https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:36:12 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630991 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 12:47:11 +0000 brownepiano 2630991@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I find it easier to plan a few bigger meals (meant to have leftovers) and one smaller meal (meant to only be one night) and have a bit of overlap in the ingredients. For example, this week I am making Butternut Squash coconut chili, but it doesn't use up a whole squash. So I am also making a winter veggie salad with the rest of the squash (which we'll eat for one night and then DH will take for lunches). I got also got sweet potatoes. We'll have sweet potatoes skins one night and roast the rest to eat with eggs for breakfast. I plan around what vegetables are on sale for the week, using pinterest to find recipes that look good. I get bored making the same thing too often. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630890 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 10:47:26 +0000 nana87 2630890@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Silva: that's so impressive! My mil was way more on top of the home-cooked-meals thing than my parents, but she literally goes to the grocery store every day :shocked: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630861 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 10:18:20 +0000 Silva 2630861@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: my mom was/is the same way. She's grocery shop every two weeks without planning and somehow make a balanced full meal every night. It blows my mind now because I plan and meticulously list and still always manage to forget some crucial ingredient. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630851 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 10:06:34 +0000 nana87 2630851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: oooh cool, thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630843 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 09:57:26 +0000 gingerbebe 2630843@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@nana87: look into CookSmarts. It's a menu plan and shopping list service that costs pennies vs. Blue Apron. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630831 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 09:49:30 +0000 nana87 2630831@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: oh gosh, I'm not fancy either, and honestly, if it was just me and lo we were feeding, we'd eat the same few meals on rotation because I'm happy eating my favorite foods that are easy to make all the time. Seriously, I'd eat pasta with white beans and rotating vegetables tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, parmesean, and herbs every night, lol. But dh gets REALLY bored really fast, and since he does most the cooking, and the actual prep is on him, we tend to switch it up (and he works from home, so it's easier for him to take time to prep since he doesn't have a commute or can start things early in the day). Pre-baby, he had a food blog and was super into looking for recipes and cooking, but that's def a hobby that's fallen by the wayside with parenthood! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630825 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 09:36:15 +0000 looch 2630825@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@nana87: I don't get fancy, I'll be honest. I get analysis paralysis and overwhelmed easily if the method takes longer than the actual cooking. I do a lot of prep for the freezer, but I am not really sure that actually works with vegetarian cuisine, you know? For example, I will buy two filets of fish, one for dinner on Sunday. I'll prep both at the same time, but one is prepped in a container I can freeze, so all I have to do is defrost it and cook it, rather than assemble it. That's where I can not devote time during the week.</p> <p>I cook the same few things over and over again and am satisfied with that. We eat out of the home 2 weeknights, do takeout on Fridays, so I am really only cooking twice during the week, plus weekends. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630804 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 09:16:57 +0000 nana87 2630804@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: yeah, my worry is that it'll be more work and effort to plan around! I'm hoping organizing it around type of cuisine will help, so there's enough wiggle room in each category that we can come up with something easy to make but not get bored. </p> <p>@looch: if I ate meat, I think organizing it around protein would def be easiest! but I'm a vegetarian, so tofu vs tempeh vs white beans vs black beans etc isn't quite inspiring, lol. That's amazing that your mom was able to do that! I grew up eating take out like at least 3 times a week, lol. my dad was usually in charge of dinner and every night he basically asked us what we wanted so it was either "short-order" meals like grilled cheese or pasta or take out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630798 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 09:05:41 +0000 looch 2630798@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What worked for me was to plan around the big protein or main course as well as introducing a specific style of food that was eaten per night. The themes were vegetarian, pizza/pasta, one pot, oven roasted, grilled, crockpot, etc.</p> <p>Then I look at my mom, who cooked every meal at home for over 40 years and she never did any kind of meal planning, and am amazed at how she did/does it, lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630790 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 08:55:49 +0000 yoursilverlining 2630790@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Some weeks I try to follow a few themed days, mostly Meatless Monday and Taco Tuesday. When I get my butt in gear and go to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, I also tailor what we’ll have that week on what I get at the market. Also, I’ll sometimes try to meal plan based on the grocery sales flyer, but I don’t do that often. </p> <p>What works best for meal planning for us is just to spend some time on Sunday talking about what we want to eat for the week (takes like 10 minutes, max), making a list and going shopping. I also meal prep lunches for the week on Sunday, and if I’m feeling ambitious I also will prep some for the dinner (chop up veggies, etc.)</p> <p>While I like the idea of themed, I can also see it actually taking more time and effort, rather than reducing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630787 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 08:50:29 +0000 nana87 2630787@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Smurfette: haha totally! That's what I liked about Blue Apron--very little effort doing the work on coming up with an idea and getting the ingredients, which is usually my job. Dh actually does the vast majority of the cooking and is very fast, but typically relies on me to come up with ideas for what to make. It's an endless loop of "what do you want for dinner?" "I don't know, what do you want?" or "ugh we have no food, let's get delivery..." if we don't have a plan ahead of time! And when dh tries to plan ahead, he comes up with like 2 recipes to make and that's it, so we're back to square one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630783 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 08:45:25 +0000 Smurfette 2630783@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine would be how much of an effort do I want to make this week? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-themes-for-meal-planning#post-2630777 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 08:41:42 +0000 nana87 2630777@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've been using Blue Apron for awhile, but we're getting a little bored with it and dh read a really negative article about their labor and food safety practices, so we just decided to cancel it. The main thing that we liked about it was that it took the work out of meal-planning--I feel like we go to the grocery store multiple times a week and still have no food when it's time to cook dinner! So, I'm thinking of trying theme nights to help us organize and meal plan better--things like Taco Tuesday, etc. Do you do this, or have you tried it before? Do you have tips or better ideas that help you plan for the week? </p> <p>I was looking online and thinking something like this schedule would work well for us. We prob would shoot to plan about 4 meals like this per week, and have leftovers, take out, or social plans on the other nights:<br /> Southern Sunday<br /> Mediterranean Monday<br /> Taco Tuesday<br /> Wildcard Wednesday (anything goes)<br /> Curry Thursday<br /> French Friday<br /> Spaghetti Saturday </p>