Do you make a menu / meal plan for the week ahead?

[JoshandJamie]

I'm not religious about doing this, but I find that when I plan what I'm going to make for dinner each night at the start of the week, I can cut down my grocery shopping bill. But I find that I keep overestimating how much we eat and I can actually just make 4 dinners a week with leftovers on the other nights.

My DH thinks I'm anal with my little blackboard in the kitchen looking like some kind of bistro menu board outlining the meals for each day of the week - and friends who come round find it hilarious. But it helps me feel organised Surely I'm not the only saddo who does this?

I'd love to be that organised, but sadly routine in this house makes it impossible to plan.

My sil does this.
If i did that it would get to wednesday and i'd be like ' i don't want that now'
the that would throw the whole thing out.
Cos i probably wouldn't want the next nights either

I don't do it but I always aspire to doing it! I think it would make my life a lot easier (not good at making decisions at tea time) & would probably save me money.

Well i didnt say it was a foolproof system. Tonight for example we were supposed to have chili con carne, with me having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, and chicken for tomorrow night. But neither DH or I could be bothered about chili tonight and ended up just having salad. And I did complain to DH that my how schedule has now been thrown out. Tricky, very tricky how I sort out this dilemma.

The knack I think is to leave a couple of blanks - room for maneuvre.

i plan, but don't have a 'bistro board' - just a scrappy bit of paper shared with my shopping list! I would say 4 out of 5 weekday meals are as planned, it's usually friday goes to pot, as it'd kids swim lesson night, and i run 0ut of time.

can you not plan meals but have them on whichever night? or does it have to be so rigid? like the idea but quite like some spontaneity too

Notsogummy - you don't have to be so rigid, but I plan it so that I use up the freshest things/most perishable first and save things that can come out of the freezer or store cupboard later in the week. I hate eating veg that have gone to seed - hence my cunning plan.

And tigi, I quite often have a little scrap of paper, but I invariably lose it and forget what I'd planned (sleep deprivation does that) so I've resorted to the board.

I realise reading my posts that I sound ludicrously dull. I'm not, honest gov

I have been doing this for the last few weeks and found it helpful. This week has gone out the window cos I'm going on hols on Fri and so am trying to plan what to take to cook there (self catering caravan hol) but I think it's a good idea.

I believe you.

I think my routine is much better for meal times. Phone dh during the morning, ask him what he wants for tea, then ask him to get any ingredients that we need on the way home and THEN get him to cook it when he comes in. Job done!

i also plan 5 meals (mon - fri)and just cook what i fancy on whichever night. i also use up the shortest dated ingredients first. On sun i always cook a sunday din anyway, and saturday is a nibbles and pizza type day anyway!

hello princesscc, thanks for replying on my thread - we obviously like the same topics!

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Hi tigi - hope ds isn't ill for all the Easter holidays. No meal planning for you this week then!

joshandjamie - I am you!!! I do exactly what you do and for the same reasons......fresher stuff to be eaten first, and less perishable stuff at the end of the week...it makes perfect sense to me.

However, i must add that most if not all of my family and friends take the piss out of me for being the most organised person EVER. I beg to differ, I have a friend who plans her meals A MONTH in advance!!!!!

But its so much more fun to play Ready, Steady Cook with what you've got! I often 'borrow' an onion or couple of carrots from my neighbours too!

yeap I do that too, and its an attempt to get me organised. My friends think its hilarious but if I didnt do it, every night I would just stand there at the fridge just staring at things. Its so easy and I feel a little bit of me is organised and on top of things. We do swap days round too, if we had a busy day then I will do something quick that I had planned for another.

I did try planning like that, but it fell apart in the run up to Christmas because we were both out a lot. Now I just think before I go shopping about what I'm going to cook each week. Like that, I can take into account evenings that we are out...

i have drawn up a meal planner on a 2 week rota so we don't end up having the same stuff all the time. Im soooo boring! lol

It was my new years resolution.
I save so much money and throw much less food away.
It is a bit of a pain doing my plan and shopping list, and i do sometimes deviate. But i think it is really worth doing.

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I am more than happy to admit to being sad!

I meal plan and let the children decorate the paper i write the meals on. It looks fun and they like the idea as they each get to choose one meal a week.

I agree its saved me really a lot of money and encourages me to try new things even if they seem more expensive it isnt really because there is very little waste anymore.

If that makes me a saddo, then i am happy saddo!