Do you meal plan for your family?

[Sam9kids]

We try to but often forget. With it getting cooler I find it easier now as we make things like stew and tagine in bulk and freeze off portions. DH's hours mean he's not often home until late and I usually can't be bothered to cook for myself.

I love making things in the morning either in my stew pot or my slowcooker and just leaving it!

I NEED a slow cooker. I have a massive stew pot but I can't leave it on the job all day if I need to go out.

Get one! they are fab!! i got mine from argosx

 

[chuck]

slow cookers are great once you get used to using them just remember not to put too much liquid in lol I have and ended up with watery stews...ergh.

The other thing about planning meals is that we dont end up eating spuds too many days in a row (or pasta rice etc) we get to break up the week.

 

[chuck]

the ohter thing that is fab is a rice cooker! Best tenner we ever spent in argos.

Theyre amazing perfect rice every time no matter how long you leave it, I've always been shit at cooking rice.

 

[Pickles77]

I do it. I plan for a whole month and then get a big grocery order delivered. God its a pain! But it does save us money. I was doing it every 2 weeks, but found I was spending just as much every 2 weeks as I did in a monthly shop, so went back to monthly. I still go buy milk, fresh fruit and veg, and bread every week. Blah!!! But yeah, save loads.

 

[Sam9kids]

the ohter thing that is fab is a rice cooker! Best tenner we ever spent in argos.

Theyre amazing perfect rice every time no matter how long you leave it, I've always been shit at cooking rice.

Rice cooker? never heard of those!

 

[Rhiannon]

the ohter thing that is fab is a rice cooker! Best tenner we ever spent in argos.

Theyre amazing perfect rice every time no matter how long you leave it, I've always been shit at cooking rice.

Rice cooker? never heard of those!

we bought a rice cooker but found it to be hassle!! only threw it away a few months ago!

i do my shopping online and keep to £50. i just choose 7 meals every week and then add the fruit and LOs milk and jars.

i love planning meals!!

xx

 

[LIZZY55]

I always have the best intentions to plan ahead but sometimes I am too tired to shop and think about it.
Slowly I am becomming a more organised person but I've just gone back to work full time so I really am testing myself!
Maybe next week

 

[chuck]

the ohter thing that is fab is a rice cooker! Best tenner we ever spent in argos.

Theyre amazing perfect rice every time no matter how long you leave it, I've always been shit at cooking rice.

Rice cooker? never heard of those!

Theyre fab - look like a slow cooker, you measure out your rice, rinse it pop it in the crockpot add water according to howe much rice you have bung on the li turn it on and bingo perfect rice with separate grains no matter how long you leave it as it warms the rice once it is cooked.

If you can cook rice by the absorption method then great but I never got the hang of it, I would dread cooking rice as I always cooked too much or not enough or it would turn to sludge or I'd have a messy pan to clean.

Now we eat rice a lot more.

https://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4224765/Trail/searchtext>RICE+COOKER.htm

bargain.

We only got one after an Indian friend cooked us a meal and we asked the secret of the perfect rice expecting some fangled way of cooking rice but nope just a rice cooker.

 

[OmarsMum]

I dont plan meals but we only go shopping once a mnth. I keep stock of meat (chicken, fish, mince, steak, etc.), pasta, rice, frozen veggies & fruits, etc. This is in addition to all house requirements (detergents, tissues, toiletries, etc), all Omar's stuff like nappies, formula, wipes, jars, etc. We buy fresh veggies & fruits once a week, & I order cow milk, bottled water & yoghurt every other day frm the grocery close by. We'r 7 adults + Omar at home & it's easier & cheaper to have everything available at home.

 

[redpoppy]

No I'm rubbish and useless in every single way. I can't actually think of anything I'm good at. I'm surprised I'm still alive sometimes. We tried meal planning once Lo was born and it worked really well for a short while but we haven't for a long time now.

Awww dont be so hard on yourself xx

Don't worry! I'm not hard on my self at all. That's how I got to be so rubbish at eveything. I'm so in love with me that I never bother putting any effort in with anything ever. Hence the rubbishness.

 

[Kitty23]

My mum always meal planned for us, she was a single mother and my father refused to pay child support!

So I've always meal planned it works out so much cheaper and at the mo we are on a tight budget, when it was really tight we spent £30 a week for two of us now its £80 which isnt too bad.

I don't know how people know what to eat if they dont meal plan lol xxx

 

[WW1]

We've done this since I went on mat leave and the money got tighter! It really does make a difference and we end up a) wasting less food and b) eating less takeaways! It means we are much healthier to be honest.

I tend to plan a fortnight's worth and then pick which meal on the day itself. We've also started looking through some recipe books and picking a brand new dish each fortnight ~ our menus were getting a bit samey and it has been fun cooking something completely different!

All in we spend about £150 per fortnight (including toiletries etc). We don't scrimp on our meals though ~ I'm sure we could do it much cheaper!

 

[lauzliddle]

I plan as much as I can and spend around £50 per week for the 3 of us that's only on food as I buy nappys and wipes in bulk when the baby events are on and buy bulk washing powder and big packs of loo roll every 3 months.

 

[Midgetgem]

we never do.. but can i come for tea on Tuesday! pretty please..

 

[mommyof3co]

I always plan meals. I try and cook just about everything homemade including the boys snacks so I plan breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks plus side dishes. It does usually come out cheaper for us and I actually have everything I need instead of having to make quick trips to the store in the middle of the week

 

[Sam9kids]

we never do.. but can i come for tea on Tuesday! pretty please..

You can come any day you like! i cook for 11 people every day... one more doesnt make much difference! x

 

[Tudor Rose]

i plan, also we tend ro go low priced shops like iceland for freezer aldi for the rest. i get toiletries and baby stuff from asda which i order in bulk and get delivered once a month. it works out cheaper,we spend around £70 a week, when i use to do a weekly shop at asda/tesco it would cost upto £150!!!

 

[maybebaby3]

need to start doing this as money is going to get pretty tight when i go on unpaid leave!

 

[amandad192]

I plan meals and go shopping fortnightly. Including Liam's nappies (but excluding formula) Household stuff etc I spend about £50-£60 a fortnight.
I usually plan the first few days so we have the freshest food before it goes bad. We usually have egg&bacon frenchstick on shopping day
If I didn't meal plan, I could spend up to £100 easily!

I write a list of the meals, turn that into a list of all the things I need to buy, then go on mysupermarket.co.uk and price it all up before I go so I know how much I'll be spending.

 

[Heidi]

I really should plan our meals but i just have no imagination what so ever its always really boring stuff
Do you shop weekly?