Meal Plan Monday 9/19

tumbleweed-1 · September 2016

How meticulously do you meal plan? Do you add up how much of an ingredient each recipe uses so you know exactly how many onions (for example) to buy? Do you rotate weekly/monthly menus of family favorites? Do you make it up when you get to the grocery store and see what is on sale?

What are you/SO cooking this week? I just love food and want to hear what everyone else likes. Let's share meal planning tips and menu ideas!

*edited because I forgot to put today's date on the title... again

RainyDays86 · September 2016

I love meal planning! Actually, I love any kind of planning. But meal planning, while exhausting, helps prevent me from eating only takeout and frozen pizza.

I used to get really granular with it and would look up recipes that had overlapping ingredients and send a weekly email with what we were eating each night, but that was too much work so now we just take turns going to the store each Sunday and picking up stuff for four entrees for the week. That gives us some flexibility if we have a lot of leftovers or we want to get takeout or do something spontaneous one day of the week. We don't usually use recipes, we just grab stuff that we think will go well together while also considering what we already have in the kitchen. And for all my crazy planning tenancies, it actually works out pretty well. Our general rule of thumb is one day vegetarian, one day of seafood, and two days of poultry/meat.

DH went shopping this week so I don't actually know what we're having, but we have a few staples that we repeat a lot. They are:
- Farro with roasted cherry tomatoes (sliced in half, drizzled with olive oil and put in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes), feta, and pesto. Our grocery store has really good pesto at their deli counter so we use that a lot for flavor. This recipe in particular is really simple and quick but very good.
- Salmon baked or grilled with a side of veggies (usually asparagus or Brussels sprouts)
- Linguini with chicken cooked in marsala cooking wine with white onions and chopped pistachios
- Tacos of some variety (last week we did ground lamb and they were SO good).

MoshiMoshi7 · September 2016

Meal planning has made our lives so much easier. DH and I were always so indecisive about what to make for dinner, we would just end up wandering around the store which I obviously don't have time for now with a 2.5 yr old. I usually go shopping once a week.

On this week's menu:
Mon- Peanut Pad Thai w/ chicken
Tuesday- Stuffed Bell Peppers
Wednesday- Honey spiced chicken thighs, garlic green beans, sweet potato patties
Thursday- Crockpot Brisket Sandwiches, zucchini and french fries
Friday- Meatballs and Sauce with salad

Eta because I have fat fingers.

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · September 2016

We meal plan for 10 meals over a 2 week period. We usually eat at home Sun-Thurs nights and then eat out Friday night, all day Saturday, and lunch on Sunday. So we go shopping every 2 weeks. We often grab extra fruits and vegetables on the non-shopping weekend. Sometimes I plan the meals out to the specific day, but usually its just the 10 meals on a list on the fridge and we pick and choose what we want to make each night.

RainyDays86 · September 2016

@MoshiMoshi7 do you have a specific recipe you use for the brisket? That sounds great!

bacorrea · September 2016

I meal plan. I add up exactly what I need (3 onions, etc) before I go shopping. However I don't say "Tacos on Monday, Chicken on Tuesday, etc." I come up with an amount of meals for two weeks and just make them for whatever works best for my schedule. This week is different because my best friend is coming to town.

Tonight we are having leftover Southwestern Roast Beef (so good).
For the rest of the month we are having:
Pizza
Tacos (twice)
Ribs
Enchillada Bake
Tomato Soup Mac & Cheese
Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Potato Bake
Burrito in a Bowl
Teriyaki Chicken & Rice Casserole
Skinny Chicken Parm
and of course leftovers. Several of those meals I count 2x.

A lot of my recipes I've gotten from Skinnytatse and Emily Bites. Great websites. I attached the southwestern roast recipe. I got it from a lady at my church.

CherryBananas · September 2016

I'm so bad at meal planning, so hopefully I'll pick up great ideas from you guys. I always have the best intentions but it never happens once I get to the grocery store.

ETA: I'm trying to get us on a tighter grocery budget so we have more extra money when the baby comes, so I'm thinking this will help

MoshiMoshi7 · September 2016

@RainyDays86 I usually use this one. I cook it on low for 8 hours and then shred it and put it on buns and then use the sauce to dip.

https://www.kitchencounterchronicle.com/slow-cooker-beef-brisket/

vrj0522 · September 2016

I'm terrible at meal planning but I'm even worse right now since I have so many aversions and nothing sounds good. I usually plan 2-3 days ahead at a time. I normally love really tasty food but right now all I really want is bland. I love to see everyone's ideas though and plan on stealing some of them.

