Meal Planning for the week

[Anonymous]

I know I should be planning our family's dinners a week in advance to save money, trips to the supermarket, and aggravation...but I don't know how to start! For those of you who are successful at this, how do you do it? Do you have the same thing every Monday, etc.? Any advice would be appreciated!

[Anonymous]

I try to do this every week. I am a WOHM so only go to the grocery store on the weekends. Before I hit the grocery store I make a menu schedule for the week. (I sometimes change this slightly while I am at the grocery store based on what I find there. So, this week our meals are 1. grilled steaks, potatoes, roasted asparagus; 2. Chicken and vegs in Indian simmer sauce with couscous; 3. Fajitas with salad; 4. Pizza (for kids while we are out); 5. Pasta with artichoke/tomato sauce. I try to rotate through the things that work well for our family with a rotation of meats/veggie meals. Because I go to the store of the weekend, I schedule the things that involve more perishable items early in the week. I don't have a day of the week system, but I do have a routine of meals that I do on a fairly regular basis. Standbys for me are stirfries with rice, various versions of pasta, roast beef or chicken with sides (usually on Sundays to provide leftovers during the week); taco night. Those types of things take up most nights and then I fill in with other things (like the above steaks) from time to time. I think the most important thing is to force yourself to write down ideas for each meal while looking at your calendar for the week so you know who is home to eat and how much prep time you will have so that you don't plan a complicated thing when you have only a few minutes to get dinner ready.

[Anonymous]

We go to the grocery store (and just one) on Sunday afternoons. On Sunday morning I sit down with a piece of paper and list what we are going to have each night of the week. Then I create the grocery list from that, adding breakfast, lunch, snack and staples as needed.

After a while, it felt like we were eating the same thing every week. I just was not being very creative when making up the weekly menu and was forgetting to make some of our favorite meals. So I spent an afternoon and made a list of easy weeknight meals. Then I distributed them into different weeks so that we didn't have chicken five times in one week. I came up with five weeks worth of dinners, with some variation for summer and winter (chili in the winter, BBQ ribs in the summer). I found it was easiest to do the sorting in a spreadsheet. I also added columns for main ingredients and where to find the recipe. But I'm a spreadsheet geek.

I don't use this 5 wk menu on a regular basis, but when I'm short of ideas on Sunday morning, I'll pull it out.

[Anonymous]

We do this every week. On Sunday morning, DH and I sit down and decide what we will have for dinner each day, based on what's going on (e.g. a late swim practice means that we need something super-quick, whereas on my off-days - I work part-time - I have some time to prepare dinner). We make the grocery list as we go along.

Then we talk about lunches, for ourselves and the kids, and add to the list based on that.

We tend to make something more complex/special on Sunday evenings.

This week for example:

Sunday - pork loin with homemade bread and salad
Monday - black beans & rice (made yesterday)
Tuesday - Tortellini w/red sauce & salad
Wednesday - Meatloaf w/mashed potatoes & green beans
Thursday - Salmon cakes w/roasted potatoes & carrots

Fridays are usually take-out, homemade pizza, or pasta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We go to the grocery store (and just one) on Sunday afternoons. On Sunday morning I sit down with a piece of paper and list what we are going to have each night of the week. Then I create the grocery list from that, adding breakfast, lunch, snack and staples as needed.

After a while, it felt like we were eating the same thing every week. I just was not being very creative when making up the weekly menu and was forgetting to make some of our favorite meals. So I spent an afternoon and made a list of easy weeknight meals. Then I distributed them into different weeks so that we didn't have chicken five times in one week. I came up with five weeks worth of dinners, with some variation for summer and winter (chili in the winter, BBQ ribs in the summer). I found it was easiest to do the sorting in a spreadsheet. I also added columns for main ingredients and where to find the recipe. But I'm a spreadsheet geek.

I don't use this 5 wk menu on a regular basis, but when I'm short of ideas on Sunday morning, I'll pull it out.

This is a good idea. I have a "weekday recipes" folder that I add to on an ongoing basis - if I see a recipe that looks like a good option for a quick meal, I print it out and put it in that folder. When DH and I plan meals, we look through that for ideas.

This could of course be done online (save recipes in a folder on your computer), but I'm a low-tech kinda gal.

[Anonymous]

I do the Six O'CLock Scramble.

http://thescramble.com/

[Anonymous]

I make one day grocery day (Sunday - which isn't great by the way since Sunday night there are slim pickings at the grocery store). Then I plan on Saturday and make the list.

- I now try to do fish once a week (but make it easy since I can't stand raw fish - I use frozen salmon or fishsticks).
- I often do a crockpot meal once a week. In the summer, I often do a cold meal instead (cold chicken, pasta salad).
- I plan on easier meals on nights i know I will have less time.
- On super busy weeks, I cut myself a break and have all easy meals - even if it means hotdogs.
- I try to leave the easiest meal (or take-out) for Friday, when I am exhausted.
- If a meal makes a lot of food, I try to plan to freeze some of it or have a leftover night.
- I try to balance what we are having (italian, mexican, vegetarian) but some weeks, I just get in an italian mode and go with it.

