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June 2011 Moms
rlmanning
member
Tell me your weekly meal plan
rlmanning
member
The grocery post below got me thinking. I have a VERY hard time grocery shopping. I stay with in my budget, but I never get full meals.... I usually buy sparatic items.... or boxed diners.
With this being said - please share what your normail dinner meal plans look like. Especially for 2 weeks. Then what extra stuff do you buy.... for snacking ect.... I just wish I was better at planning. But unfortunately my mom went to the grocery store every day as a kid and bought what she needed for that nights dinner... So i was never taught.
Our World!!
Blaine Emerson Bailey Rae
3-31-14 6-10-11
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Tell me your weekly meal plan
For example - I will buy bonless skinless chicken breasts with the thought in my head that I will do something with this. But not have a "real" plan already laid out. Does this make sense. I have a hard time planning out meals in a advance. For this exact reason I end up buying a lot of boxed meals. To me it is easier. My staple meals are - Spagetti, Chili Cheese Dogs, Breakfast for dinner, Hamburger Helper, Mac and Cheese with Kilbasa. That is all I can think of right now....
Our World!!
Blaine Emerson Bailey Rae
3-31-14 6-10-11
Most meals I like to have a protein + carb + veggie. That is just a vague plan and it doesn't always happen. I try to use/buy things that use the same ingredients if I know I will have leftovers. So for example, if I buy a big bunch of cilantro for a recipe, I'll plan another meal that week with cilantro. I also like to try new recipes. I've been using my crockpot more, so I've been trying one new recipe a week from crockpot365.blogspot.com
Here are some typical meals for us:
baked chicken breasts, baked potatoes, broccoli
baked asian salmon, peanut noodle salad w/cucumber and red peppers
spaghetti (might just be spaghetti and sauce from a jar, or I might throw in more veggies or italian sausage and serve with a salad)
bfast for dinner: eggs, pancakes, fruit salad
pork chops, sweet potatoes, green beans (I use the leftover pork chops the next day--slice them up, saute onion and peppers, add tortillas=faijatas!)
hamburgers, peas, potatoes cooked in foil packets on the grill
enchiladas
pot roast in crock pot
soup is good because you've got meat, veggies, etc in one pot
pasta salad w/chicken
big salads with lots of veggies and grilled chicken
whole baked chicken, mac and cheese, asparagus
When I make a whole baked chicken, then I use the leftovers to make tacos or chicken salad and stock in the crock pot.
I am veggie but DH eats bonless skinless chicken breast every day.
I either do a crockpot recipe with 5 of them on sunday (1 for each weekday)
https://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/dinner/planning/slow-cooker.aspx
and then I serve with rice, pasta or mashed potato
Or I do a Velveta skillet recipie
I have a word file of recipes on my comp that I have collected over the last few years. Every week I pick 3-4 things to make and make a list of what I need to get for those meals.
I also keep staples around for nights when I don't have much time or motivation to cook. Things like frozen pizza, turkey burgers, frozen chicken breast ( grilled, buffalo chicken sandwiches, ect), mac n cheese and pasta.
Stir fry, fried rice and spaghetti with broccoli and chicken are on my menu most every week.
Our World!!
Blaine Emerson Bailey Rae
3-31-14 6-10-11
I sit down every week with an issue of Cooking Light magazine, a couple cookbooks, my ipad to look at the weekly specials, and a notepad. Here's a link to where my sister talks about the meal planning strategy that our dad taught us. Everyone in my family organizes the menu that way.
I like to have a few easy meals in the house ready to go, so I'll always have some pasta and marinara sauce in the pantry. Then whatever veggies and meat I have around will go in there too. I try to always pick up a couple veggies that are easy to have on the side of any meal, like broccoli. Also barbecue sauce and Asian marinades are easy to put on chicken and if you have some rice and a veggie you've got a meal.
I definitely use more shortcuts than I used to, but I do make a few meals a week from scratch. I look at blogs and subscribe to Cooking Light for ideas.
A big thing for me is not overpromising. I would love to make a new one hour fabulous recipe every night. If I shop for that, we'll end up making one recipe, and eating pizza for a few nights.
I try to do one or maybe 2 simple new recipes per week. All the other days I plan things i know I can put together easily, like spaghetti, or tacos, etc. I make my meal plan based on which meats are on sale or what I have in the freezer. Our biggest waste of money is food going in the trash, which happens too often!
I'm like jcsumm... we almost always follow the protein + veggie + carb rule.
