Meal planning - how do YOU do it?

[frugalmamatx]

I'm trying to meal plan tentatively for a month {December}. Ideally I'd like to do a couple big shopping runs at the start of the month and then just small produce runs as needed. But I've never meal planned for that many days at a go - normally my planning consists of looking in the freezer the night before and saying "hmm x sounds good I think". And even then half the time it gets slid a day because either it isn't thawed or something comes up. But we're doing paleo now, and I need a tentative plan for the month to make sure my grocery budget stretches as far as it needs to. I'm also trying a LOT of new recipes over the next 6 weeks or so, so I need to be able to make sure I have all the ingredients I need too. 

 

So - how do you plan for a month of meals? Do you do Monday is X meat, Tuesday Y, etc? Or do you plan out the individual days?

[HomeAgain]

I plan based on what we have, what is on sale, and what our evening plans are.  I do a large grocery trip once a week so every day gets planned, the ingredients all written down, and then put in order of the store plan.  I go to the store in the middle of the week for more veggies and fruit, possibly milk & eggs if needed.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I usually only plan 1-2 weeks at a time.  But i've done a month before.  

 

- I print out a generic month calendar (just google December 2016 month printable)

 

- I fill it out according to what works for us.  Personally, I don't like to make more than one "new" recipe a week because of the time drain.  

 

- Some meals repeat nearly weekly, things like tacos (paleo if you use lettuce cups), burgers (again, leaf lettuce is the new bread!), etc, so I fill in all of the meals I can make easily and quickly, making sure they fall on our days where we have outside activities in the afternoons.  

 

- Check your calendar and plan a crockpot stew or similar for any days you'll be out of the house most of the day.

 

- Our breakfasts and lunches are very predictable, and therefore very easy to keep things stocked in the cupboard.  Tuna salad, leftovers, omelets, big salads with protein, ... 

 

Once THAT is all done, you can do your master list.  I never write veggies down on the master list because those I just buy according to what looks good unless I need something specific for a recipe.  

 

The hardest thing with paleo is keeping food in the house.  Since it's pretty much all perishable, you will need to freeze your meat and restock fruits and veggies constantly.  

 

 

 

[Ali in OR]

I plan weekly because I shop weekly. My custom-made grocery list has a spot on the bottom to jot down what's for dinner each night, and then I can check off any ingredients I need on the top part of the list. It's not too hard to look ahead one week at what we have going on--what kid activities are near dinnertime--and then place meals in the plan based on how much prep and eating time we'll have. I couldn't do this for a whole month, but it works for a week at a time.

[HS Mom in NC]

I clean out my refrigerator before I meal plan.  

If I'm in use it up mode then I:

1. Look at what I have in the freezer, pantry and fridge and make notes about what needs using up. 

2. Choose recipes in my tried-and-true recipe folder that uses those ingredients,write those dishes down and pull those recipes out of the binder and put them in a single pile.  When I do that I'm  about making enough for leftovers for lunch the next day (or for freezing for later) or a dish where those leftovers can be the basis of a second incarnation.  For example, the left over baked chicken for dinner on one night can be chicken salad sandwiches for lunch the next day. Left over pot roast one night can be barbacoa in tortillas for lunch.

 

3. Come up with other recipes from the tried-and-true recipe folder or my want-to-try recipe folder to fill in recipes for the rest of the days.

 

4. Group recipes by shared ingredients. For example, several things I make use basil so I put my recipes with basil together so they can be scheduled the same part of the week.  I make sure the large package of basil goes on my grocery list because it's the most economical option IF I use it all up.

5. I have bought groceries for 2 weeks' worth of foods, planning the recipes with the ingredients that go bad quickly for the beginning of the first week and recipes with ingredients with the longest shelf lives at the end of the two weeks.  This principle can be applied to weekly grocery shopping too. That frozen hambone in the freezer is simmered with white beans and those won't go bad quickly, so they're scheduled at the end of the planned period.

6.  If I'm planning out for a month, I get everything penciled in in the order I plan to eat them and then decide if I want my grocery lists to have half a week's or a full week's or a fortnight's worth of ingredients in them.  Then I write out the grocery list(s) and plan my shopping trips accordingly.

