Meal planning wtf?

[Matchstickbox]

I know it seems stupid, but how do you meal plan? It's clear we need to but I just don't know where to start.

May I have some tips please?
Thanks.

Thank you so much artycakemaker. This is a great choice! Will start planning now!!

I've really got out of the habit, I broke my back last year and then Dd moved out so I pretty much stopped cooking.
My back is much better and Dd is living with me again so it's something I'll be starting again as of Monday.
It used to be one of my favourite things to do as I love cooking.

I am terrible at meal planning. I have tried so many times but it always falls down flat within a few weeks! I have to give myself enough structure to know what I'm doing, and also flexibility because I have no idea what state of health I will be in. Currently we are just doing whatever it takes to get through as I have all-day nausea but I am really hoping once I'm further into 2nd trimester it'll ease up and I can start being more organised. I feel like we are wasting a ton of money and food at the moment.

I'm rubbish at being a grown up generally but I can meal plan. I always include some stuff that can be shoved in the freezer for another week if I have a craving for a takeaway.

Any one happy to share their meal plans ? Just for ideas?

. I'm going to give a go tho month.

*this

This week:

Saturday - red Thai prawn curry with rice.

Sunday - roast beef, roast potatoes, yorkshires and carrots.

Monday - cold roast beef salad.

Tuesday - spaghetti carbonara

Wednesday - ras-el hanout chicken thighs with oven roasted veg.

Thursday - sausages, mash, cabbage

Friday - smoked haddock chowder.

Arty how do you do the spaghetti chicken dish?

I used to weekly meal plan but now just do it for a few days because:
Kids are teens and DH working hours unpredictable so we keep having changes to who is at home for meals. If I plan too far in advance inevitably we will be more or less at the table. Or I won't be required to drive one teen somewhere but the planned meal is too complicated for the other teen's skills.
Also I live within walking distance of a supermarket and I do office work from home so popping to the shop for missing ingredient forces me to walk somewhere even when weather is horrid.

But I keep a weekly menu on the board so I can avoid falling into a pasta every night rut. I try to vary the protein element and the rest just follows according to what veg are in season or most compatible.

Our current 10 day plan looks something like this.
I add lib with veg sides a bit depending on what I fancy on the night
Breaded Harissa cod with red onion and lemon cous cous and salad
Roast chicken, homemade sage and onion sour dough stuffing, roasties and as many veg as I can find!
Roasted cauliflower Dahl and rice
Squash, spinach and chickpea filo pie with salad
Red chilli and broccoli pasta
Veggie sausage and bean casserole with sweet potato mash
Chicken tomato and mozzarella gnocchi
Baked eggs with spinach, tomato, red pepper & chorizo sauce
Balsamic ratatouille with spaghetti
Sweet potato and black bean tacos
Quinoa chilli stuffed peppers
Sweet chilli chicken and veg stir fry with rice noodles

Hi Clear the spaghetti chicken dish is my got- for really busy after school days. I cut a couple of chicken breasts into slices and then just cook them in olive oil on a really low heat. Once cooked I add spaghetti, as much jarred pesto as I want and a handful of black olives.

It's really good. Sometimes I add a little bit of philly cheese as it makes it very creamy- maybe half a tablespoon or so, but often I just leave it as is.

that word was meant to be 'go - to'

Thanks. I will try that out!

I write a meal plan then base my food shop around the meal plan. This week I'm having:

Sunday: pizza, chips
Monday: pad thai
Tuesday: curry, rice
Wednesday; jackets
Thursday; broccoli, pasta
Friday; pizza, salad
Saturday; burger, chips

I make my pizza dough sauce and put the jackets in the slow cooker at the weekend to save time during the week.

I find this menu is versatile enough to cover what my fussy child will eat and I can hide extra veg in pizza sauces without him realising.

If I didn't meal plan I would probably spend a lot more money on food and end up throwing half of it in the bin

OP, I bought a magnetic planner for my fridge (I also use it to sort my stupid freelance brain out) - you could just draw your own, or buy one from anywhere, obviously you don't need this one. I find having it written down and visible helps me balance my week.
www.paperchase.co.uk/raindrop-mag-meal-planner.html

I find meal planning hard - I live alone. So what also helps me is to make batches of things likes sides and veg, and keep a list of what's in the freezer.

I've also decided once a week I will try a new thing - even if that means a lot of scaling down.

I try to be a bit flexible so if I see a great discount on something I can take advantage.

This is a great thread! I am rubbish at meal planning and really need to make more of an effort as I am due back at work soon after 2nd maternity leave... so meal planning will really help me when I'm working full time with 2 kids!

For those of you who do jacket potatoes on busy nights, how do you manage that? Doesn't it take more than an hour in the oven or have I been doing it all wrong!?

Also, how do packed lunches come into the picture? Is it just sandwiches, or do you meal plan separately for that too?

And what about your own lunch? No one ever talks about lunch when meal planning.. why is that? Is lunch just leftovers from the previous night?
This may be a cultural difference, but where I come from, both lunch and dinner are hot meals... which is what makes weekends very difficult as it sometimes feels like either DH or I are constantly in the kitchen sorting out lunch or dinner

I bloody hate cooking.

My kids don't like me trying different recipes which is frustrating but my own fault as I stuck to old family favourites for years. I should have been more adventurous from the start.

I never meal plan but would love to and to get my family to join in on menu choices but with teenagers I usually just get a shrug or grunt.