I never do as well as I'd like, but I do try to follow something of a plan:
Monday -- pasta
Tuesday -- we go out to eat (very simple)
Wednesday -- fish, or else a prepped meat like chili from the freezer
Thursday -- breakfast for dinner (pumpkin pancakes, which my son loves best), sometime grilled cheese
Friday -- pizza night
Saturday -- tacos
Sunday -- whatever (now that the weather is nice we've started grilling most Sundays)

We don't always stick to this, but I try and use it as a guide. I don't do serious grocery planning, but think about what pastas I have around, what fish I have, etc.

Also, a few years ago I wrote out all the easy/good meals I could think of that I know how to do. I put them on index cards and tied them together. When stumped, I would go through them for ideas. Lost the cards in a move, but thinking about making another set. They helped when I was just out of ideas and energy to think.

NP here. Cooking for me is a chore that must be done, and we also have newly diagnosed food issues. And planning the meals out myself is too much work for me, so I subscribe to a meal plan.

Per a DCUM rec we tried 'The Fresh 20' (http://www.thefresh20.com/) and have really loved it. A 5 night menu where each meal feed ~4 (for us really 2 adults + leftovers for lunches.) we still eat out some / pick up a chicken / breakfast for dinner as the mood strikes, so the week's plan tends to last us more like 10 days. And my kids are little / picky so necessarily eat the planned meal, but will generally eat some component of it (ex pasta without the sauce), plus they're happy with pasta & cut up veggies.

But overall it has us eating way better with less leftovers and has really reduced the meal planning stress.

I don't know how you avoid running to the store all the time and wasting tremendous amounts of food if you just wing it all the time.

I use an app called Fridge Pal. It lets me scan in my pantry and items in my fridge (scan the barcodes) and then I can look up recipes using different combinations of the ingredients.

check out moneysavingmom.com...she's big on menu planning and freezer cooking. Her recipes look really good too...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep a well-stocked pantry. I always have sandwich bread, pasta, rice, beans, canned tomatoes, frozen peas, and tortillas, as well as some other grains like couscous and quinoa. So a lot of times I'll end up making something like chicken and veggies in an olive oil sauce over pasta, rice, or grains, or grilled sandwiches with roasted veggies, quesadillas, etc. When I grocery shop on the weekends, I buy fresh meat and produce for the week depending on what's fresh. I rarely worry about what to cook with it, knowing that I have the staples at home to make something even if it's kind of basic.

I also read a lot of food blogs so I get inspiration from them when I'm in a rut and just don't feel like cooking any of the usuals.

+1

Really, what is it with all this "planning ahead" and apps and weekly dinner menus? Is it really that difficult to cook a meal? This is in no way meant as a criticism, I am really just trying to understand if I'm the only one who cooks based on what we feel like eating? Sure, you DO need to keep your pantry/fridge/freezer stocked up, but that's the hard part. Then, the easy part, when you know you have all the basics covered, is to just think "what are we in the mood for tonight??" and make it. So much of it depends on the weather for me (yes, truly), or what we've been having for the past few days or so (mostly meat? mostly starch?) and/or leftovers..... I'd go crazy if I couldn't eat based on what I feel like having. It would take the pleasure of cooking/eating away.

I get home after 6:00 and my kids are in bed by 7:30 (including bath, stories, etc). I can't just throw things together - we have a detailed plan. If I "cooked" based on what I feel like eating after a long day of work, we'd probably order takeout every night.

We shop on Saturdays, so I make my list on Saturday morning. Similar to a PP, we have a list of meals and of ingredients. I try to have at least one chicken meal, one fish meal, one veg meal, one red meat. I usually let my four year old pick one day a week. She only picks tacos or sloppy joes. Frittata is usually our meatless meal - eggs and leftover vegetables, beans, whatever. I get a lot of recipes from Pinterest and Cooking Light, and I have some tried-and-true recipes in heavy rotation. I try not to repeat more than once every 2-3 weeks.

We have a chalkboard in the kitchen where I write the week's menu. It also has space for things we run out of during the week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep a well-stocked pantry. I always have sandwich bread, pasta, rice, beans, canned tomatoes, frozen peas, and tortillas, as well as some other grains like couscous and quinoa. So a lot of times I'll end up making something like chicken and veggies in an olive oil sauce over pasta, rice, or grains, or grilled sandwiches with roasted veggies, quesadillas, etc. When I grocery shop on the weekends, I buy fresh meat and produce for the week depending on what's fresh. I rarely worry about what to cook with it, knowing that I have the staples at home to make something even if it's kind of basic.

I also read a lot of food blogs so I get inspiration from them when I'm in a rut and just don't feel like cooking any of the usuals.

+1

Really, what is it with all this "planning ahead" and apps and weekly dinner menus? Is it really that difficult to cook a meal? This is in no way meant as a criticism, I am really just trying to understand if I'm the only one who cooks based on what we feel like eating? Sure, you DO need to keep your pantry/fridge/freezer stocked up, but that's the hard part. Then, the easy part, when you know you have all the basics covered, is to just think "what are we in the mood for tonight??" and make it. So much of it depends on the weather for me (yes, truly), or what we've been having for the past few days or so (mostly meat? mostly starch?) and/or leftovers..... I'd go crazy if I couldn't eat based on what I feel like having. It would take the pleasure of cooking/eating away.

