Meal Planning

16 years ago

How do you plan your meals and grocery shopping? Do you plan your meals daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly? Do you grocery shop weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?

I'm thinking of planning my meals for a 2-week period as with the grocery shopping. Maybe monthly is better?

I hate not knowing what I'm going to cook for supper. I find that if the supper is planned, I am more relaxed during the day.

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Comments (10)

gardenguru1950
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When I used to do meal/menu planning for a few clients, I NEVER planned out more than 2 weeks and usually stuck to but one week. I've found that people often simply "don't feel like eating" what's in the plan; for instance, when chicken was planned for a specific day, the client was in the mood for fish. The further out I planned, the more frequent that behavior became.

For me, the exercise was an easy matter of writing basic food groups/types and cooking techniques (mine or the clients' favorites) on 3x5's and pinning them on a cork board that was marked with seven columns.

I didn't get too specific as to what the dish would be on the board but I would stick to making sure that the week was balanced nutritionally as well has having interesting variety.

You, however, could be specific and write down specific recipe titles that you like and put them into a seven-solumn chart.

I like my MasterCook program because it allows me to put together very useful grocery lists.

Joe
Terri_PacNW
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well I've tried to plan menus..and well it doesn't always seem to work.LOL Now I just go with a general idea.
Usually I buy what's on sale (meats) and make the most of the meals from that...add in a few things that we love and then go from there.
This week (gosh I can't believe it's Friday already!)some of the things I bought last Friday (payday) were pork ribs, ground chicken, boneless skinless chicken breasts, NY steaks, pork shoulder roast, 1/2 pork loins (cut those into chops, cubed some and left half of one for a roast), ground turkey, turkey brats and sausages and turkey cutlets. Some went in the freezer and some went in the fridge. So far I used the ribs, ground chicken and some of the turkey cutlets. So next week I have alot of options. Last night I took out the pork loin roast, the pork shoulder and some boneless skinless breasts. Those will become this weekends meals, the chicken will be sauted up tonight for pizza and chicken salad. The Pork shoulder will probably be Monday's meal, plus leftovers for enchiladas later in the week. I often try to make a bit more meat that I know we'll eat in one meal, for planned leftovers later in the week. Saturday will be the loin roast, tomorrow am, I'll take out 2 steaks for Sunday's dinner.
I also throw in breakfast atleast once every two weeks or once a week for dinner. Consists of waffles or pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon or sausage. Stretches the budget and is a no brainer.
I do the bulk of my shopping every two weeks. I add fresh fruit, eggs and bread during that time atleast once if not twice.
Sometimes I can't make what I planned because with 3 boys of different ages..something may come up and I won't have the time to do what I planned..
So I have to have some flexibility and some quickies in the fridge or it's drive thru..and I try to limit that to once every 2 weeks..except during baseball season (soon) then it will be much more often or concession stand food.~but I'm in charge so I have a bit more control over what things we sell.
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For me, planning resulted in much less waste. I'd plan things I liked, then after a day or two would be leftover day or perhaps plan it into a hotdish, stew, chili or something. When I have to scavenge the pantry to feed, there's a good chance of leftovers that become science projects. Those days of good planning and a well organized house are pretty much gone. Physical limitations prohibit a lot of those activities. There's days now that I feel like a decent meal, but physically can't handle the effort. So those days I go without, or go out. I usually try to keep something, whether it's some summer sausage and cheese or (ugh) even a tv dinner in the freezer to put something in me. I used to be able to do a peanut butter sandwich as last resort but I don't keep much bread around anymore. I don't like making special trips to the store. Staying out of stores and you don't spend. Plus I find it a disgusting waste of my time to go for one or two things. To give up the 1/2 hour or so of my life for that repulses me to no end. I don't enjoy shopping of any kind. Grocery shopping included. Lately I've had a hankering for a hotdish, chili or meatloaf. Especially meatloaf. I'll probably do a combination. Problem is, for meatloaf I'd have to hit the store but that can still work out well if I make a good sized meatloaf and eat on it for a couple days, then make chili (or stew or sloppy joes or hotdish or a rice dish or whatever) from the leftover. That way I won't get tired of it so easily, I'll eat better and waste less. Unless I say to heck with it and head to the hog trough...
