How do you plan meals and stick to the plan?

[rnorwo1]

I have seen how beneficial planning meals ahead of time can be and I've had (short) periods when I am able to follow through and cut down my grocery and eating out bills. I'm currently off the wagon again and I'm so frustrated. I'm constantly getting home in the afternoons and realizing there's nothing thawed to cook. Luckily we live out in the middle of nowhere, so that prevents expensive take out, but I am twenty-dollaring us to death with fast food, or I'm cooking waffles and frozen pizzas a lot I'm fine with breakfast for dinner every now and then, but my kids are sometimes lucky to get one serving of vegetables a week.

So,for those who have mastered the art of planning, can you tell me how you do it? How often do you do it, weekly, monthly? Do you repeat the same menus? I stock up whenever meat is on sale, but I don't think shopping week to week around the sales will help us in this area... but I will keep in mind the type of meat I have in the freezer.

And as far as sticking to the plan: do you prep food the night before? When we get home we delve right into homework with the older ones and the two year old is running wild and we have to hurry to get to taekwondo or soccer, so sometimes I just look at that lovely meal planned and I put the meat right back into the fridge b/c it'll be an hour of cooking and then clean up, in the middle of the other chaos. Years ago I tried once a month cooking but it was so difficult to do the actual cooking with the kids. We also don't like a lot of casseroles with cream sauces, freezing stuff seems to be more difficult with picky eaters. And we're in the deep south, so soups and chillis aren't always welcome in this heat.

Any other info/tips you may have will be so appreciated... I'm afraid this is probably just one more thing that the magical solution is just "suck it up and do it", but I'm hoping for a few "ah-ha!" responses that will change this horrible pattern for us!!

 

[NYEmomma]

I can't stand grocery shopping so I menu plan & shop every two weeks. Menu planning is a pita, imo, so I'd like to get to the point where I plan for the entire month at one time & then just break it into 2 shopping trips.

I don't stick to the circular for my plans but I do stock up on items when they're a good deal so I plan more around my pantry.

But really, there's little rhyme or reason to my menus. Pretty much whatever sounds good... a nice mix of meals I like & meals DH likes, meals that we haven't JUST had, etc.

I'm a SAHM so I have a bit more time to meal prep but I don't particularly like cooking so most of my meals are either quick or crock pot meals. I also do at least one meal per week that has leftovers that can be eaten the next day or day after.

We manage to stick to the plan because we literally have no other food options for dinner.

 

[figment3258]

I hear ya!
You could start by checking out my thread on this board it's called eat at home.

Everyone post differently weather it's what they are eating today or a week or a month and there is some great support there.

As for me I try to make a meal plan for one week. Start little and build you way up weather it's for 3 days or a week and then you can work up to two weeks or even a month at a time,

I don't shop around sales for me I have found a grocery store with the best prices around so I use their flyer to use some of my coupons with but I still buy whatever we want for diner even if it's not on sale.

As far as planing I wrote down a list of meal that we eat and then I pick it from that on what we will eat that week.

If u have a crock pot I would use it it can be ur best friend when u have a bunch of running around to do after school. Also to add more veggies to your meals buy the frozen steam bags that take 5 mins in the microwave it's a great time saver.

The bottom line is you have to want to do it. It's not always easy and it might be really hard but if u want to u can do it! Start with a changlle for yourself like I will eat every meal from home for 5 days then work ur way up see how much money u save and it will surprise you. Please check out eat at home there are some great people with wonderful support

 

[figment3258]

Here is the link for the eat at home thread I think I have never done this before so here I go

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2529344

 

[Sarahlovy]

I find that the most important thing for me in terms of following a plan is making sure everything is thawed when needed. Two days before I need something thawed, I make sure to write it down with the dinner plan for that night so I pull it when I am prepping dinner. When I am not doing as well planning, I still try to make sure I have a protein or main ready for two nights in the future- that way i am sure that it is thawed.

