some people sit down and figure their menu before they shop.  DH and I go
shopping with a list of items we might like to eat, then we shop the sales,
then when we get it all home and put away we make a list of what we have in
the freezer, we only plan for that days dinner.  there are others here who
do it on a weekly basis, Lee

I do better with WW when I make out a menu for the week right before I go
food shopping. I aim for beef/chicken/pork plus rice/potato plus steamed
veggie for as many nights as I can get away with. DH & DD rebel if I do it
for too many nights. The other nights I fill in with lower calorie dishes
that are simple to make. DH does the dinner cooking. We had canned beef stew
the other night (4pts per cup) over ww bread (toasted) 1pt per 2 slices plus
a side of green beans. 5 pts for the whole dinner. If DH & DD want something
I don't want then I find a substitute for myself. DD wants lasgne this week.
I got 2 indiv serving stoffers for them and a WW version for myself. I keep
eggs/egg beaters, frozen fish, low cal soup on hand just in case.

The only cookbooks that I know of that have the points listed would be WW
cookbook. You should be able to find receipes on the ww website.

I plan all of my meals and usually do 3-4 at a time depending on what's
going on during the week.  For salad dressing I use flavored vinegars.
My current one is Trader Joe's pomegranate vinegar which has a touch of
sweetness but just 10 calories for a tablespoon.  There are tons of
other tasty dressings especially the ones that spritz on for one point a
spritz.  The more variety you have, the better your chances of being
successful. I often have a salad for lunch but today I had a 1 pt.
Thomas English muffin with 1/2 piece of garlic herb laughing cow cheese
spread on each half and 3 ounces leftover roast turkey breast on top.
The points total for that was 5 and I had it with carrots, diet Hansen's
ginger ale and 0 point cranberry jello for dessert.

For dinner tonight I am having a  grilled lean pork chop that has been
in a brine since Thursday.  With it I am having a roasted golden beet
salad, fresh turnips cooked with seasonings and a bit of panko bread
crumbs and roasted asparagus.  I usually have salads but sometimes use a
veggie like the beets as a substitute.  Other dinner choices this week
will be turkey burgers spiced up with salsa and a bit of taco seasoning,
roast chicken and perhaps sausage for tomorrow.  We are going away
Thursday through Sunday so that's why I am planning the four nights
through Wednesday.  Costco has the nice big WW cookbook with lots of
recipes for just $17.99.  It is a three ring binder and has so many
options, you'll have meal ideas for more than a month.

Audrey

what I've been doing, because its just my son and I, and he needs lunches
for school, I make one large dinner thing on sunday, lasagna, stew,
cassarole, thick soup etc... and calculate all the points in one serving
*usually two cups for the containers I have* and freeze them... that way I
know the points and can just add a salad or veggies or something else to go
along with it like a sandwich etc...

I like freezing things, and I do the large meal after i've eaten in the
evenings, and have only a half amount as a snack... *awesomeself control
there* but then its easy to just grab something from the freezer when your
son is gone to school and you don't want to make a huge meal...

which is a lot worse for myself... particularily working from home...

I've also gotten into the habit of purchasing fruit platters and veggie
platters from the store and keeping them in the fridge for whenI do that...
lets just look in the fridge cause I feel like snakin but I'm not hungry
cause I'm going to bed in 15 minutes ... thing...

we've all done that...

heh...

A lot of the WW own cook books have both points and recipes for the No
count version of WW.  I often plan using the cook books for inspiration.

I tend to plan lunches and dinners for a week or 10 days in advance, and
DH does the shopping.  That way far fewer stray items find their way
into the fridge (and then into me!), and we waste a lot less food.  In
cold weather I rely a lot on the zero point soups and low point soups
like leek & potato soup for lunches and late night snacks: somehow
vegetable soup, all hot and yummy, is much more filling and satisfying
in the cold than salad!  But I do serve salad several days a week with
the dinner.

We also keep lots of fresh fruit about for nibbling and to use for
deserts in place of cheesecake and other fatty puds.  I'm very canny, as
we say in parts of the UK: I'll plan a week's menu round the roast
chicken we might have for Sunday dinner.  Here's this week as an example:

Sunday:
Roast chicken with gravy (3 points)
WW dry roast potatoes (2 points)
Steamed vegetables () points)

We often follow it with something like my apple crumble (with my low fat
bread and oat crumble topping, 3 points a serving) served with half fat
creme fraiche.  This Sunday we had home made mango kulfi, made when I
realized we had eight pints of semi-skimmed milk in the fridge and more
was due the next day!  The Kulfi works out at one and a half points a
portion.

Monday:
School parents evening: Son & I ate out.  I had a jacket potato with
prawns and salad, and a bucket of skinny latte.  I worked it out as five
and a half points.

Tuesday (today):
Had a friend in.  Used some of the left over chook with the left over
gravy to make a chicken version of my shepherd's pie (about 3 points
worth of cold chicken, minced, and mixed with the gravy and 3 minced
carrots, a minced stick of celery, and a minced onion, topped with
cheesy mash made with 50g of reduced fat cheese - it worked out at a
HUGE portion for about 4 points!), served with cabbage sauted in a
teaspoonful of olive oil, along with garlic, onion and caraway seeds.
We followed it with fresh fruit.

Wednesday: hubby will be home.
Steamed salmon fillet with new potatoes, carrots and broccoli, followed
by fresh fruit.  Total 5-6.5, depending on a choice of apple or banana.

Thursday:  WW day!  I weigh in at about 7pm. and eat after the meeting.
Blamanger of Chicken (a mediaeval recipe I have adapted to WW, made with
cold chicken reheated with rice cooked with almonds), salad, and fresh
fruit.  Total, probably about 8 points: this is a high one for me!

Friday:  Swimming day!  Again, I eat late after swimming in the evening:
ladies night at the pool - we get an hour to ourselves, with none of
those hairy things with dangly bits!  ;)
Chicken and leek and potato soup, made with stock from the chicken
bones, and any remaining scraps of meat.  There will be enough for four
of us for dinner, and the three of us for Saturday's lunch.  :)  I may
make some home made bread rolls to go with it, just for a treat!  Two
rolls and a big bowl of soup add up to six points.  We'll follow the
soup with something like Muller Light Yoghurt (1.5 points) or more fresh
fruit.

Saturday:  we're often out during the day, so I plan to dig some turkey
mince chilli made a few weeks ago out of the freezer.  I think this one
worked out at 3 points a serving, plus 3 points for brown rice.

Lunches are usually zero point butternut squash or carrot and coriander
soup, or sometimes I'll do a Chinese style spiced vegetable soup, or a
courgette and celery soup, all of which are zero points, thick enough to
dance on, and seriously yummy!  I serve it with a couple of slices of
fresh bread: fresh enough it doesn't need butter with it!  :)

I don't usually worry about saving points on salad dressings: I just use
them sparingly or not at all, and count it when I have them.  But I do
make my own, so working out the points is easy, and a serving of my home
made vinegrette is usually about half a point.