What's your meal plan dinners this week?

Tomorrow is roast chicken with roasted mediterranean veg.
Tuesday is chicken and veg fried rice with chicken leftover from Monday
Wednesday is quorn fajitas
Thursday is vegetable and lentil lasagne and chips
Friday is quorn enchiladas with egg fried rice and homemade garlic sauce
Saturday is butternut squash risotto with a panfried fillet of hake.

I'm not sure I've ever *actually* stuck to my meal plan for the full week, but this is the intention:

Mon: Pulled tandoori chicken with Bombay spuds and spiced, roasted cauliflower

Tues: 'Nduja Buffalo mac & cheese

Wed: Tuesday leftovers

Thur: Chorizo & chickpea stew

Fri: Thursday leftovers

Sat: Steak & blue cheese broccoli gratin

Sun: Day off. Takeaway of some description.

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Far too many organised people here. :rolleyes:

I don't usually know what were having for dinner until I'm sitting in Aldi's car park in the morning - deciding factors - What's in the fridge that needs using up? What did we have yesterday? What day of the week is it? How much time will I have to prepare it?

When I first met my OH, he'd call to the supermarket on the way home from work every day. Only then would he decide what he was having for dinner that night. I just can't live like that :P To me, that's wasting far too much of the week in supermarkets and it means eating later each night too. I prefer to do one big shop every week. It means the meal planning and shopping list is inevitably left up to me, but that's fine, I'm a control freak anyway. I always throw in a couple of easy dinners though that I know he can take the lead on :P

Great idea for a tread and already stealing some of your meal plan ideas:

Monday - roast chicken, veg and mash
Tuesday - spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread
Wednesday - chilli with rice and mini wraps (salad too)
Thursday - creamy cajun chicken, roasted baby potatoes, broccoli and mex rice
Friday - homemade burgers and homemade chunky chips
Sat- takeaway
Sunday - roast of some kind.

woodchuck wrote: »

When I first met my OH, he'd call to the supermarket on the way home from work every day. Only then would he decide what he was having for dinner that night. I just can't live like that :P To me, that's wasting far too much of the week in supermarkets and it means eating later each night too. I prefer to do one big shop every week. It means the meal planning and shopping list is inevitably left up to me, but that's fine, I'm a control freak anyway. I always throw in a couple of easy dinners though that I know he can take the lead on :P

Same for me! It used to drive me crazy! It is one of the good things to come out of Covid for me - we are doing one big shop to reduce our outside contacts since March, and it has made it so much easier.
I started doing online delivery, and we have a shopping list he can add stuff to in Keep notes - I also keep the meal plan in there so he can see what is on whatever night to cook it when it is his turn.

My meal plans often revolve around what is on special offer, and I try to pop in one or two new meals to try, with a few old favourites. I also try to make sure everything is used up - for example we have too many potatoes left at the end of this week, so the following week will revolve more around dishes to use those up.
There is a fussy teenager here, so sometimes it is a new meal for the adults, and the teenager gets a variation that is simple to cook.
A lot of my recent meals are using the one pan cook book, especially mid week. Weekends are more likely to involve more involved dishes that take longer to cook.

This week:
Sunday - Roast leg of lamb (on offer in Supervalu) with hasselback potatoes and carrots & parsnip mash (not a regular dish)
Monday - Chicken parmagiana (new dish this week)
Tuesday - Crispy gnocchi with tomatoes and basil (one pan recipe on regular rotation)
Wednesday - Diet Coke chicken (himself requested this!)
Thursday - Chilli peanut beef (one pan recipe that is on regular rotation)
Friday - Takeaway night this week
Saturday - Turkey joint with brussel sprouts and roasties (not a regular dish)
Sunday - Corned Beef and cabbage (influenced from the ongoing thread here on corned beef)

Great thread!! I'm always looking for dinner inspiration and getting some great ideas here My current go-to dinners are:

Shepherd's Pie
Chilli con Carne
Chicken Curry (using Mr Curry Extra Hot sauce/paste)
Salmon parcels baked with cherry tomatoes and green beans or tenderstem broccoli and mash
Turkey burgers and oven chips
Roast chicken, roasted veg (red onion, red & yellow pepper, courgette, carrot and or parsnip), mash and/or roast potatoes
Homemade pizza
Steak with potato gratin, pan fried asparagus and/or tenderstem broccoli or with fried onions & mushrooms and mash
Fish pie
Bone-in pork chops with carrots, sprouts and mash

I try to cook from scratch every day but usually have a couple of emergency "can be cooked from frozen" bits in the freezer. The fresh filled pasta is a Godsend for the OH too.

