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How Do You Plan Your Meals?

The extent of our "planning" is keeping the pantry stocked with the usual non-perishables, honestly. Last night S said, "hey, we haven't done nachos (which means black beans, sliced jalepenos, roasted red peppers, shredded cheese, fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce, salsa, hot sauce and Tostitos Scoops chips) for awhile! What night are we both available to eat them this week?" Yup. That's how we plan. Just means one of us has to stop at the grocery on the way home from work and grab a couple tomatoes and a head of lettuce. We keep everything else stocked (we freeze a lot of cheese).

We're both vegetarians so thawing meat is not an issue. We only eat out (and this means lunch or dinner) 2-4x/week on average between the two of us, otherwise we take lunches to work and either we'll make something both of us like for dinner or we'll each throw together something separate. Not having children yet definitely allows for this.

It's always been so hard for me to be a meal planner because I will love eating the same things over and over for a time, and then either seasons change or I get burned out on the same old so I start a different pattern. I dunno...I guess you just have to do what works best for you. Don't beat yourself up about not planning a month's worth of meals and sticking to it.
 
FI and I try and plan a week's worth of meals and I do most of our shopping on Sundays...usually.

We have a list in a notebook that has our "quick, easy, and tasty" meals, and I usually make 3 or so of those per week, and then build the other days around what ingredients from those will be left over. Using this week for example (Monday-Thursday, since we're leaving for Michigan on Friday morning):

Monday: Store-bought rotisserie chicken with couscous and steamed green beans
Tuesday: Use the rest of the rotisserie chicken to make Salsa Chicken and serve with Mexican Rice and tomato and cucumber salad (this will also give us each a full meal leftover for lunch)
Wednesday: Hamburgers with 1/2 a container of ground beef, french fries (already in the freezer) and steamed carrots
Thursday: Pasta with meat sauce (with the other half of the ground beef) and sauteed zucchini

Tuesday and Thursday's meals are on our "list" and the Monday and Wednesday meals were picked to use up the rest of the proteins.
 
I used to be so great at planning by surfing www.foodgawker.com or www.tastespotting.com or www.foodbuzz.com to just try and get some ideas. Generally on a weekly basis I make a soup (50% of the time vegetarian), a veggie dish, a fish dish, and a couple of lean meat dishes every week. When it comes to veggie sides, my husband tends to keep my options fairly limited (broccoli, spinach, root veggies, salad, asparagus) and we don't always eat a starch.

Usually I roast/braise a 3-4 lb. piece of meat (chuck, pork shoulder, leg of lamb, whole chicken) for dinner on Sundays that we can use for leftovers for the next couple of days. Maybe tacos or sandwiches the next day and a pasta or casserole dish the next.

I also make a lot of soup, and when I say I make a lot of soup, I mean I have a problem with making way more than we need and end up freezing 4-8 extra portions for lunches or dinner when I'm feeling lazy.
 
As an unmarried (although soon-to-be-engaged!), 24-year-old woman, I just tend to eat whatever I feel like eating at the time. I pick out things that look good at the grocery store, and then eat whichever thing that I am craving the most. When I have a family, I will probably shop the same way, although I will probably do more actual cooking and less microwaving and toaster oven heating. :)
 
i'm like monarch: a well stocked pantry, refrigerator, and freezer let me be the moody cook that i am.....no matter my mood, the ingredients are there.

MoZo
 
Hmm interesting post. I'd say we sorta plan-on-the-fly. As hubby is in the military he often isn't home for dinner ie. maybe 2x a week! So I tend to have the cupboard stocked with basics, freezer full of meat (We shop at bulk place once a fortnight) and I'll just make whatever I feel like that evening. Usually steamed fozen veggies with some steak and rice or cous cous. Lunch is leftovers of whatever. If I know hubby will be home I'll take more care and perhaps marinate the meat and do a nicer meal with roast veggies etc or try a new recipie. I love cooking but not so much for one... :(sad On the bright side we have lots of "girls nights" so I usually make homemade pizzas on wholemeal lebanese bread so I can be creative with the toppings and they only take 10 mins to cook! I try to avoid going to the supermarket during the week coz I'll go in for milk and come out with 3 bags of stuff! We have nice farmers markets nearby on the weekend so I try to go there instead.
 
I've started doing weekly meal plans. I'll plan out the menu for each night, working in leftovers etc. I usually plan meals that use fresh produce/meat for early in the week, and meals that can make use of frozen veggies/chicken breast etc for later in the week. Sometimes I make a mid-week stop for random things we've run out of, (fresh fruit etc.) but so far it seems to be working well!

We always keep bread and cheese slices around, just in case an emergency grilled cheese situation arises. Like last week, when I scorched an entire pot of currie :sick:. I haven't done that in YEARS, and was so upset. The hubs just pulled out the bread and cheese and grilled up some sandwiches. He's good that way. And that's why I keep the fixings on hand.
 
