I've always struggled with Meal planning Monday for some reason and am always looking for new ways to inject 'me' into it.
This weekend I've had a bit of a revelation, after watching BBC1's Eat Well For Less I started thinking about our eating and spending habits, it's something I've been meaning to get a grip of for a while, but recently I've been looking at it in a very blinkered way, whereas I've now realised that I should again be looking at 'Meal management' from all sides. I say look again, because astonishingly this is all something I used to do before we had T, I've even got a planner I created for the job!
Now more than ever I need to get on top of it again.
So for me Meal Management is the following:
1. Meal planning & preparation
2. Store cupboard/fridge/freezer inventory
3. Freezer/batch cooking
4. Using coupons and a budget
5. Home cooking
6. Reduce waste
7. Grow our own food
With this in mind, this weekend, I made a start.
Firstly, I created our first meal plan in weeks, see below for all the details.
I did lots of preparation for the week ahead:
Cleaned the fridge and threw out far too much!
Grated a block of cheese for the week
Peeled carrots headed for the bin and put in food saver containers
Chopped onions & garlic for the freezer
Made 2 small pizza bases for the freezer
Made granola, yoghurt, courgette crisps & savoury seed mix for the coming week.
So as you can see, I've really kicked butt this weekend ;) I appreciate that these don't seem like huge changes, but sometimes it really helps when everything is prepared, especially after being out all day.
I know this is only the start and I've got a very long way to go before I have nailed it again, but I will be trying...
Here's our meal plan
| LUNCH | DINNER | |
| MONDAY | DIY POT NOODLE | JACKET POTATO & SALAD |
| TUESDAY | AVOCADO SALAD | PASTA & TOMATO SAUCE |
| WEDNESDAY | OUT | CHICKEN/QUORN WITH NEW POTATOES & GREEN BEANS |
| THURSDAY | COUS COUS | GAMMON, EGG & CHIPS |
| FRIDAY | SNACK WRAPS | ENCHILADA'S |
| SATURDAY | HOT DOGS & VEG STICKS | ROAST CHICKEN, VEG & TARTIFLETTE |
| SUNDAY | BOILED EGGS & SOLDIERS | LAMB/MUSHROOMS IN SAUCE WITH MASH & VEG |