And I would go crazy if I didn't plan. I don't like cooking, but I do it for my son. I was miserable for months attempting to cook, because I was always missing one item I needed, or if only I had thought ahead to marinate or chop. Once I started planning, It was like a HUGE relief was off my shoulders every day. I can even fathom not planning a meal. I actually get stressed out if the grocery store doesn't have something I need for my plan. But I also can't imagine having the time or energy to care if I am making food that "I feel like having" Sure I did that when I didn't have kids, but now I can't imagine caring. In fact, I used to be a fairly picky eater, but now I will eat ANYTHING, as so long as I don't have to cook it. So clearly we are just two different types of people. You think of dinners as enjoyment, I think if them as a burden I need to get through.

So I plan on Saturday nights, grocery shop on Sundays, and when I'm feeling particularly organized, I set up a schedule of meals and what I need to do the night before. A good week, I'll even plan out meals so that I have sufficient leftovers for lunch. I make sure to have a good mix of dinners, some I know my son will like, some that will be more challenging to get him to eat. I always make sure to throw in a few "easy" dinners. And plan a crockpot meal or a really easy meal for baseball practice night.

This thread is very helpful. Side note - if you are a myers-briggs nut like me, you'll easily see that how you "plan" meals is tied to your type.

Planning meals is a necessary evil for me, in order to keep the busy family of 6 running smoothly. However, I hate being tied to a plan. To give myself as much flexibility as I like, I try to focus on what will is the foundation of my planning:

mystery sale meat, veggie meal, italian/pasta, leftover night (usually is leftover mystery meat in form of quesadillas), chicken/fish, pizza Friday, and husband owns Sunday.

Mystery meat usually goes right into freezer, and I always have Trader Joe's Orange Chicken stocked in freezer too!

From there, I let the weekly schedule dictate what days I can really go all out and which are pull it together quick nights.

Here it is pulled together for this week:

M-quesadillas from last night's DH grilled steaks
T-lemon chicken (grill or baked)
W-lasagna made in crock pot with kale
Th-beef stir-fry from london broil on sale this week
F-inlaws from out of town, so I am NOT cooking. However, usu do homemade pizzas
Sat-leftover surprise
Sun? - not my problem!

We are heavy on beef this week, so the lasagna might be meatless. I keep ground beef in 1lb bags in freezer and also usu have a couple of italian blend pkgs that can be used for italian night - might be meatloaf, meatballs, ziti, etc. Sloppy joes fit here too.

Quesadillas are always on the plan. The kids love them. I always keep red peppers and onions around for this. I even made veggie quesadillas with leftover roasted veggies one week, and they loved them. I make my own taco seasoning, so I just use that and they barely noticed the meat was missing.

DH often takes leftover meat for lunch, so last week I made a 4lb pork tenderloin that fed us twice and he had it the rest of the week for lunch.

I am now baking breads, so my next challenge is determining how to integrate a baking schedule into this plan. Artisan breads in 5 shows you how to make the dough and keep it in the fridge all week. Just pull it out and bake as needed. That can really help with the budget too.

Hope this was helpful! It at least forced me to nail down this week's plan!

Anonymous wrote:I pick a protein, a starch, and a veggie

This may seem like a snarky answer, but if you think about this
Set-up, it is a lot easier than cooking. Pick a protein (broil a steak,
Bake a chicken breast), add a starch (make rice or pasta) and add a
Veggie (steam broccoli or spinach). If you have no energy or any idea as to
what to make for dinner, this "plan" is simple and elegant.
This is often what women did before The Food Network made cooking
a multi step process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+1

Really, what is it with all this "planning ahead" and apps and weekly dinner menus? Is it really that difficult to cook a meal? This is in no way meant as a criticism, I am really just trying to understand if I'm the only one who cooks based on what we feel like eating? Sure, you DO need to keep your pantry/fridge/freezer stocked up, but that's the hard part. Then, the easy part, when you know you have all the basics covered, is to just think "what are we in the mood for tonight??" and make it. So much of it depends on the weather for me (yes, truly), or what we've been having for the past few days or so (mostly meat? mostly starch?) and/or leftovers..... I'd go crazy if I couldn't eat based on what I feel like having. It would take the pleasure of cooking/eating away.

I'm one of the planners. I am a very good cook and keep a well stocked pantry, and I used to be like you. But then I had 2 kids. Now I come home at 5:45, and have a 1.5 and 4 YO clinging to me, wanting my full attention, and needing to be fed and bathed and put to bed within 2 hours. I'd rather give them my undivided attention for what little time we have than start perusing the pantry and musing about what I'm in the mood for. Much of the pleasure of cooking IS gone, but I enjoy having healthy, varied meals and family dinner every night, even if it isn't what I would have elected to eat.

