What do you do if you don't meal plan?

[SingularityCat]

For some reason I always thought when people talked about "meal planning" they meant partially pre-preparing meals during the weekend for the week ahead, not just planning in advance what you're going to eat that week and shopping accordingly.

I don't understand how you can do any differently than this? So those of you who don't meal plan, what do you do? Do you just go to the shops really regularly? Or buy staples and then make stuff using that? I'm intrigued!

Never meal planned in my life.

Never heard of it till mumsnet, and find it fascinating that many/some people have it listed as a chore. I do understand how it could be though now having seen it many times on here.

I have...

Full larder with any store cupboard ingredient I might need always. Added to shopping list if I take the last of anything.
Ditto with large chest freezer containing all types of meat (bought on offer normally).

Weekly shop of fresh fruit/veg/salad/cream/cheese etc plus anything that needs topping up in larder/freezer.

Only decide what to have either that evening/or in the day if I'm excited about it!

This is us.
Full store cupboard of staples, fridge too, ie dairy, some sauces.
Loads of veggies, but not enough to waste.
Then I look out for reduced price meat and fish, which we can freeze if need be.
Then each day or two days think about what to make!

I'm not a recipe user. Occasionally for inspiration but then I'll often use elements from 2 or 3 Google results for what sounds best or suits our ingredients.

We have a list on the fridge so if I use passata or cocnut milk or all the potatoes, I'll write it on the weekly shopping list.

Then we're still fully stocked for next time, even if we don't use passata for another 2 or 3 weeks.

I don't write things I buy weekly on the list...

Oh wow haha we meal plan to extremes then but we are happy to eat the same thing for few days in a row.

Will sit on a Sunday evening and plan meals for the following week for food shop on Monday (written onto a small whiteboard with shopping list next to it!)

After shop, usually make enough of a batch cook option such as fajitas, pasta sauce/bake, curry, stir fry, risotto, etc. that will cover Tues/Wed/Thurs as those are days I work so can get in and just microwave and done.
Then have stuff like carbonara, tortellini, frittata, pancakes, etc to fill gaps.

Have some homemade freezer stuff or make extra and put to side for our daughter's small tea after nursery.

Will do a top up shop on Friday if having guests at weekend or want something fresh like bread or making a special meal so want e.g. fresh steaks. Generally make sure to check expiry dates so food/basics will last until following Monday's shop.

Works for us anyway, I also do 16/8-18/6 so this makes things easier as not shopping and/or cooking everyday and can eat earlier.

It's interesting that many posters describe not meal planning as 'stressful'. It's literally the exact opposite. I think not planning is a luxury that is not available to everyone.

Meal planning worked for me when the kids were little, I knew what they were eating every day at school etc. and there was a routine at home.
Now if I do a meal plan and say, it’s Thursday and I have planned spag bol, I have DS1 say Oh I had pasta for lunch at school, or DH will say oh I didn’t have lunch until late so I’m not that hungry, you do you and I’ll get something for myself, or it’s the weekend and I have planned a stew but we end up eating out at lunchtime etc etc. So now I just roll with it, I have chicken, fish, mince in the freezer, pasta, rice etc in the cupboard, salad and vegetables and fruit, and I go with the flow. There’s a Spar two minswalk away and a Tesco Express five minutes walk away..

Have never 'meal planned' despite sometimes thinking it would be a good idea. I just don't have the energy. I do a weekly online shop for the fresh basics, and have a good freezer store of fish/meat, plus stores of tinned things I might need. With DP working from home, we decide what we'll be having for lunch and dinner earlier in the day (often we eat different things as I have a bunch of food intolerances) and then go with that. DP will eat up things I can't eat because they aren't fresh enough, so our 'system' seems to work quite well.

I don’t meal plan, I get a veg box, meat box and dairy delivery, a well stocked store cupboard, occasionally buy fish if I’m able, and just work with the ingredients I’ve got. I’m a qualified chef, which probably helps! We eat quite simple meals, nothing complicated.

We don’t eat meat and two veg much, mostly as I prefer to shove everything in a pot, but it’s not a problem - we have all the spices, herbs etc and top them up as we run out. “Staples” include preserved lemons, saffron, Berber mix etc etc

Before I had kids I would just think of something on the way home from work and pick up what was needed on the way home. I was pretty good at knowing what was in the fridge/cupboards at home.
I still find I'm at the supermarket most days.
We live about 3 mins walk from a big one so sometimes go two or three times a day if we are really disorganised 😅

The thought of not meal planning blows my mind! It would stress me out. Also we often like to try new recipes, so those have to be planned for. We are definitely not a meat and two veg family.

