Meal planning is easiest for me when I use existing items in my refrigerator and pantry. It is more challenging when given new meals that I'm less familiar with and need to purchase ingredients that aren't a regular part of my grocery shopping/menu.

Bits of fruits and veggies mostly.
Using leftover carrots, celery and veggies for dinners. Freezing leftover fruit that has gone mushy to use for smoothies. Having my kids empty their lunches and talking about what we save and what we can do with it. Hoping someday my kids will also like hot lunch :) Brings me to the question of how much is leftover at school??