How to plan a week of meals around what you already have

Most meal plans start with recipes and end with a long shopping list. Starting with what's already in the kitchen flips that: you use up food before it spoils, and the shopping list gets shorter. It takes about 15 minutes a week.

The 15-minute weekly routine

1. Check what needs using. Open the fridge first: meat, fish, dairy, leftovers and produce that won't last the week. Then the freezer for anything that's been there a while.
2. Plan those meals first, early in the week. The fresh fish goes on Monday, the sturdy cabbage can wait until Thursday.
3. Fill the rest with pantry and freezer meals. Pasta night, soup night and a breakfast-for-dinner night barely need shopping.
4. Leave one night open for leftovers, a late night or plans changing. A plan with no slack falls apart by Wednesday.
5. Shop only for what's missing. Go through each planned meal and write down just the ingredients you don't have.

Tricks that make it easier

• Theme nights. Taco Tuesday, soup Sunday, stir-fry Friday - choosing within a theme is faster than choosing from everything.
• Cook once, eat twice. Roast a chicken on Sunday; use the rest in tacos on Tuesday and soup on Thursday.
• Share ingredients across meals. If one recipe needs half a bunch of cilantro, plan another that uses the other half.
• Keep a list of meals your household likes. Planning is mostly picking from that list.

When the plan meets real life

Swap days freely - the plan is a menu for the week, not a schedule. If something didn't get cooked, move it forward rather than buying more. And if a meal keeps getting skipped, it's a sign to drop it from the rotation.