7. I do make a rough draft grocery list as I go through the recipes for the list(s) item by item.  If 3 recipes use carrots, I write tick marks next to the word carrots so I know how many recipes or pounds of that item I need total. 

8.  I make the final grocery list(s) based on the layout of the store.  All the produce items are listed together.  All the dairy are listed together.  Basically, each major section of the grocery store is accounted for on my list with the ingredients found in that section so I don't have to walk back and forth all over the place. It may take a little longer to do a list that way, but I can sit and drink a cup of tea and watch my favorite reruns while I do it which is far better for me than walking across the grocery store a couple of times.  I hate to shop.  I want to get in, get it, and get out as soon as possible.

 

9.  I go through each list while looking in my fridge, pantry and freezer so I can mark off what I already have on hand. 

10.  Go shopping.

Note* If I'm not in use it up mode and I'm trying new things I keep the meal plan and the grocery lists so I can reuse them for another trip in the future.  Why not maximize all that time spent on planning and making the lists?

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

 

Note* If I'm not in use it up mode and I'm trying new things I keep the meal plan and the grocery lists so I can reuse them for another trip in the future.  Why not maximize all that time spent on planning and making the lists?

 

 

 

I like that idea!

 

A friend of mine keeps a meal journal rather than a meal plan (well, in addition to, actually).  Just a month calendar page where she writes down what the ACTUALLY ate, sides and all.  Then six months later, if she's stumped for ideas, she can pull out an old calendar and grab ideas from it.

[Slache]

I currently plan weekly because our freezer broke. :(

 

Saturday - Meal 1

Sunday - Meal 2

Monday - Meal 3

Tuesday - Leftover Meal 1

Wednesday - Leftover Meal 2

Thursday - Leftover Meal 3

Friday - Pizza

 

How I Do Once A Month Cooking

Posted on May 25, 2015

1

It’s actually more like once a month prep work. I like my meals fresh. Our menu plan is based on the purchase of meat because it is the most expensive and we purchase it in bulk at discount pricing, usually from New Seasons and Costco.

DAY ONE

1. Decide on meat purchase.

2. Find recipes, usually a combination of old favorites and new ones I found on Pinterest.

3. Decide on menu plan. We plan 4 meals a week that I cook, one of which is vegetarian, and live on leftovers the rest of the week. We always have taco soup and burgers on standby. We do not eat this on Monday, this on Tuesday, and this on Wednesday, we eat this, then this, then this. The food runs out when it runs out.

4. Create the shopping list. Buy EVERYTHING except for fresh fruits and veggies. We go to Costco once a month and get apples, oranges, salad stuff, carrots, etc. To make the shopping list I have 2 pieces of paper, one for Winco and one for Costco, divided by a giant cross. The 4 areas represent the 4 areas of the store. Add things by recipe so you buy as much in bulk as possible.

DAY TWO

5. Go shopping.

6. Prepare food. I do not cook anything except for casseroles I plan to freeze, and meat for certain soups. All of my meat, veggies, soup etc. goes in freezer bags or Pyrex dishes uncooked so that it is as freshly made as possible. Everything that is reserved for a recipe, but was not opened gets a sticker on it to show that it’s off limits. If we bought an 8 pack of cream of mushroom soup but only need six then only six get stickers and the other two are available for days when my husband wants to do something creative. This way we always have what we need and never need to run to the store.

It’s easier than most people make it. You don’t have to cook everything twice, you don’t have to go to 7 different stores and you don’t have to have it all down to a science. We’ve made mistakes and had chicken for 2 weeks. Matt’s had to stop at the store for a can of tomato paste. It’s OK. It’s still a much better lifestyle than cooking everyday, unless you love cooking. We eat better and cheaper than most, with less effort.

 

[cintinative]

I try to do a month at a time.

 

I buy meat when it is on sale so I might move a recipe within the month if that meat hasn't gone on sale yet and I know it will (e.g. pork chops).

 

I have large notecards which have a protein name at the top:  chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian, etc. (DH hates fish)  On each notecard I have listed the recipe we have tried and liked (not ones I have not tried), notes about the cooking method (crockpot, baking time if it is long, prep time if it is long, etc.) and a rating.

