What is your meal planning style? Any good meal planning tips?
I am trying to get better at meal planning because I always start off strong then get bored / run out of food at the end of the week. For while I have been doing a big cook on Sunday but this week I am trying a basic menu and cook as I go. Hoping that having a plan will make it easier.
My plan (one person) is
- red lentil curry + coconut rice (3 serves made today)
- instant pot spag Bol (3 serves made Monday night)
- a beef stir-fry (X 2 serves) made wed night
- quick ramen noodles + stock and frozen veg in between
Ideally I would prep veg today but I have been away and am tired and can’t be bothered so will prep as I go.
What other things are people doing?
I just try to cook an extra big meal that will yield 1 or 2 extra serves. This means I have something for lunch the next day, but I don’t get bored of having the same thing 5 days in a row.
I do one shop/prep for the week, and as i do I prep some for busier weeks into the freezer: lasagna, burritos, stir fry currently occupy space. If I make a roast for just the two of us, 2 portions go into the frezer and we will have also 2 more for leftovers later in the week.
Well stocked pantry helps: minced garlic & parsley in oil (store in fridge) mince ginger, garlic, scallion (I freeze these on a sheet pan/paper, then put in a bag in the freezer tonuse when needed for stir fry/curries) stocks & bullions for easy soups/braise marinades for meats/chix/pork
[when shopping, buy extra for the freezer: throw some meat in marinade, freeze flat in a bag, so when you finish cooking the meal for dinner today, you pull the meat to defrost for tomorrow dinner]
I tend to cook in batches of around 12 serves. Currently curried rice, taco beans, Dahl, roast veggies w/spicy peanut sauce. Once I’ve got enough Tupperware for another batch I make the next meal. My next meal is chicken and veg soup w/pasta, mostly because I’ve got things to use up.
E: Just finished the chicken veg pasta soup. I recently bought an instapot cheap on amazon (the 8L duo $153), it’s been great for speeding up my meal prep. I tend to get distracted with how long some beans take to cook, the pot only works on a timer so it’s great for set and forget.
Potatos - cooked potato doesn’t freeze well. When I microwave potato to go with the taco beans and gravy beans, I’ll do a few serves worth and store the cooked ones in the fridge. Similar with roast veggies, they don’t thaw well. I do a batch and keep them in the fridge for a half hour re-roast to get them ready for dinner.
I meal prep for 2.5 people, so if I’m not getting 6 meals in the freezer it’s pretty redundant.
These days it’s mostly based around what’s on special. If I can get the veg cheap it’s bolognese. if not, chicken straganoff or Dahl. Pumpkin soup is popular, as is sausage rolls and quiches. Breakfast burritos are a hit too. A lot of my meal prep inspiration comes from YouTube. A lot are bullshit, but some of the shorts arnt bad. There’s a buffalo chicken rice bowl one of them makes that is amazing.
I do things a little differently to others I think. I will go to the fruit & veg shop and butchers (it’s handy that the are next to each other) and buy whatever looks good or cheap for the week. Then I meal plan.
I always buy an extra meat product like sausages or mince to stick in the freezer. I always have frozen veg and a frozen stirfry mix in there.
Once every six months, we eat what’s in the freezer so I can defrost it. I do the same with the pantry so I can clean it out.
For you, I’d recommend batch cooking a soup that you can freeze for those days when you cbf then all you have to do is pick up a nice bread.
Here’s a website you might like
We run similar to you, shop and have a rough idea of a plan from what I’ve bought.