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This is the meal plan I've followed for years and perhaps it and the others I've posted will help you out a bit to build one for yourself. I like it because I can switch days or leave them out completely if necessary. Many of the basic foods are prepared in advance and portioned in the freezer in serving sizes (2 people for us). That would include spaghetti sauce, freezer mashed potatoes, soup/stew/chili, taco meat, etc. You could easily rearrange the choices to work best for you. I don't like to work out a "perfect" menu, but I like the guidelines I've set out for myself. I know if I have a few simple ingredients on hand - shredded cheese, lettuce and other fresh veggies, and a well-stocked freezer, no meal is very far away. MONDAY: Big Meal Includes a large cut of meat that will also serve as leftovers, possibly sandwich meat, base for stir fry; and served with all the "normal" side dishes that go along with that type of meat. Usually there is enough leftover to freeze a portion to use later. Baked chicken or roast beef also get used to make soup. Occasionally when I don't have time to make the whole meal from scratch I'll use whatever has been waiting the freezer (leftover roast turkey or beef, etc.) TUESDAY: Leftovers It may take on a completely different look than what was served on Monday - your choice. If you don't like leftovers the next day, use them on Wednesday instead. WEDNESDAY: Stir-fry If you prepared vegetables on Monday or Tuesday that can be prepared in advance to include in this meal you'll save time by chopping enough on the previous days. Use a combination of fresh and frozen veggies. Almost any kind of meat can be used for stir-fry - both raw or pre-cooked. Serve with a side of rice and fresh fruit for dessert. I might take a large amount of meat (chicken or steak for instance) and cook it and portion it for the freezer and used later for more stir-fry meals, or used as the meat topping on a dinner salad, or used in a wrap on sandwich day. THURSDAY: International Usually something Italian or Mexican using spaghetti sauce and some kind of pasta or taco meat (which are already portioned in the freezer). Both meat bases can be used in a plethora of things. FRIDAY: Vegetarian A great way to save on our most expensive food item - meat. If you don't have time for a traditional breakfast, it could be a good time for pancakes or crepes. Something egg, cheese or bean based. SATURDAY: Soup and/or Sandwich We're always busy on Saturday, so instead of eating out, having the freezer stocked with homemade soup and fixings for sandwiches on hand (as well as wraps and other sandwich-type things) saves time and money. SUNDAY: Homemade Pizza or a Dinner Salad Homemade pizza is a good way to use up small amounts of leftover meat and clean the vegetable bin. When the weather is too hot for baking pizza, or the garden is in full swing, those same meat and vegetable ingredients make a great dinner salad. All meals include nature's "FAST FOOD" which are fresh vegetables of some kind and fresh or canned fruit for dessert. The freezer is stocked with homemade tortillas, homemade burger and hot dog buns, homemade dinner rolls, cornbread (all wrapped in foil in servings for one or two) ready to reheat. ------------------------------------------------------ Here's another eating plan I jotted down from a book I read years ago: -Meat on Sunday and Wednesday -Casseroles/Leftovers Monday and Thursday -Pasta - Tuesday -Fish, eggs, cheese - Friday -Soup and or Sandwich - Saturday -------------------------------------------- This one I read on-line: Monday - Pasta Tuesday - Soup, salad, and/or sandwiches Wednesday - Stir-fry Thursday - Crock-pot Friday - Pizza Saturday - Something new Sunday - Something easy -Grainlady
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We grow what we like to eat, first and foremost, so that we are motivated to eat it later on regardless of how it is preserved. My first preference always is to eat fresh, in season, but the reality is that if you only eat fresh, in-season food, then you may find yourself eating so much food during its relatively brief fresh season (like asparagus, for example) that you get sick of it, but then later on you find yourself craving it out of season. I love aspragus but even I don't want to eat it every day during the couple of months it is producing,so we eat it fresh several days a week and freeze the rest. I try to freeze in the manner that is most productive for cooking later on---for example, cutting the produce into bite sized pieces before freezing it and freezing it in batches that are the right size for a meal. That makes cooking it quick and easy in the off-season. 