Menu Plan 2026-06-01
Household count
Adult1: dinners daily, weekend lunches. Adult2: lunches and dinners daily. Kid1 and Kid2: lunches Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Kid portions
Kid1 is 8 and Kid2 is 5, so lunches are planned as smaller, familiar portions with simple sides.
Cooking equipment
Use the cast iron pan or oven. No air-fryer recipes or air-fryer snack assumptions.
Fish preference
One cooked fish meal this week: pan-fried salmon, not raw fish.
Serving Rules For Shopping
| Day | Lunches to cover | Dinners to cover | Planning note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Adult2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Keep Monday lunch simple and pantry based. |
| Tuesday | Adult2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Batch dinner for later lunches. |
| Wednesday | Adult2, Kid1, Kid2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Lunch should be kid-friendly and packable. |
| Thursday | Adult2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Use leftovers to protect the weekday. |
| Friday | Adult2, Kid1, Kid2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Plan dips and bread for a relaxed evening. |
| Saturday | Adult1, Adult2, Kid1, Kid2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Lunch gets full household coverage; dinner is the treat meal. |
| Sunday | Adult1, Adult2, Kid1, Kid2 | Adult1, Adult2 | Lunch stays easy; dinner creates freezer backup. |
Meal Plan
| Day | Lunch | Dinner | Category | Side / sauce | Servings to shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Adult2: Chickpea Salad with bread. | Oven Chicken with Vegetables. | Meat | Side Salad with Yogurt Dressing. | 1 adult lunch, 2 adult dinners, plus 1 adult leftover lunch. |
| Tuesday | Adult2: Monday chicken and roasted vegetable leftovers. | Red Lentil Curry. | Lentils | Rice and Quick Flatbread. | 1 adult lunch, 2 adult dinners, plus 2 adult leftover lunches. |
| Wednesday | Adult2, Kid1, Kid2: Red Lentil Curry with rice; keep the kids' portions mild. | Pan-Fried Salmon Rice Bowl. | Fish | Cucumber, carrot, avocado, and soy-yogurt or tahini sauce. | 1 adult lunch, 2 child lunches, 2 adult dinners. |
| Thursday | Adult2: Salmon rice bowl leftovers or chickpea salad. | Burrito Bowl. | Beans | Guacamole and basic salad dressing. | 1 adult lunch, 2 adult dinners, plus 1 adult leftover lunch. |
| Friday | Adult2, Kid1, Kid2: Burrito bowls with beans, rice, corn, and mild toppings. | Bread Dinner with Hummus, Tzatziki, Raw Veg, and Greek Salad. | Bread & Dips | Hummus, tzatziki, feta, cucumber, tomatoes. | 1 adult lunch, 2 child lunches, 2 adult dinners. |
| Saturday | Adult1, Adult2, Kid1, Kid2: Oven potato wedges with herbed quark and raw vegetables. | Basic Pancakes. | Treat Dinners | Berries, sliced fruit, yogurt. | 2 adult lunches, 2 child lunches, 2 adult dinners. |
| Sunday | Adult1, Adult2, Kid1, Kid2: Bread, hummus, cheese, raw vegetables, and fruit. | Chili con Carne. | Meat | Coleslaw or simple green salad. | 2 adult lunches, 2 child lunches, 2 adult dinners, plus freezer portions. |
Batch sizing target: shop for roughly 14 adult dinner portions, 9 adult lunch portions, and 8 smaller child lunch portions across the week. The child lunches are concentrated on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Shopping List
Produce
- Salad greens, 2 large bags or heads
- Cucumbers, 3
- Tomatoes, 8 to 10 medium
- Avocados, 3
- Carrots, 1 kg
- Bell peppers, 5
- Mixed roasting vegetables, 1.5 kg
- Potatoes, 2 kg
- Cabbage or coleslaw mix, 1 medium head or 1 large bag
- Berries, 500 g fresh or frozen
- Bananas or seasonal fruit, 8 to 10 pieces
- Lemons or limes, 4
- Fresh herbs, 1 to 2 bunches
Protein
- Chicken pieces, 700 to 900 g
- Salmon fillets, 450 to 550 g
- Minced meat, 700 to 900 g
- Eggs, 10 to 12
- Greek yogurt or plain yogurt, 1.5 kg
- Quark, 500 g
- Feta or mild cheese, 300 to 400 g
Pantry
- Red lentils, 500 g
- Chickpeas, 4 cans or equivalent dry cooked amount
- Beans, 5 cans total for burrito bowls and chili
- Corn, 2 cans
- Canned tomatoes, 5 cans
- Coconut milk, 2 cans
- Rice, 1.5 kg bag if pantry is low
- Pasta, 500 g backup
- Flour, 1 kg for flatbread and pancakes
- Tahini, 1 jar
- Soy sauce
- Curry powder, cumin, paprika
Fridge
- Milk, 1.5 to 2 liters
- Butter or cooking fat
- Cheese for Sunday lunch, 250 g
- Yogurt reserved for dips, sauce, and pancakes
Bakery / Bread
- Bread for Friday dinner and Sunday lunch, 2 large loaves
- Flatbread or extra flour for Quick Flatbread
- Optional wraps for kid lunches, 1 pack
Freezer
- Optional frozen berries if fresh berries are expensive
- Optional frozen vegetables for backup curry
- Freezer bags or containers for chili portions
Prep Blocks
| Prep block | When | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Salad and raw veg box | Monday after shopping | Washed greens, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, and peppers for adult lunches and child lunches. |
| Batch main | Tuesday dinner | Double Red Lentil Curry, mild enough that the kids can eat it on Wednesday lunch. |
| Grain base | Tuesday | Extra rice for Wednesday lunch, Wednesday dinner, and Friday burrito lunch. |
| Pan-fried fish | Wednesday dinner | Cook salmon in the cast iron pan; no raw fish. Keep sauce separate from any leftovers. |
| Dip block | Friday | Hummus and tzatziki for Friday dinner, Sunday lunch, and vegetable snacks. |
| Oven lunch | Saturday lunch | Potato wedges baked in the oven and served with herbed quark. |
| Freezer backup | Sunday dinner | Freeze 1 to 2 portions of Chili con Carne flat for a busy future evening. |
Checklist
- At least 2 legume meals.
- At least 1 cooked fish meal.
- No raw fish planned.
- No air-fryer recipes planned.
- Shopping list includes weekday Adult2 lunches.
- Shopping list includes Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday kid lunches.
- Shopping list includes Adult1 weekend lunches.