 

[Marionnette]

I have seen how beneficial planning meals ahead of time can be and I've had (short) periods when I am able to follow through and cut down my grocery and eating out bills. I'm currently off the wagon again and I'm so frustrated. I'm constantly getting home in the afternoons and realizing there's nothing thawed to cook. Luckily we live out in the middle of nowhere, so that prevents expensive take out, but I am twenty-dollaring us to death with fast food, or I'm cooking waffles and frozen pizzas a lot I'm fine with breakfast for dinner every now and then, but my kids are sometimes lucky to get one serving of vegetables a week.

So,for those who have mastered the art of planning, can you tell me how you do it? How often do you do it, weekly, monthly? Do you repeat the same menus? I stock up whenever meat is on sale, but I don't think shopping week to week around the sales will help us in this area... but I will keep in mind the type of meat I have in the freezer.

And as far as sticking to the plan: do you prep food the night before? When we get home we delve right into homework with the older ones and the two year old is running wild and we have to hurry to get to taekwondo or soccer, so sometimes I just look at that lovely meal planned and I put the meat right back into the fridge b/c it'll be an hour of cooking and then clean up, in the middle of the other chaos. Years ago I tried once a month cooking but it was so difficult to do the actual cooking with the kids. We also don't like a lot of casseroles with cream sauces, freezing stuff seems to be more difficult with picky eaters. And we're in the deep south, so soups and chillis aren't always welcome in this heat.

Any other info/tips you may have will be so appreciated... I'm afraid this is probably just one more thing that the magical solution is just "suck it up and do it", but I'm hoping for a few "ah-ha!" responses that will change this horrible pattern for us!!

This is where it helps to have a couple of back up recipes and ingredients on hand.

I always have pasta, a jar of sauce and frozen broccoli on hand. There's also a package of seasoned, pre-cooked chicken strips in the freezer, instant rice and frozen stir fry veggies. If anything disrupts my plans for dinner, I have those items to fall back on so that I don't end up calling 1-800-SENDME-APIZZA.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Dh prints out his schedule for the week and I menu plan on that and it sits on the fridge. Some nights I might just put "chicken" - take it out the night before then figure out exactly what I'm doing that night. Or I might plan something in more detail sort of depends on my mood.

I menu plan around what we have in the house when I'm making the menu and then I'll put things on the grocery list for the next week's menu. I do have a 'go to' menu list but try to add something new into the mix every week or so to try it out. Sometimes it makes the cut and gets onto the go to list to pick from other times well "we tried it".

Some nights are leftovers nights.

To make things easier we cook ground meat when we buy it and then freeze it in 1 pound increments so it's basically ready to go.

I'm motivated by how much money we end up saving by eating at home - it's amazing. Yes, its easier and fun to eat out but boy does my bank account like the eat at home plan!

 

[Priorityonecb]

I grocery shop once a week. Before I do, I write out Saturday-Friday and then jot a note next to each day what we have going on. That way I know if we are both working, dd has band rehearsal until late it can be a quick and easy meal night. If one of us is home and dd has a light day, we can make a more labor intensive meal. Then I fill in our meals for those days, and post it on the fridge so whichever parent is home first can get things started.

I can make most of our meals in under 30 minutes, and I save the others for weekends and days one of us doesn't go into the office. Taco's are easy, kid friendly, lots of veggies and can be prepared in under 20 minutes. Soup and sandwiches are great for quick meal nights too. Shrimp Alfredo or spaghetti are quick and easy. It's easy to throw together a quick salad or veggie side dish while the water boils. I buy boneless chicken tenders instead of thights or breasts. It does cost a bit more, but those thaw in minutes and cook up in the time it takes to make rice, potatoes and a veggie.

 

[crazelion]

I buy some really easy things to cook at store. I buy frozen veggies, pasta, jar sauce and cereal.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I think when it comes to actual meal planning people need to be more realistic. Everyone wants to cook a big gourmet meal with all the sides but realistically most can't due to this, that or the other.

