Aibu to think all meal planning is for "budgets" what do you eat if you're not on a really tight budget?

[hardhatonforthis]

I think we are stuck in a rut. I don't want to eat beans or parsnips every night?
Don't like hello fresh.
Shop at ocado because it suits us for a variety of reasons.

What are you eating this week?

I kind of meal plan a few days at a time and often it's based around an ingredient in the fridge or freezer. Definitely, as pp have said, so we don't waste food.

We don't really budget and both love trying different foods and eating well. We definitely prioritise this over almost anything else!

So today we had smoked salmon and asparagus pasta with a caper sauce as I bought some salmon and asparagus but needed to use them up.

Yesterday we had a prawn curry my DH cooked as I got him a spice kit for Christmas.

I think it is worth planning meals purely so you don't waste food but choose good quality fresh ingredients

Yeah we make a basic plan but we don’t stick to it religiously - no particular meals on particular days and even the dishes aren’t set in stone. If we want to make something else with the beef or whatever, we will. It just helps to have a general guideline for what meals we’ll be making and hence what ingredients we might need. In the event of a takeaway if we don’t end up using something we had planned to use we just freeze it for another time.

I don't meal plan - no idea what I'll fancy eating tomorrow & certainly not in several days time.
Instead, I use what needs using in the fridge & veg rack, + items from freezer & larder.
DH does the big shop EOW, so It's an "invention test" !
I use eatyourbooks.com for inspiration if I'm really stuck

I also meal plan because the DC have different activities on different evenings that I need to work around. For example on a Monday my older 2 don’t get back from gymnastics until 6 so I need to make something I can have ready and waiting for them. On a Wednesday DD1 has to have something on her way to an activity as she gets back basically at bedtime, so I have to plan for that.

@Cryingoverspilttea that's not true and very judgey!

Some people shop daily and but everything they need.My friend has a tiny freezer so can't stock up but she shops on the way home from work.

Love meal planning! Saves time and sanity.

Having been out of the house for 10 hours for work no way would I fancy going to the supermarket to pick up some food for that night.

We know what we're having for the week ahead but not much beyond that. Have staples and then try and do a new recipe each week.

This week:
fish pie,
Sausage gnocchi
Gammon and veg casserole
Chilli
Roast beef

All home made from scratch. I meal plan pretty meticulously so only buy what I need, and also the planning enables me to double up on things like cooking a bit of extra casserole to make into soup for a lunch, or cooking another chicken breast while the oven is on so I can curry it the next night etc.

I don’t meal plan in advance but do as I go around the supermarket. I don’t have a budget as such but do like a bargain or to shave a bit off the foodbill if possible so if chicken is on offer I would buy for two separate chicken meals. If I got some mince in the whoopies fridge I would then decide if it was going to be a spag Bol or shepherds pie and buy what else was needed.
I always have a supply of herbs and spices to make most things we eat so it is just a matter of matching the sides to the meat.
I don’t do ready meals or jars of cookin sauces so with a decent stocked larder of basics even a random reduced pack of meat can be turned into a meal without to much thought.

I disagree that meal planning is for budgets. I meal plan because I abhor food waste. That said, a by-product of meal planning is that you do tend to save money although I always end up in M&S for the nights we can't be bothered cooking. We do end up eating the same meals week in week out. Tends to be things like veggie pasta, chicken pie, stir fry, garlic chicken with cous cous, pad thai, risotto,fajitas etc. I'm not a great cook unfortunately.

I meal plan purely because it stops me overbuying and wasting food. I don’t have a budget.

Meals for this week are:

Veggie Bolognese pasta bake
Meatless roast
Veggie Nugget wrap (kids)/veggie fajitas
Veggie sausage rolls, potatoes and bbq beans
Veggie Sausage mash and veg
Salmon sweet potato and veg
Tortellini and veg

What do you dislike about HelloFresh OP?
I actually quite like them for inspiration, they have taught me a few new techniques and recipes and I often remake their recipes with shop bought ingredients.
How rich are you? Would a personal chef work??

I don't meal plan. We just keep the freezer and store cupboards full, so there's always something available. Shop on an ad hoc basis when I have time, so sometimes there will be three or four sets of fresh food in the fridge to be used first before needing to go to freezer.

You could decide what the main component of your meal is and go from there......

Salmon
Sausages
Beef
Chickpeas
Chicken
Cauliflower
Pasta

Then work out your recipes.

Salmon with pesto, pan fried potatoes and broccoli
Sausages with mash and onion gravy
Italian beef stew with polenta and Gorgonzola
Chipotle chickpeas, crusty bread and salad
Chicken wrapped in bacon with roast potatoes and vegetables
Cauliflower cheese topped with bacon, salad
Tomato and mozzarella spaghetti with oil and garlic

My meal planning is for the benefit of my bodybuilding and is not related to a budget.

