Meal planning...or Lack Thereof

Before going grocery shopping, I create a menu for the week. This helps eliminate the stress of what to have and knowing that I have all of the ingredients. The best part of 'planning' is it is also a money saver!

The Martha Stewart website has good ideas/meal planning/easy recipes.
Her "everyday food recipes" are great. Easy. Good.
I believe her site even has a grocery list needed for the recipes/meals.
I tried her recipes before, it is good. Easy. I like it.
There is variety.

I plan my meals weekly. Then make my grocery list, according to the meals I plan weekly, and also encompassing what we already have stocked up. So I don't waste money.
And I only buy what is on my grocery list, per the menu/meals I have planned for the week. And I don't have to wonder, what to cook everyday.
This works for me.

I don't know a week in advance what I'm going to want for dinner. I just keep lots of staples on hand that can be made into pretty much anything.

I organize all the meals before I grocery shop. It makes so many things easier!

I made myself meal cards. Each possible meal is written on a separate index card. I even write down meals such as "hot dogs and french fries" and "chicken fingers." I write down the ingredients, but I don't write down the recipe (if there is one). I just write down where I can find the recipe (like "Better Homes and Gardens cookbook" or "recipe box"). This saves me time.

I started with just 7 dinner meals on 7 index cards. Then, the next week I did 7 different meals on 7 different index cards. I built up my collection of meal ideas over a LONG period of time, I did NOT try to do it all at once and burnout!

When I make out my grocery list, I pick meals from my list of index cards and write them on a dry erase board. I can make my grocery list from the index cards because all the ingredients are written right there. I can make out a whole grocery list in 10 minutes or less AND have all my meals planned for the entire week. I don't buy unnecessary food, and I don't usually have food spoil.

I used to try to add 2-3 new recipes a week, but now I have such a big collection of meal ideas that I don't always try something new. I get all my recipes from the internet. I use my crock pot at least 2-3 times a week, and I have a large variety of recipes! I print the recipes out and keep them in a binder.

Having the meals planned means that I know to defrost meat the night before. I've also taking to freezing the leftovers in single portions so they can be defrosted quickly if my day changes and I can't make the planned meal.

I got this idea from Richard Simmon's "Deal a Meal" and I've been using it for 3 years! I love it because I hate making out the grocery list and this makes it easy.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it has actually made my life easier! I no longer fret about what to make for dinner, or what to buy at the grocery store. I also don't need to run to the store in the middle of the week (except now and then when I forget something or we run out early).

Once you get it going, you'll be surprised at how easy it is! Just go slow. As for crock pot recipes--if you just google it you'll get a TON of ideas! I recommend crockpot365 as a good beginning resource.

Good luck!

I grew up from birth to 31 years old, never really knowing what to do or what we'd do for dinner. I'd just wing it, and too often it was either stressful, really late, or budget and waist-busting eating out instead. When I had my first child and decided to be a stay at home mom, I made a budget, and healthy and financial changes for my new family.
What I've done for the past 7 years that works for me: I keep a basic inventory of staples, write down what we are running low on to replace, and then with what I have in my house plus the weekly sales ads, I make a menu for the week. It doesn't have to be so strict that you can't change it up as need be, but it insures that you've got a basic plan that you can work with. Once I've got my menu, I double check to make sure I've either got or that I write on my list everything I'll need for the week. I don't use a special website or app, it's simple enough: a notepad where I write Monday: breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner....then Tuesday, etc.
Sometimes I buy in bulk (when on sale) and cook it in bulk, then divide it up as some other moms have suggested. I try to make one new meal that we've never had before every week. I go for 1 day of each: beef, pork, chicken, vegetarian, seafood, and 2 days of leftovers, pasta, or soup/stew, in no particular order. To keep myself from getting in a rut, I keep the recipes I've actually tried and like a lot in a recipe box and when I use a card, I move it to the back of the file so that I do something else again....so I'm not making the same thing over and over because it's the first card I pull out.
It's actually simple enough to do, it's just that you have to actually do it.

