Do you have a meal planning strategy to keep family dinners both healthy and stress-free? - Win £200 Voucher

[rosiemumsnet]

Now that January is here, it's the perfect time to settle back into a routine and focus on healthier eating after the holiday indulgence!

We know that getting a healthy, stress-free family dinner on the table can be tricky with busy schedules and picky eaters. We’d love to hear from parents who have a meal planning strategy that works - one that keeps family dinners both nutritious and hassle-free!

So whether it's planning meals for the week, prepping ingredients in advance, or maybe you’re a fan of recipe box deliveries, we’d love to hear your tips and ideas for making mealtime easier!

Here’s what Mindful Chef have to say:

Mindful Chef is the UK's number one rated recipe box company, set up to make healthy eating easy. Our recipe boxes ensure our customers have the tools to conveniently eat high-quality, nutritious meals that help them feel far healthier and happier.

One lucky Mumsnetter will win a £200 VEX voucher for a store of their choice. All you have to do is post your tips or ideas in the thread below and vote in the poll to be entered into a prize draw. Good luck!

Asking chat gpt to suggest meals from what I've got it

Getting the free supermarket magazines for inspiration

I also try to use as many leftovers as I can

I do weekly meal plans, helps me and everyone know what's going to be there food-wise.

I do 2 of the options - meal planning, and meal prep. I find prepping for example a slow cooker meal and getting it on is perfect for days when I’m in the office and we’re all home at different tomes

My hobby is batch cooking. I have a full freezer of home made meals ready to go in an instant.

I do weekly meal plans but try to have a big variety as I get so bored eating the same things. I like to look on Pinterest and Instagram to try out new recipes. I also use the slow cooker to save time and cook in bulk. Things like Mexican pulled chicken can be used for multiple meals like enchiladas, with rice, quesadillas etc. Same with a big pot of chilli, can be served with rice, then jacket potatoes, then another meal can be a spicy lasagne or pasta dish. Freezing portions of meat means you don't get bored.

We get a recipe box which contains 3x two people meals per week. It takes the pressure off having to plan what DH are going to be eating and means we can just focus on planning for the kids dinner when they’re not at nursery! Sure it will change when kids at school and we’re all eating together more often!

Meal plan and order two deliveries a week so everything is always fresh and no top up shops needed. This has really helped with food wastage.

We wrote a list together as a family of all of the meals that are liked by at least half of us- it is fairly long. This sits on the fridge as reference.
Once a week, we sit down and everyone chooses a meal for the week ahead- one each (some of us need the list for inspiration). Then the busiest week day is jacket potatoes with either tuna/ beans/ or leftovers from the fridge.
We have at least one “leftovers” slot to reduce waste.
Once I have the meals list, I sort out the online shop.
it has helped reduce waste/ keep in budget, and reduce the moaning about the meals that I have chosen.

I have got a family recipe book which is my food bible - and a large selection of herbs and spices, I plan every Friday for my saturday food order - which is always chicken, mince and pasta based - along with a selection of veg - works for me.

I have tried food boxes when they were on offer - just brilliant but when playing the full price - too expensive.
I have based my foodshop on food boxes, saving the recipes cards and buying my food for the week on line - we rarely have food waste.

I tried the whole meal planning, family meals together, healthy eating blah blah last year but after a few months of mealtime battles, especially at dinner, when our two DC wouldn't eat a thing we gave them we thought sod it - back to oven teas for them and our own meals for DH and I.

Although, what a PP has said about asking the kids what they want to eat is a great idea. Our two DC have probably been too young to do this so far but perhaps something to try again for this year.

What has worked in the past for us was planning meals on a Thurs night, ordering our big food shop on Friday to be delivered on the Sunday night, then Mondays we woke up with everything needed for the week ahead. But, if I forgot or didn't have time on a Thurs or Fri - I'd be scuppered and would be left scrambling around Tesco late at night on a Monday instead.

Meal planning and batch cooking. I always cook far more than i need to, so I have one to eat and at least two for the freezer.

More recently I have been encouraging the kids to cook at least once a week. Good skills for them to learn and hopefully encourage them to eat better and more variety. We have a few kid friendly healthy cook books to choose from.

Always at least one cheat night where the food doesn't need to be healthy but can be a favorite.

Generally cook three times a week and 'heat up' pre cooked meals the rest of the time. I do have a HUGE freezer.

Book as many tesco deliveries as I can upfront
Use ChatGPT for inspo
Regular favourites on rotation

I tend to batch cook at the weekend, mince, herbs and vegetables then cook a spag bol. cottage pie and lasagne during the week. I have a tight budget, but the quality of my meals does not suffer - cook smart and fresh is the way I feed my family.

