to LOVE meal planning

[BumbleChum]

I have only just begun doing this (despite having 3 children...)
We always ate home cooked food, I just had a bit of a scramble at 4.30 every day to look through the fridge/cupboards and decide what it was going to be.

Now, thanks to MN, I have begun meal planning. Every Saturday I spend an hour checking what's in the fridge/freezer/cupboards, filling in the next week's menu and doing the online food order. It means I can take into account what's happening on the calendar (extra kids for tea/activities etc.) And I do more cooking ahead and freezing extra stuff etc. because I allocate when I'm going to do it. It's easier to incorporate new recipes and special offers from the online shop. And DS1 LOVES having a menu stuck up on the wall at home like there is at school He even cross-checks to make sure he's not getting the same thing twice in one day spoiled brat

It is bloody brilliant. Can't believe I didn't do it before, but it's just one of those things that if you've never done it, it can be hard to begin. We are definitely eating a wider variety and wasting less.

Thank you MN for enlightening me.

I don't tend to plan exactly which day we are eating a meal, unless we specifically need something quick and easy, we swap around depending on what fancy during the week.

We have a dozen or so regular recipes that we rotate and I try to cook 1 or 2 new dishes every week for variety:

• Chilli (either mince or slow cooked with casserole steak)
• Beef, black bean and chorizo chilli
• Chickpea curry (we have a couple of meat free nights a week)
• Bolognaise
• Seafood linguine
• Chicken katsu curry
• Sausage and mash/sausage casserole
• Risotto
• Keema curry
• Salmon with roasted vegetables and cous cous
• Tomato soup beef casserole
• Pad thai
• Singapore noodles (usually with either pork or salmon)
• Lamb tagine
• Spanish chicken and chorizo
• Salmon tray bake

Then we usually have some form of curry a couple of times a week. I'm a Spicery addict and have a shelf full of their different spice blends which I will use with a variety of meat/fish/veggies and improvise a few meals that way.

I meal plan on a Thursday, get the meat from the butchers on a Friday and Ocado deliver everything else on either Friday or Saturday. I have saved so much money planning this way, I spend much less than I used to.

I know I'm being a bit thick but can anyone give me a step by step 'how to' on meal planning?

I love it too. In fact, I now look back at years of supermarket shopping and I think 'what was I thinking of? Going shopping without knowing what I'd be cooking? That's madness'

Thisisme the key to meal planning is trying to keep things varied enough that you're not bored, yet there is no waste.

So, eg cook a pot roast on a Sunday, but make it big enough for leftovers. Then later in the week, spice up the leftovers and have them in wraps for example.

Or factor in a couple of vegetarian options each week, to save some money (if you're not already vegetarian).

Or if there is a particular ingredient you need for one meal, you might want to think of something else to make the next night that uses the same ingredient, so it doesn't go to waste. So last night I made baked potatoes where I took the flesh out and mashed it with sour cream and cheese before finishing off in the oven. Tonight I'm making enchiladas, so the rest of the sour cream will get used for that.

We plan for the week once we know what the contents of our veg box will be. As a veggie family, as I was worried we were too reliant on dairy. Now vegetables are far more at the centre of every meal, with everything else secondary to them. Just looking at next week's box and finding recipes for rainbow chard!

I don't batch cook. I don't find it works with vegetable based dishes, and pulses go mushy.

I love meal planning. In fact, any sort of planning. I love looking around websites too. Thanks to meal planning, we spend £30 a week on food, and we always have a variety of tasty meals.

Thisisme the supermarket catalogue is a menu planner's best friend, especially if you are on a budget.

So if for example chicken is on sale, I will plan a meal around that, and also buy an extra one for the freezer.

Then if I buy a lettuce for tacos, I will make sure we have burgers or wraps the next night to make sure we use up the lettuce while it is still fresh.
It's all about buying the ingredients that are fresh/on sale/ in season and then using them up.

i meal plan but still spend a fortune!

Our meal planning for this week looks like:

Saturday - bean and rice mixed with fajita mix, in tacos with all the trimmings (salsa, guac, sour cream)

Sunday - breaded tofu with cranberry sauce, brocc and corn on the cob

Monday - salmon baked with sweet chilli sauce, broccoli and corn on the cob

Tuesday - vegetable pasties with leftover whatever veggies we have

Wednesday - chicken thighs marinated in sweet chilli and soy sauce, with ratatouille and chips (The ratatouille is doubling as minestrone for lunches)

Thursday - Chicken thighs cooked as a Hungarian casserole with sour cream and paprika and noodles.

