How Do You Mealplan For The Week?

[JesikaBeth]

I was diagnosed a week ago today, and our first grocery shopping trip post diagnosis will be this Friday.

 

I am finding that gathering gluten free options (both naturally gluten free and the here-and-there specialty item) is proving to be more 'work' than just being able to go grocery shopping and then being able to eat. 

 

So, I am curious as to how you all mealplan for the week (from grocery shopping to actual daily meals?)

 

Thanks in advance

 

[GF Lover]

I do to an extent.  The basics like what meat to have and the vegetables with it.  Our very own "Irish Heart" plans an impressive menu every week.  Look on the "What's for Dinner" thread and see what we all are eating.  You will see Irish's menu's on there too.  

 

Colleen

[user001]

Even before celiac disease i always meal planned. Shopping is just cheaper and there is less waste that way, for us at least. I have to admit, when I first went gluten-free i tried to be fancy and find replacements for everything. It lasted a week LOL. Personally, im all about easy these days especially with the summer heat. With the exception of soy sauce, bbq sauce, mayo I really don't use many things that aren't simple one-5 ingredient foods. Some weeks I treat myself to udi's bread and some weeks i treat us to gluten-free wegmans pasta. When i make pasta, i try to make enough for the next days lunch too. Some days I feel like its lazy to not make complicated items for meals, but then I try to tell myself im healing from a disease and that is really alot of work! I really like glutino and WOW cookies if you need a treat.

[glutenfreeliac]

I stick to the basics when I grocery shop: meat section, dairy section, fruits and veggies section. While there are foods with gluten in these areas, most of these foods are naturally gluten free. For grains, rice is a good choice, and many stores now stock quinoa. If you stick with real foods, you can eat very well without making a lot of side trips to pick up specialty items. Since it's summer, you can also get great flavor out of grilled meats and vegetables (heck, even salads -- grilled romaine with a caesar dressing is one of my favorite summer salads).

 

If you start looking into specialty foods, remember that the gluten-free items are generally pricier and often full of empty calories. With a few exceptions (pasta, occasional bread and crackers), I tend to avoid them in favor of the items I mentioned above. I find I don't miss most of the foods that contain gluten as much as some do.

 

Finally, for staples like soy sauce, consider ordering online from Amazon or other grocers. You'll need to buy in bulk, yes, but prices are so much better for these gluten-free items. Have fun! (I love grocery shopping and discovering new foods and meal ideas!)

[GottaSki]

You should cruise over to the dinner thread...we chit chat a bit about our lives while talking what is on our dinner table...lately Irish has been posting a week at a time of ideas...Bless her!!!!

 

As for our home...dinner is pretty much what it always was.  Defrost meat from freezer and add two sides...although these last five years all of the sides have become gluten free and then mostly whole food with a bit of pasta or tortillas thrown in the mix on occasion.

 

Keeping it simple is the best plan...especially when newly diagnosed and trying to learn where to find safe foods that are not the more expensive - clearly labeled gluten-free options

 

https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/75238-the-whats-for-dinner-tonight-chat/page-578

[LauraTX]

I plan my meals, it helps me not be in a bind since I can't exactly get delivery anymore, and it definitely saves on food costs which is a big need when you have to pay a lot for gluten-free food!  I just have a spiral notebook, and at the very top I write what I need to use up, and then I have a line for each meal to plan.  Under that I put my shopping list.  You can do any period of time, whatever it is between your shopping trips.  Looks kind of like this:

 

Use leftover chicken, cheddar, sweet potatoes

 

Sat Lunch: Burgers with sweet potato chunks and gbeans

Sat Dinner: Eat out

Sun lunch: Chicken Quesadillas

Sun Din: Pancakes, eggs, bacon

Mon: Grilled chicken w/ a veggie and rice

Tue: Chicken Stir fry (normandy veggie blend)

Lunches: Turkey Sammiches

 

List: Burger patties, cheese slices, white corn tortillas, gluten-free Bisquick, bacon, brown rice, frozen veggies- normandy blend and broccoli, carrots, lunchmeat  + whatever else I need floss, cat litter, etc

 

 

I keep a small dry erase board on the fridge to write things on to buy as they run out or are close to it.  Your first grocery shopping trip, I recommend just scouring everything in every aisle to see what the real selection is.  With time you will figure out what your pantry staples are and which gluten-free substitute products you want to keep on hand.  My gluten-free staples I keep on hand are gluten-free soy sauce, tinkyada pasta, gluten-free Bisquick and King Arthur Flour gluten-free baking mix, a loaf of gluten-free bread in the freezer, snyders gluten-free pretzels, and some snack bars for when I am out of the house.  I highly recommend buying from your local store if it is possible, so they keep stuff in stock.  Also, if you want them to carry a specific product sometimes you can make special requests.  Of course, sometimes it is just much more economical to buy staples online, but definitely try them first before you order large quantities.

[HavaneseMom]

I have a gluten intolerant friend who just told me about a meal plan website that offers a gluten free plan.

It's Open Original Shared Link . If you go to their website and scroll to the bottom of the main page, on the left side, they are offering a free one week meal plan. They give you a list of 20 ingredients to purchase at the store, and then give you the recipes to make 5 gluten free meals, and you start with the using the most perishable items first. It looks really interesting. I already printed off my free meal plan, but haven't tried the recipes yet. I think it's definitely worth trying out for free though.