This week I will be eating:

• lean protein (chicken/fish)
• complex carbs (wholegrain rice/pasta, sweet potato and porridge oats)
• green vegetables

Same next week and every week after during competition season

I meal plan religiously but not for budget purposes. I meal plan because it's much easier than making a decision on what to take out of the freezer meat wise and making a decision on what to cook every day. I'm also dieting so I like to plan calorie intake in advance and make a proper supermarket list rather than picking up extras and things that will be wasted.

I make a meat meal for DH and vegan for me and kids can choose which they want but I make them very similar so it's not like separate meals.

I'm trying new recipes out at the moment but for the next few nights I've planned:

Chicken tikka masala or lentil Dahl
Homemade beef/black bean burgers
Jerk roasted chicken or butternut squash with mango salsa
Beef chilli/jackfruit chilli

@BiddyPop - Stilton and ham gratin with shredded sprouts and baby carrots

This sounds lovely. Do you have a recipe?

Thanks all. This thread is giving me great ideas. I need to start meal planning. Ideally under 30 mins - any suggestions?

I meal plan to save time and avoid waste....not from a tight budget point of view, but because waste is bad for the environment.

So this week:
Roast ham & trimmings
Risotto using leftover ham, leek, mushroom, peas
A lemon broccoli chicken recipe from a book, with noodles.
Spaghetti bolognese (sauce from the freezer, batch cooked using a gino d'acampo recipe)
Seafood pasta (simple white wine & garlic sauce).
Lamb tagine (It's a variation on an Anthony Worrall Thompson recipe) with couscous - batch cooked from freezer.
Home made pizza

I don’t meal plan - just buy the basics (including whatever rainbow veg is on offer / looks good / is in season) and then cook based on what I have.

Sorry I took so long to come back
Yes the ones I can find are for people on a budget
I do plan meals but not for the days and I'm stuck in a rut, I'm looking for menus for the week ideas please

The title got cut short sorry

I meal plan because it makes my life easier and reduces waste. I think you sound a bit of a snob op.

I first started meal planning in order to save money. Now I don't really need to save the money, but I hate waste and love to use up everything that I buy. It's like a jigsaw puzzle to me - I wanted to make that recipe so I bought a jar of whatever. What can I make with the other half of the jar?

I enjoy cooking, but I also like to spend as little as possible on food whilst still buying decent quality. Because less money spent on groceries = more money for holidays.

I meal plan and while I have a budget it’s very generous! But meal planning means I think about what to cook/buy once or max twice a week and then all the lovely food isnwaiting for me in my fridge. I use Ocado plus local butchers for meat, work 4 days a week and have reasonably fussy children

I sit down on Sunday afternoon and plan for the week and Ocado delivery comes on Monday morning.

I also do it to avoid waste and also I HATE going to the supermarket every day - my local one on the way home from work is crap and it would eat into the little time I have with my kids in the evening.

I was away over Christmas and really enjoyed planning this week’s meals from the comfort of my mum’s sofa and having all the lovely food arrive for NYE - baked Camembert, fresh crab and lovely bread last night then steak with (homemade) bernaise sauce today and a curry for tomorrow. Better than standing in a draughty Tesco’s looking at a choice of fish fingers or flabby chicken for dinner and a bag of boring salad (I know it’s more than possible to do inspired cooking from small shops or boring Tesco’s but that’s not going to be me at 5.30 on NYE!)

So for example I cook double once every two weeks and freeze half
I do food like this

I buy a whole chicken (I know mumsnet I know) but my son doesn't eat much
And I do make stock with the body
Usually roast his legs thighs in bits and the wings
Breasts i pan fry

I do it every fucking week I need to stop

I do also do shep pie

Beef rib ragù
Chicken wings
Ribs

But I am so bored of what I do hence asking for meal plan ideas

Here's our current rotation:

Steak frite
Leftover steak goes into stirfry noodle thing with sesame seeds & broccoli (I like the pre-cooked Waitrose noodles)
Fried rice with prawns
Puff pastry with marscapone, spinach & pinenuts
Bean soup with bacon
Half risotto/half barley with mushrooms, a cube of frozen spinach (or fresh) and some leftover chopped up meat e.g. chorizo (or not) + parmesan

Tonight is 'magic curry' which is my own home made vegetable and coconut based sauce, with Vivera chunks, spinach and chick peas and coconut rice.

Then

Veggie sausage casserole with root mash tomorrow
Friday to Monday kids are with their dad - Friday night the boyfriend and I are having new Aldi vegan pizzas, Saturday I'm making donburi bowls with crispy tofu.

Sunday I'm in my own so just a jacket potato and some frozen bean chilli leftovers

Monday is mushroom ale and lentil pie from the new jack monroe book.
Tuesday on my own so leftover pie
Wednesday vegan carbonara (Jack monroe again)
Thursday on my own so probably gnocchi and dairy free red pesto.