Weekly Meal Plan e.g Monday pasta Tuesday wraps with something

[twoshoes86]

Hi All

Does anyone do a weekly (or longer!) meal plan which is loosely based around every night of the week having a different theme/item?

I am wondering whether this might take some of the thought out of it for me and also for example Wednesday we are always back late from swimming lessons so I could do slow cooker Wednesday etc.

I was thinking something along the lines of:

Monday: ?
Tuesday: ?
Wednesday: Slow cooker
Thursday: Pasta
Friday: Fish with some sort of potato
Saturday: Pizzas
Sunday: Roast meat with veg

I try and stick to a rough two week plan (Excluding weekends as DH cooks then) I am a goodish cook but really dislike making dinner so I like to remove the thought out of it where possible. The schedule will change when after school activities change so as a guide:

Monday vegetable based- so risotto or roasted veg and pasta, goats cheese tart. Spanish omelette/ frittata

Tuesday sausage/ veg sausage and mashed potato and vegetables

Wednesday soup (can be a fancy curry coconut nut one or a hearty leek and potato one but basically vegetables in a bowl) sometimes with homemade bread, sometimes with bake in the oven for 10 mins bread

Thursday we have mince so that is meatloaf, lasagna or cottage pie or mousaka (sp)

Friday adults get a takeaway (DH) and the kids and I have pasta (I might have a takeaway either). Pasta can be pesto (homemade or shop bought) or cheesy and buttery. Also fish fingers and oven chips.

A rough rule of thumb is meat every second day maximum (but sometimes they end up being back to back days) Friday night is as easy as possible. Visiting relatives tomorrow night are getting chicken and chickpea curry but the takeaway is being moved to Saturday instead.

We tend to have a vegetarian meal, a curry, a burger and a fish dish each week. Fridays are usually pizza night as it gives me a night off cooking and DS has to be out early in the Summer.

I'm was also doing some traybakes before the summer, will probably add that in more in the Autumn.

I don't tend to allocate the specific dishes to a night of the week though but if that makes it easier for you then why not?

Oh and for your fish night, have a look at Gousto's Posh Fish Finger Sandwich recipe. It's really good and my DC love it

Yes I do this! I have chronic pain so it helps to make life easier. I do this though it's not set in stone:
Sunday: roast
Monday: eggs
Tuesday: leftovers from roast
Wednesday: pasta
Thursday: flexible day! Maybe mince or soup
Friday: something I don't have to cook, like beans on toast or frozen pizza
Saturday: fish

I don't do a roast every week so sometimes there's an extra day to fill... I do batch cook and freeze too so I don't have to cook on tough days.

Thanks so much for all of the ideas- definitely think we will include some of those- really like the Gousto fish finger recipe.

I really love cooking but the weeknights are a sort of rinse and repeat affair but equally want the children to have some variety week to week!

Loosely

Ie will usually have a curry dish, a noodle dish and a pasta type dish
Friday is always quick and easy and Sunday is always something semi traditional- stew/pie etc

Yeah we do loosely (more to take out any mental effort in decision making )

Mon - Thurs - all eat at the same time so quick teas after work / nursery - eggs/ chicken or salmon with veg / salad, or warm up batch cook from the freezer - curry / spag Bol etc

Friday - picnic tea for kids (sandwiches, cheese cubes, fruit etc) and adult dinner later after they’ve gone to bed. Sometimes takeaway or stir fry or new recipe if something they’re unlikely to eat

Saturday - treat night - homemade pizza and salad, occasionally chippy fish and chips, or veg / chicken nuggets and beans or go out for tea

Sunday - slow cooker - chilli / meatballs / roast gammon or chicken to eat as roast dinner or with salad (and then as leftovers too)

In the winter Monday is always soup and toastie night too

I sit with a recipe book or magazine every week and meal plan. Not specifically to each day, but always include some quick stuff for busy days. We cook from scratch every day, first one home starts cooking. I include a variety of meals and cuisines. We have favourites that are thrown in fairly often, but try not to eat the same meal more than once a month, often much longer.

Every week we have:
A curry
A jacket potato night
Freezer food night (either previously batch cooked or chips and quorn fish fingers with beans etc)
A fake away
Plus brunch/posh breakfast on Saturday and something on toast for Sunday tea

Left overs from roast go in a pie for pie night. Also see left over curry/thai/etc.

Pie
Chinese food
Soup

I like that idea OP. Mon/Tues could be rice/eggs/bread

We do:
Monday is veggie night - risotto, pasta, noodles/stir fry, Spanish omelette with salad
Tuesday chicken - usually either a mini roast or Caesar salad & fries or chicken & chorizo bake
Wednesday - fish (paella, fish curry, fish & chips, risotto etc)
Friday - takeaway chicken shish kebab or a homemade curry depending on finances/time
Saturday - curry if we haven't had one in the week or chilli layered with spinach, rice, grated cheese & always served with Doritos (we batch cook enough chilli for a few weeks)
Sunday - roast, casserole, stew or toad in the hole (meat, veg & gravy type meals)

I'd definitely pop in a stir fry too! I like this recipe though I substitute chicken for the prawns so my kids will eat it!

www.spicepots.com/blogs/recipes/prawn-fried-rice

We have a 6 week plan. It took ages to do, but that was a one-off effort and now we never have to meal plan but also don't feel like we eat the same things all the time.

I have done this before and it works really well. Tuesday is a good night for takeaway because normally they're not too busy and you can often get good special offers/discounts. Waitrose do 20% off fish on Fridays I think. I also like to have days which work together - eg we have Chinese food on one day, and then egg fried rice the next day using leftover rice.

Yes we do. Mainly due to late meetings and dc activities. So monday is pasta veggie- pesto/tomato/ cheesy, tuesday sausages and mash or similar, Wednesday stirfry, thursday slow cooker- bolognese/curry etc, friday is pizza or nuggets/chips. Weekend not planned.