Speaking of Planning- Meals? Yay or Nay? - YouLookFab Forum

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Speaking of Planning- Meals? Yay or Nay?

Suntiger

Thinking of my days of outfit planning reminded me how I used to set up my work lunch meals for the week. I'd just make up some meal (often a tofu stirfry of some sort) then portion it out into 5 little bowls for my work lunches. Some with snacks like fruits or nuts, cause I went to the gym straight after work and didn't have dinner til 8 or 9.

But a lot of people talk about meal planning, like making these elaborate meals every day, but often as a regular rotation. Maybe it's different for me cause I'm vegetarian and don't have a big family to cook for, but it's not something I ever considered needing to do. I just keep a bunch of staples in the house, and throw them together with whatever produce is in season. Nothing takes more than about 10 minutes. I don't think I have more food waste than normal, if not less. Am I missing something?

Yay or nay to meal planning- why or why not?

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24 replies

Latest reply was from L'Abeille

cat2

Veteran

I learned to plan during the pandemic and have stuck with it. That way we can skip the noodling around each evening trying to figure out what we can make with our ingredients, sorting out who is going to make it, and popping out to the store for missing ingredients.

Suntiger

To me, specific ingredients don't matter that much.
I think of staples, like pasta/rice/polenta/ couscous like I do my black tank tops. I can put anything with them and they're fine.
The seasonal veggies (or frozen in winter) are like my print skirts. They go with any of the staples. Then just add whatever accessories (sauces, spices) that go.

JAileen

Veteran

We do meal planning. My husband goes grocery shopping twice a week, and we discuss in advance what meals we’re having. I do not cook every day, though, and I plan for leftovers. Also, I like having two things going at once. So maybe I make something on Monday, and we’ll have leftovers from that on Wednesday. I’ll make something else on Tuesday, with leftovers planned for Thursday. In summer the leftovers might be grilled chicken, in which case I might make a vegetable dish to accompany it - chop salad, tomato salad, etc. In winter, the leftovers might be a pot of soup or a pot of beans. Beans do take a lot of time, even in a pressure cooker.

We have a big vegetable garden and normally have a lot of tomatoes, squash, and beans. It’s been incredibly hot, though, and the plants are just hanging on for dear life.

ChristelJ

Veteran

Your comparison of ingredients to your tops and skirts and accessories is awesome! I rarely meal plan but wish I was more organized. My solution is to rely on staples like you do, but my meals have become very repetitive. A little planning before shopping might break me out of this rut.

Glory

Veteran

What wonderful timing! My daughter and I were just discussing whether we should create more of a fixed plan. And even though we dont plan elaborate meals we feel every day we go through the same conversation “what do you feel like for dinner”, “I don’t know, what do you want” hahaha. I laugh but it’s actually true.
We are going to start with a 10 day repeat plan based on simple things but with an idea of what it is and who will cook it.

SW Ann

Veteran

I have been meal planning for 46 years, the time I have been married. No one taught me how to--I just had no idea how to make sure we had food for every day with the limited funds we had at the time. It has become a habit, and I still do it. I have little food waste as leftovers go for my DH lunch, and we both have evenings where we are in charge of cooking. It works for us, but I know it seems weird to many.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Suntiger, it sounds like you are the "formula dresser" meal planner!

As for me, my meal planning is like my outfit planning -- based on mood and what produce we have, most days, but diligently planned when we have to entertain a crowd. And a lot of it prepared in advance, in that case.

Mr. Suz and I chat each day or two about what to make, normally, for the two or three of us. We get a produce delivery from our community supported agriculture group and I work with that, plus whatever protein we decide on. We often pick a recipe (or make it up) on the day.

But when we have a big crowd, as now, where some are vegan, some vegetarian, some kosher, some omnivores -- and they eat a lot -- we plan in advance as for an army, freeze things to be ready at a moment, ensure we have lots of snacking food around, and it's a lot more like trip planning -- it has to happen in advance, or else!

We also plan dinner party menus, but often not until a day or two ahead of time.

Sal

Veteran

I tend to look ahead to my week and what we have on. I usually plan four meals a week. We have a couple of nights with commitments at night so different options suit on those days.

I have found the adjustment away from family meals hard. I used to have more time at home during the day to get ahead but now often arrive home at 6pm.

We use meal boxes for three nights a week about once in four weeks for a mix up. It does make it simple.

