Meal list for the week ahead - food inspiration

MysticalT

I see a lot of posts on here looking for inspiration for meals as I do myself so as I plan my meals a week ahead (helps with the cost of shopping) I thought I'd post a list of what I have planned for the following week.

Sometimes I just have an idea of how to make something and use that idea rather than use a given recipe so I create my own recipe as I go.


1) Spanish omelette - calories 322

2) Sweet chilli chicken, oven baked chips and caesar salad

3) BBQ pulled pork and roasted baby vegetables

4) Home made fishcakes, minty mushy peas and roasted sweet potato chips with a parsley sauce

5) Spaghetti bologneise (with ratatouille) and garlic toasts

6) Parmesan spring chicken (BBC good food) - calories 339

7) Turkey fajitas.

I do hope this provides some inspiration for someone!

Does anyone else plan the week ahead? Please share your list too if you do.

chloeelizabethm

Thanks for this, it's exactly what I do and then plan my snacks and breakfasts too.

My list is this:

Spicy Sichuan prawns (BBC GF) with sesame spinach
Smoked salmon and goats cheese salad
Braised lamb fattoush (also a lunch)
Mexican mince and refried beans, salad etc (also a lunch)
Courgetti carbonara (also a lunch)
Cajun turkey steaks with kidney bean and pineapple salsa (BBC GF - also a lunch)
Bolognese with polenta (also a lunch)
White fish/tuna with balsamic red onion haricot beans and cabbage

Snacks: dark chocolate, meat and cheese 'sandwich' (cheese wrapped in meat), pork scratchings
Breakfasts: bacon frittata with plum tomatoes, berry omelette (BBC GF), sausage and mushrooms and beans

kazminchu

I do the same thing, sometimes for up to a month in advance. It helps me plan shopping and stock rotation.
My weekly meals are normally really boring though, We have stirfry 2-3 times a week and the other days I fill in with staples that I rotate. And Friday is always steak day.

This week:
M - Stirfry
T - Chicken and veg tagine with couscous
W - Stirfry
T - Steak and sweet potato chips (hubs is out tonight so didn't want him to miss out on steak)
F - Leftover burrito

I only plan weeknights because we never know what we're doing over the weekend and I hate changing plans. Been doing this probably around a year now, I love it.

MysticalT

It's good to see Im not alone in planning! I know a lot of people who just grab a trolley and whatever is on offer but I find that way I go to the shop for extra ingredients far too often and it costs me a fortune.

It also helps me plan on here, dinner always goes on first and the rest of my meals work around it.

HL9699

This is something I need to start doing! Do you mind if i add you?

Fitforevermore

I always do this to save on food costs. Always have fish on Monday and Friday, and weekends can change!
Next week (all under 500 cals i think, although not at the weekend):
Mon: Grilled salmon with paprika, cous cous and green beans under 400 cals
Tues:Chicken wraps and salad (I have one wrap) under 500 cals
Wed: Chilli con carne with a small amount of rice under 500
Thurs: omlette with beans and salad
Fri: cod with sweet potato chips and peas
Sat: thai chicken curry with sticky rice
Sun: roast beef, potatoes and veg

kazminchu

MysticalT wrote: »

It's good to see Im not alone in planning! I know a lot of people who just grab a trolley and whatever is on offer but I find that way I go to the shop for extra ingredients far too often and it costs me a fortune.

It also helps me plan on here, dinner always goes on first and the rest of my meals work around it.

I used to do that approach, ended up spending ~£50-£80 a week on food and impulse buying lots of bad things. My shopping is now usually around £30 a week and I can easily avoid tempting things.

The rest of my days are pretty much identical, breakfast is porridge, lunch is tuna salad and snacks are Greek yoghurt and carrot/celery sticks. Luckily I'm not the sort of person who gets bored of repetition!

kommodevaran

Everything sounds so delicious! I haven't decided which meal I will have for which day yet, but these dinners are up in the near future:
Chicken wings, sweet potato mash with red chili, green peas
Pickled herring, potatoes-and-parsnip mash, onion
T-bone steak, grilled corn on the cob, oven roasted parsnip with honey, olive oil and sesame seeds
Oven baked salmon filet, jasmine rice with soy sauce, green beans
Cheese on toast: 2x2 slices of bread, Jarlsberg cheese, pickled cucumber, finely chopped onion, ketchup, mustard
Pork chop, oven roasted sweet potatoes, green peas
Lamb chops, mashed potatoes, green beans
Artichoke (one big or two small), melted butter, grilled corn on the cob, deli meat
Some kind of creamed vegetable soup, and pancakes

Francl27

Oh ideas! For me it's annoying because I have to plan lunches too, but some things I've had this week...

