Sometimes but not always. There are weeks where I will run to the store daily depending on what we want to eat. Sometimes I just buy a weeks worth of "stuff." Stuff I know I can use to throw together something. We are not really menu planning people. We eat what we want in that moment. I guess we both grew up in homes with "eat whatever I cooked or STARVE!" attitudes and neither of us are fond of that type of thinking. Some days,like today, I will cook two completely different meals for us. He got pork chops, purple hull peas and creamed corn from the freezer, cornbread and mashed potatoes, and I had a homemade cheeseburger and a salad.

And neither of us like leftovers either.

I usually plan a few meals per week, but don't always get to them. If I had a big family at home and a tight budget, I'd probably plan rigorously. But probably do what they did on the farms when my mother was growing up, and keep a pot of chili, a pot of beans, and tortillas in a warmer, ready for making a quick walking burrito, or an off time meal. Good, hearty and cheap. And a bowl of fruit. Any snaking between planned meals covered that way, and actual meals more regimented. But as it is, even with the restrictions (until just now), there have been spontaneous delivery in the garden meals and other Interruptions, and business or sleep deprivation cutting into cooking time. So plans chand, and I don't let it fuss me so long as it all gets cooked.

We eat very simply so as long as I have protein and lots of produce, we can make meals. No real need for planning. I agree that I would have to plan if I had children, multiple special dietary needs or a strict budget that I had to satisfy.

I use to sorta meal plan when the kids were at home, but quickly made meals from what we had on hand or just bought at the store once they were gone.

Now.... our Clan Feasts are another matter entirely what with being planned weeks in advance because that quantity of meat has to be pre-ordered.

Alas, this year will require little planning as no Holiday Feast will be had. (At least that is my expectation.)

I'm useless at planning. I also buy food, then get creative. Thank goodness for the internet for ideas.

Back when I went to grocery stores, I'd see something that looked nice to cook, and wandered around the store making up a recipe and picking up ingredients. :) That's what I meant by "planning". :)

If I had to actually plan meals that would be an extra step and I have never done that is all of this half a century of feeding a family and cooking.

We buy and keep a good variety of different foods on a regular basis and that is what will be on the dinner table.

Meal planning sounds so tedious!!!

However, if plotting what exactly will be on the dinner table this evening counts as meal planning...........I do begin to plot and plan early in the day. I call than "composing the meal".

My planning mainly consists of getting some sort of meat out of the freezer in the morning or the day before. Failing that I wing it or go pick up some Chinese or Mexican which are the only options within 10 miles.

I prefer to meal plan but have fallen down on doing it. When I was working and had a child at home, it was absolutely necessary. However, now it is just DH and I. My meal planning would be 10 or so meals which would last us 14-15 days using leftovers and eating out. I would have a grocery list so that I would know I had all the ingredients on hand. I am still a list shopper, but without a meal plan, it is more just a list of what we are out of or low on.

My meal planning always started as a calendar, but it was flexible. If roast were on the calendar for Monday, but we wanted it on Sunday, then it was prepared on Sunday and Sunday’s dish slipped to another slot on the calendar. The only thing that was pretty inflexible was spinach quiche for dinner on the day DD had violin lessons. Hmmmm....maybe that was why she gave up violin. 😂

Even though it will only be DH and I on Christmas Day, I’m going to do a meal plan to make sure I have all the ingredients and also to bring into focus what we are having for dinner. In years past, Christmas Eve has been party food or seafood gumbo. I‘m not sure what I’m going to prepare on Christmas Eve this year. One of the local restaurants made Tourtiere last week. Isn’t that traditional for Canadians on Christmas Eve? Didn’t Ann_t have a good recipe?

I meal plan as far as deciding to fix something I like or crave and then buying or making sure I have all the necessary ingredients on hand. I might make it tomorrow....or I might make it next week or next month.

That's as far as any planning goes. What I fix or eat on any given day is very much up in the air.

Yes and no. With COVID, I feed six most nights. I shop my
freezer on Sunday and pull out what I plan on using for the week. Sometimes I
plan a main course dish and other times I wing it. I tend to go with the flow.
For example, a customer of ours owns a bakery. He gave me several loaved of
French bread so we had French bread pizza this week. I topped it with cheese
ends and marked down bacon burgers form the local butcher and slivered red onions which I had on hand. I shredded the
cheese and crumbled and scrambled the
burgers. I always have homemade sauce in the freezer so it was easy.

I made extra pizzas and froze them for later and I froze the
extra cooked bacon burger meat for a twist on Shepherd’s Pie at a later date.

I do plan when I am entertaining or for holidays but the
remainder of the time I adapt.

It's always been just 2 of us. We both cook now that we're retired. Pre-Covid, we would go to the grocery stores frequently and make meals from what suited our fancy. Now, we only go once/week (between 6-6:30 am) with lists in hand. I divide the list in two - DH goes to one end of the store & I shop in the other. We're in and out in about 20 minutes that way.