I buy the chicken on special so get 2 meals out of it. The veg I usually get two or three meals out of it. I hate waste, so will often cook a veggie stew or whatever and then cook it down and add to pies or pasties or mix in with mash.

I think I'd find it harder if I didn;t have the structure imposed by the veg box - when I planned meals previously, it got quite boring fairly quickly.

This week we have had:

Monday: Colcannon and veggie sausages
Tuesday; Mushroom bolognese (also had carrots, celery, onions in it)
Weds: Leek and potato gratin
Thursday: Roast vegetable and chickpea casserole
Friday: Jacket potatoes with baked beans and cheese (the lazy night!)
Today: Vegetable sausage mix in a puff pastry tart, with roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots and broccoli
Sunday: Spicy squash soup

The rest of the family take packed lunches to school / work (sandwiches, salads, fruit, yogurt, home made cake etc) and I usually have either leftovers or something simple like couscous and greek salad.

We spend £20 per week on the veg, plus £40 every other week at Asda, and about £20 in Lidl on the week we don't shop at Asda, plus the odd extra bit of fruit and fresh bread. So that works out at about £55-60 per week for 2 adults, a teen, and a 10 year old for all food and household stuff (washing powder, cleaning things etc.) We could get it down lower if gave up the organic veg, but I am happy as we are at the moment.

Oh also, I definitely do not batch cook. With the exception of soups, I just hate heating things up from the freezer. I prefer to buy enough for just one-two meals, and then re-jig them for the next day.

Mind you- I work from home, and cooking is my hobby so if things were different I would probably batch cook.

Thisismenow..

Make a list of your regular favourite dinners. Check what is on special offer in your supermarket and what you need to use up at home. That is what do anyway.

I would imagine people with lots of of commitments on a particular night plan the quick meal for that night, maybe something more special on a Friday night, use leftovers on a Monday etc. .. Go for it and see how you get on. Defo cheaper ..

I don't stick to certain days for things myself as home at the minute.

I meal planned long before I found mumsnet, and I thought it was amazing when I discovered there were others like me :o

I plan 7 meals for the week and then we decide each day what we fancy/whats quick to make that day if we are busy etc.

I can't go to the supermarket without a list, like I physically couldn't walk in without one without feeling like I had forgotten to put my trousers on or lost one of the kids. :o

ohmymimi - Thank you
Here is ours
Sunday - Roast
Monday - home made tomato soup & warm bread
Tuesday - Garlic & herb chicken, fried potatoes
Wed - meatballs, spaghetti, garlic bread
Thur - cod in butter sauce, green beans, new pots
still sorting the rest

Cheesy potatoes sound nice how do you do them please?

My slow cooker is my friend.
On a Sunday I Chuck in a chicken & we have half of it as a Sunday roast.

On the Monday we have the remaining chicken in a pie with shop bought pastry (Aldi 90p), I cut it in half and freeze the other half as you get enough for 2 large pies easily. Or I make a curry with it or sweet chilli chicken wraps with rice on the side.

I make a small amount of food go a very long way.

We have a curry once a week,

things like corned beef hash & crusty bread (I get the cheepo par baked bread rolls that freeze well)

A breakfast tea goes down really well, eggs, bacon, beans, sausages that kinda thing.

Sausage, yorkshire pudds, mash & veg.

Omelette,

Hunters chicken

Jacket spuds

Cheap & cheerful.

Agree with you Bumble! I've only just started meal planning (why? Why? What was I thinking of before??) and I love love love it.

I have about a dozen things that I rotate. All quite traditional as my DCs are good eaters but not adventurous. I try to do one new thing every three weeks which isn't much, I know, but there's too much grumbling if there's too much novelty.

I plan on a Thursday for a Sunday delivery...I already will know what we are having on Thursday and Friday, and I make Saturday a 'using up day' so sometimes dinner is a bit random (2 fishfngers, a pork chop, 2 servings of lasagne that was leftover etc). People bid for what they want and actually everyone usually gets something they like. I only do this on Saturday as I have more time...I don't make a variety of stuff during the week. They have what's on offer or I can bung a baked spud in the oven if they really don't want it and they let me know in advance.