Shrimp stir fry
Turkey burger with broccoli and rice
Stuffed peppers
Crab cakes with broccoli and sweet potato
Deconstructed lasagna
Deconstructed egg roll
Steak salad
Steak and shaved Brussel sprouts
Chicken kebabs and rice
Raviolis
Refried beans, ground chicken, cheese, egg and salsa burrito

You guys amaze me though. I'm often a meat/veggies kinda person. I have no ideas at all for next week. Probably sausage and grilled chicken drumsticks with veggies or something. BORING. We have some leftovers too though - some steak, ground turkey and crab cakes.

I have a couple breakfasts planned though - crepes filled with ricotta and honey, bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, grits with cheddar and eggs (some of these might be lunch). Other than that, I'm not craving anything, so inspiration is nil.

joshuasmommy143

I love Pinterest for ideas too! Lots of clean eating options on there and I actually am doing a 5 day clean eating challenge starting on Monday I did one 2 weeks ago and had a lot of success I lost 3 inches off my waist and everywhere else too!

MysticalT

HL9699 wrote: »

This is something I need to start doing! Do you mind if i add you?

Of course not add away

MysticalT

joshuasmommy143 wrote: »

I love Pinterest for ideas too! Lots of clean eating options on there and I actually am doing a 5 day clean eating challenge starting on Monday I did one 2 weeks ago and had a lot of success I lost 3 inches off my waist and everywhere else too!

Ooh that sounds I interesting! I love pinterest so will have to research that one.

I will have to plan lunches soon when work starts again but its usually a salad of some sort. I need to look at more salads too, mine tend to consist of a handful of packet salad with some ham and coleslaw chucked in, gets boring after a while!

The Spanish omelette I made yesterday was yummy! I only had a taste though as I stupidly ate a pasty and so skipped dinner to stay within cals!

BlossomStrikesAgain

Breakfasts depend on how badly I oversleep. If I get up in time for eggs, with or without bacon or baked beans, that. If I have no time to cook, but a little time to eat, turkey breast strips. If I'm running late, it's a protein bar in morning meeting.

Lunches for the next two days are made: salad, and ham and mustard sandwiches made with Warburton's sandwich thins. There's tuna and crackers, eggs I can hard boil, and some John West Light Lunches.

For evening meals, the freezer is currently stocked with homemade:
- quorn moussaka
- quorn and mushroom stroganoff
- sausage and butterbean casserole
- meatballs
- shepherd's pie
- chili
- bolognese

I have stewed fruit, fresh fruit and yoghurts for snacking, more salad stuff, and a handful of microwave meals like soups and stews. I've also baked for work tomorrow - a banana courgette loaf from the Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache book (I had two requests for "diet cake") and some lemon drizzle cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes for non-dieters. I will convince these nurses to like me...

jen81uk

I also plan! I'm having:
Steamed Whole sea bass with lemon, parsley, wine, veggies and quinoa.
A whole roast chicken that I will do as a roast dinner with potatoes and veg, then I'll have some in salads and will make a stock to make chicken noodle soup with the legs.
Steak and homemade chips (might even throw an egg in)
Salmon stir fry.
Chilli and rice
Roasted red pepper and tomato soup
If I'm feeling particularly flushed for time I might do some gnocchi with a sage and butter sauce.

Queenmunchy

That's awesome! For ease and not knowing what everyone wants in my house, I like to make a plethora of soup, stew, chili, curry, beans, etc and freeze them in individual portions. I also take things like meatballs, stuffed peppers, meatloaf, burgers, muffin tin recipes, wontons, taquitos, burritos, casseroles cut into portions, etc and flash freeze those. Then I freeze sauces in either jars or in ice cube trays - depending on how much we would use at a time - and have those on hand. We also make a lot of chicken, beef, rice, cauliflower rice, or pasta and freeze those in portions. When it comes down to eating we usually need to thaw and broil or cook a side.

Every morning before work I just grab whatever I want out of our individual meals and microwave it when I'm ready to eat. They last for so long that I don't have to worry about eating the same meal over and over or not having anything to grab if I don't want to cook.

chloeelizabethm

Queenmunchy wrote: »

That's awesome! For ease and not knowing what everyone wants in my house, I like to make a plethora of soup, stew, chili, curry, beans, etc and freeze them in individual portions. I also take things like meatballs, stuffed peppers, meatloaf, burgers, muffin tin recipes, wontons, taquitos, burritos, casseroles cut into portions, etc and flash freeze those. Then I freeze sauces in either jars or in ice cube trays - depending on how much we would use at a time - and have those on hand. We also make a lot of chicken, beef, rice, cauliflower rice, or pasta and freeze those in portions. When it comes down to eating we usually need to thaw and broil or cook a side.