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Third, huge amounts of fossil fuels weren't used to transport the food from our garden to our house and that matters to me. I don't know how long we as a world can keep transporting food an average of 1500 miles from the place where it is grown to the grocery stores where it is sold. To me, growing and eating our own produce is part of our effort to live a more sustainable lifestyle that is not based on burning excessive fossil fuels. There are gazillions of ways to use fresh food. You can, for example, make sorbet out of almost anything you raise in terms of fruit, or you can make chips---I like kale chips and okra chips. Frozen food can be used in many ways. It is all about how you choose to use your time. I have tons of vegetable cookbooks with creative ways for using produce, so that we don't get stuck in a rut and eat the same old produce cooked the same old way every time. Some of my favorite veggie cookbooks are very old ones from Southern Living magazine, published decades ago when cooking meals from scratch was still considered an important art, not a waste of time. My time goes into the garden, harvesting the produce, cooking with it, and preserving it. That is the choice I make. I get somewhat amused at gardeners (and I bet we all know people like this) who grow all kinds of food, and take photos of their harvest and post those photos almost daily, but who rarely eat the food they grow. I feel like the 'social media generation' (who often are quite a bit younger than I am) love gardening for a different reason than I do---some of them seem to love it for the joy of growing the food and of photographing it and putting it on their FB pages, but they may not yet have mastered actually using very much of it. I have high hopes that their love of growing it eventually will lead to them actually using it for more than photos. Some young adults who grew up on convenience food and fast food have to make a very concerted effort to learn how to prepare and use the produce they raise because, perhaps, they didn't grow up in a home where meals regularly were prepared from scratch. I feel very lucky because my dad always grew produce and cooked from scratch (and he canned as well), while my mom abhorred the work involved in doing that, so when she cooked, it was often using convenience foods. This led to an amusing conversation with my brother in the early 2000s when he remarked that our mom didn't make very special meals on weekends, but that the weekend meals were great. I looked at him, wondering what planet he was from, and informed him that was because our dad did the bulk of the weekend cooking. I couldn't believe my brother grew up in the same household and never made the connection between the weekday vs. weekend meals and who was doing the cooking. It make me laugh out loud and ask him if he wasn't paying attention to who was in the kitchen in our childhood! He seemed completely baffled as our other siblings and I assure him that it was indeed Dad who was largely producing those great weekend meals. As an adult, I made a deliberate choice to pursue gardening, cooking and canning like my dad did and to largely avoid convenience food cooking. Have grown up eating both kinds of meals, I knew what I preferred and that was what I wanted for our family too. When I am in the garden, as much as I enjoy being out there, I never lose sight of the fact that my garden is a working garden. I'm not out there to play around, take photos, visit with friends, conduct garden tours, or to sit in a nice chair, sipping a glass of iced tea, and chilling and relaxing. That is not my reality. Particularly, I am out in the garden to work hard quickly (to both beat the heat and avoid the snakes), bring in the harvest and spend the rest of the day using it and preserving it. It is a job, truly, and not a hobby or a past-time, but it is a job I love and a job I enjoy doing overall, though there are occasional days that I hate it because I find myself working from sunrise until well after dark and that gets tiring. So, yes, we use what we grow, but it is because we choose to do that, and because we have developed the self-discipline to use what we grow and to not waste it. If we aren't using it, I yank it out and replace it with something we will use. Right now, with all our tomato preservation needs met/exceeded for this year, I am yanking out tomato plants right and left and replacing them with new crops for fall. It is a somewhat thankless task to be doing this on a hot July day, but I do it because I want to have a great harvest in late summer, autumn and winter. It also leaves some of my tomato-growing friends (who don't preserve their harvest) appalled that I remove plants still capable of producing, but I always keep enough tomato plants for fresh eating, and anything beyond that is a waste of space because I'm through preserving tomatoes for this year. Because we live in a rural area where families are very tied to the land and many gardens are multi-generational, where the grandparents, parents and grandkids (and sometimes great-grandparents and great-grandkids) all eat from the garden and help