How the hell do you meal plan successfully?!

[Burnt0utMum]

I've tried repeatedly to do meal planning but it just never seems to work out. I do a mix of regular/easy meals with the odd new recipe here and there. First problem is anything that requires fresh ingredients go off before the end of the week so I have to go shopping more than once a week or not have fresh veg in meals near the end of the week. Second problem is people not just eating the specified meals. Kids are fussy and end up refusing most meals (can't even get them to eat basic freezer food so it's not just a case of not liking veg, they barely like anything). DH is also fussy and ends up making his own food with whatever he finds which could include ingredients for planned meals. Third problem is I don't always know where we're going to be and we end up eating out unexpectedly which throws the meal plan upside down too. Anyone actually have a way of doing it that works? Or do I give up?

I am very picky when buying my veg and will lift boxes to get to the longest date stamps/freshest veg. But I do think there is quite a lot of variation between Aldi stores. My local one is great but one further away next to Lidl is not so good and if I go out that way I'd choose the Lidl because that ones better. It's weird since I guess they all get the same supplies. Maybe it's down to the individual shop stock management.

I shop at Aldi and loads of stuff lasts over a week. Depending on what it is - obv lettuce is shorter but carrots, courgettes, tomatoes, broccoli, aubergines etc etc last perfectly from my local Aldi.

Good for you. I am not getting into "To aldi or not to Aldi" debate though😁
My experience used to be good, got bad, I moved onto different shops. People report lots from both sides it seems to vary by country, maybe a store.

It's possible to choose hardier versions of veg. Little gem lettuce for example lives in the fridge for ages.

Have you tried getting your kids to help you cook? I'm trying with my fussy eater but no results yet.

I used to do fairly rigid meal planning and it was great. Saved time, money, stress, reduced food wastage. I'm trying to get back to it but tend to plan the meals then buy the ingredients weekly. But then because I like a bit of spontaneity I will mix up the meals so not necessarily eat them
In the correct order, but still eat most of them over the week. I have a few batch cooked meals in the freezer that I'll often have too.

Oh and I don't buy any veg that that would go off within a week really... nothing prechopped or bagged , as we get a veg box delivered. So never under much pressure to use things up ASAP. I also tend to freeze meat and use frozen fish rather than fresh.

It's really not going to work unless you can find things that you will all eat. If your dc don't eat what you've cooked, what do they end up eating?

They tend to end up eating toast or eggs. Maybe a sandwich. Or cereal 😩.

Hmmm... well the problem with that is that if they know they can get that if they refuse what's on offer, there's really no incentive to eat what's on offer! Did you say how old they were? When mine were fussy as younger kids, one thing that helped was letting them serve themselves rather than giving them a pre-served plate of food.

Can I ask why you want to meal plan, OP?

Is it to cut costs?Save time? Lower your stress levels? Cut down on food waste? Something else?

We eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg. So I plan meals for the whole week, and at the weekend will buy all the non-perishables for the week, plus the fresh stuff to last for the first 4 days. On the 4th day I will do a very quick top-up shop to pick up the fresh bits for the remainder of the week (the list is already in my shopping list app on my phone, so it really is just in and out of the supermarket, no faffing).

This also means we have a bit of flexibility because if we end up going out one evening and so haven't eaten one of the planned meals yet, I can easily adjust how much fresh food we need for the rest of the week. Any non perishables will easily carry over to the next week.

Here for the great ideas. I'm also having the meal planning problems and pp's have great advice!

Your DH is the problem. They are just following his lead

You won’t be able to make it work with the other adult in the house essentially working against you.

Meal planning is an absolute ball ache. We used to meal plan then we just stopped. Half the time there is nothing we can make a meal out of. I told my Fiance he has to do his share of the meal planning etc because I have really had it with it and he said that of course he will but he. Said that before.

How old are the kids?

If they are teens then they should cook a family meal once a week, if they are 5 or 6 then they can help you or DH.

Either way each person in the house gets to pick a meal that they like and that they cook.

Use your freezer effectively eg ready chopped onions can be used in a lot of things and won't go off.

Put a few 'snack meals' in the freezer for anyone who really hates the main meal, you can do things like a ploughman's lunch, in a sandwich bag put a mini pork pie, a bread roll and some cheese.

Decide which veg taste OK / better frozen than fresh. so for me, brussels sprouts, peas, sweetcorn, chopped onions. I also keep veg in the fridge so carrots, swede etc.

Use tins and packets.

When you get home with your shopping or it is delivered separate it into meals and put each meal in a bag, a carrier bag that cannot be seen through and threaten husband that if he opens them you will, well whatever you can threaten him with.

Make the meals that things go off first, so salad on the delivery day.

I live alone so buy the bags of salad, I know it's cheaper to buy separate items but they go off before I've finished them and the bagged salads are packed in nitrogen so as long as you don't open the packet they last a few days. If you want salad later in the week it might be worth trying.

Have a shelf in the fridge that anyone can raid, cheese, pickles, crackers, fruit.

