Meal planning

Biblioklept

Does anyone plan their meals for the week ahead of time? How do you pick what to do each day?

I've been wondering if a better plan would help with cooking and planning and eating better but I get so easily overwhelmed lol

Sandy_123

I've done this in the past, it helps when shopping and knowing what you need for your planned meals, trouble is you might not fancy what you planned, I usually when motivated plan for 2 to 3 meals.

SueHeath

I plan to a certain extent - like this week i brought some diced beef so i will have beef cobbler or chilli or pie
chicken fillets - curry/piri pir/chinesse curry or stirfry.
I will also have quick easy things in the freezer incase i'm not up to cooking.
I should imagine it's easier as i have a husband who like's my dinners - i think you have got to like food and cooking and different spices in the cupboard, but i do think it helps with shopping bills if you do some sort of menu planning. Lets see if others have different ideas - it's an interesting one.

leeCal

I think we eat whatever is in the reduced section on the day.

Biblioklept

SueHeath said:

I plan to a certain extent - like this week i brought some diced beef so i will have beef cobbler or chilli or pie
chicken fillets - curry/piri pir/chinesse curry or stirfry.

But how will you know which of those to make or do you just have all the ingredients in for all of them in your cupboard all the time? 

Biblioklept

leeCal said:

I think we eat whatever is in the reduced section on the day.

That's such a smart way to do it! As I rely on online shopping I miss out on reduced sections and can't be as flexible  

SueHeath

Hi @Biblioklept yep i keep things in store like lots of herbs/spices tinned tomatoes rice/noodles - usually when i make thing with beef i make enough so half can go in the freezer aswel for another day x

Biblioklept

That's really smart. I've tried to stock up a bit like that before but then I forget I have things (I'm very much out of sight out of mind) and would either keep buying same things or think I have it and don't I've tried lists, making an inventory, even checking cupboard before I order and none seem to work. I just don't see things that are there sometimes lol

janer1967

I don't meal plan as such but think about what we might have b4 I do the shop 

I always have selection of easy ready meals in freezer I do plan what to cook over the weekend if bf is coming 

Lisatho11987777

I don't plan just buy shopping  lol now our new petrol station is open where I work its bigger its like a mini supermarket  so I get bits from there if I fancy something different 

wendy41

Most of the time I make sure I've got soup in the freezer. I make a big stock pot of soup and then when cooled I divide it into takeaway tubs. This comes in handy when I can't be bothered to cook something or is a quick alternative if don't have time to cook. I try to keep a good load of stock cubes so have plenty of stock to use in dishes. I think keep it simple for meals that way it doesn't make it a daunting task.

wendy41

Doughballs recipe: Self raising flour, egg, 2 tablesppons of water. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix to a dough. If it's too dry try adding a 'little' more water. Then pull of chunks to roll 'loosely' into a ball shape. Put into soup, stews or just stock and cover. They usually double or triple in size. When cut in half have a spongy texture. Light and fluffy. 

Siwheels73

We have been using Gousto each week for about 4 months now, and it is good in a lot of ways for meal planning. You can plan the meals to come on a particular day and (delivery company messes notwithstanding) we then have a set selection for 5 days of the week. We then only have to think about one meal, which we spread over the remaining 2 days.
The recipes are simple, on the whole, to do, and tasty (ditto!)

SueHeath

I like the idea of dough balls @wendy41 sounds like an alternative to dumplings, i will give that one a go Thanks.

Tori_Scope

Ooh, I might have to give that a go @wendy41  

Karen7788

My son and his partner started to plan all their meals when they was saving up for a deposit on their first house. 

They planned each meal and just had the ingredients delivered, each week they bought a couple of staple ingredients, spices, tins, rice, flour etc. to build up their store cupboard. 

They said that by not going in a supermarket helped them. 

L_Volunteer

That makes sense @Karen7788. Thanks for sharing that with us 

littleacorn

If I meal plan it helps with the shopping and I dont tend to buy snack food which helps with my weight loss. I buy larger packets of meat to make more than I need then freeze what is left. I seem to be able to do this for about a month but become lazy! Now that I have told everyone I need to plan and do what I say and start again! 

Alex_Alumni

It can be difficult to keep things like this going over a long period of time @littleacorn I know exactly what you mean. 

I think every now and then it's only fair to treat ourselves or we'd get quite bored!