preserve the food from it, I had lots of encouragement and support from some of those multigeneration garden families in our neighborhood when I first started growing/preserving our food here. Mostly, though, they just served as an inspiration for me---I wanted to grow enough food to put up huge harvests like they did. As time went on and our garden produced all we could use and preserve, I noticed that these same multigenerational family gardens all hit the same point that mine did---the production level reached a point where nobody wanted to can another tomato. It became amusing as one friend or another would call and ask if we wanted or needed any more tomatoes (or okra or whatever) because they were through with their canning for the year and their plants still were producing. Many of them, like me, were growing 100-200 tomato plants in spring to meet their fresh eating and preservation needs. It made me realize we all were just alike---growing more than we can eat even though we preserve a great deal of it. To live this sort of edible gardening lifestyle is a deliberate choice. If you like gardening, but don't like using or preserving the produce, then why not just switch over to more ornamental gardening and less edible gardening? Our garden is multipurpose, providing not only fresh and preserved fruits, veggies and herbs, but also flowers for cut flower bouquets and pumpkins, gourds, amaranth and other ornamental decorative items for fall porch displays or table displays. If I don't fill up a lot of our growing space with flowers and only use it all for edibles, I'd never sleep because I'd be too busy preserving food. There's always room to grow some ornamental/decorative items or to grow compost crops to feed the compost pile or to grow cover crops to hold the soil When you are preserving food, why not use it later on? It is so wasteful to grow it and preserve it but then not to use it. I am happy every single time that we walk through a grocery store and aren't buying food that I have a home---whether that food is fresh and sitting on the kitchen counter or in the fridge, or if it is frozen, dehydrated, fermented, canned, etc. I love breezing through the produce section and only buying, let's say, lettuce, bananas, apples and grapes in summer or cranberries in fall or whatever. I love skipping the frozen food section (except to buy waffles and ice cream) because our own home-grown food fills the freezer. There's a part of me that gets very tired of the summer workload, but not tired enough to stop doing it. Every time there is news of yet another food-induced illness involving salonella, e. coli, etc. on produce, I am grateful we raise our own and don't have to risk bringing home some disease on grocery-store produce. I don't even like buying lettuce in summer, but Tim must have his salad, so we buy it and then we just have to hope we aren't buying contaminated produce. I'm happier fall through spring when we have our own lettuce and salad greens. Many people go to the grocery store and buy food and plan their meals around that purchased food and there's nothing wrong with that, but we are exactly the opposite when we go to the store. We already have planned our meals based around the food we have, whether fresh or preserved, and we just buy whatever we might need to make those meals complete. That's our preference, always. When we eat something like a purchased pizza, I still always joke with my family that "I grew this on the pizza tree out back" and we laugh. I do can pizza sauce and we do make homemade pizzas too, but there is room in everyone's life for a little fast food or convenience food as well. Dawn
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Since refrigeration space is an issue, I'd look at ordering irradiated milk. One thing we used to take camping, was those specialty dry Italian sausages. They are great for mini-charcuterie boards for snack times/lunches, but can also be thrown into omelettes, pizzas, etc. Also, our favourite specialty cheeses come completely wrapped in a wax outer cover and keep forever. Do take things like garlic, shallots, ginger that don't need refrigeration, but are essential if fish is caught. However, don't count on fish being caught. I'm addicted to sailing vlogs and it seems that sometimes there are not as many fish waiting to take a hook as you might think. Very jealous. As I said, I'm addicted to sailing vlogs and I'm trying to convince the rest of my family to come on a charter with me in Panama next winter. So far they are unconvinced, but I've got a whole year to work on them.
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triciae
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I cook from a food storage program. So, I've always got a wide selection of meats in the freezer & staples on hand. I only shop periodically for produce & dairy. We restock the food storage twice/year. The meat is delivered to the house so it's not a huge amount of work but getting in the staples is a real chore. But, then I don't have to do it for another 6 months...sweet.