Whilst not vegetarian we eat many vegetarian meals and I try to include those as much as possible. My husband tends to base his meals around meat.

Helena

Veteran

I plan, although I'm getting more relaxed about it now that my kids are never home! I hate food waste, grocery shopping, and having DH come home to dinner and say, "oh I had the same thing for lunch", so planning it is.

I typically will sort out the week's worth of dinners and do the shopping. Lunch is a free for all since most aren't home - I will usually use lunch to eat up leftovers or use up random items (I'm not a big lunch person so this is fine for me). We all have our own brekkie routine, so I just make sure the boys have some proteins, the girl has some fruit, and I have some PB&J (the only thing my stomach will allow in the morning!)

I am not sure what I will do when DS is in uni, because DD typically doesn't eat dinner with us anymore for various reasons (nothing bad - just having to adapt to different comforts and schedules!). Planning may go out the window! Or maybe DH will become the cook for a while! *crosses fingers*

Suntiger, I am definitely on team simple & modular meals, even with my planning. I think you've got a great system!

Dee

Veteran

I’m not much of a meal planner but I always have some basic staples on hand like eggs, pasta, rice, veggies, potatoes, chicken, spices and sauces that I can usually toss together to create various types of meals. I tried meal planning during covid but it never really worked out all that well, I often didn’t feel like eating the particular meal I had planned for. I tend to be a mood dresser and it seems I’m a mood meal maker as well.

Jules

Veteran

I’ve always enjoyed picking recipes and planning future meals. With a family and work it became necessary or at least desirable to be more organized about it. We certainly have staples and I’m good at seeing potential and pulling things together, so if I don’t have planning mojo I can create a grocery list based on staples then work from that without planning specific meals. But left to his own devices my husband will default to very basic meals so meal planning is helpful for him (and us!).

I wouldn’t say eating vegetarian reduced our planning. For example instead of planning a week around a large cut of meat used a couple of different ways, I now similarly make a pot of legumes with two dishes in mind.

I like variety and enjoy cooking and planning increases my enjoyment rather than being a chore.

cat2

Veteran

I think Jules hit a key distinction: some people like variety and others don’t. We are Team Variety, and planning is fun.

Echo

Veteran

We definitely plan meals, otherwise we find we are missing something or just give up and get take-out! Dh does most of the shopping and cooking, while I do most of the cleaning. Because he knows what he wants when he goes grocery shopping, we save money compared to when I shop and get "whatever loks good"! This way, there's no question about what we'll make, and it doesn't get later and later while we consider options. I also take the leftovers for lunches, so that's another reason it's a good idea for us to have a plan. If we don't have dinner planned, then that leaves me without a lunch planned for the following day, too.

Joy

Veteran

I need to plan meals for variety and shopping. We are both on special diets so I read lists of ingredients in the store. This slows things down a lot. I only trust the recipes in Cooking Light magazine reading it in the hospital while DH was recovering from a stroke at age 48. Followed by another stroke and kidney stones. I eat almost no fruit and only low glisemic vegetables. Only water to drink. Nothing can be contain any rice product. My taste buds have changed, now even carrots are sweet. I am sick of chicken breast any suggestions for heart patients and diabetics?

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

I meal plan but MrZ not so much, lol. We also cook vegetarian (pescatarian is for food from outside the house) so I can prep well in advance.

I usually make curry at the weekends that will last us until (at least) mid-week. Then MrZ takes over with stir-fry that he throws together with whatever's on hand.

I used to bulk cook curries then freeze them for weeks ahead (the spices & seasonings naturally preserve them for months - I don't add cream/ milk/ anything that will go off quickly). But we unfortunately just don't have the space for that here - it's no wonder stir-fry is popular in HK, since you can just pop down to the supermarket without even having to step outside lol.

I'm sure my cooking habits will change again once I have access to a bigger fridge/ freezer (& more storage space).

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Just seen others' points about variety - we like to vary our dishes from a health perspective (I've heard consuming at least 20 different fruits & vegetables a week is best for our microbiomes). But in reality, MrZ is okay with eating the exact same thing 3-6 months at a time (I'm sure he could go for longer if seasonal produce didn't restrict things).

Whilst I appreciate how that simplifies things (for my cooking prep), I get bored quicker than he does lol.

