To ask for your help with meal planning?

[loie]

Ashamed to admit that I've been completely slack with meals for months now, spending too much money on ready meals and snacks and no time cooking.

I'm just trying to get into the swing of it and kick my brain into thinking of some meals so-

Can anyone share what a typical week would look like for them with meal plans? (Including packed lunches if that applies!)

Thank you

You’re not BU at all! It’s hard to plan meals. I’ll be lurking here to pinch more ideas too! Last week, we ate the following evening meals:

Salmon Fillet Tacos with Guacamole and Chilli Pomegranate Salsa
Merguez Pita with Salad, Couscous and
Seafood Risotto with Toasted Garlic Ciabatta
Chicken Hariyali Kebabs with Rice and Chapati
Chicken Pad Thai with Potstickers
Slow Jerk Chicken with Potato Wedges and Garlic Aioli

And we have charcuterie bites, cheeses, salad and falafel with hummus beiruti for lunches. Also make pita chips along with baby carrots for dipping, along with a homemade krembo that we made last weekend.

Also following for ideas!

When I do our plan I try and tie in ingredients where I can (e.g chicken) so I can buy bigger packs. General rule is we don't have the same base ingredient 2 days running, so if we had chicken Monday, we don't have it Tuesday.

This week was:
Monday - salmon, potato wedges & vegetables with lemon/garlic sauce
Tuesday - chilli & rice
Wednesday - chicken fajitas
Thursday - mushroom pasta with peas & asparagus
Friday - homemade chicken goujons, potato wedges, JD BBQ sauce and corn on the cob.

I am usually in the office 3 days a week so make 3 days of lunch on a Sunday if I can. I rarely have sandwiches as I find them quite dull! This week I had a cous cous salad with roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, cucumber, pesto and feta.

For the days I am at home I'll often have leftovers (e.g. we made a big chilli in the slow cooker/have cold fajita wraps the next day). We prefer to cook more in the evenings and have the leftovers for lunch. It tends to be cheaper to buy bigger packs of things (particularly meat). Anything we know we won't eat will go in the freezer.

We eat well and probably spend £60 a week on food for two (with toiletries/house stuff on top), but as a result don't eat out/grab lunch on the go. We cook almost everything from scratch which has made our shopping much cheaper than it could be. I take everything to work, breakfast, fruit, snacks etc. so I'm not tempted to buy things! Online shopping also helps as it stops you buying things just because you're hungry.

Packed lunches for me & kids are:
Bottle flavoured water
Brown bread with ham/ turkey/ cheese/ beef /tuna or left overs for me as I can microwave at work.
Few cherry toms / carrot sticks / mini cucumbers
Low fat yoghurt
Small bag crisps
Fruit for morning snack.

Typical week-
Bean and veg tacos
Cajun chicken and roast peppers in Harrissa flat breads
Thai veg curry
Spaghetti and meatballs
Pizza
Salmon stir fry

Dp sorts out his own lunches (sandwiches), ds has school lunches. Dd and i have wraps, cheese on toast, scrambled eggs, easy quick stuff mostly.

Thank you everyone so far!!!! Very helpful, definitely shifting my mind block!!

I’ve put our menu for this week below, hopefully helps!

monday

Breakfast: porridge
Lunch: hummus and roasted red pepper bagel
Dinner: mushroom, tahini and harissa pasta

Tuesday

Breakfast: porridge
Lunch: pea pasta with asparagus, lemon, spinach, pine nuts and cucumber
Dinner: veggie chilli with cornbread

Wednesday

Breakfast: two boiled eggs & sliced avocado
Lunch: leftover chilli
Dinner: sweet potato korma & rice

thursday

Breakfast: coco pops
Lunch: leftover chilli
Dinner: pesto pasta

friday

Breakfast: porridge
Lunch: out with a client
Dinner: homemade pizza

saturday

Breakfast: pancakes
Lunch: skip (cos big breakfast / brunch)
Dinner: mac and cheese

sunday

Breakfast: porridge
Lunch: leftover mac and cheese
Dinner: leek, cheddar and potato pie with homemade baked beans

Monday
Chickpea and Chorizo Stew
Tuesday
Braised eggs with veg and feta
Wednesday Calves' Liver and Bacon
Thursday Chicken, Fennel and Barberry Stew.
Friday Smoked Haddock Risotto or Lasagne. Haven't decided but if Lasagne is done. I will either freeze it or serve other half next day.
Saturday maybe lasagne or baked potatoes wity egg and tonnato sauce.
Sunday pot roast brisket with Yorkshires and potatoes.
Monday Stovies from left over brisket.

