Meal Planning

[Janie]

Do you meticulously plan your meals days/weeks in advance or do you find yourself going to the store every day or every other day picking up ingredients for a dinner you feel like in the here and now?



I would love to be able to plan meals out way in advance. I feel like I'm going to the store a lot. I'd like to go only a few times a month and stock up while sticking to a meal plan. If anyone does this, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

[ForceTen]

Currently, my wife prints out a calendar for the month and then writes meals down for dinner on each day. She then figures out what is necessary for each meal and then does one big trip to the grocery store for the non-perishables primarily. We still wind up going to the store about once a week for things like milk, bread(if she doesn't bake it), fruits/veggies, etc. With method, we don't really stick to the calendar of each day's meal. But, eventually we get around having them all at some point.

One thing we try to do is on the weekends, we try to make the meals that will give a lot of left overs. This way, have lunch for the upcoming week. Or, can use the base items like steak or chicken for other meals such as fajitas, white house chicken, etc.

[Janie]

(05-21-2010 05:03 AM)ForceTen Wrote:  Currently, my wife prints out a calendar for the month and then writes meals down for dinner on each day. She then figures out what is necessary for each meal and then does one big trip to the grocery store for the non-perishables primarily. We still wind up going to the store about once a week for things like milk, bread(if she doesn't bake it), fruits/veggies, etc. With method, we don't really stick to the calendar of each day's meal. But, eventually we get around having them all at some point.

One thing we try to do is on the weekends, we try to make the meals that will give a lot of left overs. This way, have lunch for the upcoming week. Or, can use the base items like steak or chicken for other meals such as fajitas, white house chicken, etc.

Those are great tips. I wish produce wouldn't turn so quickly. It seems like I buy a head of lettuce and if I don't use it within a few days, I have to throw it away.

I like the calendar idea. I was thinking of going to an office supply store and picking up one of those blank calendars you can write on with a dry erase pen.

I have to get this grocery shopping thing under control!

[ForceTen]

That's our problem with produce as well is that it goes bad very quickly. I'm trying to eat more salads/vegitation but doesn't always work out that way.

One option for a calendar is to use an online one. I use gmail and they have a calendar feature built in. I think a number of them do now if you use webmail. Depending upon your operating system, it might be there already. Would save purchasing something more and adding another thing to your list of items in the house. We're actually trying to declutter due to moving in the next 1-2 years...

[Bageleth]

(05-21-2010 07:43 AM)Janie Wrote:  

(05-21-2010 05:03 AM)ForceTen Wrote:  Currently, my wife prints out a calendar for the month and then writes meals down for dinner on each day. She then figures out what is necessary for each meal and then does one big trip to the grocery store for the non-perishables primarily. We still wind up going to the store about once a week for things like milk, bread(if she doesn't bake it), fruits/veggies, etc. With method, we don't really stick to the calendar of each day's meal. But, eventually we get around having them all at some point.

One thing we try to do is on the weekends, we try to make the meals that will give a lot of left overs. This way, have lunch for the upcoming week. Or, can use the base items like steak or chicken for other meals such as fajitas, white house chicken, etc.

Those are great tips. I wish produce wouldn't turn so quickly. It seems like I buy a head of lettuce and if I don't use it within a few days, I have to throw it away.

I like the calendar idea. I was thinking of going to an office supply store and picking up one of those blank calendars you can write on with a dry erase pen.

I have to get this grocery shopping thing under control!

What I do is very similar to what ForceTen's wife does. I don't always get a menu made, but when I do, it helps answer the question that I hear regularly from my son. As far as perishables go, I do need to shop more often. In fact, I need to make a menu today so that I can go grocery shopping tomorrow. And I am shopping for a dry/erase calender to put my menus on.