When I go shopping for groceries I always get a huge thing of hamburger. I fry it up all at once. then put it in those glad ware plastic containers in the freezer in 1 lb increments. that way I can pull one out in the morning for spaghetti, chili, taco's, taco salad, casserole, soups or whatever. I also get large package of boneless skinless chicken breasts. those can be cooked all at once and the extra cubed up and thrown in ziplock bags and pulled out for the same thing as the hamburger. big pot roasts thrown in the crockpot all day are a great dinner but also give the left overs for a big pot of soup. pork roast makes great roast once night and then bbq sandwiches the next ham makes a great main meal but then afterwards it is great chunked up in casseroles and omelets. not sure that helps

I've always meal planned for the week and done a weekly food shopping. I grew up that way - that's how my mom did it. I never had time to think about meals at the last minute - when I first got married, we commuted to the city and got home on the train at 7pm, I already needed to know what we were making and that we had it in the house. Same through all my years as a working mom, and living in an area the past 12 years where it would take 15-20 minutes just to get to a supermarket. I never used any kind of website (heck, those didn't exist when I got married), I just did it.
At one point, I had all of us - myself, hubby, kids (they must have been elementary school aged at the time) write out 5 favorite meals and I'd make sure to make one from each person's list weekly. I also get food magazines - Rachael Ray, Taste of Home - I watch Food Network and search their site and the internet for recipes. There are tons of crock pot recipes online and cookbooks dedicated to that, I've seen 5 ingredient cookbooks and I'm sure you could find those recipes online too, but you need to actually do it!

I try to figure out dinner for the next day, the night before.
(So, I go to bed knowing what the plan is.)

If you need something to make it work, then you have time to get it, or have someone else pick something up for you.

In theory planning for a week sounds great. In practice, I seem to be able to do a day or two at a time. (I also keep enough stuff around that this is not a problem.)

I meal plan about 10 meals at a time, and use the app Menu Planner. Usually I sit down before heading to the grocery store and come up with a list of meals. Some of things that are super easy (oven fries and fish, tacos, slow cooker), others more complex, requiring some cooking. This weekend I'm making a double batch of lasagna and meatballs to freeze. We do eat a lot of pasta as well, and tacos.

I love All recipies and the Food Network.

I'm currently expecting baby number 3, so I will have three under 5 in the house. I am hoping to have 12 weeks of meals planned out, or at least a schedule "monday -slow cooker, Tuesday- Tacos, etc." I figure if I can work out a system, I will only have to answer the "what's for dinner question" on a very rare basis. I hate figuring out what's for dinner!

Grab a cookbook or 2. Pick a recipe for each day for the next week (or month) and write the book and page number on a calendar. On your grocery shopping days, make a list for your meals for just that week. Each day, when its time to start preparing dinner, all you have to do is look on your calendar, look up the page number and presto - dinner has already been planned and decided.

I do the same for bfast and lunch too on the weekends when everyone is home. I also meal plan for a month out. I make sure each week our main meals are 1 night of beef, 1 night of pork,1 night of salad, pizza night, 1 night of leftovers or eating out, and 2 nights of chicken, and I alternate when we have each main dish. Most cookbooks are categorized into those groups, so it isn't hard.

I've been doing this for years! I can't remember the last time I stressed about making dinner.

I meal plan for 2 week periods. I decide what I'm going to cook for those two weeks (admittedly, I'm only cooking 3 days a week since my husband is deployed and it's just me, an almost 4 year old and an 18 month old) then make my grocery list based on what I need. I plan for two week periods because that's how often I hit up the grocery store. At any rate, I just flip through my multitude of cookbooks and decide what sounds good and isn't the same thing all of the time.

Slow cooker recipe:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/soups/white-chicken-chili/

Made that one the other day, and it turned out SO DELICIOUS. I only used one jalapeno, but I think even if you use the two that are called for, it would still be pretty mild.

Yes, I meal plan. Even though it takes some time to meal plan, it SAVES more time in the long run.
I used to meal plan weekly but have found that a monthly meal plan actually works better for me. Here is how it usually goes:
-Through the month, I use Pinterest to "pin" recipes that look good, I also subscribe to a few blogs and websites (www.ourbestbites.com is my favorite, anything I have made from there has been a family favorite), allrecipes.com also good)
-scout the pantry, fridge and freezer, see what needs to be used quickly and what we have on hand
-start writing meal options based on what we have
-Refer back to my Pinterest boards and email to see what recipes I saved. I also have a list of tried-and-true meals my family has liked and we basically do those meals plus a few new recipes each month
-write my list of meal ideas, then write down what I need to buy

I usually just check out the list each day and think "what is going on TOMORROW and what sounds good? (so I can defrost meat or whatever by the next day). So I just choose the meal from the list the day before and then I cross it off so I can see what meals are left.