[LauraTX]

I don't get the meal planning websites.  I guess they are good tools for some people who are totally unfamiliar or they wouldn't make any money, but why not just make what you like, and if you really need help, just search "Meal Planning Template" and there are a lot of free downloads you can print off.  And tons of free recipes online!  No harm in trying for free, though, as said above.

[Adalaide]

I don't get the meal planning websites.  I guess they are good tools for some people who are totally unfamiliar or they wouldn't make any money, but why not just make what you like, and if you really need help, just search "Meal Planning Template" and there are a lot of free downloads you can print off.  And tons of free recipes online!  No harm in trying for free, though, as said above.

 

I agree with this. I've looked at some of those paid sites and it's just a bunch of stuff I have no interest in making or eating most of the time. When I get organized enough to make an actual meal plan (which happens for a few weeks at a time, two or three times a year) I just check my freezer, fridge and pantry, check the sales at the stores and decide how it all works together with what my husband and I enjoy eating and go from there. Most of the time though, I honestly just fly by the seat of my pants. I get something out of the freezer day by day planning for how long it will take to thaw and we go by our whims. It's really frustrating to me to have a plan, then one of us will say we're in the mood for pancakes then the whole plan gets screwed up. So that's why I usually end up abandoning it. With the paid sites though, I'm just not going to pay someone to tell me what to eat. My kids are all grown up and I had enough of that from them when they were toddlers thank you very much.

[LauraTX]

I'm just not going to pay someone to tell me what to eat. My kids are all grown up and I had enough of that from them when they were toddlers thank you very much.

 

LOL,  I hear that from every mother I know!!

[user001]

Meal planning does take alot of work if you are on a budget. I try to budget as well as I can by shopping sales and making sure to make items that can share some ingredients so there is less items purchased and less waste for certain things. We eat meat 3-4 times a week and eat alot of eggs so we buy both of those in bulk. I have also been buying chicken breast and thighs with the bone in because they are much cheaper and I recently discovered making a bone broth is very good for people with gut issues. So last night we had

Bean "burritos" with a tiny bit of cheese, salsa and corn

another night we will have chicken fajitas with peppers and onions

That way we don't waste the corn tortillas, even though they were only $1.39

We also will do a pulled chicken bbq in the crock pot and have it over a potato with a side of sauteed zuchinni (cheap this week, usually make a slaw with this dish)

Over the weekend with similar ingredients we made "fried" chicken with bbq sauce and potato salad (with eggs and peppers and onions)

I was also supposed to make a corn chowder this week with the corn and potatoes but I didn't plan that one so well and It occurred to me that making a creamy soup without milk probably isnt going to work well. need to re evaluate.

 

Iam so thankful to have a place like wegmans to shop. Their store brand is amazing and cheap and they have a labeling system for if an item is dairy free, gluten free etc.

[LauraTX]

That way we don't waste the corn tortillas, even though they were only $1.39

.........

We also will do a pulled chicken bbq in the crock pot and have it over a potato with a side of sauteed zuchinni (cheap this week, usually make a slaw with this dish)

I do that with tortillas, too.  They do freeze, but in the original flimsy bag packaging, they don't last more than a few weeks.  I freeze small quantities of everything since I cook for two!  Also, may I have that chicken recipe?  I do shredded bbq pork in the crock pot.  Just throw in a pork roast, and some bbq sauce, low for 8 hours and enjoy.  I am hungry now.

[BlessedMommy]

 

 

I stick to the basics when I grocery shop: meat section, dairy section, fruits and veggies section. While there are foods with gluten in these areas, most of these foods are naturally gluten free. For grains, rice is a good choice, and many stores now stock quinoa. If you stick with real foods, you can eat very well without making a lot of side trips to pick up specialty items. Since it's summer, you can also get great flavor out of grilled meats and vegetables (heck, even salads -- grilled romaine with a caesar dressing is one of my favorite summer salads).

 

If you start looking into specialty foods, remember that the gluten-free items are generally pricier and often full of empty calories. With a few exceptions (pasta, occasional bread and crackers), I tend to avoid them in favor of the items I mentioned above. I find I don't miss most of the foods that contain gluten as much as some do.

 

Finally, for staples like soy sauce, consider ordering online from Amazon or other grocers. You'll need to buy in bulk, yes, but prices are so much better for these gluten-free items. Have fun! (I love grocery shopping and discovering new foods and meal ideas!)

 

 

Which soy sauce do you get?

 

I'm looking on Amazon and so far all the options are substantially pricier than just buying San-J from the grocery store.

[user001]

I do that with tortillas, too.  They do freeze, but in the original flimsy bag packaging, they don't last more than a few weeks.  I freeze small quantities of everything since I cook for two!  Also, may I have that chicken recipe?  I do shredded bbq pork in the crock pot.  Just throw in a pork roast, and some bbq sauce, low for 8 hours and enjoy.  I am hungry now.

Sometimes i rub a thigh or a breast with salt, cumin and chilli powder (edit- sometimes i dont put any spices on the meat i meant) and fill the crock with stock or water till the meat is half submerged. Toward the end of cooking, like the last hour, i take the meat out and shred it into large shreds and add BBQ sauce of my choice, I leave the water in there because otherwise it will get all dry and sticky during last hour. I break it up into smaller shreds just before serving. I like it on a potato with a tiny bit of cheddar and/or sauteed onion. Its a bit much for the tum to deal with, but if I take small bites and chew them alot i can make it through :/

[JesikaBeth]

Thanks, everyone! I'll definitely check out that thread! Nice to hear what ya'll do. Being a newbie to some of this stuff is a bit overhwelming