Make things easy and cut some corners. Steam bag veggies are your friend. Cut up fruit is just as healthy as veggies. Keep a stocked pantry of easy go to meals: pasta, sauce, tortillas, refried beans, rice, apple sauce, bread crumbs, tuna, pizza dough, sauce, shredded cheese and other throw together things.

I'm a meal planner because I NEED the organization in my life. My husband and I are going in opposite directions most days and this at least keeps some order. I repurpose alot of meals. I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot a couple weeks ago to tear apart for other meals and then make some stock for later.

I make a meal plan every Sunday. I don't shop ads. I shop by what we want and what's on sale and what's in season. Every morning I take down the pantry items for what I need for dinner. The meat gets put in the fridge or I even thaw in hot water the previous night and then leave in the fridge the day I plan to cook. I also love my crockpot and try to cook alot the evening before because I'm gone for at least 12 hours and don't want to leave my crockpot on all day for that long.

Here's meals from the last couple weeks for me:

Stuffed french toast casserole with apples with mini quiches and some turkey bacon
Chicken soft tacos, fresh pineapple, and taco rice
Rice and bean burritos with leftover pineapple
Beef stroganoff with egg noodles and spicy broccoli
Spicy chicken noodle soup with egg noodles with sliced veggies
Pork chops, mac-n-cheese with broccoli
Bowtie pasta with chopped spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and cream sauce
Homemade veggie pizza and sliced apples
Fish tacos, pineapple, and coleslaw
Homemade chicken strips, leftover coleslaw, sweet potato fries
Sausage and pepper pasta with salad

I try to make enough for leftovers for lunch at work or to freeze in single servings.

I do think the key is to cut shortcuts where you can. I tend to cook things and then freeze like ground turkey and sometimes grill up chicken or pork, and I use alot of frozen veggies so I don't let things waste in the fridge.

 

[nsmith]

I agree with the previous posters, you need to have easy side dishes available at all times. steam frozen veggies are a must, or a bowl of fresh fruit then add a starch: rice bag or box, or make a big pot of rice and use it for a couple meals, instant mashed potatoes or baked if you have the time, even bread and butter then add your protein: chicken breast, pork chops, hamburgers or turkey burgers only take 20-30 mins. to cook. But you MUST defrost something every morning. You will never make this work if you don't take 5 minutes each morning to decide "whats for dinner".

I have found on nights I am not prepared picking up rolls and lunch meat at the store is cheaper that take out and then we have lunches for the rest of the week.

 

[mrsklamc]

I try to make sure we have several options...If you don't eat casseroles/cream soups this won't work for you but we always have tuna, noodles and cream of potato soup so we can always have that; we always have frozen pizza, pre cooked pounds of hamburger as someone else mentioned (easy tacos or spaghetti).....at the moment we have a frozen lasagna in the freezer too...and if all else fails there is breakfast for dinner which can be as easy as cereal or you can do pancakes, bacon, sausage, etc. We also occasionally eat canned ravioli, or the frozen organic burritos from Costco.

Theres also lots of ideas on this blog, which does belong to a fellow Dis'er.

http://eatathomecooks.com/

 

[karice2]

I am single so my planning is a little different than most but here is what I do. I never know what I am going to want throughout the week so I have created my own a la carte system. I cook a bunch of individual things that can go well together. When I come home, i just pick the parts that I want and make a meal out of it.

Today I made Red Beans and Rice (kept the rice separate in case I wanted it for something different)
Italian Kale
2 grilled chicken breast
2 pieces of tilapia
Swiss Chard
Egg Noodles

I also have some beef stew in the fridge and salad fixings that always come in handy.

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

I love the way you said you were "twenty-dollaring" yourself! I'm guilty of that too, when I don't have something planned.

Make a list of everything you have on hand, put it in meal form and leave it out on the counter.
mine is...
hamburgers w/ fries and applesauce
pasta, salad
fish, potatoes, peas
tofu tacos, rice, corn
chicken, salad
chili, chips
hot dogs, can chili, cornbread
pizza (I buy frozen bread dough and thaw on counter while at work)
sandwiches

leave something out on the counter from a meal so when you get home you'll have that visual and not get on papajohns.com (just me??). I might leave a jar of sauce or the pasta by the stove, for example.

breakfast dinner is the standby if I don't feel like whatever I was planning on.

