[2lilsweetfoxes]

<p>I've got such a block on meal planning.  Personally, I'd just prefer to go to savingdinner.com or a similar site and order the meal plans to follow.  Simple.  Easy.  I don't have to rack my brain about what to make or remember to write down all the ingredients to buy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, DH prefers the same things over and over.  I don't mind variations on a theme, but the exact same thing gets old and that's when we end up going "what's for dinner?"  "ABC" "I don't want ABC, so what's for dinner?" (to be honest, I'm ABC'd out)  "What do you want?" (I'm racking my brain to come up with something that will cook in about 30 minutes...because by that time all the quick-easies have been consumed) "*shrug* Kids, get your shoes on!" and we end up at Burger King or something. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>To top it off, DH would like to follow Eat to Live more closely.  I NEED red meat and fats or I get very weak.  I also have celiac.  On top of that our autistic son, we are trying to keep him on a GF diet, but want to move over to GAPS/SCD for him and me.  Well, he'll basically eat only: taco meat, pepperoni pizza, chips, ice cream, pudding, and condiments.  Seriously,  condiments.  You can put something for him to dip--he ignores it and goes straight to the condiments.  He'll starve before he deigns to eat what is served.</p>

 

[plantnerd]

<p>What helped me 1 million percent is signing up for the email specials for my two top grocery stores (in my case harris teeter and bilo).  They email me their weekly specials and I plan my meals and list from there.  I start with a high quality meat a day and go from there.  Weekly there are three poultry or pork meals, one red meat, one seafood, one BIG salad, and one bean/egg/vegetarian meal.  It really has saved us a lot of money on food.  I'm one of those who drops in for eggs and leaves with 50 bucks worth of stuff.</p>

 

[Ambishop19]

<p>Your meal situation sounds a lot more complicated than mine.  I do deal with one similar thing though- the repetitiveness.  I'm on WW and I do better mostly having the same stuff.  I don't prefer that, but it helps me be more successful.  Maybe you could have a theme (meatless, mexican, fish, etc) he could depend on each night- that way, you get some variety but he still has an idea what's for dinner.  Or you could have Mon-Fri be dependable and the weekends variable. </p>

 

[newbie_mary]

<p>I'm the last person on earth that I would expect to say this, but a monthly, repeating meal plan has changed my life immensely...I used to just stress myself out all the time with "now, what do I feel like having tonight?" and then we would end up eating out most nights.  Now, I made a plan for 4 weeks, with a little creativity included (a few "new recipe" nights thrown in, and a few "either/or" meals).  DH helped by making a list of things he would like to have, and I incorporated most of them.  I have been doing it for a few months now, and when I get to the end, I just start over!!  Once a month doesn't seem repetitive at all.  It has totally simplified my life and I'm happy to just eat whatever is planned.  My life was just getting too complicated to have to think so often about what to make for dinner - now, I find that I don't mind shopping and cooking because the planning is almost nonexistant.</p>

 

[applecider]

<div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>newbie_mary</strong> <a href="/community/forum/thread/1282200/meal-plan-you-have-to-be-kidding#post_16291903"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif"></a><br><br><p>I'm the last person on earth that I would expect to say this, but a monthly, repeating meal plan has changed my life immensely...I used to just stress myself out all the time with "now, what do I feel like having tonight?" and then we would end up eating out most nights.  Now, I made a plan for 4 weeks, with a little creativity included (a few "new recipe" nights thrown in, and a few "either/or" meals).  DH helped by making a list of things he would like to have, and I incorporated most of them.  I have been doing it for a few months now, and when I get to the end, I just start over!!  Once a month doesn't seem repetitive at all.  It has totally simplified my life and I'm happy to just eat whatever is planned.  My life was just getting too complicated to have to think so often about what to make for dinner - now, I find that I don't mind shopping and cooking because the planning is almost nonexistant.</p>
</div>
</div>
<br>
Hmmm...that sounds like a very good idea. I'll have to think about trying that! <img alt="winky.gif" class="bbcode_smiley" src="http://files.mothering.com/images/smilies/winky.gif">