Meal Planning: do you a 'big' shop on the same day each week? What's your weekly routine for planning / shopping?

[Chocchops72]

I'm really struggling to get to grips with meal planning. We are 4, 2 adults, 2 teenage DS. We aren't on a super tight budget but we do live somewhere that food - especially meat / fish / dairy - is not cheap (France).

Shopping has become a bit of a nightmare since I went back to work a few years ago. I used to pick bits and pieces up en route home from work, but now cycle so don't pass any shops. We don't generally do a 'big shop' weekly (initially it was because it used to be a total nightmare to mark in our street so we hated using the car): I do a big Lidl shop once a month, but inevitably end up going to smaller / more expensive local supermarkets and local fruit and veg markets after the first couple of weeks, but only with a caddie (shopping trolley).

Basically, I'm wondering if my failed attempts at meal planning are because my shopping is so chaotic? It gets so complicated and I seem to end up having to think about food / cooking / nipping to the shops all the bloody time.

I also get totally hung up on trying to satisfy far too many criteria in my meal plan / eating: health considerations, minimising cost, reducing meat, higher welfare etc when we do eat meat, speed of preparation, batch cooking / leftover possibilities, AND individual preferences! It makes my head spin. It was so much easier when I was a SAHM and had time!

So loud and clear I am getting the message that I really need a more routine existence that includes a regular planning / inventorying / shopping / batch cooking plan! I currently make it up as I go, so this will be a big change.

Are you the one who does all the cooking of meals too OP?
Can your partner/ kids take a turn?

We have a rota for me, DH and DS1 (22).
DS2 (20) is avoiding joining, but we're working on him!

I find meal planning so dull. I used to absolutely love cooking, I still do sometimes but mostly it's another bloody job to do nowadays! I do a big, big shop at the start of the month for store cupboard stuff, cleaning products, toilet roll etc. Then an ordinary big shop once a week with top ups for fruit/bread/milk/wine as necessary.
I now plan for reality too, rather than conning myself into believing I'll make homemade pasta on a Wednesday in and around ds's cubs and dds dance class or really fancy a salad on a Friday night!
I honestly think it's the most efficient and least wasteful way though. My dh was raised in a household where they had the same things week in week out, so a 7 day rotating menu. I don't think I could cope with that!!

I shop on a Saturday as I work during the week. Lidl and then Tesco for anything I can't get in Lidl. I do meal plan because otherwise I was throwing stuff out.

I find meal planning easier if there is a framework.

Eg.
Monday -Pasta
Tuesday - vegetarian
Wednesday -something new
Thursday - pastry
Friday -spicy
Saturday -pizza
Sunday -meat

It is then easier to plan the actual meals. We have 5 or so of each option that rotates and the something new day allows us to experiment.

We generally have enough in the cupboard and Freezer to allow at least one weeks rotation without going to the shops.

@InDubiousBattle

DH was raised exactly the same way! I totally wasn’t- my mum worked full time and made it up as she went along whereas his mum was a SAHM and made her own chocolate eclairs 🙄. But now he’s a total foodie! So I can’t bring myself to believe he’d actual be happy with roast mutton every Sunday, boiled mutton leftover every Monday, scotch broth (made from -you guessed it - mutton stock) every Tuesday.

and I used your exact words to Dh recently: I used to love cooking but more it’s just another bloody job 🙄🤷‍♀️

he’d be happy to cook more but he works very full time compared to my part time. But I’m sure if we were more organised he’d find it easier to step in and cook.

Its part of our routine on a Saturday. Kids swimming lessons and library in the morning, then home for lunch. Then we plan our meals for the week (using what is already in the cupboard/fridge/freezer),write a list and go to Lidl.

I don't work Wednesdays so I can do a top up shop for fresh fruit and salad then if needed.

Meal plan, check what's left in freezer and fridge first. Then one shop per week.

It's always the planning/ thinking/ monotony that kills any foodie instincts I may have!

We never vary from an Ocado delivery on a Thurs or Fri and we have a paper planner stuck to the fridge with a space where anyone can add whatever we've run out of

Maybe once every 2 years we've had Gousto or Hello Fresh to come up with some new ideas. But only for 1 or 2'weeks as the quality is poor and it's a shocking waste of packaging.

But more helpfully I should add that I meal plan starting from the carb element of the meal. If i can rotate rice/ noodles/ pasta/ potatoes of some kind then that's enough of an outline for me to hang the rest of the meal on.

