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How fixed are your meal plans if you have one?

dk168

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I posted on my FB wall that I planned to have pasta today, decided yesterday, without realising today is World Pasta Day; to be responded with no pasta on Sundays as it is a day for <<<insert a dish, like roast dinner/pie/whater>>>.

Yesterday when I was in the pub and mentioned what I was planning to have yesterday (a steak dinner) and what I am planning to have today (pasta) with a couple of friends, one of them who is my ex-gentleman friend, commented that I am very predictable when it comes to meal plan, in that Friday is fish, Saturday is steak and Sunday is roast dinner etc., which means having pasta on Sunday is a deviation from the norm, etc. etc...

And I thought, that's not entirely true, as I don't always stick to the same type of meals on any given day of the week.

How about you, do you have a meal plan you prefer for each day of the week?

DK :))
 

missy

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So I’m boring. I like eating almost the same thing daily. Big Salad, grilled veggies and a protein. The protein changes. I don’t have a specific day that I eat any one particular protein. It’s just what I’m in the mood for. The one constant is salad and veggies. Grilled onions, sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts or asparagus.
 

dk168

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So I’m boring. I like eating almost the same thing daily. Big Salad, grilled veggies and a protein. The protein changes. I don’t have a specific day that I eat any one particular protein. It’s just what I’m in the mood for. The one constant is salad and veggies. Grilled onions, sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts or asparagus.

Not boring - you know what you like, so why change the habit of a lifetime?

The first time I had Brussels Sprouts was shortly after I started to attend a boarding school in UK. They were boiled till death, mushy and grey, and I avoided them for years.

This changed when my late partner introduced me to stir-fried sprouts like other vegetables, just need to cut them thinner, usually quartered.

Or cook them sliced in the microwave drizzled with some oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and Balsamic vinegar.

I love to keep a stock of them in the fridge in the colder months, along with dwarf beans, broccoli, Savoy cabbage, and sugar snap peas, for stir-frying as part of a medley of green vegetables.

DK :))
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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I do my grocery shopping then list all the meals in my note pad on my phone then delete them when we eat them
It saves standing at an open freezer trying to think what's for dinner
That's as organized as i get
 

dk168

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I cook in bulk for dishes that require a lot of work or long cooking process, then portion and freeze until required.

I use the side of my fridge freezer as a reminder of what I have in the freezer, using magnetic tape labelled with the name of the dish, date of manufacture and quantity.

A bit OTT to some, however, it helps to remind me to eat the oldest first, and not to make more of the same dishes etc...

DK :))
 

missy

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I cook in bulk for dishes that require a lot of work or long cooking process, then portion and freeze until required.

I use the side of my fridge freezer as a reminder of what I have in the freezer, using magnetic tape labelled with the name of the dish, date of manufacture and quantity.

A bit OTT to some, however, it helps to remind me to eat the oldest first, and not to make more of the same dishes etc...

DK :))

Not OTT IMO. I date meals I freeze as well. I’ve frozen less this year since Greg is working from home so he cooks every day and no need to freeze food. But in the past, yes, that’s exactly what I’ve done. Smart to do that.
 

kenny

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Most food we eat was home made in very large quantities, then frozen for individual microwaveable meals.
We often have home made bread, a big tub of home made greek yogurt, and a big pot of steel-cut oatmeal.
There are always salad fixins on hand.

Often we'll have a Costco rotisserie chicken and keep salmon burgers in the freezer.

While we eat pretty healthily, we don't mind eating the same thing several days in a row.
 
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seaurchin

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I don't have specific dinners by days of the week or other fixed plan and rarely use recipes. But my kitchen is organized and runs smoothly now, probably just from so many years of doing it. I usually have meals ready for the next couple of days ahead. We have lunch and dinner meals interchangeably and don't eat breakfast.

For ex., right now in my fridge, there's homemade vegetable soup, which will be finished up today (I toss prepared food after three days and plan accordingly). This is the second day for whole wheat tortillas with fillings (seasoned black beans, tomato, onion, cilantro). Also the newest dish, made late last night, slow cooker chickpea and cauliflower curry, which will be served over brown rice.
 
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MeowMeow

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I pretty much cook fresh daily because my kid is a picky little jerk who only wants fresh food. But we obviously have limited grocery money so I have a list of specific food for that week using the ingredients we can buy. So we eat the same things every week usually but not on the same days. Sometimes in the morning I think I'll make fajitas for dinner but by the time it really rolls around I've decided I'm too lazy and will make the faster and easier rosemary chicken and mashed potatoes. If my husband asks me for a different meal then i have stuff for I usually adjust the grocery list for the following weekend and trade ingredients out for it.
 

lilmosun

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I love to cook and prefer to vary my menus week-to-week. But I hate planning meals and grocery shopping...mostly because of time constraints and how things change once I hit the grocery store (things not looking fresh or not available). To take the edge off, I started using meal delivery kits 2x/week years ago and it was such a stress reliever. I've varied the service based on offerings/desire to mix things up but lately most have been from Hello Fresh.

