Apologies - I realized when I finished writing this that it was epically long. But it might be helpful.
I plan ahead too. And use the freezer.
I certainly look at the diary, check the fridge, freezer and cupboards, and often check the special offers, before I make my weekly list.
There are 2 lists. A weekly menu plan, and the shopping list.
The menu plan is rough, as I may change if there's something better in store or life falls apart around us (not infrequent) needing a change. But at least there's a rough plan to fall back on if my brain goes into meltdown. I usually check with the rest of the household as I make that plan too.
The shopping list lives on the fridge door all week. At the moment I have a pad which you just tick things off, but I have used a plain sheet of paper in the past. The idea is that as soon as anyone in the house finishes something, they write it up. If anyone needs something in particular, or wants something particular, they write that up too. Then, when I make the menu plan, I add on whatever I need for that and anything else I;ve seen running low or that I want to stock up on (like I know I need lots of flour soon again). Sometimes I shop in person, sometimes I internet shop for groceries.
On a Sunday afternoon, when I am making a proper family dinner anyway (it used to be a full roast dinner, but we have got less formal recently - but it's still always a proper homecooked meal), so I'm in the kitchen, I make a double batch of a second dinner. Half for Monday night (so all I cook fresh is boiling pasta, rice or potatoes), and the other half for the freezer.
I tend to have fresh things to cook fast dinners on Tuesday at least, and possibly Wednesday. Thursday is nearly always from the freezer (either a previous week's "Sunday batch" or convenience foods).
Batch dinners are things like bolognaise sauce, lasagna, cottage pie, smoked fish and broccoli pie, a range of different curries, chilli, vegetable chilli, and so on.
I have a number of fast cooking meals, that I can throw together when I get in from work. Stirfries of many sorts (Chinese, Indian fried rice dishes, Mexican fajitas, Italian, French) that I start off with an onion and garlic, and while they cook, I have time to chop the next thing, and the relevant carb boils on another ring. Gorgonzola sauce is ridiculously easy, and if you put on top of fresh pasta and add a packet of bacon pieces, dinner is ready in 15 minutes. They are good for Tues/Weds.
I will often prep things the night before too. So peel potatoes and leave them soaking in their pot in water on the stove, to just turn on. Peel and chop veggies, which are soaking in pots of water or just in air-tight tubs to throw straight into cooking. Or marinate meats, that I can put them in the oven or under the grill as soon as I get in.
Other meals are of the "throw it in the oven and walk away for 20-30 minutes" variety - quiche, pizza, reheating lasagna. And some meats - chicken joints, lamb chops sitting on some rosemary, pork chops sitting on some sage, or stuffed vegetables (breakfast flat mushrooms, beef tomatoes, peppers etc). Or I have the oven set from the night before (we have a timer on it) to cook various other things that take longer (lasagna, chorizo potatoes, different types of pies), or even just hot to put things in as soon as I get home.
And I put bits of prep into the freezer as well. I love roasted medditerranean vegetables, but I tend to do a large tray (or even 2) of those when I make them, and freeze the leftovers in single portion bags. They work well directly as a vegetable side just reheated, or added to a (fast homemade or bought jar) tomato sauce with pasta (and served as a veggie meal or just add some cooked and sliced up sausages or meatballs or bacon pieces or chicken pieces to it at the last minute). I make breadcrumbs from leftover bread too, and keep a bag as crumbs for various uses, but also try to have a bag already made into a basic stuffing in the freezer, to put a handful with chicken especially, or to make stuffed vegetables in a hurry.
I also tend to cook buttered leeks in large enough batches too, and freeze the leftovers. They are nice as a side with a grilled lamb chop or steak, mixed into mashed potato, or I add a fistful of strong cheddar and a portion of leeks to hot pasta as a fast and ultra easy dinner (often when I am only cooking for me but DH does like that too).
In terms of meats, I often freeze pork and chicken as some joints but some already chopped into pieces for more "sauce" meals. So the work is done before I defrost them and can throw them straight into the pan. I also always have bacon lardons in the fridge, another fast option for adding meat. And I freeze sausages individually too, and meatballs, so I can take out as many or as few as I need (numbers eating can differ widely, and sometimes at the last minute so freezing in large batches is not always a great idea).
Leftover cooked lasagna is frozen in individual portions so easily defrosted and reheated. Leftover rice is frozen for a couple of fried rice dishes. Leftover cheese sauce is frozen to put over cauliflower or pasta. And leftover macaroni cheese (mine has bacon and loads of veggies) or pasta with a tomato sauce, meat and veggies, are both frozen to be reheated another night as a pasta bake, just with a handful of grated cheese on top. Leftover mash is reheated in the oven with a chopped onion, handful of frozen peas and extra milk and butter for a tasty dish.
I also have plenty of convenience foods - some healthy, others less so. So frozen peas, tins of sweetcorn, tins of beans (baked and other types) are always there, and fresh onions and garlic. I keep a bag of frozen, cooked prawns in the freezer that can be just thrown on top of a sauce straight from the freezer at almost the last minute to give the appearance of meat (DH and DD both love prawns). Tins of tuna are also handy for quite a few meals the same way.
I have a few jars of tomato sauce (tomato and chilli, tomato and roasted veggies), as well as tins of tomatoes to make the sauce myself if I have 5 extra minutes - usually they will form the base with extra veggies (eg. bag of roasted med veg) and meat added in, often a slug of balsamic vinegar and/or wine for added flavor etc.
I always have spices, ginger, chillies and tins of tomatoes and coconut milk to make curries from scratch, but I also keep a few jars of good curry sauces to just add freshly fried chicken or prawns, (or even leftover cooked chicken from the freezer) and maybe veggies if I have the time, for midweek dinners.
I always have a bag of oven chips in the freezer, and usually some kind of breaded chicken or fish. Chicken kievs have a place in life on occasion, either with oven chips, reheated mash, or roast potatoes left peeled the night before, and some sort of veg side. I buy pizza bases, pizza sauce and grated mozzarella, and DD and the au pair will happily put together their own pizzas with their choices of toppings. I always keep lots of cheese (cheddar, parmesan, gorgonzola and usually a couple of others too), and often grate a block of cheddar into a tub so I can grab a handful when I need it rather than having to grate as I go.
And we try not to eat takeaways every single week, but they're not uncommon at all here. I always try to limit them to just once in any week, particularly by having the freezer and cupboards well stocked - but there are weeks that we've bought either 2 takeaways that week, or resorted to fresh convenience food on the way home from work (the almost takeaway type, that you just throw a few cartons in the oven).
