Menu plans for lunch & dinner

[MeAndMy2kids]

How do you organise your weekly lunches and dinners?

Do you have a weekly plan? Or do you buy whatever at the shops and think of dinner on the day?

I dont really plan but I know I should cause but the time the arvo is here I"m still thinking on what to cook for dinner.

Please help me get organised :doh:

[boy wrangler]

I find that if I don't organise my dinners before I shop then I wander around aimlessly, get stuff I don't need, forget stuff I do etc etc etc. I've also got a really bad memory.

I shop on a Sunday, so Saturday night (yep, I have no life) or in the morning before I go DH and I write down all the meals we'll have during the week. I then go through what I'll need for each, check what we've already got in the fridge/freezer/pantry etc then list what we need. I also keep a whiteboard on the fridge and if we run out of anything through the week we can write it up there. It makes life so much easier, but then I really enjoy the whole process! I'm even thinking about doing my list today because I'll have to shop tomorrow because we're out all day Sunday!

Good luck!

[justmum]

We do much the same as Elsmum.

Roughly we structure our meal plan like this (I do dinners only):

1 night left overs (usually I cook up mince or something and have it one night for spag bol and another night for nachos or tacos or shepherds pie)
1 night take away (we usually have something fairly healthy like stir fry vegies and steamed rice from the local Chinese take away)
1 night a roast (Sat or Sun night as this takes time)
We have salads early in the week so the lettuce is fresh when we have it and vegetables later in the week as they keep a bit better

Lunches I just get some cold meats, cheese slices, rice cakes, cruskits, avocado and fruit and just make myself something to pick ay for lunch as I am not a huge eater.

When you sit down and work out a meal plan, it makes shopping so much cheaper as you only buy the things you need to make what's on your menu, plus any extras like laundry / bathroom needs and of course staples like bread, milk, cereal etc.

Good luck :thumbsup:

[purtig]

We do much the same. I could not shop without having done a menu plan first. I do the menu & shopping list Thursday night then shop Friday arvo. We also do a roast on the weekend. I will often do 2 big meals in a row then make the 3rd night leftovers. And Monday nights we sometimes have sandwiches or rolls to use up the leftover roast meat. Friday night is takeaway night, though sometimes we just get our own meals, like eggs on toast, if neither of us can be bothered actually going to get the takeaway! I can't live without my whiteboard on the fridge - that's where my menu is written out and where I jot down things I need during the week.

[SmileyBJ]

I have a very well stocked pantry and freezer... so I only need to organise 1 or 2 meals for the week ahead and the rest is on the day...

Then my shopping is fairly easy just basics and anything I have ran out of... :)

Living alone I seem to always make extra and freeze a hotpot most nights... so then if ever I don't feel up 2 cooking or stumped I just find a pre done frozen meal.