Also, I recently downloaded a Best-Before app that alerts you when food is approaching its Use-By date. Might be a pain in the hole adding a huge amount of foods in there after a big shop and I've only been using it a week but hopefully it's going to get rid of that feeling of self loathing when I discover something at the back of the fridge that's only good for the bin now!

I can safely say that I have never in my life planned more than about 3 dinners in advance.
Fair play to the organised people, though.

Garlinge wrote: »

Other half is a fussy eater so no pasta, no salad, no eggs, no fish save Donegal Catch and few vegs save peas and carrots :mad:

But seriously, fair play for adapting, those options sound great.

Can't say I meal plan either. Usually do one big shop a week and a smaller top at some stage. I'll buy a core of veg and meat and I'll have a rough idea of meals I might do. A lot can depend on whats on offer. I can cook a good variety of meals from memory or just instinct/knowledge of what works so don't need a list of ingredients. I might have a short list of thing the wife wants or if I'm out of a larder staple like garlic or peppercorns/spices that I don't buy often that I might forget. But a full shopping list for meals, only at Christmas time.

I've a fairly well stocked larder and freezer. I tend to freeze portions of dinner so what we have can change a lot or least have an option if someone doesn't want what the rest of us are having. Some thing like Lasagne, cottage pie, soup etc I'll batch cook a freeze several portions.

Day to day I'll cook meat in order of shortest date but what I decide to do with it depends on the time I have and what needs to be used up. Steak could be fried, used for a stir fry a cheaper piece minced for burgers if fatty enough. Chicken is usually for curries but do a good else with it to, main meat we eat as the rest of them are fussy. Sausages: hotdogs, pasta, toad in the hole.

Tonight was meant to be bangers, onion gravy and mash but I was home late and couldn't be arsed peeling spuds so I threw together a tray bake with sausages, chorizo, baby potatoes, onion, garlic and peppers. Even the kids said it was delicious. (Though one only ate the chorizo, peppers and potato and the other sausage and potato! :rolleyes:) Meals are a daily battle of trying to please everyone they're a fussy lot with wildly different tastes then me who literally will eat anything. Maybe meal planning would be easier!

Next week or so:
- Vietnamese pork bowls (inspired by the pork mince thread)
- Buttermilk chicken with potato rosti and asparagus.
- Boiled cabbage/potato mash and baked ham (gf's request).
- Honey/Lemon glazed salmon with roast brocolli and rice.
- Chicken katsu curry and rice.
- Vegetarian pasta one-pot.
- Corn fritters and roast cauliflower.

So much for less meat. Sh*t.

I use natural yogurt and self raising flour, very quick and easy.

This week (although the days are likely to switch around):

Saturday/Halloween: Homemade pizza
Sunday: Dinner meat*, mash and veg
Monday: Deconstructed shepards pie
Tuesday: Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday: Caramelised pork bowl (that someone recommended on this forum!)
Thursday: Milanos pollo pesto pasta
Friday: Dinner meat*, mash and veg

*just whatever looks good in the supermarket or butcher. Or maybe just some frozen breaded fish.

I do this every week & keep a note on my phone!

Today: chicken satay, noodles, Asian slaw.
Sunday: fish cakes, broccoli, roasted baby potatoes
Monday: fajita bowl
Tuesday: soup & sandwiches
Wednesday: creamy turkey Bolognese with spinach.
Thursday: mini Da Piero pizzas
Friday: veggie burgers and chips!

I do a lot of freezer meals so it’s just reheating this week apart from the fajitas.

woodchuck wrote: »

Wednesday: Caramelised pork bowl (that someone recommended on this forum)

Sounds yum! Can you point me in the right direction please?

Toulouse wrote: »

Monday: Cottage pie
Tuesday: Tuna and feta salad
Wednesday: Pan-fried Salmon darne with roasted Mediterranean veg and baked feta (left over from salad)
Thursday: Oven roasted cod fillet with panko, parmesan and oregano crust, roasted baby potatoes and salad.
Friday: Chickpea curry and brown rice
Saturday: Pan fried duck breast, roasted baby potatoes and turnip
Sunday: Slow cooked beef with mushrooms and mash

Can you tell me about the baked feta please?

Sunday: Roast chicken or pork, roast potatoes, carrots & broccoli, homemade gravy.
Monday: Salisbury steak, onion gravy, (done in pressure cooker) and peas and mash potatoes (non pressure cooker)
Tuesday: Chicken curry and rice.
Wednesday: Chilli con carne with spaghetti.
Thursday: Panfried chicken fillet or roasted lamb chops, veg and mash.
Friday: Kung Pao chicken/stirfry chicken and rice
Saturday: Pork koftas and rice.
All cooked from scratch.