Weekday Dinner Menu

NinaTony

My DH and I are I trying to become better tracking our expenses.  One area we really need to work on is our groceries and eating out.  I want to try to have dinner planned for the week so we will know exactly what we need to buy when grocery shopping.  Problem is, I am SO not creative and we will most likely eat the same things every week.  How do you plan your dinner menu for the week?  Any, easy suggestions?  Thank you in advanced!  

newstart710

We typically do eat the same things every week, as our schedule during the week is busy so we make meals that we like that cook fast. We are also fans of leftovers. Eating the same few meals means that we also spend very little time making out the grocery list and shopping. Examples- breakfast is a breakfast smoothie for me and bagels with pb for him. Lunches we take sandwiches and a ziplock baggie of chips and a granola bar or brownie. Then dinner is one of 10 or so dinners that we make regularly,

underwne

I use pinterest and a bookshelf of cookbooks to keep things fresh. I plan every Fri night/sat morning for the week. It saves us a lot of money--I'd recommend it.

 Build meals in that you know will work for that night. Crock pot meals are great too! 

I have a food organizer with attached menu list that I take to the grocery story every week. I bought it at Target. It works great! 

vpine

I have a cookbook I love that has lots of recipes that are easy and don't take too long, some do include the slow cooker. I have figured out which recipes/meals my husband likes best so I usually buy meat, shrimp and tilapia each week. I will make meat dishes 3 times a week for him, will use different sides (rice, mashed potatoes, potatoes etc) so it doesn't get too boring/routine for him. I recommend checking out this site that has recipe step by step pics:  visualrecipes.com

Sewilson33

I usually sit down on Sunday and think out what DH has been in the mood for recently and go from there. I always buy at least 3 nights worth of meat for weeknight dinners. This week I decided I want to make Lasagna so I'm buying ground beef and making meatballs one night and then the next day using the left overs in lasagna. I always have chicken on my list because I make chicken cutlets atleast once a week sometimes twice. I also always have sausage in the freezer because that defrosts in about an hour if it sits in hot water. I can just sautee some sausage with onions and throw it in pasta or on a roll and we are set.

I also always buy 2 different veggies and stop by the grocery store mid week for a 3rd night veggie.

 

amndev

My husband and I like variety. While we do have a handful of favorite recipes we try to "experiment" a bit as well. I usually look on pinterest and some favorite recipe blogs for different things to make and then decide which will work best for a week day. I also have a few go-to cookbooks. Like others have said the crockpot can be your friend for week days.

My husband and I also do "meat free Mondays" where we make a completely meat free dinner. For instance stir fry, pizza, quesadillas, and soup. By cutting out meat from at least one meal we save a little bit of money. 

 This week our menu looks like this:

Veggie quesadillas (tonight)

Beef and broccoli (recipe from cooking light)

Chicken sausage and kale soup

Turkey  burgers

Crunchy chicken w/ bruschetta topping 

brandyleighxx

We eat a lot of the same things over and over. Our go-to dishes are burgers, beef or chicken tacos, pizza, & chicken. Chicken can be done in so many ways and have so many different side dishes. Pasta is another thing that has endless possibilities and noodles are usually cheap. Other dishes we occ. make are stuffed shells, meatloaf, beef stew, & stir fry. I haven't read other posts so it may have already been mentioned but google 6 week meal plan. 

KenziK

I am a big fan of Pinterest, they have so many great recipes and most of them are very easy to make! Sunday morning I sit down and look over recipes to find ones that sound interesting and do not require a lot of effort (I work until 6pm so by the time I get home and DH is asking what's for dinner, there's no time to get all fancy). Before I make a grocery list, I go through the fridge/freeze and see if there is any meat that needs to get cooked; if there is, I will incorporate it into a meal for the week. Whenever I use a recipe I have found online I always follow the exact recipe, even if it's supposedly 8 servings and there are only two of us. Leftovers get frozen or DH takes them for lunch, so it's a win-win. It's so nice to open the freezer and see a few already prepared meals that just need to be defrosted and popped in the oven, it saves money in the long run and I don't have to put as much effort into meal planning

The Not So New Newlywed

My DH and I struggle with this issue too. No matter how frugal we are, and especially when trying to eat healthy, it seems like we can never get out of the grocery store without spending $100 or more. So, since it is the two of us, we feel that sometimes, we are better off eating out at fairly inexpensive places.

When we (or rather, I) cook, we too usually have the same meals every week. But, with us, we can never go wrong with buying a large package of lean ground beef or ground turkey. It?s a healthy way to make a meat loaf, spaghetti, meatball sandwiches, tacos, and hamburgers. With boneless skinless chicken breast, there are simple recipes you can get right from Stove Top  Stuffing with few ingredients.

It?s great to be creative, but the downside is that usually, you will need to buy lots of ingredients, which means spending more $. If you want a little creativity without spending tons of money on ingredients, I highly recommend buying the Fix It and Forget About It (Crock Pot) Cookbook. These are recipes with little ingredients, and something that can cook all day while you are at work. Also, the Five-Ingredient Recipe Cookbooks are great too.

Happy Cooking!

littlemisswitness

As PP have said, use Pinterest for ideas. This is how we do our meals:

Every other friday, DH and I look through our recipe book and on Pinterest for foods that sound good. We write out a list of what we want for the next two weeks (we go shopping twice a month- and get 2 weeks worth of food at a time). Then, using that list, we make a master list of everything we need at the store, and then go shopping. We started doing this in May, and have only repeated really yummy meals or staples (such as breakfast for dinner) a few times. We have something new to eat almost every night. Sometimes the stuff ends up being gross, but we always have other stuff to eat in the house when that happens.

Another tip: If you have a farmer's or flea market close to you, buy your produce there. I know all prices will differ slightly, but last week I got 5 lemons, 5 limes, a huge avocado, 4 bell peppers, 4 onions, 3 zucchini, and 4 broccoli for $13 at the flea market!! That's much cheaper than at the local grocery store. This is definitely helping us save on our grocery bill.