 

When I sit down to do my meal planning I try to do four meals with three days of leftovers. If your family eats more this will not work for you. I get out my cards, and I try to mix up beef, chicken, veggie, pork within a week. I might do chicken twice in a week but generally will not do that for beef or pork. The cards save me a lot of time as I have everything right there that we like. If I want to add in new recipes then those will get mixed in with the existing tried and true ones. 

 

I grocery shop every week.  I am looking to stock my freezer for meat if I am low and something is on sale. I am buying veggies and other ingredients for the recipes if I don't have them. Other than that, I am buying lunch foods if we are out, milk, eggs, snacks, etc.  

 

I hope this makes sense!  

[frugalmamatx]

 

I currently plan weekly because our freezer broke. :(

 

Saturday - Meal 1

Sunday - Meal 2

Monday - Meal 3

Tuesday - Leftover Meal 1

Wednesday - Leftover Meal 2

Thursday - Leftover Meal 3

Friday - Pizza

 

How I Do Once A Month Cooking

Posted on May 25, 2015

1

It’s actually more like once a month prep work. I like my meals fresh. Our menu plan is based on the purchase of meat because it is the most expensive and we purchase it in bulk at discount pricing, usually from New Seasons and Costco.

 

 

 

THank you for posting this - I'm actually really wanting to do some type of OMAC hybrid, and once a month prep sounds great. I'd like some cassarole type stuff for nights when I'm not feeling like a full cooking though. And Meat / produce are our biggest costs as well, so I do need to shop sales. Do you find that you do better shopping sales for those weekly vs monthly? I have noticed most months here there are better meat sales at the end of the month {which is when my grocery budget is gone normally}

 

But leftovers at our house are the next day's lunches. Once in a while maybe lunch the day after that. I don't plan or cook lunch 90% of the time - it's just leftovers. 

[frugalmamatx]

I try to do a month at a time.

 

I buy meat when it is on sale so I might move a recipe within the month if that meat hasn't gone on sale yet and I know it will (e.g. pork chops).

 

I have large notecards which have a protein name at the top:  chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian, etc. (DH hates fish)  On each notecard I have listed the recipe we have tried and liked (not ones I have not tried), notes about the cooking method (crockpot, baking time if it is long, prep time if it is long, etc.) and a rating.

 

When I sit down to do my meal planning I try to do four meals with three days of leftovers. If your family eats more this will not work for you. I get out my cards, and I try to mix up beef, chicken, veggie, pork within a week. I might do chicken twice in a week but generally will not do that for beef or pork. The cards save me a lot of time as I have everything right there that we like. If I want to add in new recipes then those will get mixed in with the existing tried and true ones. 

 

I grocery shop every week.  I am looking to stock my freezer for meat if I am low and something is on sale. I am buying veggies and other ingredients for the recipes if I don't have them. Other than that, I am buying lunch foods if we are out, milk, eggs, snacks, etc.  

 

I hope this makes sense!  

 

It does make sense actually! And I am totally going to steal your notecard idea! I need to build a repertoire of paleo friendly recipes that we have tried and liked. Right now they are all in my pintrest folder for paleo, but there are also untried ones mixed in. I could easily do a different color notecard for beef / chicken / fish / breakfasts / sides / desserts. And put a flag or star on the top for ones that are easy enough for dd to make on her own since she is starting to learn to cook this year.  

[TeenagerMom]

I use 5dinners1hour. They actually have a menu that gives you an entire month at a time (minus 2 nights a week).  I love not having to come up with what to eat. I just print my menu, buy my groceries and go!

[Sarah CB]

I do a three week rotating schedule - and I repeat it at least three times.

 

So, I have a fall schedule now with three weeks worth of meals and I think I'm on round 3 of it now. I make up grocery lists for each of the weeks and try to do one big shop at the beginning of the week and then if I need fresh produce or milk I'll do a smaller shop mid-week.

 

The nice thing about a rotating schedule is that if you need things that you wouldn't normally use every day - like rice wine vinegar or sundried tomatoes, you will have them on hand for the next time through the rotation so you'll actually use them up. Also, I like to cook double whenever possible so that when I come back to that week I already have a couple of meals in the freezer. This week I have African Chicken Stew and I also have meatballs in the freezer so cooking will take less time this week.

[sassenach]

I use Plan to Eat, planning a week at a time. 

