Have a think about your current Meal Planning System…
1. Where is it letting you down?
2. Where would you like to get to with your meal planning?
Public accountability can make a massive difference when it comes to adopting new habits.
Please share your thoughts on your personal situation and where you’d like to get to in the comments below.
Back to: Master Your Meal Plan Overview.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Re: shopping lists
We use a dry erase board in the kitchen to create a shopping list so as we run out of anything any of the three of us can add it. This works better for us than making a list with an app. Whoever is going to the store copies the list (whether onto paper or using an app) but doesn’t erase the board until returning with the groceries; just in case we didn’t find an item.
Sounds like you’re all over it Gwendolyn!
I want to become confidently flexible in the kitchen. When I’ve tried meal plans before they ended up taken more than one day to create followed by more than one day of shopping ( not finding an ingredient at the first store, etc.) so I could easily get through the week only making two of the planned meals. I also have a habit of finding a recipe I want to try and not allowing enough time to prepare it so we end up eating way too late at night. We belong to a CSA which has helped because I know I need to use the fresh vegetables and I can build a meal around that. If I know how to cook them!
Hi Gwendolyn
Lucky you having a CSA! If there are any specific vegetables you struggle with let me know
J
Mary
Glad I’ve been converting you to the path of few ingredients!
I’m afraid calorie counting is against my religion (so to speak) but I’ve heard there are websites out there that can do the calculations for you if you enter the ingredients of your recipe…
Loving the class…I have tended to buy the same thing at the supermarket,so am enjoying doing things simply and more systematically and am not spending as much or wasting as much…love,love love the template recipes…sooo much flexibility…I look at regular recipes now and my eyes go cross eyed with all the ingreadiants..I find myself thinking how I can cut them down and more and more ditching them for yours…
I would be interested on approximate calorie count.
Congrats on your engagement… 🙂
Last year I was planning meals quite well but then we were moving so I let my pantry run down to move, then we went away over Christmas and I have yet to get my act together and restock the pantry. I now have heaps of room in my pantry for extras of things so I don’t run out, I just haven’t gone through and worked out what I need. We also get a fairfood box of veges once a week now which makes it hard to do a really strict menuplan. I use the woolworths app for my shopping list but I’ve kind of let that go a little bit lately. It is good though because I can scan products and also I mainly shop at our local woolworths and it arranges the list by aisle. I mainly cook from scratch anyway and I’m used to modifying recipes although at the moment I’m a little bored with cooking because we are on a limited diet due to my oldest daughter having stomach issues and needing to avoid spicy and acidic foods.
My goal in this class is mainly to put in place a flexible system so I’m not constantly popping into the supermarket or having food go to waste.
Melissa
This system is perfect for a veggie box! I wish I could get one in my area.
And thanks for sharing about the WW app.. one of the girls that works with my Irishman was saying she uses it as well.
If you’re feeling bored because of your daughter’s dietary requirements…think about ways you can cook things and then serve up for her before finishing off with spices, sauce or acid for yourself to keep it interesting without having to make two completely different meals.
I use to be die hard meal planner at least for dinner. I would plan meals for a month and that week go get the groceries for that week’s meals. Now I don’t plan at all. I did like the not having to think part of the meal plans- I’d know exactly what to get at the store, what to fix that night, and even when to start cooking/preparing. My kids are so picky and they each like different things. What they like to eat also changes a lot. I’ve also become a vegan in the last six months. I find planning meals to be too hard now that the kids won’t eat a lot of what I prepare and now that I’m a vegan I have to mostly prepare my own meal separate. I’ve really come to dislike meal times. I really like the idea of meal templates and simple recipes.
Oh Cat,
I can’t imagine what it’s like to have picky eaters as children.. I really hope we can get you back to a place where you’re getting some joy at meal times. 🙂
Hello everyone!
My current meal planning system sounds just like Maeghan’s. I, too, end up wasting and throwing away too many ingredients that were meant for specific recipes that I had planned to make and then didn’t for whatever reason.
I need to move away from always using recipes to a more flexible meal planning system. My husband and I have a lot of family and friends stop by often, and Jules, I think your general template recipes this week are really going to help me know better how to be able to put together things I have on hand instead of always needing a recipe.
