if you DONT meal plan....

[cod]

Message withdrawn

I need to do this

Went to waitrose and spent £110 last night on 4 night's food plus odds and sods.

I normally have a week of planning and then rebel and can't plan at all (my natural disorganised self prevails). I normally open the fridge and see what meat we have left and then fit the vegetables around it (very much in the way your mum does it cod).

We have a M&S food across the road from us (literally a 2 minute walk) and I think our food bills have gone up substantially since it arrived - we only buy the ready meals occassionally but it's so easy just to pop in there to pick up some sole goujons etc. - I am addicted to those choc raisins and dh to the choc peanuts (oh so conveniently placed by the till!).

I do a blank grid in word... [smug]
then print it out and fill it in....

(it gave me some more ideas of what to have looking at that one though...)

.

I spent £30 in m and s and only had one meal

hold on that did include a pack of pants and a school skirt for dd1 so I spent about £15 on one meal plus bits

Message withdrawn

planning sounds OK but can't beat a bit of spontanaiety (had pancakes with tomatoey spinachy goo filling and cheesy sauce last night, with griddled courgettes)

Message withdrawn

cod on msn pls (sorry about other day my salmon was burning)

Message withdrawn

I kind of plan in that we buy mince for spag bol each week, chicken for curry etc but don't plan for each night iyswim. Always have pasta and pesto in cupboard but regualrly at end of week go the takeaway route because inspired by contents of kitchen cupboards

I have been trying to plan our meals for about the last 4 weeks now to stop this going to the supermarket, chucking things in the trolley, spending a fortune and it only lasting a few days business. The problem is, I am on a mission to cook just one meal for the evening and haven't found a single one that vegetarian & diabetic DH, fussy 7 year old DD, typical stroppy toddler and forever on a diet me, will all eat. Plus there are builders trying to piece together my house again.

I will do it tonight.

What's wrong with griddling veg? Doesn't it just mean frying in a ridged pan? Better than boiling courgettes that go all watery.

Yes, have milk delivered now. Closest I'll get to meal planning.

I don't really meal plan, but I make up huge batches of stuff to freeze, so about 3 or 4 nights a week we eat from the freezer and other nights I dream something up.

meals always in freezer:

fish pie
shepherd's pie
sweet and sour chicken
bolognese
some kind of casserole
some kind of hearty soup
soup kind of mild curry

Just bung in some rice or pasta if needed

kittypickle when I am on a diet I give myself only a small portion of what they are eating and extra veg.

I do much the same Bozza as I'm doing WW and just count the points, it's DH & DD who are a complete nightmare. I am going to get tough on all this as soon as my house is sorted though.

hmm, I suppose I freezer plan, because when it starts looking empty I list what ingredients I need for my freezer cookfest and go get stuff.

Dh is sent out with children for a day on a Sat or Sun and I get cooking. Usually both ovens are going, plus the slow cooker and all of the hob !

Message withdrawn

yeah, all day - fab - they go into London for a boys day out and I luxuriate in my kitchen

Message withdrawn

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

lolololololol

all day once every 6 weeks or so

Do a once a week at a good local shop for meat and a mixed assortment of veg.

Have a load of stuff, fishfingers, m&s chicken breast fillets in breadcrumbs etc, couple of m&s readymeals and a pizza or two in the freezer. Plus whenever I make things I make a vat-full and freeze several portions so there is always stuff like homemade chilli, ragu, cottage pie, chicken casserole, fish pie available.

I can rely on DH only being home for dinner five nights out of seven and I never know until the last minute which nights he'll be out so meal planning would never ever work.

Message withdrawn

I do the same as Compo. I always have staples in the freezer - mince/chicken etc and always have rice/pasta in the cupboard. I then decide what to make the night before, although I have been known to decide at 5pm that night. We don't really do takeaways that regularly though - I usually have a wander round Waitrose on Friday night and dh and I will pick something to have when the children are in bed.

Also I have the same problem as Passionflower - I never know when dh is going to be home.