I have a binder of recipes. I also have recipe books, but when I find a recipe I use a lot, I copy it, laminate it and put it in the binder. So then I can just flip through the binder and pick things out.

I found the hardest part to be the first few weeks. After that it got easier. When I get in ruts, I break out the cookbooks and add one new recipe a week.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much what others have said - I figure out how many nights we will likely cook dinner at home (vs. be too stressed and order pizza or eat leftovers), then write up a menu and shop just for that. I take into account which items will produce leftovers that will make another meal. I dont necessarily figure out which nights we will have which items, other than to make a mental note if there is advance planning such as taking something out of the freezer the night before. To minimize waste even more, I try to make one meal something that if we skip for unforseen reasons, I wont have to throw a bunch of stuff out (e.g., pasta, or meatthat I have in the freezer, or salmon cakes from canned salmon).

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you so much for all these great suggestions! For those of you who do plan in advance, do your kids eat the same things you do? I have three little ones, one of whom is super picky, and they all tend to eat before DH and I since DH gets home from work after they are in bed. As a consequence, although I hate it, I end up making something totally different for the kids - so I would actually need to plan more meals. It is exhausting!

[Anonymous]

What I do is look at the menu for each night and figure out what portion of it my kids can/will eat. If there are three things that are all quite difficult for them to enjoy, I'll change or substutute.

If there is some spicy sauce or somehting, I leave some of the meat or pasta plain. I don't add a lot of cut up veggies to a casserole because I know the kids will pick at that. I'm trying to serve the kids when the are really really hungry (right at 5 PM) because that is when they are much less picky. I also usually have some simple side dishes that I know the kids will eat -- marinated chick pea salad is a winner if the meat dish is too unusual for them.

Other times I might heat up some leftovers like mashed potatoes or sweet potato fries. But I try not to actually be cooking two different meals -- the goal is for the whole family to be eating adult food.

[Anonymous]

spreadsheet geek here. One child, now 5 YO. We are (finally) now cooking just one meal a night. If DH will be home late, I will try to make something in the crockpot or something to reheat and he can eat alone. Sometimes I'll reheat leftovers for DC and DH and I will have the "real" meal. But this only happens a once or twice a month. More often he will be eating out for work or social and DC and I will have our own dinner.

But when our work schedules and DC's sleep schedules regularly conflicted (pretty much until a year ago), eating together was only one or two nights during the week. DC ate a lot of frozen meatballs, chkn patties, veggie burgers, grilled cheese, omelets, soup....quick and easy meals for one.

[Anonymous]

I typically do one big shop a week, and I tend not to plan or organize as much as previous PPs (hats off to the spreadsheet chef, I wish I were that together!), but here's what works for us:

My guiding principle is to buy what's on sale. And then it's just a matter of filing my cart with the following:

four to five protein options (chicken thighs or whole chicken, pork chops or tenderloin, ground beef or steak, lamb shoulder or house-made sausage, or fish)

three fresh green vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, or green beans) and one orange or red vegetable (carrots, beets, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or squash), and always salad.

at least two or three aromatics: green onions, leeks, ginger, shallots, vidalias, cilantro, parsley, what have you...

four to five fresh fruit options (typically bananas, apples, oranges, and berries) with one "fun" fruit thrown in: a whole pineapple or mangos or mini kiwis.

my weekly dairy staples: milk, yoghurt, cream, buttermilk, eggs.

I try to keep the pantry stocked with staples, like whole grains & dry pastas, as well as canned goods like crushed tomatoes, beans, and chicken stock. I also keep a lot of marinade basics -- soy sauce, mirin, miso paste, mustard, honey, wine -- on hand to make things more interesting. Glad freezer bags are your best friend when you're brining/marinating!

And of course, i never manage to get everything on sale, but at least for the proteins, I like to know that I've saved a a buck or two. it helps that i love to cook, but i tend to keep things simple: our meals are the trifecta of protein, veg, carb - easy to spruce up for grown up palates and easy to tone down for the kiddos.

have fun, there's nothing better than feeding the ones you love!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you so much for all these great suggestions! For those of you who do plan in advance, do your kids eat the same things you do? I have three little ones, one of whom is super picky, and they all tend to eat before DH and I since DH gets home from work after they are in bed. As a consequence, although I hate it, I end up making something totally different for the kids - so I would actually need to plan more meals. It is exhausting!

Sunday-planner PP here. We do all eat the same thing, which means that DH and I eat more boring meals than we would if we weren't cooking for all of us. You can adjust a little for the kids (e.g. a chicken with a sauce recipe can entail setting aside plain chicken for the kids prior to putting sauce on it; pasta can be plain as opposed to pesto), but in general I think it's doable, assuming you are willing to eat boring meals.