We eat veggy at least once a week to save some cash. We like refried bean quesadillas. I cook pinto beans myself to save money and then we have them for lunch or dinner the next day.
Curried tomato and lentil soup is also a favourite and happens to be vegan.
Chickpea curry.
Daal.

I will post links to recipes if people request.

Evening meals this week in our house:
Monday spicy sweet potato wedges and veg with bacon
Tuesday rice, kippers and veg
Wednesday chicken stir fry
Thursday jacket potatoes with tuna and other bits
Friday sweet potato curry
Saturday last night's leftovers
Sunday spaghetti bolognese

Typical midday meals include beans on toast, eggs, sandwiches.

Family favourite evening meals - chicken and chorizo stew, chilli con carne, meat balls.

If you are eating a lot of ready meals because of the convenience then think about having stuff cooked ahead that you can grab and go. eg bolognese sauce in the freezer means that you can have a quick lasagne, cottage pie, chilli (add chopped fresh ones). I usually have lots of tomato sauce in the freezer to as it can be spread on a wrap to make a quick pizza or added to beans and chorizo for a simple dish to eat with microwave rice.

Followikng as we're living off pizza/breaded chicken/tacos with crips and chocolate for snacks and I have no idea how I got this bad....

And no idea how to get out of it!!

Next week's half term meal plan:

Saturday:

Lunch - mac & cheese with leftover bacon, peas and sweetcorn
Tea - things on toast / salad

Sunday:
Lunch - spaghetti & meatballs
Tea - cheese & crackers etc

Monday:
Lunch - out to a pub with friends
Tea - DH & kids will have snacky stuff & I'm at work so I usually take soup / salad or something

Tues:
Lunch - carpet picnic
Tea - pizza hut with friends

Wed:
Lunch - jacket potatoes & various fillings
Tea - pasta with broccoli & chorizo

Thu:
Lunch - omelette
Tea - roasted tomato risotto

Fri:
Lunch - toasties or things on toast
Tea - Spicy salmon & lentils

Sat:
Lunch - soup & toasted ciabatta
Tea - pork steaks & butter beans

Sun:
Lunch - polenta with spinach
Tea - again, I'm at work so will have something snacky

My DC have packed lunches at school, which usually consist of:

Sandwich (DC2 will have rolls, wraps, etc whereas DC1 will only entertain sliced bread) - ham, chicken, tuna, cheese, or I sometimes get those sandwich filler pots. Occasionally DC1 will ask for pasta salad instead.
Squeezy yoghurt (there'd be revolt if I gave them something else!)
Fruit - favourites are: apple, satsuma segments, blueberries, strawberries or grapes. Neither like a banana in their lunchbox as they say it's all warm and squishy by lunchtime.
One other savoury thing - could be breadsticks, kids crisps, cocktail sausages, olives, cucumber, that kind of thing.
I also put in a little chocolate treat on a Friday - those tiny kinder bars / rice krispy squares / blue riband / kit kat sort of thing.

Breakfasts we usually sort our own - cereal / porridge / toast / fruit & yoghurt etc. In school holidays I'll do pancakes or croissants / pain au chocolat / brioche or sometimes a cooked breakfast.

I go through the fridge & cupboards every week to see what needs using and plan round that. I have easy tea days when the DC have activities, so pizza, pasta, something pre-prepped.

I always serve salad / veg crudites with every meal. You can get the bags of salad, which saves chopping and it's also an incentive to eat it as it wilts & goes slimy quite quickly once it's open.

BBC Food do a really good monthly recipe magazine called Easy Cook, which I love getting. This might help you out at the beginning.

I do

One fish day
Three veggie
And three meat

One of the veggie days is often something really simple like homemade soup and bread or omelettes.

Meat is normally a roast that does for at least two of the days.

So this week
Salmon pasta
Shakshouka
Aubergine chickpea thing with feta
Spicy mulligataney soup (not really veggie as made with chicken stock)
Roast chicken, cous cous salad
Chicken fajitas
Chilli and rice (will batch cook this)

Lunches are generally leftovers, wraps or pittas with salad, cheese, tinned fish or cold meat, or eggs. This week I am thinking soup and I have bought mackerel and cream cheese to make pate.

Oh and it's open access to the fruit bowl in my house for snacks. We also have crackers, raisins, french fries type crisps, yoghurt, jelly.

DC like something sweet after meals, but this is usually yoghurt / jelly / fruit. Sometimes I buy little ice creams or ice lollies so we have those.

I don't stick to a strict meal plan but this will give you some idea of my vegetarian week...