Make your meal plan, put on the fridge what the meal is and who is cooking. Remind everyone on the morning and if they don't like it they can have one of the snacks from the freezer or something from the 'raid' shelf or something from a tin - but they cook it.

Cook enough of selected meal for everyone and serve any extra portions in foil containers and freeze. These frozen portions also become 'snack meals'.

Obviously you cannot freeze salad but as part of the meal planning think about what can be frozen.

Again depending on ages of children make sure they can make something to eat. Beans on toast using a toaster and microwaving the beans in a jug is simple enough for a 7 year old to make.

Good luck.

I couldn’t quite work out where I was going wrong with meal planning, until I stopped thinking what meals ‘I’d like’ to cook and instead concentrated on what people were doing each evening. So, now I think how many evenings that week I’ll be tight on time and batch book accordingly; or have something that I can throw together that takes 20 mins tops. Once the time issue is sorted you can get think about how you’d get your two portions of oily fish per week etc. and other considerations.
The result is less food wastage, less overbuying and more importantly less stress!
But your husband has to get on board so he doesn’t go off-tangent and use up your ingredients!
The weekends we use for family cooking where time isn’t an issue. DS is now proudly doing us avocado on toast with scrambled eggs on Sunday morning. Result.

We use fresh stuff first and freezer/tinned stuff towards the end of the week. A typical week might look like this:

Sat: Chicken Fajitas
Sun: Roast Dinner
Monday: Jacket Potatoes and Salad
Tuesday: Spag Bol
Wednesday: Chilli
Thursday: Beans on Toast
Friday: Cheesy Pasta

We've started buying a big pack of mince and cooking it all as spag bol. We then refrigerate overnight and the next night we add beans and chilli powder and its a ready made chilli then

What is this fussy thing? How does it come about and how is it allowed to continue?

Meal planning has two benefits for me. During lockdown it enables me to only shop once a week. And it saves money by reducing waste.

But in your situation it won’t work until you get the family on board. Especially your DH, he’s just sabotaging you. Work on the kids’ fussiness and then meal planning will be more successful.

I used to be brilliant at meal planning and then Covid hit and I was no longer able to get a weekly delivery and half the food wouldn’t turn up and it all fell apart. Haven’t got properly back into it since.

My vague plan was
Meat free Monday
Something that can be reheated (one child has a club)
Stew or other slow cooker meal (one child has a club then I have a club so has to be cooked earlier in the day)
Anything
Something and chips (from the freezer)
Street food Saturday (wraps, noodles, nachos, pizza, fake kfc or Nando’s, burgers, hotdogs...)
Sunday roast (or other traditional family meal like cottage pie or toad in the hole)

Kids are young (5 & almost 7). I think getting them involved in making the meals would be nice. I'm just always in a rush so end up doing it myself but will make it a priority to get them helping in the kitchen. I asked DD what she would like for lunch and dinner today as today is shopping day. She wanted chicken nuggets and chips for lunch. I said what about vegetables and she said carrots. Then for dinner she wants spaghetti loops and cucumber. I'm happy she's agreed to have some veg but the rest of it isn't great.

I have a dh who will open and snack on ingredients allocated for later in the week, meaning I have to re jig my meal plan to make the dates work - it drives me insane!!

Also find it annoying when people open things like big pots of yoghurt / cream cheese without me realising - I assume they are still sealed and then they sit in the fridge for 4 days, half eaten and the rest ends up being wasted as it goes off quickly once opened

I bought some day dot catering labels recently and have found them so helpful in reducing food waste. You use a coloured day of the week sticker on any food that is opened - marking the day of the week it needs to be used by and then you can see visually what needs eating first and what has been opened. I do occasionally eat things slightly past it but at least it reminds me when they were opened and I can make a sensible judgement call...

I hate meal planning with a passion. Fussy kids and a dh who works long hours.

I try and try but I never seem to get it to work and it has made me hate cooking.... I realise I need to get the whole family on board, but it's difficult. Desperately need to cut down in food waste and spend.

Some great ideas her though so following :)

Where do you shop or store your veg that it doesn’t last?

I made curry last night, so all the veg was at least a week old. (Cauliflower, onion, pepper, courgette). Everything but the onion had been kept in the fridge. It was perfectly fresh and would (had) previously lasted at least 2 weeks.

We shop at Aldi. Used to shop at Asda and theirs is the same.

You need to know what you’re doing on each night to successfully plan. And you always need a couple of back up meals for when it all falls down. Ours are pasta and Swedish meatballs and sauce (either from scratch and frozen or a jar), chargrills, chips and salad, jambalaya and a couple of batch cooked meals, Spanish chicken, Bolognaise and chilli.

I also cook one meal. Children have to eat it! (I don't have a H which helps - because yours is undermining you a bit I think).

Re fussy children - well I just don't allow it. But maybe if you said to your dd instead of "what would you like for dinner dd?" Say "would you prefer x or y dd?" then she still feels as though she's getting a choice, but you are driving that choice.