 

When I shop, I purchase what's on my list, plus anything that I know I'll use and is at a good sale price (meat, especially). When I meal plan, I mostly plan around meat I have in my freezer. 

 

I don't create seasonal menus, but I do tend to drift toward certain meals in season, if that makes sense. 

[Slache]

THank you for posting this - I'm actually really wanting to do some type of OMAC hybrid, and once a month prep sounds great. I'd like some cassarole type stuff for nights when I'm not feeling like a full cooking though. And Meat / produce are our biggest costs as well, so I do need to shop sales. Do you find that you do better shopping sales for those weekly vs monthly? I have noticed most months here there are better meat sales at the end of the month {which is when my grocery budget is gone normally}

 

But leftovers at our house are the next day's lunches. Once in a while maybe lunch the day after that. I don't plan or cook lunch 90% of the time - it's just leftovers. 

 

Until recently we had always bought New Season's meat packs which are $75-$150 and TOTALLY worth it, but I can't do it again until I get a freezer, so I have no idea what I'm doing now. Sorry.

[6packofun]

Similar to the notecard idea, which I love, I just make a list of about 25 meals using what we have (that I KNOW we will still have at any point in the month because it's stored/frozen to last) and based on grocery store flyers.  I don't have a specific formula, but I try to do 1 new recipe per week (so 4 new recipes per month), the 5 extra days are for leftovers or for busy days when I just cannot get it together or I forget to thaw something, beef just 1-2x per week, chicken/pork about 3-4x, per week seafood 2-3x per month, pasta/meatless 4x a month, etc.

 

So I have a sheet that has these headings on it, numbered spaces according to how often I will make them, and I fill in what I want to make.  Then, after shopping, I simply pull from the list as I feel like cooking stuff.  Some days we want a heartier meal and sometimes we just aren't in the mood for pasta or whatever.  I like flexibility WITHIN the structure, kwim?  It doesn't work for us to have "Taco Tuesday" or "Meatless Monday" because we're too busy and all over the place for that.  LOL  I get too discouraged when I have to have XYZ on a certain calendar day and then I fail.   :p

Edited November 22, 2016 by 6packofun

[Meadowlark]

I use Plan to Eat too. I got it at 50% off about this time last year-just love it. They're having another Black Friday sale. I think it's totally worth it!

[chocolate-chip chooky]

My meal planning kind of goes like this:

 

'Ahhhh, it's 5pm, what can I throw together for dinner??'  :willy_nilly:

 

Which, where I am, is right about now, so cue the  :willy_nilly:

[Carrie12345]

Only a week at a time, here.

 

I don't always know what our schedule is going to look like, when dh may have to work late, when an unexpected event might come up for the kids, etc.  I also like to take advantage of as many sales as possible, and my supermarket doesn't give that info until 2 or 3 days before the coming week.

 

I do want to start keeping *ideas* longer term to make weekly planning easier and maybe less expensive (and definitely less like pulling teeth to get thoughts from family members, who would like to eat nothing but tacos and breakfast foods every night.)  But actually PLANNING too much in advance has backfired for me.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I try to do a month at a time.

 

I buy meat when it is on sale so I might move a recipe within the month if that meat hasn't gone on sale yet and I know it will (e.g. pork chops).

 

I have large notecards which have a protein name at the top:  chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian, etc. (DH hates fish)  On each notecard I have listed the recipe we have tried and liked (not ones I have not tried), notes about the cooking method (crockpot, baking time if it is long, prep time if it is long, etc.) and a rating.

 

When I sit down to do my meal planning I try to do four meals with three days of leftovers. If your family eats more this will not work for you. I get out my cards, and I try to mix up beef, chicken, veggie, pork within a week. I might do chicken twice in a week but generally will not do that for beef or pork. The cards save me a lot of time as I have everything right there that we like. If I want to add in new recipes then those will get mixed in with the existing tried and true ones. 

 

I grocery shop every week.  I am looking to stock my freezer for meat if I am low and something is on sale. I am buying veggies and other ingredients for the recipes if I don't have them. Other than that, I am buying lunch foods if we are out, milk, eggs, snacks, etc.  

 

I hope this makes sense!  