Monday - Mushroom risotto
Tuesday - Dhal & rice
Wednesday - Veggie pies with brocolli & carrots
Thursday - Chilli & wedges
Friday - Gnocchi & tomato bake

We normally have fruit or yogurt after dinner. Or ice cream if it's been on offer at the supermarket.

Both my DC have lunch at school and i normally have a sandwich or leftovers from the night before for my lunch (if there is any).

My typical week
Meatballs and spaghetti
Gammon steak baked potato and veg
Pizza
Chicken curry (slow cooker)
Homemade macaroni cheese
Omelette and wedges
Homemade chicken soup with crusty bread
Packed lunches
Pitta bread cold meat and salad
Crackers humous and tomato
Tuna mayo sandwich
Boiled eggs with salad

Evening meals this week in our house:
Monday spicy sweet potato wedges and veg with bacon
Tuesday rice, kippers and veg
Wednesday chicken stir fry
Thursday jacket potatoes with tuna and other bits
Friday sweet potato curry
Saturday last night's leftovers
Sunday spaghetti bolognese

Typical midday meals include beans on toast, eggs, sandwiches.

Family favourite evening meals - chicken and chorizo stew, chilli con carne, meat balls.

I've found the Lean in 15 books my joe wicks and Jamie Oliver 5 ingredient books are great for some ideas , all
Of the meals are pretty quick to prepare and have turned out brilliant

Monday dinner - spaghetti with meatballs
Tuesday dinner - chicken curry with rice and naan
Wednesday dinner - mushroom omelette, veg, potato wedges
Thursday dinner - grilled chicken, rice and salad
Friday dinner - pizza!
Saturday dinner - lasagne and salad
Sunday dinner - roast chicken, roast veg, mashed carrots and potatoes

This week:

Sunday - Sunday morning fry-up, roast chicken dinner
Monday - Chicken and mushroom pie using left-over roast, potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, peas
Tuesday - remaining half of pie, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, sugar snaps
Wednesday - chicken stiryfry using the remaining roast with noodles
Thursday - mushroom omelette with cheese and chips
Friday - fish for DP, probably eggs for me with veg
Saturday - no idea, either pasta or risotto with veg

This is ours, I find it tricky as one Dad is vegetarian and one is fussy and DH often doesn't get home from work until after 8 so we eat separately. Some of these meals have to be adapted so one dd won't eat prawns for example. I try and incorporate salads, fruit etc as sides or desserts. We're on a budget and just got s new puppy so cooking time is limited, so these are simple meals mostly.

Monday - baked potato beans and cheese (comfort food as DH not well)
Tuesday - quesadillas some with chorizo and chicken, others veggie
Wednesday - fish in crumb with new potatoes and asparagus
Thursday - burgers/veggie burgers and wedges
Friday - aubergine parmigiana and crusty bread
Saturday - stir fry with beef strips and egg noodles
Sunday - pasta with chilli and prawns in tomato sauce
Saturday -

sergeilavrov that is the most delicious meal plan I've ever seen!!!

I have a rough precis of the week's meals:

Friday - takeout
Saturday - something adventurous - we like to try a new recipe, like Fish Sambal.
Sunday - home made burgers, roast, or other family favourite that someone's had a yen for, like Beef Rendang, Chicken in a Creamy Onion Sauce on Fettucine, or Fish Sambal
Monday - spag bol. I have no idea how this started, but Monday has been spag bol night now for 27 years. Since before we got married. Before we had kids. The universe feels off kilter and we find it hard to remember which day it is if we don't have spag bol on Monday.
Tuesday - Fish. Could be teriyaki salmon with udon noodles, oven baked salmon with a shite load of veges, pan fried fish, with chipped new potatoes and a salad, something like that.
Wednesday - something simple and pasta'ish, or stirfry, or chili con carne
Thursday - traditional meat and five veges.

Thank you everyone!!! This has been so helpful!!!

I sort have a summer and a winter meal rotation, with a bit of crossover. I'm not on a tight budget

Most weeks we have :

Filled pasta with shop pesto, some sort of bread, Caesar salad
Homemade pasta dish and homemade bread
Salad of some kind
Roast/pie/chips
Stir fry
Fish with potatoes
Takeaway/eat out

In the winter the salad is more likely to be stew and the stir fry curry

Monday - breaded cod fillets and mashed potato, peas
Tuesday - freezer stash spag bol
Wed- chicken tray bake with baby potatoes, chorizo, red onion and corn on the cob for one child
Thurs- omlette/frittata type affair using up potatoes and peppers from yesterday
Friday - take away. Kids have waffles and spaghetti hoops or something like that