With Covid, I haven't been in a grocery store since March so the problem is exacerbated by my dependence on others doing the shopping. So I now do meal kits 3x week and place a monthly order of meat from specialty vendors.

So I don't have a fixed meal plan so much as a routine that typically looks like this:

Sunday - I plan and cook
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - cook from meal kits
Thursday - leftovers (if there aren't any, I throw together something simple)
Friday - pizza night
Saturday - takeout (used to be dine out)
 
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MamaBear

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I plan my meals for the week and shop on Fridays. We eat what meal looks yummy on whatever day it appeals to me! I plan for 5 dinners and cook enough to have leftovers, as I like a warm lunch. This allows me to have a couple “easy nights” when I don’t feel like cooking and we do something lighter.
 

Austina

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The only time I plan a meal is when we’ve got people coming for dinner. Other than that, I buy certain staples every week, and decide on the day what we’re having that evening. I keep my pantry cupboard and the freezers well stocked, so if someone decided to come for dinner at the last minute, I’d always be able to provide them with a meal. Certain things, like a cottage pie, I’ll make a big one and we’ll have it 2 days running.
 

winnietucker

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Covid has made me so lazy. I shop for 2-4 weeks at a time now (it’ll likely change as I don’t have as many veggies to supplement from my garden anymore). But I wing it or eat leftovers.
 

Bluemuse

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I cooked for 25 years most every meal. I learned a lot and developed a love of cooking, but did tire of the clean up and coming up with meal ideas for my family of enthusiastic eaters.

When I met my second husband, he ate all his meals (except breakfast) out. His oven still had all the brochures in it when I met him, Lol
I adopted this way of eating and really was happy to not be spending so much time in the kitchen. It was liberating!
I took home leftovers 100% of the time bc I’m not a huge eater. They served as next days lunch at work, which was great. We rarely wasted or threw out any food. I always felt bad about doing that in the early days of cooking so much. It was nice to open his fridge and see nothing but bottled water, apples and oranges.

Fast forward to this year...
A bunch more cooking at home...
Pasta, roast chicken and veggies, tuna, salmon, salad etc. About 2-3 times per week. Otherwise, we buy our main meal at our small, local chef owned market. Everything there is yummy and fresh made daily.

Our meal routine is streamlined and simplified.
Simple Breakfast- oats, fruit, occasionally eggs.
Hearty lunch, biggest meal of the day - my favorite is salmon, root veggies and sweet potato.
Dinner= light fare and whatever we feel like eating ie, Apples and almond butter, zucchini bread, nuts, no meal per se.
Every Tuesday when I’m in a particular town, my dinner is homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream, it is amazingly good.

This routine works well for us and avoids over eating. My husband is appreciative of whatever I make, which keeps any cooking I do fun.
 

stracci2000

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I usually don't plan meals.
I keep staples on hand, and make what sounds good to me on that day.
The staples are:
Pasta, rice, bulgur wheat, lentils
Potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic
Frozen chicken (I'm not really a meat eater, but DH likes it)
Frozen salmon portions
Frozen broccoli, cauliflower or other veg
Variety of canned beans, canned tomatoes.
Homemade frozen chicken stock
And frozen pizza for the days I don't feel like cooking.

Occasionally I will decide to make something special and I will shop the ingredients for that meal.
 
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jaysonsmom

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I don’t meal plan, I love to cook, so I whip up whatever I can from whatever ingredients I find in the fridge. When I shop, it is the same...I don’t have any recipes in mind, I just fill my cart with a variety of proteins, veggies, fruit. My pantry is always full of staples like quinoa, pasta and canned beans (I have yet to cook dry beans) because my meals are spur of the moment, spontaneous creations.
 

dk168

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I don't cook every day, prefer to cook and chill, and defrost when required during weekdays, even during lockdown.

The warmer months this year was tougher, as there was only so much of the same salad that I could eat!

DK :))
 

nala

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I wish hubby or I would have discipline to meal plan! Instead I find it very overwhelming! Ironically, I’m a planner for everything else—but meals? I’m a picky eater and so is he, so we just go with the flow. Half of our meals are at home and the other half, locally owned family restaurants—healthy.
 

Tartansparkles

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We eat the same meals on the same days of the week so pizza on Friday, chicken on Saturday, tuna on Sunday etc. Have done so for the past 20 years. Every few years we get fed up with one of the meals and swap them for something else. I don't enjoy cooking nor having to think about meals. We have groceries delivered every friday night (again for past 18-20 years). By eating the same meals (which we know we enjoy), online shopping is much quicker, I just buy the same stuff I bought last week. I do make homemade soup and that varies. I believe in putting a lot of thought and effort into something once, then moving on to the next thing. So a long time ago we put effort into a weekly meal plan and here we are. (My mum loves cooking, she cannot understand our approach to meals. It's just not something I am interested in nor want to spend more time thinking about than I must.).
 
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