 

[gillenkl]

I grocery shop once a week and we stick to the plan because that's all there is to eat. I also have a few days set in stone based on our schedule - has to be quick and easy. I rely on my crockpot alot. If you cook a whole chicken in it one day - the next day you can have soup - that eliminates 2 meals right there. We always have pasta one night. Think easy too - last night we had soup/crackers/cheese. It doesn't always have to be a 4 course dinner.

 

[hambirg]

This is where it helps to have a couple of back up recipes and ingredients on hand.

I always have pasta, a jar of sauce and frozen broccoli on hand. There's also a package of seasoned, pre-cooked chicken strips in the freezer, instant rice and frozen stir fry veggies. If anything disrupts my plans for dinner, I have those items to fall back on so that I don't end up calling 1-800-SENDME-APIZZA.

This! You have to have back ups for the nights you just don't feel like doing what was planned. On any given night I can make tacos, spaghetti, frozen pizza, sandwiches and soup, etc. My kids like mac and cheese, so sometimes if I'm not hungry I can at least make that and a veggie and/or salad. Good enough. . .and sometimes that is ok.

ETA-It's just a matter of finding out what those back-ups are for your family. I always keep frozen skinless chicken breast in the freezer. Just the other night I forgot to take out the roast and start it in the crockpot. So instead, I threw some seasoning on the chicken breast, put it in the oven and pulled some Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes (free after coupon) out of the pantry and some bagged salad. Easy, no effort and everyone was happy.

 

[robsmom]

Someone mentioned shortcuts are OK. I know i could spend less at the food store if I skipped the shortcuts but I also know that without them I was ordering food or going out way to much. I shop on Sunday' mornings. I menu plan as I go through the store based upon what I see, what is on sale, etc. I make a big family dinner on Sunday and try to have leftovers. I always buy fish and a fresh vegetable and almost always make this on Monday night. I can do rice, fish and veggie in less than 30mins after work. I buy one pre-cooked meal from the market's pre-packed section. We like the chicken marsala, roast pork, turkey, and a few other options. I get green beens and some sort of potatoes. This is still cheaper than going out. Depending on our schedules, Tuesday and Wednesday we have either the sunday leftovers or the pre-cooked meal. I buy one other item to cook. Normally this is chicken breast but might be pork chops. I plan one meal for thursday or friday. these vary but are quick things like quesadilla's or a stir fry. I usually have pasta and things in the freezer that i can fill in with and then we go out on the weekend. It's not perfect but it gets us through the week with quick weeknight dinners.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I just know what the kids like to eat and stock up on that type of food when it goes on sale.

Then each night while I'm cooking supper, I pull out the meat for the next night and put it in the fridge to thaw.

Since my kids are picky, it's easy. I also have spaghetti noodles and sauce handy if I do get busy and forget to pull something.

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks so much for all of the responses and the links! I have glanced at the eat at home thread before looking for recipes but really didn't pay much attention to the planning (must have been an off-the-wagon month for me), I'll subscribe and hopefully it'll keep me focused. The Eat at home website looks very helpful too, have already pulled one quick recipe off of it for this week.

I am so guilty of not keeping it simple... but I want to be the mom/wife who does the super nice dinners! But y'all are so right, that's why I often end up putting the thawed meat back in the fridge b/c I've planned a meal that will take way too long to fix and clean up afterwards. These more simple ideas are definitely cheaper than take out and more nutritious, so that'll be my goal for November. I'm going to try to do prep work on weekends and in the evening... I am usually complaining about having to fix the kids' lunches for school in the evenings, so this is going to be tough for me to add to the routine. I may actually have to give up some DIS time

 

[scrapquitler]

I have seen how beneficial planning meals ahead of time can be and I've had (short) periods when I am able to follow through and cut down my grocery and eating out bills. I'm currently off the wagon again and I'm so frustrated. I'm constantly getting home in the afternoons and realizing there's nothing thawed to cook. Luckily we live out in the middle of nowhere, so that prevents expensive take out, but I am twenty-dollaring us to death with fast food, or I'm cooking waffles and frozen pizzas a lot I'm fine with breakfast for dinner every now and then, but my kids are sometimes lucky to get one serving of vegetables a week.

