planning meals help?

tgaul

I am trying to find away to plan meals and food to purchase for the week to come. I seem to struggle with this and then we just do take out or grab on the go. My family members eat meat and I am not a meat eater so I need to find a happy medium for meals. Any suggestions would be great.
Thank you

DrBorkBork

We have a giant calendar in our kitchen that we write our dinners down on as well as daily activities. It's a big help! Once we know what dinners we're having, we pretty much have a grocery list.

meg0112

well definately make a menu. Spend some time look for vegetarian recipes that could also go with meat so for dinner you make them and then bake some chicken (or whatever meat is on sale that week) for your family to have with it. Then, every week sit down with your recipe ideas and the sale paper for the grocery store of your choice and see what is on sale. Make a menu- like MONDAY:
Breakfast =
Lunch =
Dinner =
Snack(s) =

And do that for every day of the week. Work left overs in however works best for you (for me left overs are lunch but I am cooking for one) then from your menu, check your pantry/freezer/fridge to see if you already have enough of any of the items you will need, and then make your grocery list. It takes some time, but I find that I enjoy it.

godblessourhome

i plan my meals on sunday for the week and blog them (http://everythingisbetterwithcheese.blogspot.com/) with a recipe each week. i try to shoot for 2 meatless meals a week, although that doesn't always happen. some of the things i make with meat could be easily adapted for a vegetarian using dairy.
my friend, angela, also posts a weekly menu plan (http://www.whippedout.com/) that might give you some ideas.
dawn

CasperO

The way I do this is that I have about a dozen "go-to" recipes that everybody likes and I can whip up in a timely manner. I keep the ingredients for those handy in the fridge and cabinets and when I get home I've got lots of choices.

Main courses (we're a meat eater fam, sorry).
I keep turkey or chicken sausages handy, always good quick & easy.
3 lb bags of frozen chix breast, that I can prep in about a dozen different ways.
Pork chops always work.
Often have a pot of soup stashed somewhere to reheat (make a big pot on Saturday and you've got Tuesday and/or Thursday dinners too!).
Crockpot pot-roast w/taters-carrots-onions.
Individually wrapped frozen tilapia filets, quick & easy.
Frozen steamed shrimp.

Starches, gotta have 'em, just don't have too much.
My fave - sweet potato. Just cube 'em and cook em in a covered skillet with a little butter & cinnamon, then mash 'em right in the pan and feast. Delish & easy & light.
Regular taters, cube & toss with a little olive oil & and a chopped onion and some parsley & garlic - bake 350 40 mins.
A cooker of rice! Add herbs or garlic right in the cooker if you wanna.
Corn, Yep, corn's technically a starch.

Veggies, duh.
Fresh is best,
frozen ain't bad,
canned if ya' gotta.

A loaf of french bread always sells. Get a good crusty bread. If you're just having a small serving make it chewy and it's more satisfying.

Salad, L&T plus whatever you like, w/a lite dressing. On my table every night.

That's it, just keep that stuff handy and cook what you wanna cook. Some things take a little planning so you get things thawed, but most of that stuff I can just walk in the door and cook.