How do people have the time to shop every day? And isn’t that more expensive? I’m convinced we would spend more if we didn’t meal plan.

Yep

I just buy chicken, pork, fish etc and potatoes, rice, pasta etc and a selection of frozen veg.
Fruits, cereal, bread, and so on.
Tinned stuff, sauces.

There are probably a hundred ways you could combine those things.

I've tried meal planning. It was a pain in the arse.

I would very happily meal plan if my children ate like normal people. They are so incredibly fussy I’m just not making lots of different food in the evening, particularly when I don’t even eat dinner at all.

In typical MN there's been a competition - who can eat freshest, be most spontaneous. I stopped to roll my eyes when I got to "I eat whatever is ready in the garden" 😆

I meal plan because when I don't I find it takes much more head space, stress, money and waste!

Don't get me wrong we sometimes say "fuck it let's have a jacket potato" or "let's go out" or whatever, but I just don't have time and space in the day to be making a plan and shopping every day.

I am also a bit militant about food waste (always have been, my mom used to say "that's a wicked waste!" if she had to throw anything away!) and I find there's very very little waste when I plan and much more when I don't. And at the moment, surely nobody wants to be literally throwing money in the bin.

I've tried meal planning in the past and it really stressed me out. I shop every 2 weeks and buy a range of fresh staples in my budget and just decide what to make as I'm about to start cooking. Don't eat meat and 2 veg type dinners.

I didn’t used to meal plan, I walked around the shop putting items in my trolly, get to the till where it cost in excess off £180 then get home and realise I can’t make an actual meal with anything I’ve bought. I find online shopping so much easier now.

I don't meal plan. I can't know what we feel like having in advance. I write a shopping list and get stuff we need - carbs, produce, protein, snacks - and we put them together however we want at home, making sure to use everything while it's in date.

But I mainly cook stuff like fish and rice and broccoli - not stuff like lasagne that requires specific ingredients. And I don't like eating the same thing so only make enough for one meal at a time. And we live 2 minutes from the shop so it's easy to go in for one or two things if we need them.

I meal plan now I have a family, but pre-kids DH or I would just pop into the shop on the way home from work and pick something up, or cook whatever we could find in the kitchen.

I don't meal plan but we tend to eat the same sort of meals each week(me dh 3yr and 6yr old), I don't use any jar sauces except pesto but do use a lot of passata for making sauces. I just buy 5 different meat products and decide what to cook on the day. Lots of variations of pasta bakes with sausage, meatballs chicken, risotto, bolognaise style dishes with quorn, beef or turkey mince, sausage and mash. We have basic jacket spuds with cheese and beans almost every week too and probably eat out or have takeaway weekly. There's always some frozen meats in the freezer too along with nuggets/fishfingers. We occasionally plan to make a curry or enchiladas etc at the weekend so I'll buy what we need for that.

I usually just buy the ingredients for about 5 dinners and decide on the day or based off best before dates what we’ll eat each day. Then depending how busy we are we might get one take away or go out one evening for dinner. It’s hard to stick to a “plan” when you get your shopping delivered and don’t know the expiry dates on meat before they arrive.

This!
I plan on as much as I think 5 meals so fish one night, mince another, eggs, something out the freezer etc then cook what I fancy/ needs using/ have time for on the day

I never know what I'll fancy eating 3 or 4 days from now, or if we'll decide last minute to go out for dinner which we will normally do once or twice a week.

We live across the road from a big shopping centre with supermarket, butcher, Aldi etc so I can easily pop across and buy what I need for dinner that night.

Some weeks I meal plan, some I don’t. This week I made 3 meals yesterday that will do us until Wednesday and then the leftovers will do Thursdays dinner.

I hate eating like this but I am feeding a family so to ensure they eat well it’s necessary.

When I don’t plan I just pop into the shops but this works out very expensive

I find the idea of meal planning really stressful

I just buy what I fancy and cook or freeze stuff based on whether I'll have the chance to eat it before it goes off.

I like being able to come home from work and have a bowl of cereal without needing to worry about x, y and z in the fridge that has to be eaten instead.