Tuesday: baked salmon, quinoa, and broccoli
Wednesday: beef stroganoff and salad
Thursday: going out since DH's parents will be in town for the night
Friday: date night for DH and I so we'll be going out (yay for not cooking 2 nights in one week)
Saturday: broccoli chicken bake

tumbleweed-1 · September 2016

I try to meal plan, aannddd I keep up with it for a week & a half at best. I think I just need a new system. My dad and stepmom meal plan everything. Each can of beans or potato is rationed for a dish. I think I need to get more tips from them on how to maintain that, or I need a less structured version of planning. Tonight we had leftovers (We had company over all weekend and I haven't dealt with the dishes from them yet). Tomorrow we have to go out of town in the late afternoon, so I'll make a chicken masala in the slow cooker.

slam1110 · September 2016

I do the meal planning and the shopping. I plan for each week. DH does all of the cooking, so I just write on our calendar what we are having each day and he makes it. We always go to DH's parents on Friday night and Sunday night for dinner, and Thursday is always Spaghetti night. So I am really only needing to think of 3 meals each week. Saturdays we usually improvise. This week we are having:
Monday-Honey Teriyaki Chicken with mac n cheese and broccoli
Tuesday: Pulled pork sandwiches and fries
Wednesday: Leftover pulled pork sandwiches with veggies
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Out
Saturday: Probably hamburgers with fries and grilled squash
Sunday: Out
Question for second time moms: Do your kids eat the same food as you each week or do you make them something separately? Any tips for having them eat what you eat?

arels483 · September 2016

I am terrible at meal planning! I'll buy the stuff, but I rarely actually follow through. I want to get better, though, so I'm going to follow this thread in hopes that you guys rub off on me!

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · September 2016

@slam1110 My kid eats (or more likely stares at) whatever we eat. We do not do separate meals and we all eat at the same time. That said, if I'm making something I know she doesn't like, I try to make sure she likes one of the sides we are having. When she was a baby, we mostly skipped purees and did baby led weaning. That introduced her to our regular foods pretty quick.

RainyDays86 · September 2016

@slam1110 I'm in the same boat as @NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot. I would highly recommend baby led weaning. My son has always eaten "regular food" (no baby food) and he eats exactly what we eat for all meals now. We get a ton of compliments on what a good eater he is an I think a lot of that is due to baby led weaning and introducing him to regular food early.

Squirtgun · September 2016

@slam1110 yeah, what PPs said! We all eat at the same time, and the same thing. We did do baby food, though, but for a very short time. And, I would make it, so they'd be eating pretty much the same thing as us anyway. I still do puréed veggies (aka baby food) on pasta for a side if I don't think that the girls wil love the main dish. Also, if you plan to nurse, continue eating your regular foods while nursing. It introduces baby to the flavors that they'll be eating in real food. Some of my friends were surprised that I didn't cut out garlic and strong spices while nursing, but my kids now love garlic and spice!

vrj0522 · September 2016

We also did baby led weaning and my kids are still super picky and difficult, particularly DS. He is not adventurous at all but DD is almost always willing to at least try things. Many times they don't want to eat what is for dinner but like pp stated, if I already know they don't love the food, I will make a side that they like or season their meat, etc, in a way that I know they will eat it. We also have a 5 spoonfuls rule... you don't like it, take 5 spoonfuls and be done. Many times it works, other times my son starts gagging on the first one so I don't push it. However, I keep their food for a while and if they start to ask for something else, I make them eat at least some of their dinner before I give them something else.

tumbleweed-1 · September 2016

I meant chicken tikka masala in my previous post. I forgot part of the name. I also forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer, so I'm dealing with that right now. Is it too early for pregnancy brain? I'm kind of forgetful to begin with, but this past week has been ridiculous!

I like how this post has evolved to include feeding children and introducing babies to food. I don't have my own kids yet, but I have a niece and one of my friends has a kid who I'm "family" to. Both of those girls are 4 now. My friend did baby led weaning with her daughter. I also worked in childcare for 3 years, half of that time I was an infant teacher. Only one of my baby students did baby led weaning (if I'm remembering them all!). The rest had either homemade or store bought puree baby food. I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but I have lots of time.

tumbleweed-1 · September 2016

By baby led weaning, I mean that they went from just milk to bites of regular food the way we would eat it. Not baby purees. That's what everyone else means right? The infants I worked with did wean from breast milk or formula on their own schedule too (for the most part. There are some rules about what/when you can feed certain ages in a center).

slam1110 · September 2016

Thanks Ladies! I will definitely try the baby weaning with this one. Did not do that for my other LOs. We still make DD try most things, but I'll admit most days she lives off of mac -n- cheese. DS is a little bit more adventurous and we have been getting him to branch out and eat more of what we eat.

RainyDays86 · September 2016

@tumbleweed that is what I'm referring to. You skip purees and go straight to "table food."

mrsrep123 · September 2016

I sooooo need to be doing this. We just went vegetarian (still eat fish and eggs) last month and just as I was on the ball to start meal planning, the nausea hit and I can't think about food planning. Ugh! So defeating. Hopefully this passes soon and I'll be all over it. Any other vegetarians? I think I'll create a separate post...

ChristinaWild · September 2016

I love this thread! I'm a meal planning junkie, and love getting new ideas. For this menu, I went through a bunch of old issues of Clean Eating Magazine that I have. I usually plan on Saturday, and my husband goes to the store Saturday evening so I can batch cook on Sunday's. Here is our menu:

Monday - bison burger (as a lettuce wrap for me, and wheat buns for DH and DS) with baked sweet potato fries
Tuesday- chicken enchilada "casserole"
Wed- roasted chicken with Brussels sprouts
Thurs - ham and broccoli casserole
Friday- leftovers

Breakfast options - oatmeal, English muffin with eggs and spinach, or scrambled eggs and veggies

lunches - leftovers some days, shrimp ceviche salad other days

Want a personalized experience?

Meal Plan Monday 9/19

Re: Meal Plan Monday 9/19

DS1 7/24/15

DS2 5/7/17

Choose Another Board

Search Boards