How do you plan out a week of meals?

[QuickSilver]

I'm new to this. I took this awesome cooking class a few weeks ago and now I have all these great recipes to try out... but I sort of don't know where to get started. How many meals do I plan? Should I double up recipes and plan for leftovers?

I feel kinda dumb asking these questions, but I really don't know. I don't even really know what to ask.

[DvlshAngel985]

This is what I use to do. I plan a meal for dinner, and make enough for leftovers. The rest is packed up and used for lunch the next day.

As far as meal selection goes, I like variety. I use to sit down and make a menu for the week. I usually only plan for the weekdays, and wing it on the weekends since weekdays I have less time to go on inspiration. I plan on 3 chicken meals for the week, 1 beef dish, and one other protein (I do chicken again or egg). Then I think about the actual meals I want, write down my grocery list and go shopping on Saturday.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

I am not very good. I only plan two to three meals at a time. Wish I was better but I am not. Lol. I usually make enough to take for lunch the next day. So a little more than I expect my family to eat. Of course, I am lucky that my parents live across the street. Mom works so she is always game for leftovers!

[QuickSilver]

Thanks, guys!

Okay, so here are some specific questions:

- How do you deal with fresh herbs? I feel like you always have to buy so more than you need. Do you just use, say, parsley for every meal in a week?

- Do you guys change your minds based on specials at the store?

- How do you find new recipes?

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Thanks, guys!

Okay, so here are some specific questions:

- How do you deal with fresh herbs? I feel like you always have to buy so more than you need. Do you just use, say, parsley for every meal in a week?

- Do you guys change your minds based on specials at the store?

- How do you find new recipes?

Fresh herbs - I always end up throwing some away. I am not sure if you can do anything to help preserve them. Parsley is pretty common and I can usually use it up. Others not so much.

Yes, I do change my mind all the time. Some days I just don't feel like whatever I had planned. And I like chicken. DH just told me he was sick of so much chicken. Ha ha. I told him to start cooking then.

New recipes - Well I google a lot!! I like to find "normal" recipes. One that doesn't use a lot of uncommon ingredients. Taste of Home is my favorite.

[DvlshAngel985]

#1- I buy for the whole family, so we tend to split things. We don't use herbs a lot, we use a lot more dried chiles. What I do have is theme weeks. Sometimes I'm just in the mood to use a certain vegetable. I'll plan a week for bell peppers, broccoli, etc.

#2- it happens, but I try to avoid it as much as possible. I use the weekly circular that comes to the house on Wednesday, for grocery shopping on Saturday. Sometimes my nose gets the best of me. Strawberries have been really fragrant lately and they've been a really sweet snack the for last week.

#3- foodnetwork.com or allrecipes.com. I havent been following through with actual cooking since my mom isn't to keen on sharing her kitchen with me.

[jencar98]

The protein I'm using will usually determine my dinner menu/plan. I try to vary with chicken 2-3 times per week, fish1-2 times, pork and beef 1 time each.

I do utilize sales often when deciding what to cook. If certain veggies are in season, that may determine my dish. For example, when eggplants are locally in season, I love to make chicken eggplant Parmesan.

Also, I always have basics in my pantry, freezer, and the frig. If I do change my mind I'll usually have the ingredients on hand.

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Thanks, guys!

Okay, so here are some specific questions:

- How do you deal with fresh herbs? I feel like you always have to buy so more than you need. Do you just use, say, parsley for every meal in a week?

Parsley can be used to enhance almost any dish, so that herb wouldn't be a problem for me to use up. Other herbs if I don't use them within a few days, I'll freeze them. They are not as good as fresh, but in soups/sauces the texture is okay. I'll also use dried herbs, like oregano, thyme, bay leaves, and basil (never as good as fresh).

- Do you guys change your minds based on specials at the store?

Sometimes. I'll even change my mind when an item is not on special but just seeing it will remind me I've been wanting to either try it, or revive an old recipe that's been forgotten.

- How do you find new recipes?

I have the tv on Food Network most of the day and as I go throughout my day will catch bits of the different shows to inspire me. Anne Burrell and Ina Garten usually have good recipes and you may really enjoy Alton Brown's Good Eats (explains the science behind foods/cooking).

[My lil friend]

I dont plan dinners for a week,I plan for a month (approx 20 dinners). Ive created a list of meals that my family likes based on the protein (chic,beef,fish),some meals are REALLY easy,some require more of my time. I purchase once a month (anything that can be put in the freezer,boxed goods and canned goods). Produce and parishables are purchased once a week and anything that I may of forgotten.
On Sunday I look at the calendar to see what is going on that week,pick my dinners,there is usually a leftover night. I do not cook Fri,Sat or Sun dinner unless we are having a family gathering one of those evenings.
If there are dinners leftover on the list then it goes to the top and I try to pick from there first for the next month.
I spend about 2hrs total shopping time (Walmart,Albertsons and Sams) each month,then I just stop by the store (not Walmart/anyplace besides Walmart) and pick up fresh things for the week.
The way I started was planning 5 dinners for a week,then I just repeated it twice for two weeks,then I started adding dinners and suddenly had a months worth. If you try to do it all at once it can make for frustrating. It is something that you have to ease into.
Good luck.