**We also do a monthly freezer group, so I will have 7 or so frozen meals that can just be defrosted each month, very helpful

I know this sounds like work, but I will tell you what: I RARELY throw out food anymore. We get through everything in the fridge before it goes bad. We eat at the same time every day. I never feel stressed about dinnertime. We save a lot of $$ this way. We used to figure out dinner at 5 pm and someone would invariably have to run to the store. I swear, we would go grocery shopping 5+ days a week. Now I go once every 2 weeks.

Added: I have lots of crock pot recipes that are easy. off the top of my head, Go to www.ourbestbites.com and search sweet and sour meatballs, chicken cacciatore. both can be done in crockpot from frozen as well. Also did beef and broccoli in crockpot this week and served over rice, was very easy.

Your question made me think of what I did the other nite. Had nothing planned so had to come up with something that I already had in the frig and there wasn't a lot to choose from. So I chopped up what I had - green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, onions and sliced lo-fat sausage. Threw all of that in a saute pan til soft - then added some scrambled eggs and swiss cheese on top and finished it off in a 350 degree oven. My husband loved it.

Before I go grocery shopping I pick seven meals. I make sure a few are quick meals. Then I write my list according to the menu I picked. I stick the menu on the fridge. Then when it comes time to make dinner, I pick one of the items I am in the mood to make. Sometimes I don't want to make anything I planned for and go "off grid" and that's ok too. It works pretty well around this house and takes some of the dread out of dinner time.

I go through stages.
When the baby was born, I used the crock pot.
Now, I have picky eaters in the house (SD & husb) so I make the same
things over & over.
If I want to make something new, I make it when SD isn't here.
I have a few things I like to make over & over because everyone will
eat them: tacos, steaks, chicken, meatloaf etc.
I get inspired by the cooking shows.
For a time I tried planning it out:
Meatloaf Mondays
Taco Tuesdays
Weiner Wednesdays (hot sausage links, mashed potatoes etc)
Friday free for all etc.
I will do pizza one day a week with salads.
In the summer I like to get creative w/diff kinds of salads & a lot of BBQ's.
In the winter, I like stews, lasagna etc.

I quasi-plan meals by the week just before I go grocery shopping. It's not a written "menu plan" it's just in my head so I make sure I get all the right ingredients at the store.

Meat loaf is always good. You can make it up anytime during the day (or the night before) and just pop it in the oven when you're ready. Pop in some potatoes also for baked potatoes and there you have it. Just need a veggie!

Also, the hamburger helpers and chicken helpers are really good, fast and easy.

As for your crock pot, throw a pot roast and some potatoes and carrots in in the morning on low setting. Your entire meal will be ready to eat in 6 - 8 hours without any further effort on your part.

Yes.

As in I do all 3.

I have staples: good frozen meals & items, Sammie stuff, soups... That are always around.

I shop sales: and come up with a general meal list from that (ex below)

I decide on the fly that xyz sounds good and wing it.

_______

Ex)

Chicken & top round was on sale so these are my dinners that I can choose from based on what I already have on hand and a few things I need to pick up if I decide to cook them

- Chicken Enchiladas
- BBQ Chicken Quesodillas
- Chicken Taquitos
- chicken mole w poblano & coconut
- Chicjen n dumplings
- tandoori chicken
- chicken fried rice

- tomato, potato, poblano braised beef
- beef pot pie
- goulash
- Philly cheese steak sammies

& then there's some random things that are in my fridge/pantry

- mushroom rissoto
- quiche
- Croque madam
- lentil & sausage soup
- Cream of Carrot soup
- tuna in tomatoes

.... So I have about 2 weeks of dinner (and leftovers) planned out ISH (as in I have ghe ingredients)... For a total of about $50 in stuff (plus whatever I paid for the stuff I have on hand). For me, about 90% of cooking is "can I afford it?" So the budget thing is huge. I buy the expensive stuff, and then fill in around the edges.