Hmmmm.... rest assured, I don't muse about my pantry items. And yes, I have two kids, too. I thought this was a discussion about planning -or not- your evening meals, not a contest of "but my life is busier than yours."

no one is making it a contest. you asked a few questions. I answered them. No, it is not that difficult to cook a meal, but I would rather spend the time with my kids. Therefore, I plan, rather than wing it every night. and yes, some level of pleasure in cooking is gone, but it is replaced by pleasure in spending time with my kids. It does not make me crazy not to eat based on what I feel like having.

I don't think planning meals takes the joy out of cooking. I plan a weeks worth of dinners on Wednesday night so I can make my grocery shopping list for grocery shopping on Thursday (which only includes Harris Teeter for non-produce and an Asian market for veggies, fruit and rice in bulk). I go to costco once a month to buy meat, seafood, pasta, paper products etc. I find this cuts down on grocery costs and I don't end up with spoiled produce that I forgot to use. I like to add in a new recipe every week or two and I cook fun meals we all like to eat. To me if the food is yummy then there's joy in cooking. And I'm pregnant with number two so you know I have been cooking things that I've been craving!

I keep all my recipes in Evernote on my iPad. Either attached word/PDF docs or actual photos of recipes from books or screen shots of an online recipe. I started doing this about two years ago and it works so well for me. I tag the recipes (meat, pasta, rice, veggie, main dish, etc) and this makes it easy to find something to make. I cook from the recipe and put my shopping list in the reminders app on my phone. I also have a google calendar called "menu" to remind me what it is I'm cooking and what I've made recently so we don't have tons of repeats.

Thursday - leftover surprise with rotisserie chicken (I get home late because I go grocery shopping after work).
Friday - homemade pizza night with salad.
Saturday - usually something more involved or a new recipe.
Sunday - grill night. Steak, corn/asparagus/oven roasted veggie and potato. I also grill enough chicken breasts (two packs of chicken from costco) to last us for the week (lunch for dh and I and chicken I need for any dinners).
Monday - Mexican night
Tuesday - Crock pot. I try to defrost the meat (if necessary) and chop veggies Monday night and then assemble everything Tuesday morning.
Wednesday - Anything

I have 4yo DC help me cook each night. That way we spend time together and I get to wing it. It's messier and takes a little longer, but not that much longer or messier.

I also don't have a DH, so it's just me and DC that I'm cooking for. He does have input, esp if he helps me cook.

I can't imagine cooking based on what I feel
like since I won't be the only one eating. I ons the responses that say, oh, I just figure it out to be unhelpful. If the OP could just figure it out she wouldn't be asking.

America's Test Kitchen also has an entire series (mostly magazines and one hardcover) on "30 Minute Meals." The recipe's are mostly very good (a miss here and there). If my kids have a craving for something specific, then I try to accommodate....

Anonymous wrote:Which food blogs do you recommend when you need some inspiration?

Smitten Kitchen - www.smittenkitchen.com
Leite's Culinaria - www.leitesculinaria.com

I also will focus on a particular ingredient I have in the house (cauliflower, for instance) and Google "Ina Garten recipe [cauliflower]" - and I get some good recipes for it. I swear, her recipes always work (though I am an experienced cook - I'll admit they are probably not the best for cooking newbies).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+1

Really, what is it with all this "planning ahead" and apps and weekly dinner menus? Is it really that difficult to cook a meal? This is in no way meant as a criticism, I am really just trying to understand if I'm the only one who cooks based on what we feel like eating? Sure, you DO need to keep your pantry/fridge/freezer stocked up, but that's the hard part. Then, the easy part, when you know you have all the basics covered, is to just think "what are we in the mood for tonight??" and make it. So much of it depends on the weather for me (yes, truly), or what we've been having for the past few days or so (mostly meat? mostly starch?) and/or leftovers..... I'd go crazy if I couldn't eat based on what I feel like having. It would take the pleasure of cooking/eating away.

I'm one of the planners. I am a very good cook and keep a well stocked pantry, and I used to be like you. But then I had 2 kids. Now I come home at 5:45, and have a 1.5 and 4 YO clinging to me, wanting my full attention, and needing to be fed and bathed and put to bed within 2 hours. I'd rather give them my undivided attention for what little time we have than start perusing the pantry and musing about what I'm in the mood for. Much of the pleasure of cooking IS gone, but I enjoy having healthy, varied meals and family dinner every night, even if it isn't what I would have elected to eat.

Hmmmm.... rest assured, I don't muse about my pantry items. And yes, I have two kids, too. I thought this was a discussion about planning -or not- your evening meals, not a contest of "but my life is busier than yours."

no one is making it a contest. you asked a few questions. I answered them. No, it is not that difficult to cook a meal, but I would rather spend the time with my kids. Therefore, I plan, rather than wing it every night. and yes, some level of pleasure in cooking is gone, but it is replaced by pleasure in spending time with my kids. It does not make me crazy not to eat based on what I feel like having.