Menu planning??? Anyone???

Sweet_Pandora

At my house on grocery day we sit down as a family and make a weekly dinner plan and the grocery list.

We post the meal plan on the fridge so we can all see it and know what to expect.

This approach works well for us.

Karen

dogo187

i map out five meals each week to cook for dinner...i usually stick to them...

two or three of them are slow cooker meals so there is plenty to freeze or eat for lunch...

i have staples that i buy as well...

i find that by planning my meals i always have healthy options within reach...

no1belongs

Just wanted to see if anyone here makes a weekly menu plan and acctually sticks to it?

I know I have tried in the past to make a weekly plan and I just never am able to abide by it, something always comes up that prevents me from following it.

Does anyone else have this same problem? and for those of you who can stick to one how on earth do you do it???

I make a weekly meal plan. the way i stick to it is by making my stuff up in advance for the week so saturday or sunday night i will make my food and put it in serving size containers so the grab and go or grab and heat are super easy. i do with with all my meals i hope this helps ^_^

rebelate

Yep. I ~loosely menu plan for the week. I work a lot of late nights, so sometimes it's a bit difficult to stick with.

In the morning, I juice (prep the night before) and have either eggs, and toast or oatmeal. Lunches are just whatever is left over from the previous days. Our go to meals are chicken, and some kind of veggies or breakfast for dinner (eggs, toast, sausage.) Ziplock steamer bags are a big, big help, or frozen steamer bags help a lot of dinners over along more smoothly.

marsellient

I plan our dinners and generally eat homemade soup or leftovers for lunch. We don't always stick to the plan exactly, shifting things from one day to another or changing a meal to one from the freezer if time has become an issue. It makes grocery shopping so much easier and since we eat a lot of vegetables, having a plan cuts down a lot on food waste. We very seldom have slimy science experiments in the back of the frig anymore!

mskeeta86

I make a plan but use it more as an idea guide so I'm not scrambling for something healthy to eat. I pick and choose from the plan what I what to eat that day depending on what I'm in the mood for. I take a look at the plan that morning so I can make sure I take something out of the freezer. If I don't eat it that day...there's always tomorrow!

If something pops up like dinner with friends I just make a healthier choice while I'm out...choosing a side of veggies instead of fries.

JessWolf1002

Try skinnyms.com She has some great meal plans to follow and recipes to browse if you want to do it yourself.

shelly4113

I plan out what I want to eat during the week on the weekend. I make the more labor intensive meals and freeze them on Sat. Or Sun. Then during the week I just pop them in the oven.

Also I try to pre enter my breakfast, lunch and snacks the night before while I am making lunch, it makes it easier at work to know everything in my lunch box has already been added and I can eat what I want out of my lunchbox during the day.

no1belongs

I know that I am going to try harder to make a menu plan, or try to anyhow. breakfast and lunch is prity much the same every day monday to friday cause of work, its when I get home from work and am soooo tired I have no energy to cook that things start to fall apart for me. What can I do to avoid that, I dont eat frozen/tv dinners, I think they are nasty and full of unhealthy crap, and making them myself just isnt the same caus they loose so much after they have been frozen.

Does anyone have any recipies that might be good that I could easily do?

oh my goodness i just picked up the hungry girl cookbook look in to so many quick and easy ideas. i have been doing jillian michaels meal plan which is working out but you have to pay for it or have someone to trust you to use theres. umm example last week i had steak and rice meals was super easy and quick and again make it in advance and put in fridge so simple reheat

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds beef, boneless top sirloin steak, cut 3/4-inch thick
2 teaspoon oil, dark sesame
2 clove(s) garlic, minced
1 medium pepper(s), red, bell, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoon soy sauce, less sodium, divided
3 cup(s) spinach, fresh, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup(s) onion(s), green, sliced
3 tablespoon ketchup
2 cup(s) rice, brown, cooked
Preparation

Cut beef steak lengthwise in half and then crosswise into 1/4 inch strips. Toss with sesame oil and garlic.

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add beef (1/2 at a time); stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface is no longer pink. Remove from skillet.

In same skillet, add bell pepper, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tbsp water; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until pepper is crisp-tender. Add spinach and green onions; cook until spinach is just wilted. Stir in ketchup, remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce and beef; heat through. Serve over rice.

(serves 4) ^_^ aprox 334 cals

kristanb05

I did. And I failed. I do evening work outs, and that coupled with my kids after school speech therapy, I have to get back on the bandwagon. I have a themed night each day of the week so it's pretty easy to know every Wed. is crock pot night, Monday Italian, etc.

jillmarie125

I can relate to how you feel about being too tired to cook. I leave my house at 7 am and most nights I do not come home until 7pm. I also have a 3 year old. My only advice for getting over that "too tired to cook" feeling, is just doing it. You just need to get into the routine of cooking every night and it will not be so much of a chore. I don't mind eating leftover chicken (i know some people who won't) so I will grill chicken on one night for two or three meals. Chicken wraps, chicken salads, chicken stirfry, you get the point. Cooking and eating healthy does not have to be this big to do.

I do find planning out 5 week day meals in advance is easiest. If I didn't, I would probably be running to the grocery store daily to get what I needed. If you really want this, you will find a way to doing it.

no1belongs

i agree with this ^^^^ i dont sit down when i get home i put my stuff down out of the way and i go straight to dinner making. im up at 5 and not home til 5:30 or 6. it works out best to not sit keeps me motivated as long as i am up i will do things its once my butt hits the couch or the chair in the kitchen that im just a puddle of blah lol

BrotherBill913

I've been planning my next day meals, gttn them ready at night

shellyann1180

I, too, find it helpful to enter all my food in the morning and then I know what I have left over in the evening for a snack or if I need to increase my workouts. Plus, like you, I know that I can eat out of my bag and not worry about overeating.

TXtstorm

We make a weekly dinner menu and may plan some weekend breakfast/brunch meals. Though we may move a meal from one day to another, we stick to it pretty closely. We like a variety of cuisines and the only way we can guarantee that we'll have all of the ingredients for what we might want to make is to plan the menu and make grocery list from that menu, then remove anything we already have from the list. There are too many different spices/seasonings/condiments and fresh ingredients to hope for the best even in our pantry! We also have to plan to be sure frozen ingredients will be thawed and allow for cooking time for meals with longer time needs. I can't imagine on a regular basis walking into my kitchen after a day at work and thinking, "What shall I cook tonight?"

My breakfast and lunch plans are a little different. For both I keep a variety of things around that will make decent meals. Breakfasts for me: eggs, low-calorie tortillas, ham, smoked salmon, a variety of cheeses, salsas or hot sauce, cottage cheese, fresh and frozen fruits, granola, steel cut oats, cracked wheat for hot cereal, reduced calorie frozen breakfast sandwiches, turkey sausage and more. I sometimes make refrigerator oats ahead and have 2 or 3 jars in the fridge. For lunches I tend to pick from leftovers from home cooked meals, commercially prepared soups (like Campbell's GO soups), Lean Cuisine or similar frozen entrees, or salad meals when they serve a good one in the cafeteria. I also pack snacks like nuts or Kind bars, fresh fruit, cheese, veggies & hummus, or yogurt.

Dinner ideas: We rework old favorites to be healthier, make salad meals (though the husband doesn't like those as much during cold weather season), and pick up recipes or ideas off of the Cooking Light website and other similar sites. It helps that two of us are sharing the planning and shopping and we cook as a team most nights.