Every morning before work I just grab whatever I want out of our individual meals and microwave it when I'm ready to eat. They last for so long that I don't have to worry about eating the same meal over and over or not having anything to grab if I don't want to cook.

I aspire to be this organised.

stevieraynicks2015

I do this for my family as well... This week...
1. Garlic and Herb Pork Loin w/ green beans
2. Chicken and Broccoli stir fry
3. Turkey meatloaf w/ baby carrots
4. Zesty chicken and rice
5. Homemade Chicken fajitas

Queenmunchy

chloeelizabethm wrote: »

Queenmunchy wrote: »

That's awesome! For ease and not knowing what everyone wants in my house, I like to make a plethora of soup, stew, chili, curry, beans, etc and freeze them in individual portions. I also take things like meatballs, stuffed peppers, meatloaf, burgers, muffin tin recipes, wontons, taquitos, burritos, casseroles cut into portions, etc and flash freeze those. Then I freeze sauces in either jars or in ice cube trays - depending on how much we would use at a time - and have those on hand. We also make a lot of chicken, beef, rice, cauliflower rice, or pasta and freeze those in portions. When it comes down to eating we usually need to thaw and broil or cook a side.

Every morning before work I just grab whatever I want out of our individual meals and microwave it when I'm ready to eat. They last for so long that I don't have to worry about eating the same meal over and over or not having anything to grab if I don't want to cook.

I aspire to be this organised.

It's not hard. Make a recipe or two, portion and freeze. Even making just two will result in 10-16 meals for other days. I do it because I'm lazy

ShyPanda93

My dinners this week are

M- Oven roasted porkchops and veggies
T- Low Sodium Lasagna, green beans, and garlic bread
W- Low Sodium Meatloaf, Mashed potatoes (with no salt ranch and unsalted butter), and peas
T-Chicken enchiladas, chips and dips
F- Low sodium Mexican Casserole, salad

My husband has high blood pressure, and in effort to stay off medicine we are changing our diet. Lucky for me low sodium goes pretty well with low calorie, especially if I watch my portions.

chloeelizabethm

My list for next week:

Breakfasts:
Bacon, spinach and mushroom frittata
Berry omelette

Dinners:
Sweet and sour turkey meatballs and stir fried vegetables (Lorraine Pascale recipe, changed pork for turkey http://cookingwithkam.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/lorraine-pascales-sweet-and-sour-pork.html)
Burgers with mini portobello mushrooms, red onion haricot beans
Lemon spiced chicken and chickpeas with green beans and mango chutney
Crispy chilli chicken with stir fried vegetable (BBC GF)
Baked pesto chicken with black olives served with spinach and tomatoes
Baked coconut chicken tenders with creamed corn (http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2011/01/17/coconut-crusted-chicken-tenders/)
Asian chicken salad/bang bang chicken
Mexican chicken, Tortillas, avocado, natural yoghurt etc
Courgetti carbonara
Beef brisket and paprika beans

Snacks:
Asian chicken salad/bang bang chicken
Carrot sticks and peanut butter
Peanut cookies (BBC GF)

gigilachapelle

This is a big downfall of mine. I also have trouble with figuring out what to put with what.

brandilewis430

OK I'm new at this and I was wondering what you ment by clean eating

joshuasmommy143 wrote: »

I love Pinterest for ideas too! Lots of clean eating options on there and I actually am doing a 5 day clean eating challenge starting on Monday I did one 2 weeks ago and had a lot of success I lost 3 inches off my waist and everywhere else too!

lporter229

I plan by the week, but also usually skip the weekends and play it by ear. I always make enough to have left overs for lunch the next day. This week was:

M-Grilled filet mignon with mushrooms, roasted rosemary potatoes, spinach, goat cheese and blackberry salad
T-Cobb Salad
W-Sausage and chicken stuffed eggplant
Th-Grilled flank steak and sweet potato "nachos"
F-Brussels sprouts Carbonara from SkinnyTatse website
Sat-Shrimp boil with friend on our patio-peel-n-eat shrimp, kielbabsa, potatoes and corn+ whatever other goodies friends bring!
Sun-Leftovers!