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Food, Wine, Cooking & Eating Discussion on all things food related. Sharing recipes and giving tips and tricks to great food. |
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14 Aug 21, 09:12 AM |
#1
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Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 13
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Meal Planning App
The saving is on for Florida next year and I need to get back into the swing of meal planning as I waste so much money on unused food these days. Can anyone recommend a good app to use or a really handy system the have for meal planning?
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2012 - Santa Fe - DLP 2013 - Rosen Inn International Drive 2015 - Caribbean Beach Resort 2018 - Villa in Davenport 2022 - Blue Tree Resort |
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14 Aug 21, 09:30 AM |
#2
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Imagineer
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Not an app, but what I did was I wrote down a huge list of meals that we like and I split them into categories.
So I had a list of meat free meals, a list of pasta dishes, a list of rice dishes etc… I then had four weeks and I assigned different meals from my lists to the four weeks. I made sure that I had a variety and that each week was something a bit different from the last. It really does work for us, when we go shopping we just have a list of what we need for that weeks meals (potatoes, meat, veg etc). Our shopping bill is around £55 a week for two of us. We don’t really buy any junk, no frozen processed food, no crisps, no chocolate and no sweets. We will buy popcorn, yoghurts & fruit for snacks. This has saved us a lot of money. Edited at 09:32 AM. |
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14 Aug 21, 09:33 AM |
#3
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 13
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Thank you, great idea! This is where I want to be so will spend some time doing this tonight. Any inspiration for meals is welcome, we are a family of 5 and soooo stuck in our ways with food (spag bol, roast dinner, chilli etc.)
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2012 - Santa Fe - DLP 2013 - Rosen Inn International Drive 2015 - Caribbean Beach Resort 2018 - Villa in Davenport 2022 - Blue Tree Resort |
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14 Aug 21, 09:37 AM |
#4
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slightly serious Dibber
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I had an appointment with a nutritionist through my life insurance and she said the the best thing to do is to make small changes, rather than trying to force whole scale change.
So I've just started with breakfast, moving from cereal to overnight oats (surprisingly good actually). Next will be lunches, breaking the sandwich habit Additionally she gave me a link to this website which is pretty easy to look through minimalistbaker/recipe-i...20night%20oats |
14 Aug 21, 09:44 AM |
#5
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 13
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Thank you, I’ll take a look at the link. Dinners are our struggle (pleasing 5 people gets harder and harder all the time)
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2012 - Santa Fe - DLP 2013 - Rosen Inn International Drive 2015 - Caribbean Beach Resort 2018 - Villa in Davenport 2022 - Blue Tree Resort |
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14 Aug 21, 10:09 AM |
#6
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Imagineer
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I tend to look through the slimming world, Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc websites and get meal inspiration from there.
All of our meals are done from scratch, so no jars, no frozen chips &stuff like pizza is homemade etc. Some of our favourites are: -spag bol (slimming world recipe) -chicken curry & rice -sweet & sour chicken & rice -salt & pepper chicken & chips -chicken stir fry -chicken enchiladas & sweet potato wedges -chicken fajitas & sweet potato wedges -chicken burgers (pinch of nom recipe) -jacket potatoes -homemade pizza & wedges -homemade tomato soup & toasties -sausage pasta bake -homemade beef burgers & wedges -roast chicken & veg -chops, veg & mash -chilli, rice & garlic bread |
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14 Aug 21, 10:18 AM |
#7
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 13
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Thank you very helpful. I try to cook from scratch where possible but I don’t get home from work until 6.30pm and the kids are usually hungry by then so it can be difficult to start anything complicated so late.
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2012 - Santa Fe - DLP 2013 - Rosen Inn International Drive 2015 - Caribbean Beach Resort 2018 - Villa in Davenport 2022 - Blue Tree Resort |
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14 Aug 21, 10:20 AM |
#8
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Apprentice Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 10
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While home made is always best, in reality it’s not always easy to make everything yourself. I now make as much as possible such as pasta sauce etc. The stuff you do buy, although goes against saving money don’t always go for the cheapest option as health wise that’s not always the best.
As an example occasionally will have a flavoured microwave rice such as Mexican rice with some marinated chicken and veg as a quick ish meal after work when only cooking got one/two. You could buy a budget brand and spend 50p on the rice, however I would rather pay that bit extra and buy a more expensive one, look at the ingredients the more expensive one I get has only natural ingredients you would find in your cupboard at home, where as the cheaper one has all sorts of additives, emulsifiers and E number colours added. Also don’t forget frozen veg for example is just as nutritious as fresh veg, while often fresh might taste slightly better certain veg is perfectly fine in frozen form and handy for quick dinners in the week. Same as frozen fruit such as blueberries, you can just get out as many as you want for say breakfast. Edited at 10:25 AM. |
14 Aug 21, 10:23 AM |
#9
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Imagineer
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Yeah I can imagine with kids it makes it a whole lot more complicated! I get home at 5:45 and it’s usually about half 7 by the time I’m sitting down to eat tea and then by the time I have cleaned up it is time for bed.
It is worth it both cost wise and health wise for us, but I’m not sure I could manage it if I had children to think about as well! To be honest if I had children I think I would be sticking nuggets & chips in the oven every night (that’s actually what I lived off as a kid!) |
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14 Aug 21, 10:25 AM |
#10
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 13
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Hhhm I shop in Aldi so everything is cheap, does that mean it’s full of rubbish? It’s a really hard balance to get everything right 😫
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2012 - Santa Fe - DLP 2013 - Rosen Inn International Drive 2015 - Caribbean Beach Resort 2018 - Villa in Davenport 2022 - Blue Tree Resort |
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