How do you plan your meals?

aaddaammggoolleeaaffss
aaddaammggoolleeaaffss Posts: 230
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering how some people around here plan their meals, do you plan a week ahead what you will be having for that week or is it more of a just what you find in the fridge?

I am cleaning out my cupboards and am going to do a lot of grocery shopping tomorrow and get rid of all of the unhealthy things have. What I was thinking about doing is making a bunch of meals in one day, separate and freeze. I want to label the calories on each container so it makes it easier day by day to track what I am eating.

Any suggestions ? What has worked for you?

Any suggestions on where I can find some good low-cal recipes?

Replies

  • soze
    soze Posts: 604 Member
    I plan them a week in advance. Didn't use to be that way. Usually I make cabbage soup for the week when I make it. I try to have some greens and I buy quite a bit of soup for lunch. Breakfast is mainly bran flakes and a banana. I keep it sooooo simple.
  • puddles76
    puddles76 Posts: 36 Member
    Wow you're way more orginized than I can be. More power to you for the labeling and freezing. Right now I'm just winging it and keep fesh items in the house.

    As for recipes I just google search and usual can find a site that has a few or I will use the standard All Recipe site or Food TV. They usually list a calorie total and you can review the recipe an make adjustments where needed if it's too high. The food diary on this site is great for me because I can plug in all my ingredients and it will give me a total.

    Good luck and post if you find an over the top great recipe site.
  • california_peach
    california_peach Posts: 1,809 Member
    I plan our meals weeks in advance. I currently have meals planned through the end of January. I usually cook four days a week. The other three days we eat leftover and on Sat we get take out. I find that planning like this has lowered our food bills and made life oh so easier. I use a calender to organize the meals and I use cookbooks and the internet for recipe ideas.
  • inskydiamonds
    inskydiamonds Posts: 2,519 Member
    I meal plan every Thursday for the next week and I try to only pick things that include at least one other thing I already have in the house, be it produce or frozen meat or something canned in my cabinets. This ensures I actually use the stuff in my house.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    When we go to the grocery store we just try to think about the meals we'd like to eat and we buy accordingly. But, we tend to eat the same kinds of things. We eat a lot of salad, a lot of fresh vegetables, steak, chicken, ground beef. We stock the staples and I figure out what to make when it's meal time. Once you get into the habit of eating fresh, healthy food, it's easy to do.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
    My crock pot. I make chili, casseroles, meat dishes, etc. I can keep the sodium contained, and the stuff usually freezes great. I love http://southernfood.about.com. Additionally, I've gotten recipes from food packages (got a great chicken and rice casserole recipe from a package of Sargento shredded cheddar cheese that I modified with brown rice and low sodium broth that's very tasty), invented some myself just playing with ingredients, etc.
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    I plan mine out a week in advance. Basically, I try to stock up on staples (rice, dry pasta, frozen veggies, canned tomatoes in the winter) and whatever meat is on sale when it is on sale. Then I just plan based on what I have left at home and/or what is on sale at the store that week. I like to try out new recipes, but I have a mental list of quite a few favorites that we like to rotate too. I also try to plan for a day of leftovers in there (easy since we only have 3 eating at home). In the summer I like to just do chicken or something on the grill with fresh veggies at least once a week and in the winter I like to make up a huge pot of soup at least once a week.