@BlueBlueCowWondering

it’s interesting that you hang your masks on a carb rather than a protein. Are you veggie? DH and I did low carb for years pre kids and we’ve both wanted to return to it to lose weight but it’s so expensive to focus on protein.

I do a long life products stick up monthly at a big supermarket, including products not available at lidl. I then do a weekly shop with dp on foot plus top ups as required. 3-6 adults here depending on university terms, boyfriends etc.

The main thing for me is to not overpay for essentials like chopped tomatoes, oil, pasta etc (this is semi stockpiled in the party cupboard) but have some flexibility because I don't know how many mouths I'm feeding often. Lidl is very close thankfully. My meal plan is very much in my head, so I then switch it around eg realise lots of people home = cheaper meal!

I started the carbs first thing when I was making parallel vegan and meaty meals, and it seemed an easier way to plan. I no long do any vegan meals but the habit stuck!

@Chocchops72

Chicken is expensive in france but you can get delicious merenguez sausages in every supermarket yum! I have to special mail order them from a butcher in London!

I don't know if this is allowed but look on Instagram there is an account who talks about all this stuff and other stuff around getting organised username is un.scramble_me

Key thing is to try and link the habit to something you already do so eg take some to activity and get food shopping in is perfect. You just need to find something to link the sit down and planning to as well x

We also live overseas where online shopping doesn’t really exist, and meat v expensive

I generally do a big shop every month to stock up cupboards and freezers. From larger supermarket further away. Things like tin tomatoes, pasta, rice, various beans, pesto, frozen peas. I usually buy meat if it’s on offer and it goes straight in the freezer for another time.

Then I can shop locally x2 a week for fresh bread/ milk/ fruit and veg, and anything else needed for recipe

I try and cook day 1, then day 2 eat leftovers or something to go with day 1 meal. Saves so much cooking, and waste.
Ie
Wednesday we had roast cauliflower macaroni cheese. With side roast tomatoes and green beans. I roasted whole cauliflower at once. Blended half into two portions to add to cheese sauce ( so fussy toddler can’t pick out veg!), one is in freezer for another day.
Today we have the other half of the cauliflower already roasted, so faster and saves oven on again. I have some pork kebabs to grill and some herby couscous which has some of the roast tomatoes from yesterday also chopped into, peas.

We have really reduced our meat consumption. Like above I buy most on offer. The pork kebabs for tonight was fillet reduced by 50% a few weeks ago. I chopped as soon as home, marinated and on kebabs sticks into freezer with onion and peppers. Then if we ‘ haven’t got anything in’ they are quick to get out and defrost

Can you set aside a couple of evenings / weekend day to sit down with recipe books etc and come up with a list of 20 ish meals that you like / that work? Including a selection that are super quick and some that are more involved?

Then meal planning is just looking at the diary then picking 7/8 of those meals?

I tend to meal plan on Sat / Sundays or Mondays and do a big Aldi shop the following day. We may need lettuce / forgotten bits / chocolate between times - but usually last until around Weds / Thurs and if leftovers, a Jacket potato and frozen pizzas will then get us through until Sunday I've managed nearly 2 weeks!!

Pinterest is great for recipe inspiration, & then you can save them to return to later.

We have DD2 and both work full time but thoroughly spoiled by my mum who sends dinner twice a week. I try to use those nights to get ahead as only have about 20 minutes to get dinner on the table the rest of the working week.
If Im cooking anything like spaghetti Bolognese I double up and freeze a portion for a meal another day.
Do the mixes for fish pie/cottage pie etc but freeze without the topping. Then for eg defrost the mix during the day Monday, mash the potato and cook Tuesday. DH works at home so can bung in the oven before pick up.
Split the carbs through the week so we don't overload on a particular type.
Also split the meat so we don't have too much of the same thing. Aim for 1 or 2 veggie meals a week and work lunches into the plans with leftovers and always have a back up like a frozen pizza or chicken nuggets in. I treated myself to a ninja and it's been a game changer. Only ever have the oven on for pasta bake or pizza now. Also means I've looked into much more slow cooker stuff. Easy to add extra portions so we have things at hand.
Aim for 1 monthly shop at Costco for the boring stuff then generally Aldi once a week but always need extra fruit and bread. Have rediscovered the local Chinese supermarket and really enjoying it as our most local takeaways aren't great. Try to meal plan over a couple of weeks at a time. 1. So we don't get bored 2. I can see where we might have extra portions 3. I really hate it so an extra few minutes to miss a week makes me happy