Meal planners

JNicMTek · January 2012

How do you do it?

I've never been one to actually plan what we're going to have each night, I just go to the store, see what has a good price and figure something out. However that usually means we eat basically the same few things all the time. H and I really need to start eating better and actually consume veggies on a regular basis :gasp: Also, it would be good to get into a routine where we actually eat a real dinner every night, instead of just scrounging for food or asking Alex what she wants.

MrsJaay · January 2012

I keep an excel sheet of dinners that we've made and ones we want to try. I'll usually let DH pick some things off of that if there isn't anything new that's jumping out at me. I also take a look at the weekly ads for the grocery store online to see if there's anything on sale. I don't pay attention to that as much as I should.

I'll sit down Saturday or Sunday and make a list for the 5 meals that we've picked (we eat out on Fri and Sat). I usually have one or two meals that we'll end up eating as leftovers.

I was worried when I started meal planning after college that I wasn't going to want the things that I've planned for, but that's actually a really rare occurence.

We also always leave a magnetic list on the fridge and a pen close by. If you use something up, you write it on the list. At the end of the week I just add to that list once I'm planning my meals. I also keep coupons clipped next to the list.

Srahness · January 2012

Would you mind sharing your spreadsheet, or at least how you have it organized? Do you keep the actual recipes in the spreadsheet or just the names?

MrsG.060708 · January 2012

I'll either go through food I've pinned or recipes I've printed*, write it down for the week and write a grocery list accordingly. Most of the time the meals get cooked, but every now and then, if it's been a hectic day or I just don't feel like cooking, we'll eat out. We might not eat the meal on the day I "assigned" it to, but it'll get eaten that week sometime.

*In my home organization binder, I have the master list of recipe names from Pinterest and printed recipes as well as a list of favorites.

amybyrd · January 2012

I have a cool pad I bought from a touch of whimsy it has space for every day and then a tear off for a shopping list. I plan based on WW points, I ask DH to pick 2 things and I pick 2 and that gets us through dinners. I also plan around on fruit and veggie share, like if we get potatoes we pick things with potatoes

MrsJaay · January 2012

Srahness:
Would you mind sharing your spreadsheet, or at least how you have it organized? Do you keep the actual recipes in the spreadsheet or just the names?

Oh, it's a really simple spreadsheet. Just 3 columns with Source (where the recipe is filed such as Pinterest, Google Reader, recipe box, etc.), Food Name, and I have a third column for specific tags that I tend to look for (healthy, grilled, crockpot, etc.)

I keep one tab with foods that we've made and liked and another with foods we want to try. If we like it and want to add it to our rotation then I'll add it to the liked tab. I'll delete it if we didn't like it. I tend to get stuck in food ruts and forget things that I really liked so this helps with that.

JNicMTek · January 2012

I'm going to have to get organized and get my recipes together. Thanks for the suggestions on how to start.

mrs.dilligaf · January 2012

I'm a flexible planner. With DHs job, I never know if I'll be cooking or not. If I know he'll be home, I grab the flyer and buy what's on sale. I go shopping on Monday and buy for 5 dinners. I'll hit up the meat first (the most expensive) and go from there. I do one 'treat' dinner per week (ribs, crab cakes, steak, whatever) and try to do one new recipe as well.

I keep it flexible for the week so we're not stuck in a rut. I couldn't do x is Monday, y is Tuesday because I know something else would sound better. I keep plenty of things in the freezer for those nights I don't feel like cooking. I love big batch cooking so I can pull a vegetable soup/spaghetti sauce/chili/lasagna out and be done.

So, unscientific, but it works for us. We go week to week and DH doesn't complain. I'll try and stretch dinners a lot, like a crock pot pork roast turns into bbq sandwiches the next night.

Meal planners

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