I have a monthly calendar up in our kitchen and write down meals that I feel like having for two weeks straight, then I shop for the week based on what meals I have on the calender, if for some reason I dont make that meal but I have already shopped for the items, then I try to move it to the closest open day available or replace my "frozen dinner" day meal, and juggle other future meals especially if there are veggies that will get spoiled faster, I move it down to the next open slot. We only go out about once a week (sat for lunch) but spend less than $30 for a family of four on our outing, we really don't go to fancy restaurants mostly due to our kids. We have leftovers for lunch the following day. I also have about two meals a week that is a Frozen dinner meal or a Crock Pot meal. The frozen dinner meal is my lazy no cook day and also is a place holder in case I don't cook what I wanted on the day assigned so i move it to the frozen dinner day. Hope that helps, i've been on this routine for about six years, and we've seem to keep to our grocery budget.
 
D&T said:
I have a monthly calendar up in our kitchen and write down meals that I feel like having for two weeks straight, then I shop for the week based on what meals I have on the calender, if for some reason I dont make that meal but I have already shopped for the items, then I try to move it to the closest open day available or replace my "frozen dinner" day meal, and juggle other future meals especially if there are veggies that will get spoiled faster, I move it down to the next open slot. We only go out about once a week (sat for lunch) but spend less than $30 for a family of four on our outing, we really don't go to fancy restaurants mostly due to our kids. We have leftovers for lunch the following day. I also have about two meals a week that is a Frozen dinner meal or a Crock Pot meal. The frozen dinner meal is my lazy no cook day and also is a place holder in case I don't cook what I wanted on the day assigned so i move it to the frozen dinner day. Hope that helps, i've been on this routine for about six years, and we've seem to keep to our grocery budget.
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Welcome back D&T! I missed you!
 
Dreamer_D said:
D&T said:
I have a monthly calendar up in our kitchen and write down meals that I feel like having for two weeks straight, then I shop for the week based on what meals I have on the calender, if for some reason I dont make that meal but I have already shopped for the items, then I try to move it to the closest open day available or replace my "frozen dinner" day meal, and juggle other future meals especially if there are veggies that will get spoiled faster, I move it down to the next open slot. We only go out about once a week (sat for lunch) but spend less than $30 for a family of four on our outing, we really don't go to fancy restaurants mostly due to our kids. We have leftovers for lunch the following day. I also have about two meals a week that is a Frozen dinner meal or a Crock Pot meal. The frozen dinner meal is my lazy no cook day and also is a place holder in case I don't cook what I wanted on the day assigned so i move it to the frozen dinner day. Hope that helps, i've been on this routine for about six years, and we've seem to keep to our grocery budget.
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Welcome back D&T! I missed you!
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Thanks Dreamer! sorry not to threadjack... I need to start another thread on what'd I missed...lol? got sooo busy the last few months and slowly getting back in, this new PS version is throwing me off, not sure how to search either. I would randomly just lurk here and there, and I thought I saw something on your diamond? whew! got some pages to go back to.

Sorry Thing- End t-jack :halo:
 
I buy huge quantities at Costco, cook, then freeze individual servings in small ziplock bags.
We usually have 4 or 5 different yummie meat or poultry entrees ready to select from.
Then I keep a pot of brown rice or Quinoa in the fridge and fresh vegez chopped up and ready to microwave.

I also make a huge pot of healthy refried beans with olive oil and often have home made lentil soup with ham in the freezer.

Fast, healthy, cheap.
 
im a planner by nature and tend to work out meals for two week intervals (when i shop)...though things often get changed around on the go...

My poor SO has some health issues now and we're on a pretty limited diet - so now i definitely HAVE to plan. We even have to make our own bread too which is a PITA but it does taste pretty good =)
 
Every week we sit down with the flyers for our favorite stores and see what is on sale.
We have two freezers and a large pantry that we keep stocked at all times.
We rotate between cuisines Italian Mexican Japanese Indian sometimes even good old American .
Usually we make something that will last for at least two meals. And freeze any extra
This week it's fajitas.
On Saturdays we always have pizza. Usually augmented DiGourno and salad.
But sometimes from scratch
I am diabetic so that plays a part.
We try to focus on vegetables no matter what we are having.
Today I made butternut squash soup.
We used to eat out a lot but now realize that our home made food is so much
better and healthier.
 
I am not a planner. Then again, since I live alone, I have a lot of flexibility.

I tend to shop for food every 2 or 3 days. When it is hot, I get a lot of fresh veggies and some protein so that I can mix up a lovely salad for 2 or 3 nights. Usually a leafy green (spinach, rocket or watercress), carrots, corn, onion, mushrooms, parsley, peas, caulliflower or whatever else I find. For protein, tuna, salmon, garbanzo beans or an egg. When it is cold, I tend to make vegetable soup (yumm!) or a curry. I usually have plenty of good spreads (sardella, hummus, a nice pate) for fresh bread.

Then, when I eat it all up, I go to the grocery store and decide what I will have for the next few days.
 
Totally not a planner. I usually just keep a running stock, and if I'm feeling inspired to make something in particular I either fudge/improvise with what I have or if there's no way around it stop at the store on the way home. Luckily there's 2 stores on the way home so something will be available. We usually shop once during the week. Normally I'll have the following in my cart:

Milk
Bread
Yogurt
Eggs
Juice
Protein (pork, beef or chicken whatever's on sale)
Fruits (apples, bananas, berries, grapes)
Veggies (Onions, red peppers, broccoli/asparagus, whatever else is on sale)

I usually keep stocked: rice, canned tomatoes, beans.
 
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