Weekly Cooking Planner

We just cook what we feel like eating! We do BIG grocery shopping on Sundays, husband and I usually go to breakfast or lunch out somewhere and I bring a notepad and we make a list of what sounds good and what we need, while we eat, it's relaxing and that way we are not shopping while we are hungry! It's our cheating way to have alone time and we take full advantage of it!!!!

My husband is the most pickiest eater out of our whole family so I usually let him pick 4 out of the 7 meals for the week. He grew up with a Mother who was a gourmet cook so I have had my work cut out for me trying to master all his favorites and in doing so I have learned of myself that food is not that important to me, I could live off of sandwiches, with the occasional Indian and Thai take-out, Ha! But it is important to The Man, so I have learned! :)

I am *really* lucky that all my kids love veggies so I just make sure I have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and usually just cheat and throw bowls of fresh raw veggies on the table with all dinners and I am golden! it is amazing how much kids will actually snack on raw veggies when they have always had them around and offered!

So what do you guys like? I would start by making a list of all the favorite meals that you know how to cook and go from there.

You may not need to budget, but this is a budget trick:

I shop off sales
Then plan based off of what I've gotten.

Its okay to "shop twice"... Meaning but what's on sale, then come up with a menu, and pick up the rest. I shop at 5 stores, so that's just kind of automatic for me.

Ex) Pork Shoulder on sale

- BBQ Pulled Pork
- Pork Tacos
- Chile Verde
- Cuban Pork & Plantains
- Kebabs
- Sweet & Sour Pork
- Kahlua Pork w Poi & mango
-------Prep for another day---------
- Fresh Fennel and Pork Sausage (freeze for when pork loins go on sale for pork sausage & fresh fennel stuffed pork rolls)
- Gyoza (freeze)
- Tamales (freeze)

Mix up the pork menu items with non-pork items in the freezer from when whenever THAT was on sale. The HINT is that I cook double or triple what I need, whenever I cook, and freeze the rest for easy zapping or baking later.
- Quiche
- California Chicken Burgers
- Turkey bistro sammies
- Chicken Satay
- Lasagna
- Chicken Taquitos

___________

When its just me, I rarely eat (I grabbed a McRib from mcDonalds today... Good thing they don't have those year round or Id be really fat)... But when I have a house full of people... I keep about 2-3 weeks of food on hand at any time, and shop weekly. I have the meals all planned, so its LITERALLY picking from the menu each day. Some things are long, some are fast, so that plays in as well (MWF I have zero time to cook after 2pm, so it needs to be ready by then, Tuesdays I have 30 minutes free period, do Tursday needs to be a 10 minute cook, etc.)... But its just picking and choosing. For items that spoil... Like greens/etc... I either buy them frozen, or pick them up the day I need them.

I use the app Menu Planner. I also am like Riley. I buy what's on sale, and freeze it, usually planning meals from what is already in the house. I usually try to have about 10 meals planned out at a time, with extras in the freezer.

Soon I am going to sit down and become military like about this. Monday is going to be Mexican night, Tuesday Fish, Wed Soup and Sandwich, etc. I am sick of thinking about what we eat, so I am going to just put us on a real schedule.

I just shop and plan meals based on what is on sale and what I'm in the mood for.
I like Mexican food, so I usually have staples on hand, salsa, rice, beans, etc. so I only need to "plan" to have tortillas, chips, or whatever kind of meat I need that night (chicken, or beef?)
I also tend to have all the typical, um, white people, staples on hand.
Potatoes, eggs, cream, cheese, onions, garlic, tomatoes/sauce, bread, herbs, frozen veges, ham/bacon/sausage.
If you have most of the above you can pretty much make anything.
And take advantage of the weekly specials at the store, and what is currently in season.

MasterCook is a great software tool to help with this...I love using it.

I just eat whatever is on hand or go buy something but then I'm just feeding me. My daughter and her husband plan out a week of main dishes for dinners as they shop, paying attention to sales. They don't write it down but seem to know that if it's Wednesday they'll have X. They also frequently put cut up raw veggies and ranch dip on the table. They nearly always heat up a can or a pkg of frozen vegetables to go along with the main dish. Both my daughter and her husband work. When he gets home before she does he usually starts dinner.

I have the same problem. I saw this weekly meal planner on Pinterest and plan to make it.
http://www.atkinsondrive.com/weekly-menu-board/