I love the simplicity of your cooking Jules! It’s simple, fresh, healthy, quick and every “recipe” I’ve tried so far has been delicious. Looking forward to the rest of the class!
Hi Geralyn,
So glad you’re enjoying my recipes!
The biggest problem with my meal plan is that it doesn’t exist. I see recipes I like but rarely even get as far as to try to shop for them. Or if I do, fatigue-distraction-better offer-forgetfulness-mood usually causes me to skip the cooking altogether, and microwave up some nachos instead (I’m GOOD at those!)
I’m single, usually tired from work, and lonely cooking by myself. Even with food in the house I’ll sometimes just leave for dinner to be around people. Though maybe if I felt more confident in the kitchen then I could invite people over instead.
Also cooking for one can be discouraging….leftovers that go bad or that I get sick of. So, I’m really looking forward to the class!
Carol,
I know cooking for one can be discouraging… It’s much harder to get motivated when you’re just feeding yourself.
I’m dining solo this week (week 2 of the class) so you’ll notice a change in style.
I actually wrote a blog post on stonesoup a while ago about cooking for one you might find it helpful..
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2011/08/alone-in-the-kitchen-7-unusual-lessons-on-cooking-for-one/
and this one too:
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2009/11/secret-single-behaviour-how-to-get-excited-about-cooking-for-one/
Thank you Jules! It was frustrating for me that I had to be out of town on business all last week just after signing up for your school. But I’m back and I’ve got chickpeas!!
Appreciate the empathy for alone-cooking; thanks for the links, I think I’ll check out alone in the kitchen with an eggplant too.
Carol
Glad to hear you’re chickpea positive!
Alone in the kitchen is a great read… hope you enjoy
Well, the clincher that led me to purchase this membership was ” do you find you don’t want to eat what you’ve planned?” I think I struggle with all aspects of meal planning. I have been a single working woman for most of my life and really ate out most of the time. I married two years ago, but my work schedule remains erratic. While I’ve been attempting to be better at meal planning it has been difficult on many levels.
The good things are: since the first of the year, I’ve reorganized my kitchen to be much more user friendly, I use my android app to keep up with what I need (that’s working beautifully for me), and (fingers crossed) I may be getting a bit more routine in my life due to some changes on the job front.
My goals for this and other classes is to get to the point where I look forward to and enjoy cooking and eating healthy meals at home.
Thanks for sharing your goals Amy
And congrats on reorganising your kitchen.. that can make a big difference!
Hi all!
My current meal planning system generally involves me, a stack of cookbooks, and a fingertip on some random recipe. The ingredients go on a list and I go shopping, only to end up with a fridge full of disparate ingredients and a waning desire to cook that elaborate and whimsical dish I was so inspired by. I’ve found that I end up with all these lovely ingredients that really only go into one dish, and I end up wasting hundreds of dollars a year on items that go bad.
I’d like to get to the point where I can do my twice or thrice-weekly shop (I like to get my veggies at the farmers market, supplementing as needed with a trip to the grocery store; I purchase my staples at a couple of different shops, depending on time, location, and a general idea of how much things cost at each place), have a small batch of ingredients at hand, and create quick and simple meals that don’t taste and look the same. I actually don’t mind shopping, but I do tend to get a little giddy if there’s something new and exciting that catches my eye. And I’d like to stop wasting so much food!
Maeghan!
I think we’ll be able to help.. although I still suffer from shopping ‘giddiness’ (such a great word) form time to time.. but it’s part of the fun.
Hi everyone,
I am a busy college student and I have been trying my best to eat healthier and save money as much as I can. I have tried planning out exactly what to make each day in the past, but it has failed miserably. I decide I don’t want to eat what I’ve planned, or I decide I am far too tired to cook it. I am keen to learn some quicker recipes that I can adapt more easily according to what I have on hand. I have found that the old method had me shopping at the grocery store for 1-2 hours, panicking that I couldn’t find one of the ingredients for Dish X and not knowing what to do –> not enjoyable.
I have never tried the virtual cooking school before, but I really enjoy the blog. I just received a gift certificate for a CSA and now I don’t really know what to do with all of the vegetables I’ve never cooked with before. When I was emailed about this class I knew I had to try it out.
Alyssa!
