When do you do your food shop & do you always meal plan?

[Jemster]

Trying to get better organised & would like to plan our meals better to eat more healthily & stop wasting food.
It seems like never is a good time to do food shop. Working until 3.00 each day, can't face it with two dc in tow after school, evenings either running them around or too knackered to do big shop (i have health condition which makes me so tired) I guess that leaves weekends, along with everyone else! Is online ordering good & when's a good day to get it delivered; in time for the weekend or the week ahead?
I've never been good at meal planning mainly because dc are quite fussy & like different things. How do you manage this if everyone likes something different to eat? Ideally I'd like us to eat one meal as a family.
At the moment I seem to go to supermarket daily as it is nearby but only ever have time to grab something for that day so am always out of stuff!
Please help me get organised by telling me what works for you!

Place marking I need help too !

We get all food delivered. We work late and out early most days so usually get everything delivered

Local butcher - delivers all meat every month on Saturday morning and we freeze.

Able and Cole - deliver a fruit and veg box every Wednesday early. They also deliver milk, and other dairy They just leave outside door like milkman would ( or anywhere you ask or can knock).

Ocado - delivers everything else Wednesday 8-9pm

DH & I take it in turns each Tuesday night to do the main shop - and its all meal-planned up to the following Tuesday. It just happens to be the one night we are both home and the kids have nothing on. We go between 6:30-8:00pm.

Meat usually comes from the monthly farmers' market and we freeze it.

Some fruit/veg comes from the garden and allotment.

When our dc were small, either dh or I would go in the evening - it's lovely and peaceful then and means the other one gets all the putting to bed and washing up.

Now (I work PT) - I usually go on a Monday morning, but that's no help to you.

No, I never meal plan, I wait to see what dates there are on the meats, veg etc., what offers they have, and so forth.

I have a list for all the store cupboard / freezer type things and general fridge things like cheese or marg., which people put things on when they are cooking and notice something is running low, but meals are decided once I see what's available.

Ocado delivery service is good - 1 hour delivery slots and infrequent substitutions. I pay for a monthly delivery pass so I can have as many deliveries as I want (over £40) whenever I want. I also have an Abel & Cole box every 4 weeks - love the fruit & veg but I was finding I was getting annoyed with planning menus around the box contents when I was having weekly deliveries.

At the moment I have Friday or early Saturday deliveries, occasionally Monday to top up fresh stuff. I meal plan and order on Wed or Thurs evening. I have the same problem with fussy DCS liking different things but in the week in term time it's not too bad as they have a school meal for lunch so they just need sandwiches or similar for tea. I plan family meals at the weekend, reasonably child friendly things like roast chicken or bolognaise, quick meals for DH and I on the three days I work, then whatever I feel like on Mon/Fri when I've a bit more time. If I want something later in the week that won't keep from the Saturday delivery I freeze it and take it out the night before it's needed.

I tend to do it on a Saturday or Sunday, if going to shops myself. But I try, if possible, to do internet shopping as frequently as possible (I average about once a month, but have done the last 4 weeks and hope to put order in on Monday for delivery the following Monday as we are away in the meantime).

I do work from a list as well. I have a running list on the fridge of things that either are about to, or more likely have already, run out and need replacing. Or that we've suddenly realized we want (so DH is back to wheetabix next shop, for winter, for example).

I have a look at the diary to see commitments the following week - how many nights of training, is DH or I out for work things or travelling away, are we expecting visitors? Have a quick look at the fridge, freezer and cupboards for obvious missing things, and what is there to menu plan with. Make a dinner plan for the week, and add anything needed for that onto the shopping list. Check school/work lunches needs, and what fruit is being eaten at the moment. Finish the list, bring it to work, and do the food shopping ordering on my lunchbreak - or else finish the list, bring it to supermarket and lug everthing home.

I normally try and book the delivery slot for 6-7pm on Friday nights, as we are home from work, we'll have fresh bread for slightly relaxing Saturday breakfast, and I have a better chance of getting ahead on mid-week dinners over the weekend. Whereas Saturdays are ok for delivery, but we may be out and about so I prefer not getting tied down to having to be home. And I have found that Thursday nights are busy (homework, worn out from the week) so I have to get it all done and put away when I may not be in the mood to, (Fridays I can ignore a few bits until Sat) and also that the "use by" dates - while still in date - are often a few days shorter than Friday ones, as Fridays tend to be delivery/stocking up days to the supermarket for weekend shopping needs, and that makes a difference when I am buying say Lamb chops for Tuesday night's dinner.

I meal plan and do an online shop every single week without fail. My ocado delivery is on Thursday (we have the midweek smart pass) and then we have riverford veg box on Friday mornings.
I have a favorites shop saved on ocado which I edit every week. The favourites contains fizzy water, strawberries (my DD's favourite), eggs, butter, milk etc. and then throughout the week I add stuff that we're running low/out of. I shop from their offers section and between that and the list of veg coming from riverford (they tell you a week ahead) I get the meal plan done and on budget. That way we are always eating something different every week.
If an amazing offer comes up, I often add it to the next few weeks shopping so that I can still take advantage of the offer even if it expires.