We keep track of staples we're out of, and add to the list things to complete meals with for the week. Sometimes we cook big batches of things like chili and soups to have a meal and then freeze in portions for later - when we don't feel like cooking. We do plan our meals for a week, now, and typically cook so we have leftovers for the next or alternate day. Both of us like leftovers - the work and dishes are already done!

seagrass

Wholesale every 6-7 weeks. Delivery tomorrow. We will be good through January with a fresh veg Misfits every other week. I just plan a day at a time or two days. Lunches included in a dinner meal for the next day. After tomorrow we have two weeks just the two of us. All about meals and tending home chores. Looking forward to a home holiday.

One special seafood order for the holidays. Lobster, crab, oysters, etc.

No store shopping. All deliveries. Pre-covid we had misc once a week stops for what is needed but not doing that. More choices than ever and so much cheaper than before. Adjustment planning ahead. Have learned so much this year about local farm shares and prepping ahead. No waste in the crisper drawer. Enjoying the challenge.

Kind of both meal plan and go on the fly. I do stuff like prep bags of stew veggies or make fish cakes or burritos and trays of casseroles and such for the freezer... then apply on the fly fairly often. I also have bigger stuff that once I cook that, gotta plan some meals around it. Thanksgiving turkey is one that a lot of us have done recently. Or the hambone for...

Now that I've been getting Misfits boxes, a bit more planning. Like what produce will cook up with what from the freezer and pantry for the week. Or what to make to restock the freezer and pantry with :)

I got inspired by a couple folks here to do micro greens again, and enjoying the planning and using of that. Also expanding into scraps to regrow again on the windowsill. I've tried all sorts of tail ends of stuff from the Misfits boxes, and a lot of stuff will regrow a bit into a second cutting. So that's been playing too into meal planning.

I do go out regularly to our little local grocer. And check out the produce area for clearance or the managers meat case for deals. If I get something, that gets first meal planning once I get home.

I meal plan for the weekend when DH is at home, to make sure we have the ingredients as the butcher I use is closed on the weekend and the grocery is half an hour away. Sometimes plans change and what I've bought goes into the freezer for the following weekend.

Not as much as I should. I have freezers full of venison, beef, chicken and pork, lots of eggs in the refrigerator and all my canned vegetables from the garden, as well as the onions/potatoes/butternut in storage. I seldom "need" to go to the grocery store, other than for specialty ingredients, paper products or dairy. I go through the storage area and sort out any squash or potatoes that may be getting soft or old, and make plans to use them during the week. Elery loves beans so those go into the crockpot a couple of times a week. I try to have at least one meatless meal during the week.

Elery makes breakfast and it's always the same. One egg over easy and one slice of toast for me, whatever is in the refrigerator leftover, topped with two eggs and lots of sliced hot peppers for Elery. We don't eat lunch.

Since all my meat is frozen, I do try to plan a couple of days ahead and thaw out whatever will be needed for the next few days.

Holidays, now that's something else. That takes me a couple of weeks of planning, at least two shopping trips and several "adjustments" to the menu before I'm satisfied!

Annie

Yes and no. We don't eat until lunch, but have breakfast for lunch and it's usually the same every day. A bowl of oatmeal or granola, a strip of pre-cooked bacon, a HB egg and a cup of fresh fruit and a glass of milk. Then I'm like Annie, I have the freezer full of chicken, beef, pork and fish, so we usually just decide what we are in the mood for and take a meat out and plan around that daily. I do like to cook once and have next day leftovers or enough to freeze for those times I'm not in the mood to cook or too busy.

I usually only plan ahead for special meals. For breakfast everyone is on their own, lunch is often leftovers or something quick to pull together, and dinner plans evolve over the day.

We grow our own fruits and vegetables, year round, so eating what is available usually dictates dinner plans. We have one of those chest freezers, which we like to keep stocked with individual portions of chicken breast, salmon, tilapia, game hen and dinner sized portions of pork, shrimp and ribs. We also keep a substantial pantry of non perishable staples (flours, sugars, grains, oils, and vinegars).

We primarily shop in person at Costco, twice a month, where we get our meat (fresh and frozen). eggs and dairy. To restock everything else, we go to the grocery store about once a month and utilize amazon prime where it makes sense.

I try to plan, but something usually happens to blow my plans out of the water. I do usually cook large meals on the weekend so we have leftovers for the first couple of days of the week. We have a full pantry and freezers so other than that it's Chopped Challenge for the rest of the week.

Thanks for all the comments. We have had an empty nest for a year. Our last adult kid is a great cook and DH and I love to cook as well. When our last to fly was home he really wanted a full meal each night and often made it and usually we all ended up in the kitchen helping or chatting. I started planning again with Covid because I am avoiding stores as much as possible. There is no running into town to pick up a couple things. I sometimes don’t do everything I plan.

I like seeing so many doing Misfits! I get a produce box from a local farm to support them or I would do Misfits.

I did in person shopping last night rather than curbside because of Christmas. I am off work until the new year and I am hoping to make many special meals since it is so different then I am used to with just DH and I.

That said by the time I put away groceries I just put some Naan in the oven with mushrooms, onions and garlic butter, topped with a bit of arugula and vinaigrette. I couldn’t think about a big meal.