Menu Planning

**Mamaof2rugrats** · 01-14-2007, 11:54 AM

What sort of meals do you have in your meal plans?
Do you pick a new meal every day of the month or have the same things or and over?

**tlenad** · 01-14-2007, 12:27 PM

It kind of depends. Right now, everyone in my house is on a diet. We chose Weight Watchers because we could do it on our own with paying any money as we already had all the paperwork. And because there is a large amount of data on-line which helps out.

Right now, we have a rather large cook book that I went out and found recipes on-line and printed off. We are trying one a day. Slowly but surely we are beginning to weed through those we like and those we don't. Prior to this though, my Mother and I would sit down and plan out the menu usually trying to work one or two new recipes in. We get burnt out on the same thing over and over again.

**justpeachy92** · 01-14-2007, 01:08 PM

I try to plan my meals based on whats on sale and what I have on hand. So as not to forget about leftovers I plan meals on those too. If I roast a chicken for dinner, I slow cook the carcass for chicken stock, and use the left over meat to make chicken noodle soup another night. I have a container in my freezer that I put the leftover vegies in, you know when there is like 3 bites of corn left but noone wants to eat them, after a couple of weeks the container supports a good amount of mixed vegies that I can put in a stew. So I guess at the end of the month it might seem like we eat the same stuff, but I try to get creative with it and serve it up differently.

**mom2hancj** · 01-14-2007, 01:15 PM

I plan my menus around what I have on hand. Then I buy things to supplement those meals and what's on sale only.

**dmvezina** · 01-14-2007, 01:17 PM

I normally plan my menus on what I have on hand and what's on sale. But, I've just started trying to eat healthier so I'm buying accordingly. I make my menu for one week at a time and try to make different things all the time.

**jkelstaten** · 01-14-2007, 01:28 PM

Since I can only buy basic food ingredients here and a very limited variety I "know" what ingredients my meals can include and plan from there. There are never sales to base my menu on either so it's pretty much a free-for-all there. We like to try all kinds of new meals and since I didn't grow up cooking(not anything more than mac 'n' cheese or ramen). So right now our supper menu consists of at least 3 new things each week, but our breakfast and lunch menus are pretty basic. I'm working on expanding simple breakfast ideas and then I will move on to lunch. A little bit at a time......

I plan weekly and do a shopping trip every week. I buy the same items every week.....you get the picture. I just have to come up with new and interesting ways to use those same ingredients so it doesn't get old.

When we move back to the states in May I will base my menu on what is in the pantry like I used to, but I will be a lot more creative than I used to be

**warramra** · 01-14-2007, 01:52 PM

I do a two-week menu since dh gets paid every two weeks, and that is about as far ahead as I like to plan. I go based on what I have stockpiled - generally from the previous pay grocery shopping. Also I plan one type of meat that I will cook on Monday and then use for a couple more meals during the week. For example last week we had pork roast on sunday night, then brunswick stew (made with some of the leftovers) on Wednesday and pork fried rice on Thursday. I like to have some variety each month, but we also have hm pizza once a week, either Sat or Sun and the family has requested spaghetti at least twice a month.

**McD** · 01-14-2007, 02:04 PM

I go through cookbooks and pick what sounds yummy to me.

**AmyMCGS** · 01-14-2007, 02:35 PM

My homepage is a recipe site, and I LOVE to try new recipes. On Sunday evenings I plan out the week. I'll do a few new recipes and a few tried-and-true favorites, based on what I have on hand. (I usually grocery shop once a month, with maybe one or two trips during the month for a few extras.) I've found that a dry erase calendar board, hung inside my pantry door, works great for me to plan on.

**danni** · 01-14-2007, 02:47 PM

Some of it is the same and some are new. We all love spaghetti so we have that 1x/week, dd and me love tuna casserole but no one else does so we only put that in 2x/month. We have about 10 recipes that are tried and good and they get put in every month and then we fill in the empty spaces with ones we want to try.

