Meal planning

hwilliams519
hwilliams519 Posts: 428
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
Do you plan you weekly meals in advance, before you go grocery shopping? Or do you you just go with the flow with what you buy? I need to make some changes with my food, especially preparing more stuff in advance for the week. Any suggestions on meal planning or your 'go-to' items?

Replies

  • JennsLosing
    JennsLosing Posts: 1,026
    i plan for 2 weeks, do my major grocery shopping at one time.
  • photorific
    photorific Posts: 577 Member
    Staples:
    Breakfast - Eggs, frozen berries, plain yogurt
    Lunch - Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, celery, bell peppers (basically whatever "salad" stuff is on sale) I also cook loads of chicken breasts at the beginning of the week, and slice to add to salads as needed (also good for a snack).
    Dinner - Meats + lots of frozen veg (I do also buy fresh - but as long as I have frozen, I don't ever have an excuse to not be eating them since they never go bad...)

    I keep a pretty full spice cupboard, and use spices for most of the variety in my meals...

    I do also have a few cookbooks that I go to for inspiration/meal ideas and will plan some, based on those.
  • tararocks
    tararocks Posts: 287 Member
    I don't plan my meals as specifically as Monday-this Tuesday-that. I look at what is on sale that week as well as what sounds good and I have a rough idea of what I wantt o get. I ALWAYS have boneless skinless chicken breast and some sort of fish or shrimp and those are good proteins for you. I also stock up on the veggies that are on sale but i also regulalrly have carrots, peppers, and squash because they stay fresh for extended periods of time. Planning ahead does help!
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
    plan...its best for me to not get the junk I dont want
  • robston
    robston Posts: 67 Member
    I'm struggling with this as well.. I totally am starting to recognize that that (while I've heard it 1000 times before)..Nutrition really is 80% of this, and I'm not doing so great with that..and I know its cause I'm not prepared each evening..
  • SeasideOasis
    SeasideOasis Posts: 1,057 Member
    I sort of plan several basic meal ideas.

    For example, I'll see what meats are on sale. Usually, salmon is a staple in my diet lately. I've also found a hundred uses for ground turkey (burgers or in place of beef in tacos!). I grab the meats, then when I wake up, I'm wrestle in my head what I'm in the mood for (blackened, pan seared, baked, broiled, hot, sweet, etc) and go from there.

    Things always in my house are...
    White potatoes (Not canned...Fresh. 10 are like 110 calories and that usually makes 4 servings in my house) - I've got reason to believe the other person I cook for might have potassium deficiency, so potatoes are sort of important
    FRESH veggies
    Steamer Bags
    Brown Rice
    Fruits
    Cheese
    Greek Yogurt
    A STOCKED spice cabnet

    With these basics always around so matter what, its hard to go wrong in 'basic' meal prep.
  • Lolyballs
    Lolyballs Posts: 180 Member
    I only buy what's on sale, so I get the weekly flyers and plan meals from there. I might switch things up during the week... like instead of roast beef, I might do a beef stir fry. I make sure all those junk food snacks my room mates eat are not in my sight so I am not tempted. I keep fresh fruit and veggies in the fridge where I see them first when I go looking for something to take the edge off. Oh and I do not buy anything white other than milk or eggs. No white bread, white rice, white potatoes. Oh I do buy sugar...but only use it for tea (1/4 cup per 2 quarts) I am allergic to most artificial sweeteners. I haven't tried Truvia but I grow stevia... now if I could only figure out how to use it. lol
  • mgmlap
    mgmlap Posts: 1,377 Member
    I have been doing a monthly menu for about 4 years..works great. Each time we hit the store..we only get whats on the list..since we know what we will be eating that week..or for the next 2 weeks.

    Not only will you not buy unwanted food..but it will also help with the food shopping bill
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
    i keep various cuts of chicken frozen in my freezer and ground white meat turkey and extra lean beef. I also have frozen white meat chicken skewers with veggies in my fridge for a quick dinner. When I go shopping, I spend about 1/3 of the time in the produce section and buy tons of high fiber veggies and fruits (and always a bunch of sweet potatoes) that are easy to prepare (clean and steam, roast, or quick boil). I also buy 7-10 days worth of greek yogurt every time I shop and cartons of egg whites. I find that if I keep all these things on hand, its much easier to make dinner every night. Before I go to work, I take the protein out of the freezer, so its ready when I get home at 6pm. And veggies are easy to make, so that takes no time at all.
  • Rklane
    Rklane Posts: 42 Member
    We plan our meals for the week by picking items from the Rocco Dispirito cookbook. All the recipes are low cal and very tasty! It helps to keep me on track during the week. Weekends are another thing though! Unfortunately we eat out a lot on weekends which makes it tough.
  • comcatee
    comcatee Posts: 48 Member
    Sometimes I plan the entire week at once and other times I just make whatever I feel like when I get home. One thing I like to do at the beginning of the week is cook up a large pot of rice, beans, or lentils and keep it in the fridge so then I can just reheat it the rest of the week so that saves me time.
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    i plan my meals based on what i have for staples plus what is on sale in the flyers. the flyers come out wednesday, i plan sunday and i buy groceries for the week on monday. check out my menu blog if you need some new supper ideas. :)
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