Do you have a rotating meal plan?

[IntoTheNight]

Obviously not exactly the same meal, every week, but more things like pasta night, curry night etc

If so, what is your plan please?

I'm thinking of doing this to take some of the decision making out of meal times

Tuesday is our curry night and Thursday is often a pasta night. Every 2 weeks on a Monday we have fajitas. Kids have pizza on a Wednesday (quick to cook after ds rugby training). Chilli/tagine/enchiladas (batch cooked in freezer) on Fridays as its quick to reheat after dh plays football

I used to have a 3 week plan. Another thing to do if you don’t have a plan is write a list of meals you can choose from.

I have a "meal repertoire" and choose the week's meals from that. So not exactly a certain type on a specific night, more like I choose one meat, one fish and three vegetarian for the weekdays the week before, and order the ingredients in my weekly shop coming up.

No - I do a plan per week and keep meaning to do a four week one that I can just rotate but haven't got round to it! Don't know why as I know it will make the shopping etc so much easier...

Some of the things on my weekly plans that (that the 3 and 6 year old will also eat) are:

Bean chilli
Chicken korma
Chicken wraps
Tomato Pesto pasta
Sausage and mash
Chicken and Moroccan cous cous (with cucumber/carrot sticks for the kids, mango salad for us)
Pizza (homemade if we have time 😬)
Beef stew with Yorkshire puds
Vegetable pasta bake
Creamy mushroom pasta

Thanks all. I think I'm going to try this:

Sunday: roast
Monday: soup and sandwiches
Tuesday: meat and potatoes in any guise
Wednesday: curry
Thursday: pasta
Friday: fakeaway
Saturday: pizza

Sunday roast
Monday mince in some form
Tuesday - Thursday mix it up
Friday pizza or burgers
Saturday curry or stirfry

So just need to think of different meals 3 days per week

Not really but there are a handful of meals that reoccur frequently

We have a theme for each day of the week, then rotate around 4 dishes from each theme so everything comes up roughly once a month:
Sunday Roast
Fish
Pasta
Traditional comfort food (Shepherd's Pie, casserole etc.)
'Meals that use up leftovers / fridge stuff that needs eating up' (breakfast for dinner, fritatta, stir fry etc.)
Takeaway or fakeaway
One night of sort yourself out

It makes the supermarket order much easier and I introduce a 'try something new' dish every month or so to keep it interesting. If it goes down well (there's a lowish hit rate) it joins the rotation, filling a gap where something might have dropped out of favour.

No, but we have a limited repertoire. Spaghetti Bolognese, quiche, chilli, cod mornay, veggie sausage casserole, pizza, tuna pasta

Not 'officially' but I do tend to cook very similar meals week in week out ...for 35 years of married life. I am bored senseless by it ... I did try a new recipe this week but it really wasn't very nice so I might as well stick to the same old favourites. DH cooks as well ...but he has his own 'repertoire' of familiar meals.

Every week we have veggie chilli, hallouimi & pesto brioche burgers and a homemade soup and sourdough bread......the other 4 meals vary

Like others above, I have a general plan for each day then decide quickly an hour before online delivery cut off time what to actually have. So we do:

Monday - breaded chicken/sausage roll & carbs
Tuesday - no kids meal so something we like they don't
Weds - leftovers or veggie burgers
Thurs - wraps & meatballs/chicken
Fri - fish & carbs
Sat - pizza (or the kids would revolt)
Sun - roast something/veggie roast

Veg/salad served with each meal too

I plan a week at a time - I've got a list of all the meals and try out new ones every few weeks - they don't all make it onto the regular rotation!

I couldn't do the same meal each Tuesday etc but it's normally at least one fish, one veggie, one simple/using stuff out of the freezer during the week. Then at weekends we all eat together so it has to be something the kids will like.

If I've got the mental energy I try and plan things which will use up the same ingredients. I'm a bit too rigid with just choosing recipes tbh and could probably do with throwing some meat and veg together or something a bit more than I do.

There are meal planner apps but the most straightforward one I found you have to pay monthly for which I'm not doing, so I just have a list on my phone!

When I was married I did similar to a pp.
Roast, pasta, rice, fish, veggie, freezer, out or takeaway. Not necessarily in that order, but something from each group over the week on my meal plan. Now I don't have a carnivore to cater for, I'm mainly plant based and eat the same things a couple of nights in a row due to ease of making larger portions.

We do a plan on a Sunday for the week, and generally try and have a mix of veggie and meat days, and a split between what DP and I cook. This week has been:

Cottage pie and peas
Veggie stir fry and noodles
Veggie pasta bake with pesto and goats cheese
Chicken pie (shop bought) with mash and broccoli
Out
Lemon chicken and rice
Tomorrow is supposed to be a lentil and feta thing but I cooked for MIL coming round tonight and now CBA with that. DP can do something instead. Maybe macaroni cheese.

We tend to have a takeaway once a month, and also a “fakeaway” like the Chinese or Indian box from M&S.

Sunday = roast meat and accompanying vegetables and gravy

Monday = Bolognese or Curry or Chilli

Tuesday = Meat and potatoes and veg

Wednesday = Meatballs/chicken and pasta or a meal served with rice

Thursday = Meat and potatoes and veg

Friday= Friday and chips e.g. crumb chicken or crumb fish or gammon steaks served with oven chips, tomato and peas.

Saturday = Steak or Thai curry or pork spare ribs or chicken fajitas or beef bourguignonne or beef cooked in beer. All the above will have their relevant side dishes and accompaniments.

I tried to devise a four week rotating menu but I couldn't find a menu for the fourth week. So, it's a three week rotating menu. Days are similar but it's not the same thing every night.

I have incorporated a greasy spoon night
A bit of nostalgia in a way from a cafe I used to go to as a kid which the kids went onto love too. So the next few days will go as follows-
Sunday- spaghetti Bolognese and homemade meatballs.
Monday- roast chicken dinner
Tuesday- peri peri chicken and spicy rice
Wednesday- chicken curry (from leftover chicken)
Thursday-AKA greasy spoon night
Sausage,chips and gravy with a buttered muffin and complete with a strawberry milkshake- we are beyond excited! 😂🤗

If it's helpful these are some of my regular meals:

• roasted vegetables with feta or haloumi cheese
• bolognese and the next day shepherds pie
• veggie burgers from the supermarket
• pasta with wtv is at home
• chicken breast with wtv vegetables, tomato sauce and giant couscous
• chicken legs in the oven with potatoes
• paella (chicken, praws or vegetarian)
• stir fry
• fishfingers always in the freezer

In the supermarket I always think about making about 3 of these meals a week. And the rest just make it up as I go. Maybe they have a promotion on fish or something

I had a 6 week one when the kids were little. It was fab. Might dig it out and tweak it. I plan week by week now.

Yes

I attend church so I have a rotating meal plan. This week the theme is easy to cook meals. I find having a theme helps me to actually plan the weekly meals quickly. Here are some themes that were previously used-
Christmas
Easter
Halloween
Chinese New Year
Boring comfort meals
French
Greek
Spanish
Italian
Polish
German
Asian
Middle Eastern

Monday - Soup, bread and salad
Tuesday - Omelettes and salad
Wednesday - Jacket potato/sweet potato and salad
Thursday - Stir fry

Cheap, easy and meat-free; can be varied enough to be interesting without requiring any thought.

Friday - Sunday we eat meat, and in a range of meals and cuisines.