**Amanda W** · 01-14-2007, 03:37 PM

I do try to plan around what's already in our pantry, but we try a lot of new dishes also. I'd say probably half the time I cook it's something new.

**zakity** · 01-14-2007, 03:51 PM

I am still working on a list of meals that we all like. I tend to look around and see what I have in the pantry, in the freezer, and what is on sale. If there isn't any good sales, I just use what I have in on hand.

**Marie78** · 01-14-2007, 04:25 PM

For menu planning we keep basic ingredients on hand that will create a casserole, crockpot meal, or chili. So lots of canned veggies and cream soups, onions, and potatoes on hand. We also keep pasta and sauce on hand for a once a week pasta night (simple and inexpensive). Canned soup is always on hand for a quick supper of soup and sandwich, usually a few times a month neither of us wants to make anything for dinner and this comes in handy. I plan two meat meals a week, usually in the crockpot or a casserole. I like to make tuna casserole once a week and we are trying a variety of new crockpot meals, usually based on the canned veggies, cream soups, and meats we have on hand. I also have been making homemade pizza twice a month, that gives us enough for supper and lunch the next day. I keep a box of frozen hamburgers in the freezer and we will have them once or twice a month (quick and easy) with our George Foreman grill. It's just the two of us so one box of 12 lasts us a couple of months. Once every two months I make a small ham and that gives us leftovers to create a few meals each month. We also make goulash, baked ziti, or lasagna once a month and that gives us a few frozen meals to have throughout the month.

I like to keep a variety of foods around so we don't become bored or stop liking a meal. I don't enjoy eating the same thing every week or eating the same meal more than two days in a row!!! We also allow ourselves 1x out a month at a restaurant for dinner.

I just replenish my ingredients for meals as needed, and I'm trying to keep a good supply of meat in the freezer to plan the weekly menu around. I shop once a week at the local grocery store and twice a month at Aldi's to stock up on my basic ingredients.

**dcompton** · 01-14-2007, 05:22 PM

I keep thinking menu planning would be great, but I just don't do it. I am lucky (I guess) in that I cook only for myself, and I can eat the same thing over and over without getting tired of it. If I make a pot of soup or stew, I can eat it for every meal (even breakfast) until it's gone, though, of course, I usually don't do this.

What I usually do is pull out meat from the freezer, cook it, and with veggies or as a one pot deal, I eat it until I have finished it. While it is being used up, I will spell it off with sandwiches, pasta, baked potatoes, eggs, other quick things. When that "main" thing is gone, I visit the freezer again, pick the next thing, and cook it. It's really pretty much a fly by the seat of my pants approach, but it seems to work. I rarely think "I'm hungry for..." and go out and get it. I also keep resolving to try new recipes, but I'm (a) content with what I usually fix, and (b) lazy! So I eat mostly the same old thing, but it suits me. I just keep the freezer stocked with sale meats, the pantry full, and fresh vegetables on hand and make it up as I go along.

**marie_squared** · 01-14-2007, 05:45 PM

im really bad about trying out new recipes. when it comes to baking i LOVE experimenting but with the basic meats (chicken, beef and pork) i almost always stick to the same things over and over. i do alot of pan frying. its quick and i know how to do it and even though sometimes i feel like my dishes are repetitive, no one at home complains. i change it up mostly just with the sides that i chose. i TRY to menu plan a week in advance but mostly it just comes down to how much i feel like cooking that night. if ive got the energy, we're having enchiladas! if i dont.. we're having tostadas. - my parents are from mexico. dylan's gotta eat alot of mexican food cause thats what i grew up with. -- when i served him pork chops and refried beans and he asked about apple sauce and said it in this weird voice.. i had no clue as to what he was talking about.

and then he said something about peter brady and i guess i never saw that episode but, for the next time we had pork chops, i was prepared and had the apple sauce ready to go!