Oh and I like having having food delivered towards the end of the week so I can batch cook or make complicated meals with fresh ingredients during the weekend. The midweek meals when I'm busier can then be something quick and easy from the freezer.

Have you seen the plans and shopping lists on my blog? There's four blog posts called 'A week's dinners for the home', weeks 1,2,3,4. They are generally quite quick and easy to do and I've also blogged recipes when things are a bit more complex.

Austerity Housekeeping

I sit down on Sumday evening with the diary, the list of freezer contents and the running list (ie all the things I've used up that week).

I then plan in the meals (eg packed lunch for school trip, out one evening so get ready meal for DH, guests at the weekend for lunch so will need special food etc).

Then I fill in the gaps using whatever I've got in the fridge and freezer to use up. If I get to the end of those I think up meals that I fancy eating and want to cook (recipe books help here for new ideas) and add those ingredients to the list.

I get it all delivered on Thursday so that if anything crucial doesn't arrive I can nip into Tescos in the way back from work on Friday.

I open the fridge and say shit, need to do a delivery.
Log on, book the first slot I can find for when I am in and order food.
I roughly meal plan in the sense
That I say well I want a jacket spud so need toppings, or if the dc's are having eggs I need an alternative.. If I bung in a joint, what veg. How's the garlic, ginger, herbs and spices..

I plan the next weeks meals every Thursday night and do an online order to be delivered Saturday morning. I also keep a note of everything I notice we need during the week to be added to the list on Thursdays. Once youve done your first online order it's quite quick to do each week.

Aldi. Took me twenty minutes this morning.

Always meal plan.

Meal planning sounds only slightly funner than sticking pins in eyeballs.

We always have cheap staples in the house (rice, spuds, pasta) & build meals around those & the meat item. 2 or 3 evening meals of meat stuff usually in, oldest veg first, not complicated.

We go shop when we're running low in reality about 2 big & 3 little shops/ week.

I vary when I sit down & do my online shop, but I am another one who always does a weekly meal plan first. I use it as a guide though, as we need to be flexible depending what each of us is doing.

I shop online with Asda (preferred Ocado and used them for years, but Asda is miles cheaper and not too bad at all) and get a delivery weekly - usually comes Friday eve or Sat morning, as I like having nice things in at the weekend .

I meal plan fairly religiously. DH and I both work and we haven't got the time or energy to think up what to cook every night.

I do 'top-up' shops (milk, bread, fruit usually) from the local Aldi to make sure I'm not just buying more expensive crap.

Meal planning is quite fun when you get into it. It forces me to think up things that are quick and healthy, and to try new recipes every now and then.

Fuck traipsing around a supermarket! Its soul destroying.

I keep the basics in and never plan ahead as we tend not to want to eat it. Keep a variety of meat/ chicken/ fish in the freezer and decide what I fancy cooking when I get in from work. Any fresh veg that gets a bit manky I convert to soup at the weekend. Surprisingly there is very little wasted.

I need to meal plan.
Trouble is I have 1 fussy ds2 and tbh there are lots of things I am either allergic to, or that I dont like (but I could probably force them down)
Do you all have a 2/3/4 week plan?
There is no way I could do a 4 week one!
Ds1 has lunch at school and ds2 and Dh take pack up.
The DC eat breakfast but Dh and I don't.
Ds1 in particular likes a cooked breakfast and ds2 eats a lot of fruit (which is costly obv)
Any tips?

Medschool...that's my view too :(

If people don't meal plan, what food do you find you end up throwing out / goes to waste? Is it a problem mostly due to leftover evening meals?

We don't meal plan but I think we waste very little, too. Only leftovers I wouldn't touch would be something like breakfast cereal (only 2 in the household eat, anyway).

medschool

Food shopping five times a week is definitely less fun than meal planning

We meal plan in the car on the way to the shops. Normally say morning as work during the week. Do both aldi then sainsburys as they are next door to eat other. Can be round both in 45 mins (including a little wander around the clothes in sainsburys)

Saturday morning and I always meal plan, though maybe not that strictly with regards to days etc.

We usually need to go to supermarket for other stuff; school uniform items today or to replace a broken lunchbox, sudden notice that teenage DD has critical shortage of hair conditioner -- so it's not hard to chuck in a few needed food things too as we go. Shopping for food only once a week without even a corner shop top-up sounds pretty restrictive. I'd have to shop in the car every time (yuck) to bring home 15 kg of milk a week, eek. Didn't like delivered groceries.

yeoldetrout -Why would we throw away food ? I don't understand.
Cooking, We work like MedSchool Rat - whoever is making the meal looks in the fridge, checks dates on things, then decides what to make with the ingredients that are there. However we don't work like her shopping system - I go once a week, sometimes less. We occasionally stop off for a bread top up so it's fresh rather than buying it all in the big shop.