DC are now in their 20s so their plans change constantly. I try to cook meals that can be frozen if they suddenly say they're out. That way there's always a meal spare in the freezer when they suddenly are home for dinner afterall.

I tend to batch cook building blocks rather than whole meals - eg bolognese sauce as one box will do spag bog for 2 or can be bulked out with beans/peas and mash to make a cottage pie for four. Likewise having batch cooked dhaal in the freezer and microwave rice sachets in the cupboard means I can easily expand a chicken curry for 2 into a curry night for four.

The most helpful things I do, like many here, are:

1. Order online, as I can plan at my own pace, and see all offers easily plus compare value.
2. Order food delivery on the weekend. I have the free time to prep ingredients or make a batch of something for the following days, and we aren’t getting an expensive Saturday night takeaway etc because we have full cupboards!
3. Meal plan. We get bored of the same rotation of meals, so while I may order certain things week in and out (chicken thighs, pesto, etc) I will cook them in different ways using the internet for ideas. It is a balancing act between eating variety and not ordering 2x as many things for totally different recipes, though!
4. Spend a bit of time getting inspiration: the supermarket’s own monthly magazine can be really helpful (even if you end up buying the stuff from Aldi!) the library always has the popular “Easy Family Dinners” kind of cookbooks, and there are so many people on SM who post genuinely helpful stuff. Elly Pear, the cardiffmum… Sometimes it may be a case of sitting down and consciously taking an hour out to just ‘do some research’.
5. Do order your snacks and sweets (rather than simply not buy any at all). You have more control of how much you spend, and what junk you’re buying, and this avoids anyone nipping out and having an expensive, last-minute, craving-led crisps and sweets haul.

With a very picky 10 yo meal planning is the only thing that works for us and changes each week. I do struggle for inspo when it comes to new things to offer that are healthy and time efficient.

I do a weekly online grocery shop and this makes me plan ahead for what we will eat. I generally order some regular favourites that I know I can prepare easily and fairly quickly. At this time of year that will include a number of different stews that can be made in the slow cooker. These are healthy, easy and time efficient. To keep things interesting I will try a one or two new recipes, probably at the weekend, so we don't all get bored.

Picking up one of the free food magazines published by the supermarkets is always a good idea as the kids can have a look through and decide which recipe they would like to try cooking which inspires them to try new things

I plan what we are going to eat for the week, and usually use my slow cooker most days, I use this for pork loin, braising steak, chicken thighs, and add flavoured rice, and seasonal vegetables. I have just found the hack of baked potatoes in the slow cooker - so I have added this to my meal plan - with cheese and beans and any of the above.

Definitely meal planning. And using apps! I use recipe keeper to save recipes from magazines, cook books and the web, and Google Keep lists for my meal plan, shopping list and what's in the freezer.

Few things help us
Oddbox to have fruit and veg delivered
And then I meal plan around what's in it
And keep track of who's in/out for each meal

I do a weekly meal plan and as I'm trying to lose weight I have a healthy breakfast and lunch planner for myself.

I try to have catrgories for meals - so every week we'd have chicken, slow cooker, mince, a quick tea, soup and a pudding, a new recipe etc.

Then I make my shopping list up from the plan and only have to go shopping once a week. I've done it this way since I first had a home 40 years ago and my daughter does the same with her family.

I honestly couldn't function any other way. I've had colleagues who are always asking "What shall I have for dinner tonight?" and then have to pop in to the shops on the way home to buy something.

Love foodboxes - really great for a quick family meal - had these regularly- but cannot afford the cost - I'd go back to them in a heartbeat if my salary was as ut used to be pre-covid.
I plan my menu's for the week/10 days ahead and buy the fresh for delivery each Saturday.
Batch cook for the days I am out late, and use my slowcooker for a stew/casserole in the evening.
I have reduced my foodbill by buying just what we need, and by larger packs, 3 for 2's and freezing 2, I can really make food last, and reduce the bills again.

I have a planner on the fridge where I jot down meals to cook. Anyone who’s free can pick one and cook it knowing we have the ingredients in.

When I cook I make at least double, so there’s always a ready made meal in the fridge/freezer for a night no one has time.

Alexa keeps my shopping list. When anyone sees an ingredient running low, they tell Alexa. When I do the online shop I ask her what we need.

If you can make room, keep a full stock cupboard. I have a large freezer with boneless chicken thighs, joints, frozen veg (including garlic and ginger). We have pasta, dried pulses, noodles, rice, tinned tomatoes.
I can make almost anything without needing to shop.

Lastly, my instant pot. So easy to use. Doesn’t need to be looked at. Keeps it ready to eat, whenever we get home.