality and usually enough for 7-8 nights (there are 3 of us). So might be worth seeing if there is something simillar to you locally

@Findahouse21

Do either of you follow a specific diet/have preferences? We tend to base our meals on meat because thatvs what we like to eat and dh has various allergies which make other meals much more challenging. So found a local butcher that does a meat pack for £23 and base my meals on that as it's high quality and usually enough for 7-8 nights (there are 3 of us). So might be worth seeing if there is something simillar to you locally

No preference for food - we adhere to a 'see food' diet ;)

I'm gonna come at it with a different angle.

sometimes my problem isn't time or cost but I literally can't think of what to eat.
so I installed this app called Tiny decisions.
it's so simple, you add as many options for possible dinners as you want, then spin the wheel and it gives you a random choice.

once you've created your list you can always update it. gives you less headache about planning ahead for a whole week - if that's problematic!

also the you can build up lots of wheels with different topics when you have a list but prefer a random pick

Thanks both for the suggestions.

Do you have any ideas for meals that have similar core ingredients that I can plan around? I.e. - all with Ragu base or meals where the leftovers can be transformed?

That couple with the tiny decisions app could be a game changer

My cost saving mostly involves less waste - we were throwing away a lot of half packets of things/ends of cheese/leftover veg. So instead of the meal plan being “name 7 meals we fancy” and buy for those, it’s now “name 3/4 meals we fancy and have planned leftovers the next night”. So I’d do a roast one day and a pasta bake the next. Or bolognese one night and a lasagna with the leftovers. If a meal needs carrots I try to do other meals that use carrots that week. That kind of thing.

We batch cook in bulk and freeze meals in two-person portions.

One chicken or a small joint of meat can make multiple meals for two. ( roast dinner, curry, soup, pie, pasta bake, wraps, sandwiches, )

Learn to make soup, cheap, nutritious, uses up all leftover cooked veg, , wilting veg, meat and fish scraps, make it heartier with rice or barley or pasta. lentils. For stock use Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon powder , any supermarket.

Haunt the reduced section in your supermarket.

save the end s of a loaf to make crumbs and freeze. Use mixed with grated cheese for savoury toppings.

I usually plan meals which use frozen veg and/or meat. It’s not only cheaper but it lasts significantly longer too, so there's less waste. It means you can also buy in bulk, which typically costs less as you can take advantage of BOGOF offers and other bulk-buying deals.

Veggie chilli - eat with rice, jacket potatoes, turn into enchiladas with the addition of tortillas and cheese, use for tacos, turn into shakshuka with eggs and feta www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/weight-watchers-black-bean-shakshuka, or top with mash for chilli bean pie www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/chilli-bean-pie.html
Roasts are good for leftovers and getting your meat in this way is pretty economical.

I'm solo and cooking at the moment (I can't always due to ill health, then I use meals on wheels) so I try to plan mals that 'evolve'.

By evolve I mean if I'm cooking a baked potato, having the oven on for one is a bit of a waste so I will cook more, then the following day I'll use the extra potato for something like gnocchi.

I'm currently getting groceries delivered but once I'm fully vaxed I'll be going back to the local butcher, the meat isn't much cheaper but much better quality.

I also do a 'cook one, freeze one', so if I do something like a roast or a shepherds pie I will only cook one portion but freeze 2 or 3.

Have a think about what your gran would cook.

If you buy sausages consider making a toad in the hole using half the pack (serve lots of veg with it) then use the other half to make Asian spicy meatballs (take the meat out of the sausages - Cumberland work well) put in a bowl with finely chopped peppers, or chillies and spices of your choice. You need a broth to cook them in. Put some water in a pan, add frozen garlic and frozen ginger, once it is simmering add the meatballs they will float when cooked- serve with rice.

I know it seems like eating the same thing two days running but you can make things that are different enough to seem different.

Sunday roast leftovers can always be transformed into a pie and/or a soup, so that's at least 2 extra meals.

cooked chicken is very versatile too - perfect for curry, pie, soups, tortilla or pitta bread filling

eggs are another useful staple : scrambled with different ingredients chucked in (veggies, ham & tomato, onion & mushrooms, bacon, grated cheese), or make pancakes, or boiled eggs you mash up for a sandwich filler with mayo, butter & chives.

a ragu is great - eat with pasta, baked potato or make courgette or aubergine boats (cut veg in half, scoop out middle which you chop up and mix in with the sauce, fill in the cavity, add a bit of cheese, bang in oven)

search on Pinterest for leftover recipes, there are tons.
and there are apps for building recipes from what you have in cupboards & fridge (can't remember the names)

I find chilli is quite good for this; you can bulk it up cheaply with more kidney beans and mixed beans and it it with wraps or rice or jacket potatoes.