With the storage program, it's pretty easy to plan meals. I like to make the mess once & eat twice so I plan for leftovers. I also keep bags of freshly diced trinity in my freezer in one-cup sizes since it seems I use them in almost everything.

I also make up a lot of side dishes & freeze in individual portions. Same with breads of all types. Also desserts. When it's meal time, I can usually just browse through what's in the freezer already prepared & cook an entree...and dinner's done.

/tricia
khandi
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks! There's a Food Network Canada show called "Fixing Dinner". The professional meal planner visits a family and watchs a video tape of how they eat their meals. She checks out the kitchen organization and pantry, asks their dislikes and likes of foods, and then makes a 1-month meal plan that includes recipes and a grocery shopping list. For a 1-week period, she only believes in a 5-day meal plan which leaves 2 days for leftovers or takeout.
cooperbailey
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
triciae, what is a food storage program? Sue
lindac
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Of course I live alone....but I had a housefull for a week at Christmas....and cooked for a family for a lot of years.
But I rarely "plan" a meal. I shop for what looks good or is cheap or what I am currently hungry for....and make sure I always have things like frozen chicken breasts, some pesto, home made spaghetti sauce, frozen veggies and I can toss together a meal about any time.
When the kids were out of the house and both of us were working, we would come home from work, meet in the solariun for a drink and talk about our day and then I would say..."What would you like for dinner?' and start to cook. I tried to ba sure there was always some sort of fresh meat to work with, but we ate like a 5 star restraunt almost every night. However I can't tell you the number of times I had pork chops in the refrig....and could think of nothing but that frozen spaghetti and meatballs...or want to make a simple broccoli cheese soup.
Not much for planning specific meals...rather I will think, this week we'll have a pork roast and salmon and hamburgers and chicken....then decide that night what to do with the meat.
My food storage program is a freezer..LOL! And some things stay in there longer than 6 months...because I change my mind!
Linda C
rosecmd
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I plan my meals (dinners) for the following week on sunday, based on our school & work schedules for the upcoming week. I work part-time so planning the next few meals & getting to the store mid-week is easy for me. I do keep a few things in the freezer, but I'm not a big freezer person overall. I usually plan out three-four weekday meals ahead of time based on what I have in the freezer or pantry, or what I feel like eating! I am a nutritionist, so healthy eating is important to me. I have a loose rule of planning out three items for dinner. Here is the next few days:

Saturday: dinner out at a wonderful local restaurant Grapeseed with friends!

Sunday: veggie soup (brocolli, fennel, onion, potato) with homemade pzzas - chicken pesto & a plain one for my picky 10 year old daughter, some kind of fruit

Monday: Marilyn's salmon burgers (which I love), leftover soup, salad

Tuesday: (an in-office work day for me): grilled teriyaki blsl chicken thighs; jasmine rice; peas

Wednesday: I can get to the market today, so maybe Cooking Light's scallop & shrimp fettucine; some kind of veggie; some kind of fruit - we eat a lot of frozen veggies, some fresh if they looked good in the market, a lot of salads, and I often put fresh fruit on the table for dinner - lately cut up oranges or apples & strawberries, which have been from Florida and just fantastic

Thursday: In office day so maybe some grilled hamburgers made with Laura's lean beef & served on Pepperidge Farm's whole wheat buns...sauteed mushrooms & cheddar on top; salad, or veggie or both or fruit. Alexa onion rings would be nice with this meal- these are a frozen product that get baked in the oven, they are deicious. Or, maybe we;ll get home & be tired and decide to have leftovers or what I call "chicken nugget night" - which is Whole Foods Bell & Evans chicken tenders, along with something easy like Barilla whole grain macaroni w/butter, parmesan & peas - kind of a wing it meal out of freezer & pantry boxes..raw veggies & ranch dressing mught round out this type of meal.

So, this is how I do it. I could not plan meals weeks in advance, that would be overwhelming and would drive me nuts. I think it all depends on your lifestyle, how much time or interest you have to cook on a particular day, what you keep in your pantry and freezer, and what your family's likes & dislikes are. We like to eat a variety of foods, and my basic style of cooking and approach to meals is tasty, reasonably fast, & healthy. I use a moderate amount of healthy fats (olive & canola) in our food, lots of fresh herbs especially in the summer, lots of veggies, whole grains when possible, and fruits. We eat all types of lean meats, poultry & fish. I love one-pot meals. We use regular butter - LOL unsalted for baking and their spreadable butter w/ canola oil for toast, etc. I prefer to use and eat smaller amounts of quality real ingredients rather than eat overly processed, "fake" food and this is also the philosophy I teach my clients.
triciae
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
cooperbailey,

A 'Food Storage Program' is generally considered to mean that you maintain one year's food supply for each family member. This pretty much necessitates cooking from scratch most things. We love the variety always available & the ease of meal prep.