    This week isn't much of an example, but basically the only leftovers we had were from Christmas Eve dinner (lots of ham) so the menu plan for the week is:
    Monday: leftovers from Christmas dinner (we were just getting back into town so that was quick and easy)
    Tuesday: ham & cheese quiche (well, we splurged and ordered pizza... but quiche was the plan...)
    Wednesday: white beans cooked in the crockpot (with the ham bone, of course!)
    Thursday: planned to eat out with a friend
    Friday: planned to just eat at a New Year's Eve party... I am going to come up with a relatively healthy dish to take but I don't know what yet; probably some fresh veggies too.
    Saturday: my little boy's birthday so he gets what he wants (which is pot pie, this is *so* not a healthy week for us!)
    Sunday: leftovers
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    I'm so organized it's ridiculous! (my grocery list is an Excel spreadsheet). I plan meals a week at a time. I use the grocery store flyers, plan to use what I already have and rotate the protein each meal so I don't hear my husband say "chicken again?!?!?" I collect recipes, use cookbooks, the internet, and just have my standbys to decide what we are having. I'll also base it on the weather a little bit, we are having homemade vegetable soup tomorrow (leftovers the next day) because it will still be cold here tomorrow but start warming up later in the week.
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
    I sit down and plan for the week. On the weekends when I have the time I make and freeze. Love the labeling calories on container idea!!! I even plan my snacks. I hate having to run back to store to pick up something I forgot. My husband says chicken again? Yummmm!!!! Thank goodness he loves it anyway I make it! :bigsmile:
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    i sit down on sunday's and blog my menus (hope you'll stop by!). i plan a main dish, veggie and fruit. this week was: turkey and gravy open-faced sandwich; chicken cordon blue (with swiss); creamy asparagus soup; flatbread alfredo pizza; beef enchiladas; chicken and dumplings; ham, portabella mushroom and spinach crepes (with smoked gouda or feta) and halibut over angelhair pasta with asparagus, olives and tomatoes. i used to do once-a-month cooking (bake and freeze) and loved it, but i haven't done that in about two years.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member

    Tuesday: ham & cheese quiche (well, we splurged and ordered pizza... but quiche was the plan...)

    :laugh: Been there, done that!
  • Buttsmom
    Buttsmom Posts: 351 Member
    Wow I really need to take some lessons in planning, I plan supper when it's time to eat.
  • GremlinJenny
    GremlinJenny Posts: 151
    Yeah you're definitely way more organized than me! And I am reallllly organized. LOL...

    I can't really plan my meals any further than 1 day in advance. I try to give my tastebuds what they want, when they want it - just in moderation. If I plan my meals too far in advance, I find that I get bored and unmotivated to eat what I made. Then I make REALLY bad rebellious decisions. HAHAHA.... Not knowing makes me a little more excited about the next meal around the bend.

    I do, however, plan all my snacks. I'm always bringing a lunchbox to work. Blueberries, almonds, grapes, clementines, goldfish, corn, yogurt, healthy "chips", etc. And I tend to bring ALL of these snacks everyday so that I can pick accordingly to how I feel. LOL.
  • CarolHudson11
    CarolHudson11 Posts: 372
    Wow I really need to take some lessons in planning, I plan supper when it's time to eat.


    Ha! Me, too!
  • NicoleRuth
    NicoleRuth Posts: 25 Member
    I am trying to get more organized with my groceries/menus. These tips are excellent. I have a budget setback as well as only cooking for a single person and I work in the evenings/have class in the evenings. Maybe I should try to do a main meal in the middle of the day?? Anyone have any thoughts?
  • aaddaammggoolleeaaffss
    aaddaammggoolleeaaffss Posts: 230
    I am trying to get more organized with my groceries/menus. These tips are excellent. I have a budget setback as well as only cooking for a single person and I work in the evenings/have class in the evenings. Maybe I should try to do a main meal in the middle of the day?? Anyone have any thoughts?

    I'm just cooking for me as well, I found a cool meal plan spreadsheet I am going to use online as well. I am going to basically cook everything in one day, separate it all out, freeze it and write the amount of calories of each one separately before I put it in the freezer.

    I am just going to do that for my main meal of the day though. The others such as lunch and breakfast I will just make fresh but I am still going to plan those 2 weeks ahead.
  • myukniewicz
    myukniewicz Posts: 906 Member
    i "plan" my meals that day. i usually have an idea laid out in my mind, kind of like an outline... Greek yogurt and fruit for breakfast... a veggie burger for lunch... chicken for dinner.... then it goes from there, when its time to eat i take what i planned on eating and create a whole meal around it.
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