Lunches and snacks when meal planning

[ferntwist]

When you meal plan do you also plan and budget breakfasts, lunches and snacks? This is where I seem to come unstuck, especially as DH has a massive appetite.

When I look at menu plans others have posted, it’s nearly always just dinners. Would love to see your all-day plans!

I plan lunches.

For snacks I account for two snacks per day but don’t specify them. So I’ve been buying a selection of snacks each week eg fruit, breadsticks, yoghurt, mini baby bels, crispbread and hummus, mini cakes, biscuits. To allow everyone 1/2 snacks.

Same for breakfasts. I account for enough cereal or toast for the week plus eggs/beans and bacon for the weekends

That sounds excellent @Comefromaway. Would you share one of your plans including lunches?

I plan a lighter meal of beans/egg on toast, soup, sandwiches or a salad. As well as our main meal.
Breakfast I don't plan but always make sure I have fruit, cereal, porridge, toast and croissants in so there's always a variety.

I always just have toast/nothing for breakfast I’m rarely hungry enough for a “meal”
Lunch is always leftovers from the day before.
Snacks, I just always make sure I’ve got crisps/nuts/bread/sweets etc in the house and bake when I’m bored so there’s usually a few experiments about

I’m working backwards to try and remember last week. I also have a r stricter eating Ds so often do different versions

Sunday
Brunch - Bacon, sausage, scrambled egg, beans, toast, hash browns, mushrooms
Dinner - Beef, Yorkshire’s, Roast potatoes, Veg
Stewed fruit & custard

Saturday
Breakfast - cereal or toast
Lunch - Jacket potato, baked beans, salad (leftover pizza for Yoghurt
Dinner - Turkey strips, peppers, onions, tomatoes, courgettes, cous (Pasta & marscapone sauce for ds)

Friday
Breakfast - Cereal or beans on toast
Lunch - Chicken & salad wraps, Fruit & yoghurt
Dinner - Takeaway chippy/pizza delivery

Thursday
Breakfast Cereal or beans on toast
Lunch - Tuna pasta salad. Yoghurt (cheesy pasta for ds)
Dinner - Lamb steaks, potatoes or sweet potatoes, veg (mange tout, cabbage, peas) Quorn sausage Yorkshire puds & veg for ds)

Wednesday
Breakfast Cereal or toast
Lunch - Salmon, salad in pita bread (fish finger wraps for ds) yoghurt & fruit
Dinner - Turkey steaks (birds eye chicken for ds), noodles, peas & corn on the cob

Tuesday
Lunch - Super noodles, peas & sweetcorn or tin soup & roll. Fruit & yoghurt
Dinner Beef & veg stir fry & rice (chicken dippers veg & rice for ds)Popcorn, mini eggs & pringles family theatre at home night

Monday
Lunch - Chicken salad sandwich. Yoghurt
Dinner - Salmon (fish fingers ds) new potatoes, mange tous, carrots, spinach

For snacks last week I bought a pack of scones with jam, a large fruit box, pack of mixed yoghurts, hummus and crispbreads/pitta breads, mini baby bells, chicken fridge raiders, Pringles, frazzles, lentil chips & I had a couple of chocolate crispy cakes left over from Easter.

Thank you all, appreciate the good ideas here

I dont plan lunches but have a list of ideas and make sure I buy a few things from the list. So next week, for example, I'll make sure we have a few tins of soup, part baked baguettes, brie, eggs, salami and ham. Also tortillas, passata and mozzarella for making quick pizzas.

I can never be bothered making much at lunch, we always have something quick and easy!

I don't plan breakfast or lunch. Breakfast, there's always porridge, toast, cereal bars in. Lunch we tend to all get our own. DS likes super noodles, pasta in sauce, beans on toast or a potato waffle, jacket potatoes, mackerel on toast, spaghetti and sausages, basically anything he can easily cook himself (he's 12). Dp likes soups, noodles, eggs on toast. I have eggs most days in various omelette options as they keep me going until tea. Some days we have brunch together, things like salmon, scrambled eggs and chives with bagels or bacon, egg, mushrooms and toast, or we've had American pancakes with bacon and maple syrup and Huevos Rancheros.
Snacks, we don't tend to have many. Occasionally ds will have a packet of crisps, or some nuts. He likes cup a soups too. There's always things like carrot, cucumber and cherry tomatoes in the fridge.

We often have quiche and salad/ soup/ sandwiches/ pitta pizzas/ bagels for lunch. I usually just make sure there is a selection of stuff in and then we just have what we fancy.
For dinners we meal plan. Breakfast is cereal/fruit/eggs/toast and I just make sure a good selection is available.
I also plan for several snacks each a day as DD eats like there’s no tomorrow. Usually just plenty of extra fruit and then a few other bits like crackers/breadsticks/hummus/flapjacks/nuts/crisps.

Very impressed at your DS’s cooking repertoire @delilahbucket

@Smarshian love the sound of pitta pizzas, what’s your recipe?

Toast some pitta breads, add tomato purée, cheese and whatever else you want/have in. Stick under the grill for a few mins. Yum

@ferntwist haha, it really isn't that impressive! That said, he'd survive if he didn't have me or dp to cook for him!

Hot cross buns

Lunch
Snack
Treat

I plan for all meals and try to rotate a few lunches through the week, like a big bowl of cous cous, home made soup or I might cook a ham for sandwiches. It helps me waste less! I also make things with the number of lunches it will serve in mind (so I weigh the cous cous etc).

Snacks wise I bank on the following for each person per day.
2 or 3 portions of fruit or veg
Pack of crisps
A yoghurt
A chocolate treat

We are grazers in this house so I try and make sure there's plenty of snacks. There's also always things like nuts, crackers and dried fruit in the house. I used to buy less but would end up back at the supermarket midway through the week so I'm now a bit more realistic.

We tend to have the same breakfasts (porridge or cereal) so I just make sure we have plenty in and only really plan if we are having a 'nice breakfast' - pancakes/bacon rolls type thing!