Tell me how you meal plan!

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kommodevaran
kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
edited September 2016 in Food and Nutrition
I'm fascinated by meal planning and constantly looking for tips and ideas. Planning is very useful, but I can't always get what I intended to buy, not even announced sale items, and not even if I use categories for many items; other times, an item I bought LAST time is on sale or marked down TODAY and I have other plans for today, grrr... this has been frustrating. Recently I've been trying "reverse meal planning", sort of, and it's new to me, so I take it slow - I will buy ingredients for that day and the following day's dinners, one of which is fixed (following a specific recipe and/or I have defrosted meat), or "get ingredients for this soup or that soup", and the other meal only a belonging to a "category" (red meat/white meat) so that I can pick whatever vegetable(s) that are cheap and look good right NOW.

Do you have any creative or just too obvious methods, strategies or tricks?
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I do a menu for the evening meals for the week and make my shopping list as I do this... I then buy enough lunch stuff, salad, meat, bagels etc for the week but that isn't set in stone for each day.

    Admittedly, we sometimes have the same meals week after week, I have maybe 8-10 meals I cook fairly often but then I crack open my recipe book for some new inspiration every so often.
  • Trish1c
    Trish1c Posts: 549 Member
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    I suck at meal planning.

    I try to think about easy things to make during the weeknights. I load up on chicken breasts & pork chops, things I can get ready quickly without a lot of prep.

    I have learned to make large quantities of things & eat them 2 days in a row & maybe for lunch. I can also freeze 1/2 & we have it in a week or two.

    I like on line recipe builder tools where you tell it what you have & it gives you suggestions on what to make. This is especially helpful if you kept something close to too long & it's time to use it up.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I don't really plan. I let the ingredients I have on hand inspire me. ;-)

    Basically, I have meat/fish in my freezer, may have some fresh fish, have vegetables from my vegetable box (only during season), and then whatever else I got to supplement based on what I normally eat. Then I plan (typically in my head) based on that.

    I'll look at the meat options and pick out what I plan to eat for the next week so that I can get it out in time and cook ahead anything that requires slower cooking. I'll schedule store trips around when I plan to have fish, often, and I know what I need to use up, and then I plan around this. I also know what days I will be getting home really late and want something really fast or leftovers, that I need to make lunches, that kind of thing, although obviously things change and I adapt.

    Realizing that I could cook from what I have vs. having to plan and buy for the plan is when I went from finding cooking every night a chore to when it became fun and easy. I became better at it through having to find ways to use up my vegetable box (weekly box from a farm determined by what's plentiful and ready, so sometimes I end up with insane amounts of greens (well, usually this is the case, but especially in late spring) or corn or tomatoes or zucchini or, currently winter squash and potatoes, among other things).

    One reason why a low carb diet would be hard! ;-)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    My wife and I alternate cooking nights...on the weekend we go through pinterest or whatever and figure out what each of us will be making for the week...we usually cook double portions of whatever for dinner so that we have lunches the following day...then we make our shopping list and hit the grocery store and Costco as applicable.

    Save for a handful of items though, most of what we pick up at the store are staple items anyway...we might be cooking them a different way this Wednesday vs last Thursday or whatever...but we tend to have our staples and then we just need to shop for misc. type of stuff because we're doing an Asian theme vs an African theme or something.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,982 Member
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    I usually start the day w/the same protein shake morning and the same high protein drink w/turkey breast and fruit for lunch but for lunch I will sometines eat leftovers or eat somewhere on the run. Then, based on what I ate earlier, I use MFP to "plan" dinner around what I "feel" like eating and adjust the meal to fit my macro and calorie limits.
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
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    We're just so boring. We have a rotation of salad with a grilled protein -or- grilled chicken/fish/pork/steak with grilled veggies. We throw in fun stuff for the kids, but that's primarily what the hubs and I eat on a daily basis.
  • julie_broadhead
    julie_broadhead Posts: 347 Member
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    I plan 1 breakfast, two lunch options, 3 dinner options, and 3-4 snacks per week. I select recipes that use in season produce and grocery shop once per week. I only buy what we need at the grocery store. For example, if I'm making something that requires one banana, I only buy one banana. The breakfast recipe lasts all week. We alternate between the two lunches. I cook dinner three times throughout the week and we eat the leftovers. I set aside time during the weekend to do all the vegetable chopping to save me time on the week nights.
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
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    We generally plan around the sale papers. Often what we end up doing is buying a large cut of whatever is on sale, cooking it all at once, then eating off it for several days. For instance, this week, it was rump roast. Baby carrots were also on sale. There are two of us, so a five pound roast is going to make quite a few meals. Baby carrots, onion, a sweet potato and a regular potato plus water and a packet of onion soup mix went into the crockpot with the roast. We've eaten it for two days so far. I also got a small head of cabbage and a rutabaga - chop that up, pop it into the big stock pot with whatever is left of the roast, veggies, and juice together with a bag or two of frozen mixed veg, and we will have a terrific soup. Probably will have to freeze some of that for another time.