My DIL loves to rummage through my pantry. She says it's better stocked than her grocery store! lol

One of my sisters married into a Mormon family & although I'm not Mormon she convined me of the benefits enough I've been doing it since the early 1980s. Rotation is the key.

/tricia
grainlady_ks
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I work from a food storage "pantry" like tricia. I only have the freezer on my side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, but this is more than enough freezer storage for hubby and me.

I get groceries once a week ($50 food budget) - usually loss leaders, fresh fruit/vegetables, and no more than 25% ($12.50) of my food budget gets spent on meat.

I only plan supper - breakfast and lunch tend to take care of themselves without extensive planning because of leftovers and food in individual sizes in the freezer (like soup, chili, stew, sandwich meats/spreads, homemade mini pizzas, etc.). We eat a hearty breakfast. I never purchase commercial cereals, but depend on whole grains that I keep in storage. I make my own flakes, farina and multi-grain cereals for cooked cereal, and mill our flour.

My meal planning is flexible and more theme-like than exact. Any one day can be moved to another. It might include a loss-leader from the weekly grocery shopping. My planning looks something like this:

Monday - Big Meal (roast beef, roast chicken or turkey breast, pork roast, meat loaf, etc.). Something that will provide leftovers for a lunch or two, and at least one more meal.

Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday. This can turn into any number of things based on Monday.

Wednesday - Vegetarian or Low-Meat Meal. Often this will be a stir-fry or egg- or bean-based dish.

Thursday - Something with hamburger (or ground turkey or bison), including meaty red spaghetti sauce or a Mexican something-er-other, sloppy joes on homemade multi-grain sandwich rolls, Bisquick-based Impossible Pies.... The meat sauce, browned burger, or meat mixture (spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, stroganoff, etc.) are usually already portioned and in the freezer and are thawed during the day in the refrigerator. Boil the pasta or warm the tortillas or taco shells and make the other fixin's and you have a quick meal. I always have cheese grated in the refrigerator, shredded lettuce and other veggies ready-to-eat. Thursday is a busy day for me, so I rely on the freezer.

I also have all breads (which are homemade) portioned and in the freezer - dinner rolls, burger/hot dog buns, corn bread, tortillas, etc. I don't purchase breads of any kind.

Friday - We often go out to dinner with friends, but we might have another vegetarian night, which could include something as simple as grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade Dill Bread and vegetable soup (from the freezer), or a nice dinner salad (especially in the summer) cheese or hummas, bread and fruit.

Saturday - Sandwich night. We're always busy on Saturday, so sandwiches (of all types, including wraps, quesadillas, paninis), a tossed salad or veggies of some kind, and fresh/frozen/canned fruit work well. When the kids were still at home, this night was called "every man for himself" night. A good way to clear out the refrigerator and anything goes, including breakfast type foods.

Sunday - We usually make a homemade pizza. Good way to use up small amounts of leftover meat and veggies from the previous week. In the summer it will be a salad or vegetable feast from the garden, good cheese and homemade breads.

I depend on whole foods and don't really do all that much cooking. I spend my kitchen time baking, not cooking.

We follow the old Basic Four for food intake for the day. This plan gives us some guidelines so that we cover all the basic food groups daily.

Bread & Cereal - 4 servings
Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings (or more)
Meat/Alternative - 2 servings
Milk/Dairy - 2 servings

Snacks are air-popped popcorn, crispy almonds/pecans, homemade granola, dehydrated zucchini "chips", dehydrated apples, veggies/fruit, homemade kefir....

I also try to make at least one new dish each week to keep from getting into a food-rut.

-Grainlady
leel
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Meal planning??? What's that? It depends--on several things. First, do I even feel like cooking; 2nd, if yes, what do I feel like having? 3rd; Is there time for that? 4th; Would we rather go out? Or, 5th; Would we rather just have some cereal and milk?

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