I always have a bag of chicken breasts, some hamburger, and some pork chops in the freezer as meat staples. I'll also keep plenty of bags of frozen veggies to steam. Carb portion is usually rice, stove-top stuffing, pasta (usually penne), or some variation on a potato (I have several easy recipes). I also have a million seasoning blends (many are from Pampered Chef) and several cans of cream of whatever soup. These are my go-tos. Putting any of those things above together in any combination takes about 30 minutes stove to table.
I also get emails from Betty Crocker, "Dinner Made Easy". I'll get at least one meal idea a week from them that mixes it up. I'll also do quesadillas, grilled sandwiches, tacos, or soups (which will be good for 2 nights of meals).
On Sundays, sometimes I'll make a pot of spaghetti sauce or a roast. Both of which are good for multiple quick meals through the week, too.
ETA: link- https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes
awhile ago I did a blog post about menu planning. Feel free to check it out!
https://www.coffeeandcannolis.com/2012/02/how-to-plan-your-menu-and-grocery-list.html
as for "complete meals", sometimes I plan those in advance, and others I don't. I generally do the main course, some kind of carb (roasted potatoes, side of pasta, etc.) and veggie. I ALWAYS have pasta in the cupboard, and my favorite sauce is actually just a bit of olive oil, some of the pasta water before I drain it, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and parm - so I don't even need to make a detailed sauce. Then, for the veggie it just depends on what's on sale, or what looks good in the produce section when I shop.
If I'm making something bigger that doesn't necessarily need a side dish - I'll do a salad. LIke, Lasagna and salad.
Then, there are days that we just have pizza, no side, no veggies, no nutrition, etc!!! Those are the yummiest!!
ETA: And, for lunches, I do leftovers or just PB sandwiches (I have PB in my drawer and we have bread in our breakroom), and then DH eats the same thing every day so I get bread, lunch meat, cheese, carrot sticks and a bag of sun chips or white cheddar popcorn.
For snacking I try not to buy too much, but we always have bagel bites and pizza rolls in the freezer, and some kind of cookies and chips in the pantry. We're not healthy snackers!
Usually to plan, I start by looking at the circular for inspiration. If I see that, say chicken breasts are on sale, I will either do one of my go to recipes (I have built up quite a few over the years) or if I am not thinking of anything good, go to foodnetwork.com or skinnytaste.com for an idea about how to use that item. Then I add all of the ingredients I need to buy onto the list. I also try to make sure that I have a veggie for every meal.
At the bottom of every list, I write out what meals I have planned so that I make sure I have enough or that I am not going overboard. Usually, I shop every week because I use a ton of fresh produce when I cook, and it never lasts for me for two weeks.
On an average week, I usually plan for six meals. We usually have at least one chicken based meal, 1 beef or pork based meal, and 1 vegetarian meal. I also try to mix up cuisine style throughout the week and make enough of each meal for DH to take the leftovers to work. I also make a pot of soup for myself to have for lunch. Other than that, I buy tons of fruit for snacking (usually bananas, kiwi, and whatever looks good or is on a good sale), yogurt, maybe some snacky type thing like Cheez-Its (I usually use the circular for inspiration on this one too).
Here's our next week:
tonight - Pizza and homemade wings for the Flyers game
Sat - Burgers on the grill
Sun - Spaghetti and Meatballs
Mon - Asian Chicken - https://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/07/asian-glazed-drumsticks.html I make it with chicken breast
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday Steak
Thursday - Breakfast for dinner.
When i go shopping I buy all the things I will need for dinner. I also keep my pantry stocked. For snacks I try and get fruits and veggies, pretzels, etc.
I meal plan on Sundays, shop on Mondays. I see what I already have -- if I have rice, I make something to go with it; if I have ground beef in the freezer, I'll do something like tacos. That helps a) use up ingredients/save money and b) inspire recipe ideas.
I usually do one chicken dish, one beef dish, one casserole, and one meatless/easy (think soup and sandwiches) meal a week. Gives us some variety, and then I can buy things like frozen chicken breasts in bulk.
This website has been my lifesaver the past few months. I spend one day a month making all of our meals for the month. I have also found that the recipes (traditional menu) are very cost effective...not sure about the other menus, however. And, if you aren't into the once a month cooking, then just print the recipes and make them when you decide (that's what I'm planning on doing this month). The recipes are SO good! Also...I LOVE that they have a grocery list already done for me!! I'm in love with this site and anxious to look into some of the suggested ones above.
https://onceamonthmom.com/
Oh...and did I mention they have a baby recipe section?!?