Thank you all for the suggestions! I knew MN wouldn't let me down 😁

That's supposed to be a smiley face

I was surprised (when I sat down and worked out the costs) that main meals are generally fairly cheap, and it was snacks/drinks/extras that were making up a huge part of our food spend.

Some people hate this, but we have found that cooking a bit more dinner and having the leftovers for lunch the next day is really cost effective (and means you only need to make a decision about what to eat once a day!) A lunchbox type of lunch (e.g. sandwich + crisps + fruit + yogurt + drink) can quickly add up to a big cost as there are so many different components.

@bananapumpkin

I was surprised (when I sat down and worked out the costs) that main meals are generally fairly cheap, and it was snacks/drinks/extras that were making up a huge part of our food spend.

Some people hate this, but we have found that cooking a bit more dinner and having the leftovers for lunch the next day is really cost effective (and means you only need to make a decision about what to eat once a day!) A lunchbox type of lunch (e.g. sandwich + crisps + fruit + yogurt + drink) can quickly add up to a big cost as there are so many different components.

BH unfortunately finds sarnies more convenient for lunches. He doesn't have access to a microwave at work and often times needs to eat one handed/Al desco.

Spag Bol can be made in a large quantity the diversified into a chilli and a lasagne. The chilli can be served with tacos or rice or jackets.

Roast chicken-
Save some of the meat to have the noodles and veg and make A stir fry or a ramen

BH unfortunately finds sarnies more convenient for lunches. He doesn't have access to a microwave at work and often times needs to eat one handed/Al desco.

Ah, that's unfortunate!

Thank you for asking this question - loads of helpful responses, I'm sure we are all picking up new ideas

@Bizjustgotreal

That's supposed to be a smiley face

😬 🤣

I HAVE to know why the one handed eating.
right now I'm imaging him hanging on a trapeze and having sneaky bites between jumps 🤣

(you don't have to reveal what he does. I'm just nosy)

At one point my meals were basically all Stew:
stew with leftover meat, mixed herbs, wine and rice
stew with lentils, leftover meat, lots of spices and rice
stew with corned beef and potato
stew with mince and oregano and spaghetti
stew with mince and oregano and cheese sauce and lasagne, baked
stew with mince, pinto beans and chili powder and jacket potatoes
stew with fish, tomatoes and basil and rice
stew with a tin of pilchards and pasta twists
stew with tuna and cheese sauce and pasta twists, baked
stew covered with mashed potato or suet crust, baked

Unfortunately it turns out that with a few honourable exceptions (such as curry) S2 doesn't particularly like stew....

Try the Resourceful Cook website, it does your meal planning for you to make the most of ingredients, and has loads of choices!

So not sure if it’s helpful to you at all but what we do is:
Meal plan in advance, we do 4 days meat, one day fish and 2 days veggie (helps keep costs down)

Each day of the week we have a sort of ‘theme’ that usually stays the same that way we have an idea for every week but can change up the specific recipes.
For example Monday is Mexican - so we could have fajitas, or chilli con carne , taco’s etc.
Tuesday is pasta,
Wednesday is curry, (lentil curry is a fave)
Thursday is easy dinner so either jacket potatoes, omelettes, something in the slow cooker etc,
Friday is some sort of tray bake- chicken thighs and veg or sausages etc
Saturday we have fish,
Sunday is a roast etc.

I have any left-overs as lunches the next day so that we’re not cooking something fancy for lunch that’s using ingredients I need for a main meal. Husband always has sandwiches for his lunch, either ham and mustard or cheese and pickle. So there’s not tons of filling options that helps keep the cost down

BH unfortunately finds sarnies more convenient for lunches. He doesn't have access to a microwave at work and often times needs to eat one handed/Al desco.

When I make a chilli the day after I make it into a burrito type thing, basically put some chilli (and rice if you have it) into a flour tortilla, fold all four 'sides' in and put on a baking sheet with the folded bits underneath and bake for 20 mins.

These can be eaten fresh from the oven but also make a great sandwich substitute. Surprisingly bits don't fall out when you eat it so it can be eaten one handed.

You could easily do the same with bolognaise, curry, left over roast chicken with some cheese and they also freeze well.

Besides the normal mince meals I freeze ie for lasagne, spag bol cottage pie. A nice simple cheap meal is ham, egg and oven chips. Bag of breaded chicken nuggets or strips are cheap. We put them in wraps with salad, you dont need many in each one. Serve with wedges if wish. When I do a big sunday roast if there is lots of veg left and pots. We have bubble and squeak with gamon or bacon with beans. Another one is cooked rice with veg and egg and soy sauce put through it. Nice with chicken or fish. I have got a freezer drawer full of frozen garlic, ginger, chilli, onions, mushrooms and peppers. Helps bulk out meals and cheap and easy to use.