  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
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    My last meal prep consisted of:
    Sausage breakfast burritos
    Steak breakfast burritos
    Stuffed biscuits and gravy
    Salisbury steak and mac and cheese
    Manicotti and brussels sprouts
    Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes
    Plain meatballs

    Ingredients are on hand to make servings of chicken fried rice or spam and pineapple fried rice and Bagel breakfast sandwiches.

    I recently bought a new car. I am making a conscientious effort to not buy any fast food or eat out. Making and freezing meals ahead saves a crapton of money. I spent a few bucks buying freezer containers. I do not use a microwave at home so I just pop the frozen meals out into an individual baking dish and bake for 45 minutes. The meals come out absolutely perfect. I pack my homemade meals with me to work as a home health aide and use my patient's nicrowaves as needed.

    I spent about 240 per month for myself and a 3 1/2 year old and we have food for the entire month.
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
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    Valerie, Spam and pineapple fried rice sounds fantastic! I'll be Googling for a recipe...
  • ItsyBitsy246
    ItsyBitsy246 Posts: 307 Member
    edited September 2016
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    No real planning, just keep the cupboards full of staples so I have on hand whatever I need as the mood strikes. I buy whenever stuff is on sale for future use. So, I just make whatever strikes me that day, with an eye to what perishables need to be eaten first.

    Once a week or so I buy fruit and veggies, and cook and/or freeze whatever I can't eat in time.
    Freezer stocked with frozen tilapia, salmon, chicken, bread, bagels, ice cream.
    Fridge has a variety of cheeses, yogurt and almond milk.
    Cupboards stocked with lentils, chickpeas, black beans, white beans, black rice, quinoa, oatmeal, basmati rice, trail mix, salsa verde, hoisin, tahini...
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,944 Member
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    No planning.

    My food drawer at work and our cupboards, fridge and freezer at home are full of the options I know will work within my calorie limit.

    Then it is just a matter of picking what's available.

    At work, I know that if I go for a long walk at lunch, I can eat these things, but if I go for a short walk, it'll be those things.

    Same sort of thing at home ... if I've exercised lots, I can have these things, but if not it will be those things.

    When we shop, our cart contains basically the same things each week ... just restocking what we've used.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
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    @WindSparrow...
    This is how I would make my spam fried rice. Make the rice the day before (or at least chilled 5 hours - this is a must).
    I put a little butter in a pan and saute the rice until translucent. For 1/2 cup rice, add 1 cup water. Bring to a rolling boil. Cover and simmer 12-13 minutes. Turn burner off and let sit. Place in fridge.
    Next day, put a tbsp of oil in a skillet. Add diced spam and frozen peas and carrots. Brown. Add pineapple, rice, a tbsp of soy sauce. Mix all together and fry for a minute or 2.
    Push it all to one side. Scramble 2 eggs and add to empty side of skillet. Cook through and break apart and mix with the rice mix.
    This makes a HUGE one person portion around 650 calories. Or split into 2.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I do nothing fancy. I keep a supply of thin cut beef and pork for me, and a supply of thicker cut beef and pork for Mrs. I keep frozen salmon and tilapia on hand. I purchase a variety of fresh vegetables each week. When I get home from work I start weighing, chopping, and cooking for both of us. Today for instance I had a 90 g slice of beef with 350 g of various vegetables and she had a 206 g steak with ~40 g Asparagus. Tomorrow is fish day.
  • jjtweb
    jjtweb Posts: 37 Member
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    I started using a site called "Eat This Much" You set how your lifestyle is and it creates menu's and recipes for you. You can always make changes with a click of the button. I would do an entire week and once it seem good then you click a button and it makes a grocery list. It even tracks what is in your pantry so you don't over buy food. The easy recipes there are very good and so easy. You can pick from no cooking, five minute prep, fast food all the way up to thirty minute cooking. Once I got use to using it and grocery shopping with it, it made making my meals in MFP so easy. I don't even use that site now but starting out it took all the thinking out and gave me some very creative and good tasting food that never tasted like you was trying to lose weight.
  • ShandaLeaS
    ShandaLeaS Posts: 136 Member
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    I have a dry erase calendar. At the end of the month I go thru the pantry, freezer and fridge to see what we have. I fill the calendar with as many meals as I can and then I fill in the rest according to what I buy thats on sale. The 3rd might say grilled chicken but we might not eat it the 3rd. I get up in the morning, look to see what sounds good that day and then erase it off so I know its no longer an option.
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
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    ValerieMartini2Olives wrote: »
    @WindSparrow...
    This is how I would make my spam fried rice. Make the rice the day before (or at least chilled 5 hours - this is a must).
    I put a little butter in a pan and saute the rice until translucent. For 1/2 cup rice, add 1 cup water. Bring to a rolling boil. Cover and simmer 12-13 minutes. Turn burner off and let sit. Place in fridge.
    Next day, put a tbsp of oil in a skillet. Add diced spam and frozen peas and carrots. Brown. Add pineapple, rice, a tbsp of soy sauce. Mix all together and fry for a minute or 2.
    Push it all to one side. Scramble 2 eggs and add to empty side of skillet. Cook through and break apart and mix with the rice mix.
    This makes a HUGE one person portion around 650 calories. Or split into 2.