When I make my weekly grocery list I write the weekly meals to the side of the list. So, yes, I do plan it out but sometimes I deviate from the plan. So, for this week I wrote out, M - Roast chicken, brocolli, baked squash, T - Pork loin, potatoes, salad, W - Green chile stew (w leftover pork) with tortillas, Th - Chicken enchiladas (w leftover chicken), F - Salmon, rice, brussel sprouts, Sat - Chicken noodle soup, salad (made from chicken carcass), Sun - no plan yet...maybe we'll have leftovers or pizza or quesadillas or sandwiches. Sometimes I feel bored with all the usual things I make and I hit up websites to look for a new recipe. During the week I have a grocery list that I'm working on when we run out of things and I already have next week's meal plan mostly made. I'll probably go grocery shopping tomorrow. I always have supplies for some of our favorite meals (salmon in the freezer, spaghetti ingredients, etc) and I always have a couple quick and easy meals in the freezer (frozen stuff from Trader Joes) for nights when I REALLY don't feel like cooking...that happens. :)

I love variety so I use the monthly recipes in Cooking Light and Real Simple magazines. I have learned to cook and enjoy a lot of new ingredients. When my son was younger we also tried having set meals on certain days of the week like Taco Tuesday, Fish Friday, Soup Saturday, etc.

I work out of the home 5 days a week so I find if I don't meal plan on the weekend and shop for the necessary groceries that my week does not go well. I usually make the list Friday night or Saturday and then shop on Sat. or Sun.

Baby, 1, 3, 5 and 6 are the ages and there isn't much planning; some days I am lucky to have food in the house to scrape together something, as it's hard to get to the store.

Usually we wing it, but sometimes I get elaborate and do fish sticks in the oven and frozen veggies cooked on the side (that's big for us). But half the time the kids won't eat whatever I make anyway.

Our daughter has sensory processing disorder. We discovered that it helps her to know during the day (while she's at school) what she can rely on for supper that evening. This just came up, actually, right before Christmas. We have a white board that we put on the fridge that shows our supper idea/plan for M-F (just during the school week; weekends are pretty much a free for all). On Sunday we all sit down at the table and discuss what we have in the downstairs freezer and what is going on that week and figure out what to make each night (the main, general overall idea, not necessarily all the side dishes). Like this week, my daughter has her band concert on Thurs night. Given the time we have to be there, my husband having to come home (he works 1 hr to 1.5 hrs from home), and how late the concert goes, we're picking up subs that night for supper.

We're still working out the kinks but have noticed that it really helps keep everyone from blowing a gasket and not knowing what to make/eat/have.

Weelicious is great. I like my slow cooker too. I plan meala on weekend

I do a meal planning swap with a friend. We take turns planning meals for the week and then share it with the other. That way, you are always prepared for what to cook, but only really have to do the planning every 2 weeks.
We do 4 recipes a week figuring for left-overs and eating out, and any night where you just have grilled cheese or whatever.
I find most of my recipes on pinterest,or foodnetwork.
We pick out our recipes and then email the recipes and a shopping list to each other by Sunday so we can do the shopping for the week. Of course, you could do this with more than 1 friend and then have to do it even less!
We've been doing this over a year, so now I have a large pool of recipes to pull from. It's been really fun!

We cook once or twice a week. When we cook, we cook huge amounts. We immediately freeze at least half. The rest is eaten for a few meals in a row. Right now, I've got hub's home made spag bolognaise sauce, my crockpot bacon and brussel sprouts, and a chicken with broccoli and sweet potatoes in a trader joes curry simmer sauce in the fridge. round it out with salad, or a frozen veg and its a solid meal.

DS can eat what we eat, or can have a tub or yogurt and a piece of whole wheat bread. We have fruit following every meal.

Look up Mark Bittman, he's a food writer for the NYT. His recipies are really straight forward and easy. i.e. pan fry protien of your choice which has been marinated in teriyaki, saute onions and garlic until translucent; add blanched hard veg of your choice. When recipies are this flexible, you don't have to run to market to buy last minute ingredients.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.