meal plan template

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Started 2 years ago by Lilliane P
Latest reply from Kamakazi
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Lilliane P
Member

For those of us who didn't get the book soon enough to get the pdf of Erin's templates, a very similar meal plan template is available in the Google docs templates. Do a search of templates for "meal plan".

I checked here before trying to copy Erin's into google docs and they have
thousands of templates and up it came. It prints out fine. I printed out
a month's supply and put them in one of those blank sheet protector thingies
which can be, just as Erin suggested, taped up to the inside of a cabinet door.

Have never done meal planning this way before but am going to give it a try.
I can see where leftovers can be planned in advance and it might make life
easier.

Posted 2 years ago #
maxinemarshall
Member

I might give this a try one day too

Posted 1 year ago #
Julia
Member

Just tacking on to this thread - I picked up a combination calendar/meal planner at Borders over the holidays. The top half is a normal calendar; the bottom half has a pad of undated one-week tear-away meal plan forms.

Thought I'd give it a try. I filled out the week in advance, did my shopping, and posted the meal plan on the fridge door. I can add or cross out if changes crop up, and note prep requirements (yesterday's column ended with "take chops out of freezer for tomorrow.")

Knowing me, I don't know how long I'll keep it up but it seems to me there are multiple benefits to it. I'm tracking my exercise on the calendar. I don't have to think about food during the week - just follow the plan, and because I shop to it, everything I need is there. Because I'm pre-diabetic, I can jot down my blood sugar readings on the menu plan each day - together with the exercise record I can have much better information than I've had in the past (it's hard to keep track of everything every day.)

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

i never saw this first time around.
i have found a google doc meal planner and i am very happy; thank you for the great tip!
i have filled out half of this week and i'll get my thoughts in order completely tomorrow.
i think it's time to rotate some stuff out of the freezer and pantry!

Posted 1 year ago #
Maura
Member

Hi Julia -- I am interested in the calendar / meal planner you mentioned. Can you provide a title (or isbn #) so I can look in up?? Thank you.

"What's for dinner?" stresses me out daily; I'd love to find a workable meal plan for a 8-10 day rotation.

Posted 1 year ago #
Julia
Member

Here it is on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Well-Planning-Monthly-Weekly-Calendar/dp/1608971473/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1294159925&sr=8-2

It really doesn't do anything for you - I just struggle with formats and this one is exactly what I needed.

Posted 1 year ago #
Maura
Member

As do I (struggle with formats).

Thanks for the link! Already I see that it has "all" meals, which I don't need. But scrolling down the amazon page showed other books/items that MAY help with my quandary, so I appreciate your taking the time to respond!

Posted 1 year ago #
ninakk
Member

This is a great idea. I didn't even know that people share their documents on Google!

I know this is a bit off topic but how do you go on to planning what will be served when? How do you choose meals and how do you deal with leftovers (not a whole serving but parts like that cup of sauce or the handful of small broccoli flowers)? I've never done this much planning in advance, even though we on a normal basis cook for leftovers (full servings for two for more than one meal) as it is; can't bring ourselves to dirty the kitchen every day more than absolutely necessary.

I'm so ready to stop wasting energy on planning from scratch and running out on ideas or taking the easy road and buying ready-made junk. DH grows tired of the food fast, meaning we're stretching it if we're eating the same more than two days in a row and we don't want to start from scratch every day, but there really aren't other restrictions. We have a fairly large freezer. I imagine two rotations both of which would stretch over two weeks. It could be nice to have a designated fish, poultry, meat and veggie day, but how do people treat this out of a leftover perspective?

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

Short answer is that we mostly eat our leftovers for lunches. Often this means we're eating different meals from one another,but who cares? I usually cook from scratch two days in a row for two day's meals from each. That way we don't eat the same two days in a row. In addition I usually have some soup on hand (homemade) and some sort of sandwich fillings. I don't plan on paper, but I usually know what kind of meals I want - and what's already in my freezer - when I go grocery shopping.

Posted 1 year ago #
wintersmom
Member

I use Google's calendar for meal planning. It works pretty well for me. I like to plan a full month at a time and it's easy to drag meal ideas around. It's like doing a big puzzle.

I eat leftovers for lunch too, or sometimes breakfast. I also plan to use leftovers in the next day's meal, so certain meals always occur together in a given week. For example, if I serve rotisserie chicken one night, that means chicken pot pie is up next. Salmon teriyaki is usually followed by onigiri (Japanese rice balls) stuffed with leftover salmon teriyaki. Little bits of leftovers usually get thrown into a dish like fried rice or soup.

Posted 1 year ago #
Kamakazi
Member

Very cool.

Although I have to say that meal planning to me is kind of a foreign topic due to how my family worked growing up and as a result how I do it now.

Basically on Saturday or Sunday my mother would cook a very large amount of X and Y (4 kids, needed a lot) and it would be enough to eat on all week. These were things like soups, stews, casseroles, and various other things. And then during the week with these things she would just occasionally throw in some side dishes. I pretty much do the same thing now except I just make an X and that lasts me all week (or even more). And if it is variety I want I bought about 3 sets of nice rubbermaid containers that have a lot of portion sized containers that I use and i just freeze stuff,then at the beginning of the week I can just take out a few and put them in the fridge for later use.

Posted 1 year ago #

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