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OT- Meal Planning

stoneycakesstoneycakes member
in Cloth Diapering
For those of you who plan your meals for a week in advance or longer, do you put most of the meat in the freezer?  What about fresh veggies?  I feel like I can only buy 3 or 4 days worth of fresh veggies before they start turning.  Do you incorporate more long lasting stuff like root veggies or dried beans?  Or do you supplement throughout the week by picking up a few odds and ends?  I need a game plan for once a week shopping.
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Re: OT- Meal Planning

  • YellowLily2013YellowLily2013 member
    We don't have a set day of the week for the grocery store. So sometimes we'll have enough food for 5 meals others 10...

    That said, I'm starting to build a freezer stash of meat when it's on sale. So we can save a little there. And we love our frozen veggies! It's easier to add a veggie that way for us.

    I'm just on the second month of monthly meal planning vs weekly meal planning. And I think it helps a ton to have an idea what can be bought ahead of time and used for multiple meals. And to see that we aren't eating the same thing week after week.
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  • Brandiewine11Brandiewine11 member
    When I was working full time before baby, I would shop on Sundays. If I was going to cook fish, we'd have that Sunday or Monday. I'd plan for meals Sun-Thurs, and Friday is always pizza night at our house.

    So most of the time anything I bought on Sunday was fine for the week. But when planning, if I was going to do something like a roast or chicken with carrots and potatoes, I would do it later in the week and use other veggies earlier.

    I always keep a stash of frozen meat and veggies, and usually a few frozen meals (chili, etc) that I've previously made in case we have a busy night and/or run out of fresh things.
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  • YellowLily2013YellowLily2013 member
    I also believe in a stocked pantry! So even if we were out of fresh food. We should be able to whip up something whether is be dried beans, rice, pasta.. Those types of staples are so cheap. There's no reason not to keep them on hand. Plus, if you want to dress up the staples that can be pretty effective budget wise too.

    Ex: We're making a 13 bean soup next week. We have all the beans and broth. So I can just pick up whatever meat is on sale and maybe an onion or whatever. :)
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  • YellowLily2013YellowLily2013 member
    Oh and I mentioned this somewhere. But the monthly meal plan on the white board on the wall paid off when I was sick. DH went to the meal plan and knew what to make for dinner! Amazing!
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  • YellowLily2013YellowLily2013 member
    @mamalamb10‌ we started with this one a couple years ago. https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=6975

    It's very simple and easy to adjust seasonings as you like. I love the hamhock. It's a salty meat that gives it great flavor! Hmmmm can't wait!
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  • stoneycakesstoneycakes member
    YellowLily2013 said:
    @mamalamb10‌ we started with this one a couple years ago. https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=6975 It's very simple and easy to adjust seasonings as you like. I love the hamhock. It's a salty meat that gives it great flavor! Hmmmm can't wait!
    I love bean soup like that. Even DH likes it and he's not a huge bean person.
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  • jess9802jess9802 member
    I plan our meals for the entire month and we go grocery shopping every two weeks. I portion out our meat and then freeze anything that won't be used right away. I try to plan meals with fresh vegetables within a few days of grocery shopping and then use frozen vegetables for the rest. I will do absolutely anything to avoid grocery shopping after work. Frozen veggies are the lesser of two evils.

    I also try to plan for leftovers - if I roast a chicken one day then within a day or so I'll plan salads with chicken added to them, or make two meatloafs one night and freeze the extra for later in the month.


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  • stoneycakesstoneycakes member
    So what are your favorite frozen vegetables and how do you serve them?  I'm not the biggest fan of frozen veggies, but maybe I need to do something more with them than reheat and top with butter.
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  • YellowLily2013YellowLily2013 member
    We like hert verticuts or something (green beans) and broccoli. We also sneak spinach into scrambled eggs and use peas/carrots for fried rice, pot pies, etc
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  • stoneycakesstoneycakes member
    OMG, today would be a good day for pot pie.
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  • Brandiewine11Brandiewine11 member
    I mostly use frozen veggies cooked in something else like a soup or stew, or pasta sauce. I think peas, corn, and broccoli reheat the best. 


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  • stoneycakesstoneycakes member
    Mapleme said:
    Also, you would likely get better shelf life off veggies from a farm or farmers market. My lettuce from the farmers market easily lasts 2 weeks in the veggie drawer
    I do get a lot of stuff at the farmers market and I agree it usually lasts longer. I think part of the problem was my old fridge.  It was seriously the worst fridge for preserving vegetables. I could only get like three days out of farmers market lettuce. And things on the counter would get moldy so fast, too!  My new fridge does seem to be doing a much better job so maybe I just need to readjust my expectations back to normal again ;)
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  • MandmeeshMandmeesh member
    Our favorite frozen veggie is broccoli. And I like To steam it. M will gobble it up plain. We are pretty boring with seasoning unless it's a stir fry type meal
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  • stoneycakesstoneycakes member
    No kidding about the green bags!  I had never tried them, but my MIL brought some green beans over for us in one and they lasted so long!
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  • km_mdkm_md member
    @Mapleme‌ are those green bags reusable?

    Has anyone tried the Rubbermaid containers that are supposed to help produce last better?

    Ours never lasts and i feel like we waste so much money throwing out produce that goes bad before we can eat it.


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  • CLLDLLCLLDLL member
    I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but I do try to be really picky about fresh veggies. So if I planned on getting zucchini and when I get to the store it looks older or bruised I'll sub yellow squash or something else that looks fresher. Same with apples. I'll buy a more expensive type if they are less bruised/fresher.

    I'm not a big frozen veggie fan either. Corn or broccoli. Maybe green beans.
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  • sarenu1sarenu1 member
    When I meal plan I usually try to cook most of my food at the beginning of the week.  Then we usually have leftovers on Thursday and Friday.

    I also try to use up veggies that will go bad quickly.  And I try to avoid pre-sliced items (mushrooms and carrots), I think they go bad quickly.
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  • km_mdkm_md member
    Mapleme said:
    @Mapleme‌ are those green bags reusable? Has anyone tried the Rubbermaid containers that are supposed to help produce last better? Ours never lasts and i feel like we waste so much money throwing out produce that goes bad before we can eat it.
    They are. The package says 20 uses, but I've been using mine for years with no degradation.
    Oh that's good! The only ones I've ever tried weren't really reusable and they were terrible. 


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