 

 

 

I like the notecard idea.  I used to keep an excel sheet with meals broken down by meat-type, but fell out of the habit of looking at it during menu planning time.  The cards could just go where I keep my meal planning notebook.  

[redsquirrel]

I do a week at a time, I guess I could plan for two weeks or a month, but haven't felt the need.  Sometimes, like this week, I plan for 10 days but might still have to run to the store to get a couple fresh vegetables.

 

So, I always look at what I have for raw ingredients.  I also plan out lunches DS1 and dh take to school/work. Some leftovers aren't super conducive to packing for lunch. And this year DS1 doesn't have a lunch period, so he needs stuff he can eat easily in class. I also have to make sure I have fruit and easy to eat veg for lunches.

 

I used to look at the sale fliers, but Wegmans doesn't do that any more.

 

I then look at our schedule for the upcoming week, if the boys have rehearsals then it's going to be a lot of grilled cheese and burritos. I also check the weather. If a week looks unseasonably warm then I adjust accordingly.   

 

I do have a lot of old calendars with meals on them, but I find them to be less useful as the boys get older and our lives have changed. As they get bigger I seem to need a lot more quick meals.

 

I do have some routines, like I make pizza on mondays and on Fridays we have eggs for dinner, we have pasta once a week at most, I try to have a tofu dish at least once a week, and at least once a week I try to make something new...or new-ish, lol.

[FriedClams]

I only do three days at a time now. I'm too moody to do more than that. I find I use stuff much more effectively when I don't have a big stockpile of stuff.

Edited November 21, 2016 by FriedClams

[cintinative]

It does make sense actually! And I am totally going to steal your notecard idea! I need to build a repertoire of paleo friendly recipes that we have tried and liked. Right now they are all in my pintrest folder for paleo, but there are also untried ones mixed in. I could easily do a different color notecard for beef / chicken / fish / breakfasts / sides / desserts. And put a flag or star on the top for ones that are easy enough for dd to make on her own since she is starting to learn to cook this year.  

 

I forgot to say I usually put on the card the location of the recipe (binder, cookbook name, card, etc. and a page number). It really helps speed things up on cooking day for me. 

[KungFuPanda]

Whatever meal planning method I use, it's important for me to have a super-quick emergency meal on hand. Without that meal, I will cave to the ease of getting take-out. It's good to have somthing simple on hand for when you're just not feeling it. Right now it's kielbasa, frozen pierogis, and canned sour kraut and beets. My last quick meal was a Marie Calendar's frozen, family-sized pot pie.

[Melissa in Australia]

ds20 hunts almost all of out meat. He butchers it and puts it into plastic meat bags and puts it in the freezer. Nothing is labelled. Every morning I go out to the freezer and pick out a bag of meat. I hold it up and try and guess what it is. Once I have done that I put it in a screen covered dish on the bench to defrost and plan in my head what I am going to do with it. Occasionally I have a surprise and find out that what I thought was a roast was in fact steaks and vise versa. Once I had a complete surprise and found a bag of rabbit heads :ohmy: ( ds apparently was saving them as bait for trapping a wild dog) he has strict instructions to let me know if there is funny stuff in the freezer or next time I will cook it up for his dinner. :coolgleamA:

Edited November 23, 2016 by Melissa in Australia

[Ausmumof3]

ds20 hunts almost all of out meat. He butchers it and puts it into plastic meat bags and puts it in the freezer. Nothing is labelled. Every morning I go out to the freezer and pick out a bag of meat. I hold it up and try and guess what it is. Once I have done that I put it in a screen covered dish on the bench to defrost and plan in my head what I am going to do with it. Occasionally I have a surprise and find out that what I thought was a roast was in fact steaks and vise versa. Once I had a complete surprise and found a bag of rabbit heads :ohmy: ( ds apparently was saving them as bait for trapping a wild dog) he has strict instructions to let me know if there is funny stuff in the freezer or next time I will cook it up for his dinner. :coolgleamA:

Yep we have a few mystery items in our freezer... If they are not gone in the next month they are going out when I defrost and clean it!!!

[MotherGoose]

Re: plan to eat: it's basically just a computer program that digitizes all your recipes, right? You still have to do all the actual planning, getting the recipes, etc.? I have a trial membership and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I don't want to input all the recipes I have hand written or printed out into the computer.