Meal Plan

[beachbum22]

Does this go here? I wasn't quite sure where to ask my meal plan question...

Anyway, how does one start meal planning?? I've sat down like 10 times already trying to plan, and I just don't have the concentration for this.

Note: I'm trying to plan meals using what I have in the pantry, and store sales, because budget. I'm having a hard time matching things up. It sound like it should be easy.

[oliversbear]

Some weeks it's easy for me because what I'm feeling like cooking naturally goes together, uses ingredients I have on hand, and/or leads towards easy to mix & match or re-purpose leftovers. Other weeks it's difficult. Summer meals are always harder for me because I do not like raw leafy greens of any kind.

My husband is a vegetarian, so I plan at least three vegetarian meals a week. I also plan a meal that uses only non-perishable ingredients, either frozen or shelf-stable ingredients, canned or preserved. I use that as my expendable meal if something goes wrong and I need to drop a meal or change the plan for any reason.

I use cookbooks rather than online recipes, so each week I pull out 3 or 4 cookbooks and pick the meals from those books. At the beginning of the year, I went through all my cookbooks one at a time and ticked off all the recipes that looked interesting. I ended up with over 3700 recipes. So I check the spreadsheet with those and try to make at least one new recipe each week.

[billyhorrible]

I usually try to keep a running list of "extras" during the week, for instance, this week I bought a pork loin and I have half of it left, so there will be pork on the menu next week.

I take my "extra" list and look up recipes with those ingredients, using cookbooks and blogs I read.

I also mark good looking recipes from those blogs and use those recipes to fill in blank spaces in my weekly meals. Plus w always have tamales on Tuesdays. It's an easy meal I know my kids will eat.

I try to make it so easier/quicker meals are during the week and more time consuming meals are on the weekend, but I also sometimes switch around meal order if it's more convenient during the week.

[billmurray]

I start with looking at what I already have in the fridge, freezer and pantry, and then look at what the specials are this week at the grocery store. Kind of like billyhorrible , I also keep a running list of what's in my freezer and in my pantry. Using these, I start perusing the saved recipe apps on my phone, and plan out the meals for the next week. Sometimes it takes me a while to do, but I don't mind putting in the time, because I know it's worth it in the end.

[sunshine]

I do what a few others do for their meal planning. I look at the weekly specials and keep an idea of what I already have on hand. I use cookbooks, a magazine (MIL gave me a subscription last Christmas) and online. I also try to go by the season for my meals. Like kabobs in the summer-since we can grill in better weather. I use this board as a visual for each week. Helps me stay on track and eliminates everyone from asking me what's for dinner...




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[cyprissa]

I suggest looking at your pantry or fridge/freezer and picking out a few things that are getting older and need to be used and starting there. I generally go to the store with a couple of ideas but then look at what produce is cheap and fresh looking and Plan on the fly at the store. Meal planning isn't one size fits all. Just try to focus on things that you don't need a lot of specialty items for and make sure you have a good basic pantry of spices, beans, rice, pasta, tomatoes, etc. already set-up. That makes it so much easier.

[angelashly]

Monday: Greek chicken with garlic and herb couscous and cucumber salad
Tuesday: Mexican Lasagna with salad
Wednesday: Lemon herb Tilapia, sweet potatoes, and broccoli
Thursday: Brownie bridging so probably eat there if not leftovers
Friday: Pizza

[alwayscheese]

Jun 8, 2017 19:24:31 GMT -6 beachbum22 said:

Does this go here? I wasn't quite sure where to ask my meal plan question...

Anyway, how does one start meal planning?? I've sat down like 10 times already trying to plan, and I just don't have the concentration for this.

Note: I'm trying to plan meals using what I have in the pantry, and store sales, because budget. I'm having a hard time matching things up. It sound like it should be easy.

Have you tried www.supercook.com ? Idk if it's the same site as I tried, which was clumsy at times, but it's worth a try!