Runcarla

Veteran

I ‘gamify’ my grocery shopping. Though I have a list for most things, I will pick up what’s good value, especially fish/poultry/meats. Sometimes pickings are slim or uninspiring, and other times I’ll stock up the fridge or pantry.

Once home, I ‘plan’ dinner meals for the week, write them down, and tape the list to a cupboard door. I reserve the right to switch things up depending on activities or time constraints on a given day. (Babysitting a big roast for a couple of hours vs cobbling together a curry in 30 minutes.).

Every quarter, I make a challenge of cleaning out the pantry/freezer.

cat2

Veteran

Joy: Have you ever used a dietician to help plan your low glycemic meals? He or she might be able to provide some good ideas. Take care, Charlene

April

Veteran

I eat vegetarian and my sister (lives far away, visits annually) eats vegan, so I tend to have a vague plan. Mr. A is an omnivore so I do cook some meat dishes for him, and he loves fish.

Like tomorrow at our house, I'm making a Japanese dinner. Vegetable sushi rolls with Jade Lotus rice, maybe miso soup, maybe edamame. See what I mean - a lot of "maybe". In the end I'll figure it out in the kitchen. Probablly a fish dish for Mr. A since I have some fish in the fridge.

I will make a list of things I want to make for Plant Based Sister while she's here. I'm loving a new cookbook I got called Sweet Potato Soul (plant-based "soul food"). I hate sweet potatoes but I love kabocha squash, so I sub in freely.

Suntiger

Thanks all- this is interesting!

I looked into meal kits, but they're around $10 per meal- where even a restaurant entree is $15 and lasts me 2-3 servings. Our monthly shop in generally about $400 for the 2 of us, though most of that is DHs.

I guess I'm in the middle as far as wanting variety. When things are really busy at work/winter in general, I don't make any extra decisions, and eat the same few things. I have much more variety in summer, when all the fresh produce is available.

MsMary

Veteran

How did I miss this?

Back in the day, when I was working and had a child at home, I'd make a weekly meal (dinner) plan that also included a grocery shopping list and a weekly "to do" list. We'd generally eat the same breakfast every day and I was (and am) a big fan of dinner leftovers for lunch.

These days we get a weekly Blue Apron box and that takes care of three dinners. We are often out for some or all of the rest of the evenings (this week we have three nights out in a row!), and for the nights we are home and have no Blue Apron to cook, we like to find a fun recipe to cook together. Or if we're feeling lazy we will throw something on the grill or eat leftovers or just do "happy hour snack dinner."

And we still generally eat the same breakfast every day (homemade English muffins, mostly) and dinner leftovers for lunch.

April

Veteran

Japanese dinner follow-up:

I did make the vegan sushi rolls (contents: Jade Pearl Rice, cucumber strips, avocado, crispy shiitakes, leftover fried tofu strips, takuan).

I did not make edamame, nor miso.

I did make the Barramundi that was semi-frozen in fridge. Mr. A finished that one off (in a skillet, too hot to grill outside) for me since I tend to cook fish like a vegetarian: cluelessly.

RachelNZ

I like to plan what I will cook for dinner (as it's not one of my favourite tasks) while my husband is more spontaneous. It's just for the two of us and we don't have any food restrictions, have a well stocked freezer and pantry and will happily eat leftovers.
Our successful change has been to alternate the responsibility weekly, on your week you are responsible for the groceries, cooking and cleaning up and then you have a week off. It means that I can work out what I am going to make and get the groceries and know I have everything and he will just go to the supermarket and buy whatever he sees. It also stopped the frustration of when I had made sure we had something for a meal I was going to make and he had used it up the night before on whatever he had decided to make for that night!
We both repeat our breakfasts and lunches so whoever is shopping just makes sure we have all those items on hand.

L'Abeille

Veteran

I learned to meal plan from my mother-in-law, who was a career woman in the 50's/60's and kept the week's menu posted on the inside of her kitchen cupboard door.

It got me through raising 4 kids with after-school activities while working as a full time professional. When I started out, it was a game changer because microwaves for home use were still pretty new, so you'd have to take your meat out of the freezer the day before, or else run it under the tap/chip off bits in the frying pan. Likewise I could soak and cook a pot of beans in advance.

I've fallen out of the habit from time to time, but life goes smoother, meals are more interesting, and less food gets wasted (making plans to use up all the produce) when I take the time to sit down with the calendar, the sales flyers, and the freezer inventory list.