    Thanks!
  • KyleGrace8
    KyleGrace8 Posts: 2,205 Member
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    I don't really plan but we eat the same things all the time. I always have protein oatmeal for breakfast, Veggies and tuna for lunch and we rotate 3-4 different dinner combos (chicken, fish, potatoes, rice, veggies, beans) depending on what sounds good that day. Every now and then I'll switch it up but this routine has worked for us. Cheap and effective!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Thanks everybody! Here I thought "meal planning" was something that had a definition..! The way I read your comments, it strikes me that what some people refer to as "planning" is the very same thing that others call "not really planning"! I too rotate the same kinds of meals, that's what constitutes my meal plan ;) The same goes for "boring" - the description is the same, but the naming makes the difference :p It's all in the eye of the beholder :D

    "Eat This Much" was actually one of the things that opened the world of meal planning for me. It was exciting to see all the possibilities, and then I discovered that I could do the same myself, only better! The last year has been filled with variety and freshness and almost no waste, but I have had to forgo some items because I already had other plans, and that's annoying. I'm not that poor, just want to streamline the process.

    I got some new insight - I particularly liked the concept of "adaptability" - I need to work with what's really on hand, not what I imagine will be available. Having a well stocked freezer as well as pantry is crucial to be able to pick up and use whatever vegetables turn up. Pantry has been full for a year, but freezer space is limited so I have to be strategic.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Honestly? I created this for myself:

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    1. Each week or so i pick out my favorite foods for each meal type.
    2. On the second page i write down each item needed for said meal.
    3. A lot of the items for one meal cross over to others.
    4. For meals which can be made ahead of time I go ahead and highlight them pink.
    5. For meals which should be made on the day i highlight them in yellow.
    6. As soon as i get home from the grocery store i "pre-prep" everything regardless. This includes washing fruits and veggies, storing them in ways that are appetizing and easy to eat (clear containers, etc.), I pre-make smoothie bags for freezing (weighing and adding in sliced strawberries, bananas, etc. so i can just throw in the blender in the morning of), I fill large glass bottles of water, make plenty of low to no calorie drinks (like these, with flavored teas).
    7. Because i've been in maintenance for years now and don't log strictly i can easily see an estimate of how many cals i'm eating by choosing meal a for breakfast b for lunch c for dinner, etc. etc. etc.
    8. I go ahead and pre-cook any meals which can be done in advance and store in glass containers.
    9. All items which will be used for each meal that must be prepared on the day/night i go ahead and group together in my pantry and/or fridge for easy access.
    10. I tape this list on my fridge so i can easily see what my options are each week and i know what i have. My boyfriend can easily pick whatever he wants to eat for dinner without the "so, what do you want to eat" discussion.
    11. First page is the foods list, on the second page when either him or i run out of some ingredient (Not food, but like "butter, olive oil, italian seasoning, etc."), we highlight it on the grocery page. That way we know next week we need to purchase more for our next week's meals.



    I know this might sound like a lot (i don't know, does it?) but now that it's routine it's been able to fit my lifestyle and makes eating during the week SUPER EASY. I do end up cooking probably 2-3 times a week with things (like eggs) that are best prepared THAT night. But man is it no big deal when your veggies are pre-chopped and all that's required is some sauteeing.


    In addition to the above, i should mention, that because i'm some-what of a minimalist and have moved across the country and then now to another continent i NEVER EVER stockpile food. Canned veggies, grains, the freezers full of crap, 50 million condiments, etc. After having to get rid of BOXES of food, i refuse to be in that position again, it's so incredibly wasteful. Instead, i purchase ONLY the things i'll be eating each week. Each week my cabinets go completely bare. This also allows me to easily filter and see what i've got without going through piles and piles of crap.


    Hope this helps!

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