I've had enough of being disorganised when it comes to meals - I quite often get to 5 and go "oops, whats for tea?" Same with snacks - for both DD and me - I never seem to have any healthy options in, apart from fruit, so quite often DD and I get biscuits (not good!).
So before #2 comes along, I'm determined to get organised. My plan is to do a meal planner, and shop according to this, rather than having to dash to the shops at 5 because there's nothing in.
I am a total advocate for meal planning, after having much the same experience as you. Love, love, love it.
I meal plan on the weekend, and make a shopping list from it. It takes a little bit of time to do, but then shopping is super quick and easy, and there is no more rushing around like a headless chook at night. I usually stick my meals on the fridge and the night before I take out of the freezer anything I need for the next night.
There are lots of ways to do this meal planning, but the most basic is just to flick through your recipe books, make a list and list the ingredients you need. Simple. I got a bit trickier after a while and started an excel sheet for my meals and grocery list and included on the grocery list the things I need every week. I also had a section where I could move our favorite meals to so there was always good ideas. I now have an iphone app which does much the same things. Very cool.
But however you do it, I cannot recommend it enough. It really does make like so much easier.
It helps when doing the grocery shopping that we know exactly what we need for the week and don't end up wandering aimlessly grabbing stuff we think we need and then not knowing what to do with it! It has helped save money as well.
We don't often sit down and decide what we are going to eat on each particular night, but we organise a week's worth of meals and then decide as we go through the week what we're doing.
Yep! Another huge fan of meal planning here. We have only been doing it for a couple of months now, but I have noticed a huge change. Its so good to know there is meals there all ready to be prepared.
It does take a little longer to get organised, I havent got around to the spreadsheet idea yet, but I will get to that stage! I am a bit of a spreadsheet geek
If you google meal planning there are heaps of website that have templates you can use.. I found these really handy when I started. A couple of website I can think of off the top of my head that have them are
At the moment, DP and I have a fairly relaxed convo about what we want to have and what recipes we want to try.. and we shop from that. This week I have put the meal ideas on the fridge, just in a list and I have crossed them out once we have had it.. for example this morning I looked at the list and decided we were having tomato and meatball risoni.
Highly recommend giving it a go. We havent had takeaway for dinner in nearly 6 weeks!!!
i meal plan for 2 weeks.. so that 1 week i do a big shop and get all the meat we need and a weeks worth of what we usually have then the next week i get all the fresh fruit,veg & stuff i need for meals and its worked for the past 3 years and saves us $$ to
I started doing this about 2 mths ago and find it REALLY good. I sat down and wrote a list of all our 'standards' that we like to have and then put them into a 4 week rotating menu table with a few spots here and there for a takeaway night or something special. Then when I do my shopping, I look at the table of what meals we are having that week and write my list. If I decide I want to do something different than what I'd planned then I might swap a night here and there, or use the ingredients to make something a bit different (eg. we love Rissoles, mashed potato and Gravy but every now and again I make them into Hamburgers with the lot) On two nights in the four weeks I have Grilled Chicken written down, which means I still can marinade it and have it with rice or make a nice sauce to go with it and have it with vegies, etc. so that it doesn't become too boring and planned.
My DH was sick of me always asking him what he wanted for tea, and so this way I don't have to think, I don't have to ask DH and he actually looks at the menu and goes - "oh, good tonight is Spag Bol night"!! I've also found that it means we are having tea earlier as I can get my meat out of freezer in morning and be organised, rather than doing it at 5pm.
A couple of years ago I did something similar, but wrote all of our standard meals, plus a few creative/special ones onto cards and kept them in a box. When it was time to do the weekly shop I would randomly pick out 7 cards and that would be what we were having that week. Only catch was that I often found myself selecting the same card three weeks in a row, or I would make my pick, and have 4 beef nights and 3 chicken!!
I do this too - I plan dinners and lunches, eg if having rice for tea, ensure I keep some aside for tomorrow's lunch and just add in some veg etc.
I write mine up with what I need to prepare for the next night or lunch now (eg marinate meat) or get out of the freezer. I do a fortnightly meal plan, and only cook half of each week (fridays are takeout and I don't cook) - I cook double of things like curries, pasta sauces etc so I just need to reheat those. Salads I make for the week during summer. My g/f also has a pile of insulated cups and makes up smoothies for 2-3 days in advance. My DH has also made his sangas (ham & cheese) on the weekend & frozen for the week ahead for years.
I'm with you SammyRo I currently dont' meal plan but said to dh last week that I really want to! I'm sick of not knowing what to eat and throwing heaps of food away because it's not used. That way I can plan 2 meals with cream so that half of it doesn't get thrown away, 2 meals with fresh corriander etc and just use the ingredients more wisely. I also want to make our own snacks like healthy slices etc In doing all this we should end up being less stressed about it all and eat better I hope I dont' get lazy with it though because I like to eat what ever I feel like not what is pre planned... Maybe I should work on that issue 1st lol
My DH does a big shop at the Victoria Market once a month for meat and fish. He then lists on the fridge everything that we have in the freezer.
When I get up in the morning I go to the list and pick and then cross it off as it is used. That way I know when to send him back to the market. It usually last's 1mth or so, with a few things like gnocci with a basic sauce or Tuna Casserole so it makes it stretch even further.
I also Fruit n Veg once a week and usually have to top up fruit (my kids love fruit).
I only grocery shop once a week too, so meal planning is very important. It also cuts down on the getting take away too
meal planner - does anyone do this?
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I hope I dont' get lazy with it though because I like to eat what ever I feel like not what is pre planned... Maybe I should work on that issue 1st lol
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