So,for those who have mastered the art of planning, can you tell me how you do it? How often do you do it, weekly, monthly? Do you repeat the same menus? I stock up whenever meat is on sale, but I don't think shopping week to week around the sales will help us in this area... but I will keep in mind the type of meat I have in the freezer.

And as far as sticking to the plan: do you prep food the night before? When we get home we delve right into homework with the older ones and the two year old is running wild and we have to hurry to get to taekwondo or soccer, so sometimes I just look at that lovely meal planned and I put the meat right back into the fridge b/c it'll be an hour of cooking and then clean up, in the middle of the other chaos. Years ago I tried once a month cooking but it was so difficult to do the actual cooking with the kids. We also don't like a lot of casseroles with cream sauces, freezing stuff seems to be more difficult with picky eaters. And we're in the deep south, so soups and chillis aren't always welcome in this heat.

Any other info/tips you may have will be so appreciated... I'm afraid this is probably just one more thing that the magical solution is just "suck it up and do it", but I'm hoping for a few "ah-ha!" responses that will change this horrible pattern for us!!

I try to keep the pantry fully stocked with the things I use on a regular basis. I buy meat on sale and keep it in meal size packages in the freezer. At the beginning of the week I make a meal plan based on what items I have on hand (already purchased) and do any prep work that I can to make life easier during the week.

For example: I'll chop up peppers and onions and put them in ziploc bags either in the fridge or the freezer, for example so that I don't have to do that on Thursday when I'm trying to throw the fajitas together. Things taht go together for different meals I might put the ziplocks of prepped veggies together in a plastic container so that I just grab that container the night I'm making that meal. THe night before, I make sure that the meat I'm planning to use is in the fridge to defrost.

I plan to use the crockpot at least twice a week (one of them is always a spaghetti sauce based thing). I make sure the night before or even earlier in the week that all the prep is done for the crockpot meal including chopping etc. I put the spices on the counter before bed. In the morning, I just toss everything in the crock pot and turn it on.

Even with trying to make sure that everything is ready the night before, theres always at least one night when I don't feel like making what I planned or things in our life change and cooking the meal isn't practical, so for those cases I always keep a few backup plan meals in the fridge or freezer and ready to go. Some of my 'back up plan" meals: I always keep a hamsteak in the fridge because I can do a lot with it very quickly (cut it up and put it on a salad, dice it and fry it then mix it in with a box of mac & cheese, fry it up and serve with toast and eggs, sautee it and serve with a frozen veggie and a bag of frozen fries or instant mashed potatoes., That way I know I can put a simple meal on the table in about 15 minutes flat. Other back up plans: sandwiches (I can make tuna tunafish sandwiches, open a can of peaches, make some carrot sticks in 15 minutes, or I can do it with deli turkey even quicker), frozen pizza (though I'd rather use one of those refrigerated ones from Wal-Mart) and add a bag of salad. Pasta and jar from a sauce is another fast back up.

SO I think the key is to have several choices of fast back up meals on hand, keep the ingredients prepped for 'regular' quick meals, thaw your meat the night before and try to keep a few casseroles in the freezer that you can just pop in the fridge the night before and stick in the oven when you walk home. Bagged salad, prepped fruit/celery/carrot sticks, frozen fries, stove top stuffing are all fast alternatives that give you lots of options and mean you don't have to think or work too hard at the last minute.

Now that's not to say that we still don't hit the dollar menu at mc donalds sometimes when I just don't feel like making dinner, but I'm doing a LOT better than I used to!