Menu Planning & DH's Lunch!

[Mother Duck]

Hi All - I have just come from the thread about grocery budgeting etc...

....It seems that planning your menu can be a great help - I have never done this and am hopeless at it - Any suggestions are most welcome!

Also any good ideas for DH's lunch would be hugely appreciated.

:)

[M O P]

My DH is home for lunch most days so his lunch is usually cold meat sandwiches (ie left over roast chicken or leg of mutton etc) or other left overs from tea the night before (ie casserole etc). He's pretty easy to please too so very easy to look after!

I'm hopeless at planning our meals, just working out what to have. I try to plan them before I get to the supermarket and we've always got mutton in our freezer (we're on a sheep station) but sometimes I find it really hard to decide what to have. I ask my DH what he'd like and he's not fussed. I do find flicking through a few cook books and looking at recipes will sometimes give me some motivation.

[2littleprincesses]

I plan my dinners for a fortnight, then do my grocery shopping for that fortnight. Just have to duck down the road for fresh fruit/veges twice a week.

I try and make dinners where there are leftovers, although my 8mo and 2.5yo pretty much eat what we're having so I'm finding that there's becoming less and less leftovers. DH takes lunch that can be heated up most days. He's not keen on sandwiches and hates buying his lunch.

[Ana Gram]

Dp gets a salad sandwhich make with grainy bread everyday. I use frozen bread to make the sandwhich and by the time he eats it, it has defrosted, kept all the salad fresh and tastes like it has just been made.

[jasminesmum]

Hi Jessie

My dh usually takes leftovers too. He has a microwave at work so it makes it easier.Otherwise he will just take some breadrolls, cold meat, lettuce, tomato etc and make the rolls himself. That way they are nice and fresh for lunch.

Fried rice is always good for them to take too. Its alright cold too. Just make a big batch up and put it into separate containers.

My menu plan for tea is pretty basic. I have a fussy 7yr old.
Alot of things are based around mince. I can hide lots of grated veges in it and he doesnt know. :D Lasagne, rissoles, spag bol, nachos, tacos.

We also have pasta a couple of times a week and fish.

Great thread Jessie! I cant wait for other ideas. :yelclap:

[lukaelmo]

Hey Jessie,

DP and I always make too much for dinner so we can have it for lunch the next day. I prefer a hot lunch so this works out pretty well. Here's the idea for one week.

I will start from Friday night as that's what it is now...

Fri night - takeaway night YAY! that doesn't help you much does it?

Sat

Brekkie: bacon and eggs
Lunch: chicken and salad (I buy a hot chickie from the supermarket once a week)
Dinner: hmmm usually take away too :D

Sun

Brekkie: cereal and fruit or pancakes
Lunch: chicken and salad
Dinner: roast w veggies

Mon

Brekkie: cereal and fruit/toast
Lunch: roast on sandwiches
Dinner: spaghetti

Tues

Brekkie: cereal and fruit/toast
Lunch: finish off chicken and spaghetti, perhaps with a salad
Dinner: Fish and veggies or salad

Wed

Brekkie: ditto
Lunch: Mush up veggies from last nights dinner and make some sort of hash brown type thing.
Dinner: Tacos

Thurs

Brekkie: Ditto
Lunch: Mmmmm tacos
Dinner: stir fry with rice

Fri

Brekkie: Ditto
Lunch: stir fry
Dinner - been there done that!

Other lunch/snack ideas:
cheese/avocado and crackers, bits of fruit, boiled eggs, pate on a french stick (really quick to make), a tomato (chop it up at work and eat with salt - yum)...

No more ideas now...mmm must think of take away for tonight :D

[DB&O]

Hi, I find that mags like SuperFoodIdeas have a lot of easy to make, cheap & tasty recipes in them, you could but a different one each week or to save money & build a wealth of recipes lend from your local library. I get some inspiration from SFI they have a Midweek Meals section (at least thats what I think its called) & best of all it most of the mags list the ingredients needed in the back, so you just go through & mark off what you already have & make your shopping list with what you don't.
BTW I find that quiche, vegie slice, frittata, fried rice, cold chick skewers & tuna patties make excellent lunch recipes as they can be eaten cold, keep well & are tasty to boot.
Good luck.:chef:

[Mother Duck]

Thanks guys - I really appreciate your ideas!

[elissas]

When i plan dinners I plan one or two of the weekly meals that are good for lunch the next day, so DH gets a couple of nice lunches.

The rest of them are either tuna (I buy the Aldi or Bi-Lo brand in the large tin and mix it with mayo and creamed corn) lettuce and cheese, or ham lettuce and chutney - always on multi-grain, which I have in the freezer and use slices as I need them. Whatever he's having I also make one for myself, coz 8wk old DS has a knack for interrupting my meal times, and at least then I know I've got something healthy to grab and eat.

For snacks - every week I make up a mix of chopped walnuts, peanuts, almonds, and the Sunbeam dried fruits (Fruit on the Go packs). I give that to DH with vanilla yoghurt to take to work. I also prepare some fruit/veg for him every night and put it in a container - whether its oranges, raw carrot, or I'll just give him a banana.

He also keeps a stash of tinned soups and lots o noodles cup a soups in his drawer at work in case of emergencies. And he has a flask he keeps at work, and has green tea in it, so he doesn't need to take drinks at all. If he wants to take a drink, I keep Aldi fruit boxes in the fridge, and he can take one of those.

[elissas]

And for dinners, I recommend planning meals that use similar ingredients close together. So one night we might have backstraps and salad, the next night we might have tacos (so there's no wastage of salad stuff coz they're also used as taco fillings. Or stir fry one night and home made pizza the next (so you can use capsicum, mushroom, onion etc). Saves buying a heap of different types of vegies that might end up being wasted, and saves on storage in the fridge.

Also, when planning meals, I plan for 8 days, but shop every 7. One of the meals I plan is always something that keeps (either frozen or in the pantry). So if we have a leaner period financially, or I can't be bothered doing a full shop one week, there are back up meals that I can use. Very handy if you end up with visitors and don't want to spend money on take away. (eg. I always have the ingredients available for a big spaghetti bolognese or fried rice in the pantry and freezer).