I’ve been there with not being able to find ingredients for recipes and not knowing what to do.. so frustrating.. I think that was one of the major reasons I moved away from using recipes..
And if there’s any new veg in particular you’d like some ideas for just shout
Oh, and I use a grocery app that keeps me on top of the staples I need. And I keep a magnetic calendar on the refrigerator on which I try to loosely plan the week’s meals. Or at least write a list of what NEEDS to be used up that week. I cook for two most nights–my girlfriend and me, but we often entertain and have 4 for dinner once a week.
Super good idea to write down what needs to be used up. I’m mostly trying this class because I waste too much food. What grocery app do you use?
Alyssa, I’ve been using the TapGrocer app for about 2 years. It’s a super simple interface, but it’s pretty customizable. I think there are quite a few out there, but I think this one’s only $1 or so. I keep my list right on the fridge of what to use up. This week it’s lentils, jalapenos, cabbage, cauliflower, and ricotta. So that will be the basis of many meals. Right now, I’m cooking up a giant pot of brown rice and that thai curry. Super excited!
Thanks for sharing your app Allison. I think mine is called Shopping List.
Enjoy your curry & brown rice – sounds delish
I have been attempting to meal plan for several years now and often find that my plans never work out the way I intend whether for social reasons or just not being in the mood for what I had in mind. For the past few weeks, I have made the commitment to only buy perishables as I have so many items in my pantry that need to be used up as I’m moving in a couple of months.
This week, I went to the store and purchased eggs, milk, tofu, cauliflower and carrots. I have thai curry paste in the fridge and I’m looking forward to curry this week (already have coconut milk in the pantry) with tofu and cauliflower. I’ve been inspired by the shaved veg salad for a while and just never made it happen. This week I’m thinking about a lovely shaved carrot salad with a miso vinaigrette. Maybe with a poached egg?
Thanks for the inspiration! Looking forward to learning a few more kitchen skills and not being so reliant on recipes for my cooking!
Hi Allison
Shaved carrot salad with miso vinaigrette and a poached egg sounds like my idea of heaven!
Hello everyone
my meal planning has been developing since Jan 1st as it was my new year resolution. So far I’ve got to a happy place with my shopping list (notepaper) ~ and this has already helped with over/under buying.
thankfully I’ve recently taken stock of the contents of my freezer and store cupboard and one objective is to use up stuff and replace it with foods we actually eat regularly. I was surprised by the amount of food stuffs we hadn’t tried or just used once that had to be thrown out. A legacy from the pre-shopping list days I hope.
My biggest stumbling block has been sticking to the meal plan for the week or adapting it as things change. My hubby tends to suddenly fly off for work with no notice, or we decide on takeaway instead. So I’m super intrigued by Jules approach to general portion buying rather than specific recipes.
Also right now we’re making the transition from eating as a couple to eating as a family and are into week 3 of baby led baby weaning. I’ve been making a conscious effort to try new fruit/veg and cook them in a variety of ways for taste and texture experience.
I hope to get to a stage where my meal planning allows me to be flexible, where i’m buying foods we want to store or eat, and where we’re trying out one or two new things a week (either foods or ways of cooking).
Hi Hannah
Congrats on the baby weaning.. it must be so much fun getting to introduce someone to food for the first time!
Well, some of my family members have been a bit picky lately so now that the kids are older I have them more involved. We do a CSA so every other week we pick up our veggies that they have for us. It changes with the seasons so we are eating local in season. Some things like turnips and parsnips have been a challenge. We have been trying different recipes to see how it changes the taste of the same veg. Today we are repurchasing a wok because I think they will find that fun and tasty(we had one and stop using it so it went to a friend about 12 years ago). Another thing I think we will try is cooking up a bunch of our dry beans and keeping them in serving size containers in freezer so we can have some quick meals. I would like to get to the point with our meals where we can as a family throw a healthy meal together everyday(3 times a day cause we homeschool) so we don’t have to feel like we need to eat out so much. We are hopefully moving in the next few months to a more rural area where there will not be so many convenient take-outs(I am looking forward to less noise and bigger garden).
Lucky you Stacy..
Hope the move goes well.
And very excited you’re getting a new wok, I’ve also been a recent stir fry reconvert.
I think it’s awesome that you’re getting your whole family involved.
J