Planning ahead. . .

Violetwind

Determined
Just wondering how many on here plan ahead for your weekly menu. I don't and can find myself really stuck for ideas sometimes.
 
I always try and do this, though this week has been a pain because we're on the last few quid til payday, and I've just discovered that my WW brown danish and my wholemeal pittas have gone off :( Planned them for my Bs.
 
I don't but am never stuck for ideas. I LOVE cooking, experimenting AND using all my cookbooks!
 
I'm only just into the second week of the plan but so far we have planned our meals. I don't think we could financially afford to do SW if we didn't as we'd have to buy more food just incase we need it because we decide we want to have xxxx for dinner one night, by planning the meals we just buy what we need and nothing else.

x
 
I plan my meals for the week -brekkie, lunch and dinner as it means I can make sure I have everything I need and I can also make sure that I have lovely meals planned so I don't get bored. Also it means I know Im eating a well balanced diet and that I get the best use out of my healthy extras and syns ;)

I always have plenty in, in case we suddenly fancy something different, but I find that having a meal plan sorted means I can pretty much forget about now and relax..
 
"Fail to plan means plan to fail"

I try my hardest to plan for the entire week, as I work shifts that mean I have to take breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then breakfast and lunch the following day.

However every other friday I have a problem in that my SU is out all day and he eats out at lunchtime, which means I have to eat out as there is no time between his appointments, I don't really like beans so I get lost on what to have and it's THAT week that I gain/lose less!

I wish SW would do a meal planner sheet, I'd buy them just so I have something to refer to.
 
I plan my evening meals every week...

I just wing it with my lunches because if all else fails the canteen at work does a mean jacket tato!!

If I didn't plan i'd be stuck every night, i'd end up spending half an hour trying to decide what to eat then giving up and grabbing something naughty out of the freezer!!

xx
 
I plan a few days ahead - helps with the shopping. When I'm back at work - it'll be a full week ahead - but for now I have time to go into town and get whatever the specials are and make meal plans around those.
 
I try to plan, i sit down on a sunday with my books and SW mags and pick a selection of meals that look interesting, i write a list of what i need to get in and shop every few days, so the fresh is as fresh as possible. Although i plan it like this i don't allocate a specific day for the meals, just the week ahead, you never know what you might fancy. Any leftovers get put in the freezer for lunches, or when i get the munchies, SW ready meals on tap!
 
İ usually plan a couple of days ahead anyway although havent done the past few weeks cause ive been in too much pain to cook! i felt a bit stuck too and feel more in control when i plan ahead!
 
I only really need to plan for evening meals.

Breakfast is simple because I have one of three options:
Fruit
Nimble toast and LC light spread
Quorn sausages and scrambled eggwhites

I can't face anything other than that in the mornings.

Then for lunch, it's always a portion of the home made superfree veg soup I make each week. Occasionally for a change I would make extra dinner the night before and have that for lunch the next day, if it's something that can be heated up in work.

I always get a selection of various main meal items when I do my shopping - lots of Quorn mince, Quorn sausages, chicken, fish and lots of veg so I can decide what I fancy when I get home. Sticking rigidly to the main meal doesn't really work for me, when I have done this in the past I've arrived home and really fancy something different, so I make sure I have all the food on hand and cook whatever I feel like that evening :D
 
Always, always, always - not only because it helps you stay on plan but because it saves you money on your shopping bill.
 
I'm trying to eat the freezer empty so for the past few weeks have been planning round that.

I have an old exercise book and have a page per day, for my meals - on the back of the previous days I write notes get so and so out the freezer, or shopping lists of fresh fruit / veg I need to be sure I have the right things for the meals I planned.

I do the planning in pencil, and then write in pen what I actually had/made including syns.

Lunches look easy for the coming week, as I've got 4 different soups to defrost!
 
I really do think I should be planning but the issue is I never know what keeps. If I freeze meat and defrost it even if there is left overs I'm afraid to use it the next day especially if its chicken. I've no idea about freezing bread. I do my own home made soup on a monday but end up throwing most of it out on wednesday morning. So wasteful and we are on a really tight budget so it doesn't help that I don't use the freezer right. All tips welcome, thanks;)
 
I try to plan, i sit down on a sunday with my books and SW mags and pick a selection of meals that look interesting, i write a list of what i need to get in and shop every few days, so the fresh is as fresh as possible. Although i plan it like this i don't allocate a specific day for the meals, just the week ahead, you never know what you might fancy. Any leftovers get put in the freezer for lunches, or when i get the munchies, SW ready meals on tap!

This is what we do every saturday morning after weve eaten breakfast, saves a lot of time and effort.
 
This is the second time ive shopped for my sw diet.. Once last week when i started and today.. And the bill came to 100 quid. I was so shocked.. Bt then realised that our bill used to come to about 50/60 quid anyway and then we would eat out at least 3 times a week which would come up to about 50 quid or more so we're probably saving on the food now.

I have planned for he whole week. If we know what we are eating then we cannot excuse eating out or anything. Its great knowing what we are eating everyday now.
 
I really do think I should be planning but the issue is I never know what keeps. If I freeze meat and defrost it even if there is left overs I'm afraid to use it the next day especially if its chicken. I've no idea about freezing bread. I do my own home made soup on a monday but end up throwing most of it out on wednesday morning. So wasteful and we are on a really tight budget so it doesn't help that I don't use the freezer right. All tips welcome, thanks;)

It's perfectly safe to use leftover meat the following day as long as it has been refridgerated as soon as possible and thoroughly reheated when ready to use. or of course you could just batch cook whatever meal you are making and re-freeze the leftovers. It's okay to re-freeze if the meat has been cooked after you defrosted it but you shouldn't re-freeze raw meat.

Soups are fine for two or three days as well - or again you can freeze leftovers and defrost when you are ready to use them.

As for bread, I'm not sure what you are worried about. I freeze the whole loaf and take out slices as I need them for toasting or to make sandwiches.

Why not go along to your local library and borrow a few books on cooking on a budget, cooking for freezing and slow cooking?
 
This is the second time ive shopped for my sw diet.. Once last week when i started and today.. And the bill came to 100 quid. I was so shocked.. Bt then realised that our bill used to come to about 50/60 quid anyway and then we would eat out at least 3 times a week which would come up to about 50 quid or more so we're probably saving on the food now.

My shopping bill went right up after starting SW. However my overall expenditure on food came down significantly as I wasn't getting takeaways 4 or 5 times a week and consuming at least £5 of crap a night. People use "it's more expensive to shop for a "diet"" as an excuse - not necessarily so if you're a careful shopper or if you eat out a lot.

I never pay full price for meat/fish - I wait for it to go on reduced price and freeze it - I got a pack of 3 pork steaks last week for 99p, and 3 thin-cut beef steaks for £1.50 (rather then between £2.50 and £3 a pack). OK - it makes it harder to plan as you never know whats going to be reduced - but by keeping a full freezer - there's always something there (i just need to catalogue what is actually in my freezer though) :)
 
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