Meal Planning Questions

housewifehobbyist

Hello All!

  A brief introduction- I'm 30, married, no kids (yet) one awesome cat, lives in Brooklyn, works in Manhattan and oh yeah, I have my very first 9:00-5:00 Monday-Friday ever after a decade of weird hours working in hospitality.

  Now that I'm going to be home by 6:00pm instead of 10:00 pm, I wanted to start cooking regular meals for my husband and I.  I love cooking and I'm pretty darn good at it, but I've always planned meals as one offs when I finally had a day to myself.  Meal planning for a whole week  is pretty new to me, and I'm not sure where to start.  I imagine just make a list of what to have for dinner various evenings and buy ingredients for that?  There has to be a better way than that.  We did try Plated for a week (we got three meals for $20 with a voucher) and that was awesome, but expensive at a usual cost of $60/three meals. 

Does anyone have suggestions for websites for meal planning that I could look over?  Tips and tricks?  I'm aiming for low cost (under $5 person), relatively healthy, and small portions since there is just the two of us.

Thank you in advance!

bpphoto785

I start with looking at my local grocery store's flyer to see what's on sale. I usually start with my protein and plan my meals from that. I try to do a mix of proteins throughout the week (fish, red meat, chicken, pork, vegetarian) and then pair different starches (pasta, rice, quinoa, etc.). I find that the easiest way to make sure there's some variety. 

Then, I try to make enough for at least 4 meals so that we have leftovers for lunch or another dinner that week. I'll usually make a larger batch of anything I know will freeze well, so that I have some freezer meals on hand. And will try to stretch meals by adding more veggies, beans, etc.  I also look at what ingredients are called for, especially produce or dairy, and if I won't use all of it in that meal, I add another meal that week where I will use it so it won't go to waste. 

I use Pinterest a lot for recipes, especially if I'm trying something new. I try to keep our weekly meals a mix of new experiments and old favorites. 

BlueBirdMB

I cook every Sunday something that will make a large amount.  Sundays I have the most amount of time, so I plan for my longer meals to be then.  Then my early nights are Monday and Friday, where I will make something quick.  Otherwise, we fill in with leftovers from Sunday or crockpot meals.  

Cheaper cuts of meats typically take longer to cook, so crockpots are great or I will cook it on Sunday when I have more time. By cheaper I mean: briskets, chuck roasts, pot roasts, and whole chickens (chicken pieces are far more expensive than a whole chicken).

I've been trying to substitute one vegetarian dish each for meat or fish to cut down on cost.  We're gluten, so pasta isn't a cheap option.  Bean dishes are great.

I'm obsessed with Pinterest for recipes.  Pinning food is basically my favorite hobby.  Check back to the weekly dinner posts for links.

chrisnjay05212010

I'm your neighbor, sorta! hahaha i live up in Orange County!

Another pinterest lover for recipes here! I'm pretty much a repeat of the PPs. I start by looking at the grocery flyer as well to see what is on sale and start to make a list of meals for the two week span (i plan for two weeks at a time)  I try to mix in any pasta or non meat dishes to keep the cost of meat down and I try to only buy meat and chicken when its on sale.   I love the crockpot!   I also make enough at each meal to have for lunches.  Whenever i make sauces or soups, i double the recipe so i can freeze half. 

housewifehobbyist

Thanks ladies!  I generally buy my meat from a butcher shop that specializes in local humanly raised and slaughtered animals (good food is my one big vice!).  Its expensive, but it tastes better and I feel better about eating it.  As a result we only eat meat once or twice a week.  I'm going to check with the butcher about cheaper cuts and look up recipes to cook them, and try to keep meatless at least two-three days a week.  I need to start looking at recipes on Pinterest more!