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?

@ltgreggs I'd love to see the crispy chicken recipe

I also do borlotti beans with my stock

Chicken pie

Baked fish

Home made fried chicken

Fennel and Jerusalem artichoke soup
Carrot and coriander soup

I also bake a few times a week. My family are fed up of my foccacia, scones, painted cake ( if you know me you'll know who I am now) raspberry and custard cake etc

I need ideas for meal plans NOT to a budget so it's not too heavy on one particular food group. I'm frustrated the title got chopped up

Yes I can cook

Diced chicken in stock/cream/bit of flour with grated potato on top, oven baked. My kids love this.

The tinned confit of duck is always amazing. Amazing!

Have you ever just bought a nice cooking magazine, curled up with your laptop and put in an online grocery order?

This is how I spend quite a lot of my Sunday, normally.

We meal plan because we both work full time and want to spend as little time as possible shopping.
Also, planning means we get in from work and know who is cooking, what they're cooking and that we will have all the ingredients.
Not on a budget, especially, but planning does help save money.

@Serin I wish 🥰

No it's to be honest I think the meals take longer then they say will, I find them a bit under seasoned and also my husband said they are too healthy whilst I resent the fact the meat isn't free range or organic

I don't like Hello Fresh for that reason either. Also, the packaging is insane. It's also geared towards people who have completely unstocked kitchens.

When I'm needing inspiration i like to imagine I am going out for dinner. Where do I want to go, and what would I order off their menu? Then I make it at home.

I look at our committments as these are variable each week. Some weeks we need lots of very quick, simple stuff. Others one of us is at home in the afternoons so can cook something needing a bit more effort (and sometimes freeze).

If i see a nice recipe, or have a flash of inspiration, I add it to my iphone Notes so I can browse that.

Meal planning definitely helps avoid the same boring crap. It also makes shopping loads faster and my cupboards aren't too cluttered as I only buy what I need for that week. It also helps with eating healthily when I do it well, because if i've got healthy meals that I can look forward too, then i'm not likely to order a takeaway or fill up on sandwiches and cereal instead.

I've not had the tinned duck I used to have that as a kid occasionally if my dad went to France on business, is the one from I ocado good? I've seen it there before. I can do that with beans (my fave and son loves them, husband not so much)

The one from Ocado is amazing. Expensive, but great.

@MissOrganisedMe

Our favorite ones are

Chicken breast slice it thinly coat in seasoned flour pan fry low until cooked but not over cooked add thyme and garlic right at the end to pan don't cook it all the way along with
Home made chips
Salad

Shep pie but make it in advance I can share my recipe if you want

Carrot and coriander soup

I have a large cupboard stock of standard ingredients and flavourings, then we just meal shop a roughly coherent set of vegetables (all Mediterranean, all classic English etc) and cobble food together from there with whatever meat we buy. We never eat anything particularly specific during the week, and if we did want something we live 5m from the shop.

We never throw food away either, it can be cobbled together into some meal or other before it goes off.

@EntropyRising yes it is expensive isn't it? I used to live in Switzerland and we did get groceries in France and I don't remember it being so pricey

I'll try it

Can also do filo duck rolls with left overs

This is how I plan mine a week ahead.

Sunday - always a roast or a casserole with meat or chicken portions.

Monday - pasta - but this can vary from Spag bol to pesto twists or a tuna bake or meatballs with tagliatelle but it’s always Pasta night.

Tuesday - Sausages - again a variation on the ‘theme’, sausage and mash, sausage, chips and egg, sausage hotpot, sausages, wedges and salad etc.

Wed: This is Freezer night as we’re out at ‘activities’, so it can be anything that can cook from frozen in 25 mins (including pizza).

Thursday - Spice Night - this can include, curry, chilli, stir fry, Thai, fajitas etc.

Friday - Fish. So anything from fish and chips to griddled salmon and new potatoes.

Saturday - We tend to get a Takeaway once a month but will do steaks one week, chops another, homemade kebabs another. I go to the Butchers on a Saturday and get my meat for the week.

It works well for us.

We meal plan for convenience and to minimise waste. It's got nothing to do with being on a budget

To me meal planning is to avoid waste and use up what I have in my food cupboards. Nothing to do with budgeting.

If you’re lucky enough to not be on a budget consider hiring a chef or a meal planner to take care of the organisation

Hmm I think there’s a difference between not food shopping to a budget and hiring a chef.
I don’t have a food budget, but there’s obviously only so much you can really spend on food for a family unless you’re regularly throwing food away. Without considering costs at all I spend about £120 per week on food for a family of 5 (one a baby).
Hiring a chef could cost £1000’s.

I too don't really understand the question.
I spend a fortune on food.

But I have to have meals:

I need to know that when I come home from work on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday we're having :

Spaghetti & meatballs
Chilli
Pie and steamed carrots/cauliflower/broccoli.

How can you mange otherwise?
Irrespective of budget.

We meal plan to avoid waste as we were just buying what we wanted when we wanted and loads of food just ended up not getting eaten and often chucked in the bin. Also dh is now a vegetarian so It's easier to plan what we are having together and what I eat on my own now.

Meal plan so as to have the ingredients in we need and to not have to fit in shopping on top of everything else. Also so I don't have to think about meals as much.

Beef and roasties w veg x 2 nights worth
Jacket pots
Big chicken w rice, salad, yog dip n pitta x 2 nights
Omlette with whatever
Takeaway?

This is a rough idea of our next week. I cook big things of meat to reduce waste.

I'm going to batch cook to prepare for an operation I'm having in 2 weeks.
Bolognese
Chicken curry
Meatballs (turkey and pork mince mixed together)
Spicy chicken pasta
Keema curry
Probably a stir fry, but that wont be a batch meal.

We meal plan to be organised, know what we’re eating / when and reduce waste by only buying what we need. Not really a money saver - if we want something more expensive like a nice steak or something it’s just planned in the same as egg on toast!

I meal plan to avoid waste but also as I batch cook to save time and money and have at least 10-20 portions of home made food in the freezer.
Cant you go on Good Food website OP ?
There are millions of recipes on there .
Tbh your meals sound very dull 😬