[capt_noonie]

I don't plan at all. I go to the grocery store hungry and buy too much. Then I cook while I'm drunk and hungry, and use whatever's in the kitchen. It's an episode of Chopped every night.

[DvlshAngel985]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

I don't plan at all. I go to the grocery store hungry and buy too much. Then I cook while I'm drunk and hungry, and use whatever's in the kitchen. It's an episode of Chopped every night.

I bet you come up with some interesting meals.

[Ashley V]

I try to go to the grocery store each week, so I sit down and write a meal plan for the week. What I plan is based on how much money we have left for the week. If we are broke, our meals go cheap. I also try and base it off of what we already have in the house, so I don't have to go buy a whole lot, especially when it comes to meat. Like if we have a lot of chicken breasts in the freezer already, I'll probably be planning a couple chicken meals for the week. So, I write down a list of what I want to make for the week, then I take inventory of what I have vs. what I need. Once I do that I make my grocery list then get only those items at the store... okay maybe some cookies or something sneaks in the cart every now and then

[AmyD102]

Originally Posted by Ashley V

I try to go to the grocery store each week, so I sit down and write a meal plan for the week. What I plan is based on how much money we have left for the week. If we are broke, our meals go cheap. I also try and base it off of what we already have in the house, so I don't have to go buy a whole lot, especially when it comes to meat. Like if we have a lot of chicken breasts in the freezer already, I'll probably be planning a couple chicken meals for the week. So, I write down a list of what I want to make for the week, then I take inventory of what I have vs. what I need. Once I do that I make my grocery list then get only those items at the store... okay maybe some cookies or something sneaks in the cart every now and then

This sounds exactly like my house! (especially that last part) I also try to leave DH out of the meal planning and shopping because he tends to want to change things or will secretly add things to the shopping cart when I am not looking...so he stays home, and he always eats (and enjoys) the meals I plan!

I have a tastes of home cookbook which is fantastic, I also love allrecipes.com and cooks.com. They are my go-to when I want to try something new!

[deonk1]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Thanks, guys!

Okay, so here are some specific questions:

- How do you deal with fresh herbs? I feel like you always have to buy so more than you need. Do you just use, say, parsley for every meal in a week?

- Do you guys change your minds based on specials at the store?

- How do you find new recipes?

I'm gonna jump in, I'm starting to plan my meals weekly cause we only get a student discount once per week.

I buy dried herbs unless I'm planning on making freeze baggies. I haven't mastered it yet, but my eventual plan is to prepackage portions of homemade sauces for each protein and put them all in my deepfreeze, that way I can have fresh herbs in my meals, but they don't risk going bad.

Every Monday night I look at the sales, I have a stock pile of meat in my freezer, but only buy new meat when it's on sale. The trick is buying enough of the expensive stuff like boneless skinless breasts when they are dirt cheap. I then go shopping every tuesday and get my student discount.

I have a mountain of cookbooks. the bf likes to google recipes, but I prefer to sit down with a good cook book and stickynotes and I highlight every recipe I eventually wanna cook. I have about 100 cookbooks, so when I wanna cook something I look through the highlights until I find the meat I've taken out.

I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else has to say, cause I am trying to get better organized. The bf and I got into it last night cause I didn't plan supper last night, and we vowed to plan all our meals each week and stick to it.

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by AmyD102

This sounds exactly like my house! (especially that last part) I also try to leave DH out of the meal planning and shopping because he tends to want to change things or will secretly add things to the shopping cart when I am not looking...so he stays home, and he always eats (and enjoys) the meals I plan!

I have a tastes of home cookbook which is fantastic, I also love allrecipes.com and cooks.com. They are my go-to when I want to try something new!

My DH is bad about adding so many things to the cart too! Must be a man thing LOL! Funny thing is, when I ask him his opinion on things like lunches or dinners for the week, the response I get is "I don't know" or "Whatever you want". Seriously unhelpful when I'm stuck.

I also LOVE Taste of Home and get their magazines on my Nook. Allrecipes.com is also another website I love. I will also save recipes from the back of boxes of food... in fact I have a recipe for a banana butterscotch pie that I want to try! Maybe I'll do that this weekend... yummy!

[My lil friend]

I have an assortment of cookbooks but my fav is "American Cookbook" this was before Betty Crocker. It is my mothers and has all of her hand written notes in it. I also have both of her recipe boxes. I will never make it through all of these. I am supposed to put the recipe cards in cookbook form for the rest of the family,hope I can get to that soon. I want to put comments or stories for each of the recipes that I remember from my childhood for the next generation.