Once very two weeks or so I batch cook...but not extensively. I usually do a Sunday roast (at tea time, DH works during the day on Sunday) and whilst I'm doing it I fry up about 1kg of mince, onions, celery, peppers etc. I have 4 old ice cream containers and portion up 4 meals worth, adding a tin of tomatoes into 2 of the batches. This cools and freezes to make 4 'nearly ready meals' for the following fortnight. I defrost overnight and quickly tart up into spag bol. or chili or wraps or shepherd's pie.

I always buy a chicken and roast it on one day for a midweek roast, then make stock and soup for my lunches during the rest of the week. All leftover meat is for DC sandwiches (hungry teens...like to give them some good protein during the day or they stuff choc and crisps on their journey home from school/college.. Who am I kidding? They do this anyway. I am just doing damage limitation with my home cooked food!!)

Sun..roast gammon
Mon...left over cold meat and mash, pickles and salad
Tues..fish pie
Weds...wraps and salad
Thurs...toad in the hole, sweet corn
Fri...fish cakes, beans and chips
Saturday...use up stuff, cook a pizza and garlic bread to supplement if needed
Sunday...roast chicken

Puddings...fresh fruit (whatever's cheap), tined fruit, custard, apple crumble (homemade), yoghurts, vanilla ice cream (basics range)

Lunches...sandwiches and soup (from bones and leftover meat), occasionally crisps, fruit, small penguin style biscuit (from a basics range)

Snacks...pate, houmous, crackers, cheese, yoghurts, fruit, homemade cake, plain biscuits (rich tea style)

Nearly everything from a basics range except beans, ketchup, meat and bread.

Buy a few beers each week (12 of those small french style ones) for me and DH.

I think we eat really well since I've been doing this and there's hardly any waste. Spend about £50 a week now. Cost more at first as I had to build up my store cupboard and freezer to a good level. Only began on 1st sept and can see a real difference in costs, time spent etc. DCs really like to know what the plan is. I try to make sure they get their favourite meal once a fortnight but that's on the understanding that they eat everyone else's favourite without grumbling.

I love meal planning but its just me and two teenagers and they always mess it us by disappearing to friends houses for dinner for eating at their dads so I try to do stuff that can be frozen if im not sure they will be here. So far example this week we ate

Sun: Roast pork and all trimings
Mon: Pork stir fry and noddles( with left over pork)
Tues: Chilli and rice
Wed: Jacket pots with chilli/cheese and salad
Thursday: chicken curry rice
Friday: fish and chips out of freezer
tonight: veg pasta bake and salad

I looove meal planning :) I actually enjoy doing it :)

this week we're having:
Cod fishcakes and salad or veg
Jacket potatoes with fried mushrooms, onion and ham
Sunshine Mix (with onions!) & beans
Vegetable Lasagne
Pizza and veg
Chicken fajitas
Chicken and Leek Pie

In whichever order I fancy it - all homemade :)

I love meal planning and tend to batch cook as I work full time so helps me out on busy evenings but do sometimes find myself in a rut so nice to see everyone else's plans for inspiration....

This week we're having:

Sat - chicken wings and salad
Sun- roast chicken dinner
Mon - chilli (from freezer) and jacket potatoes
Tues - chicken curry with left over roast chicken
Wed - spicy vegetable noodles
Thurs - pie (from freezer) and chips
Fri - mushroom omelette and salad

Just to add, I am a devoted meal planner. I have a great app on my phone "food planner" (clue is in the title) which helps so much. It remembers everything you have ever cooked, so if you type in soup, you will get lots of suggestions. It's so handy to meal plan while commuting, or look up what is for dinner when standing perplexedly in the shops with brain power zapping small children.

I am a member of a Facebook group where some people write out their meal plans, its very useful for getting ideas.

Thanks for all your inspiring meal plans

I always get my shopping on a Monday. Done my online shop last night. For thr week coming my meal plan is

Mon - Quorn cheese and broccoli escalopes with oven chips, sweetcorn and gravy

Tue - Turkey meatballs with pasta

Wed - Homemade turkey burgers in a roll with chips and salad

Thu - Honey BBQ chicken bites with brown rice

Fri - Chicken curry with naan bread and poppadums

Sat - Sausage cassarole with crusty bread

Sun- Roast chicken dinner