meal planning question

On average, how many meals are in your rotation? We have about 15-20 that we cycle through. I think that is plenty, but DH claims that he is bored and we always have the same stuff. It used to be even less, but I posted on Parenting a couple of months ago that we were bored with our meals and got some great new ideas. We try to stick to the same theme each night-
Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Wednesday is a fish, Thursday is pork or chicken, Friday is take out, Saturday we either go out to eat or make leftovers, Sunday we do a beef dish. In the summer we will add grilling into the rotation, in the winter we add soups.
What do you all do?

Re: meal planning question

When I didn't work and was a SAHM, I didn't really repeat, at least not in the same month. I have like 200 recipes I was rotating through. And some of them took me all day to make. OMG now that I am working. I barely have time to cook at ALL.... we eat out like half the week now and the other half im def. repeating the same 5-10 easy meals over and over again. I'd say 10-15 different meals is all the variety you need maybe stick to the high end of 20 instead of the 15. Maybe he doesn't like the routine of every monday its meatless every tuesday is tacos. I mean... i totally get that structure and love it but he might feel better if you surprise with a meatless tuesday and chicken on mondays and take out on wed. maybe you just need to switch it up in that sense so he cant PREDICT what is coming ahead of time.

Re: meal planning question

meal planning question

Like others said, maybe stop using the categories and switch things up. Maybe try to make a new recipe once every week or two. I probably have a bunch that I make over and over but I also make new things a lot. I spend time browsing Pinterest while we're watching tv at night so I save new things then. When I'm planning I can quickly scan through my boards for ideas that match up with the sales. I don't do elaborate meals or anything with a million ingredients I don't normally buy but it's enough to keep things interesting.

Re: meal planning question

I have a handful of "go-to" recipes but I try not to repeat them too often. I also don't adhere to specific categories for each day of the week, I tend to plan my meals around what I have in the house, what is on sale that week, AND what our daily schedule looks like. I do try to make at least one new recipe a week as well to both change things up and because I just love to cook and try new things.

I posted of FHF a few months back about meal planning, it's on page 2 of the thread.
Meal Planning

Message edited 9/18/2017 9:02:13 AM.

Re: meal planning question

Your DH would hate me. I have like 8-10 recipes that I rotate. That's it. And they're soooo boring. It's like tacos, mini pizzas, spaghetti & meatballs, chicken parm, flank steak, ravioli, chicken stir fry....yea that's basically it. Honestly we eat like cr@p lately. I miss when this board used to do the weekly meal lists. It gave me inspiration and forced me to actual plan my meals for the week.

Re: meal planning question

Re: meal planning question

It's just DH and me.
I don't stick to a theme, gives me more flexibility to rotate what I usually cook, and lets me buy the sales over the weekend.

I save more time consuming preps for Sundays, where I have more time to cook and make multiple items for the rest of the week. Yesterday I made a 1/2 brisket in the oven, it will become tomorrow's leftovers.

The other option is to have DH meal plan, prep and cook for a month.

meal planning question

Thanks for everyone's input. The only reason I am so structured is because DH & I both work FT, and we have a 6 yr old, 4 yr old, 2.5 yr old twins, and a 15 month old. I teach, so I am home by 4, but it is just easier to go into my planning knowing what type of recipe each day of the week. Taco Tuesday is more like mexican night- but I get what everyone is saying. I will try to switch things up a bit.

Message edited 9/18/2017 4:52:40 PM.

Re: meal planning question

Re: meal planning question

Re: meal planning question

I have a lot of recipes in my rotation, but something that has really helped is getting Hello Fresh. You get to try new things and they deliver it right to you. It's also been an extra bonus that the portion sizes have really helped. The recipes are pretty easy, too. It's made meal planning much easier.

Have you thought about trying something like that?

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Re: meal planning question

Re: meal planning question