Saturday = Planning Day

Right its Saturday, so that is my planning day.

This is the key to ensuring that I do not end up doing that emergency drive thru macdonalds on the way home from work!

Every Saturday morning whilst the kids are doing their colouring or as this morning, watching 'Frozen' and singing their hearts out, I sit with my coffee and the following;

• My magnetic meal planner that sticks to my fridge.
• A stack of cook books
• My laptop

 





First I write down where me and my husband are each day, then I flick through the books looking for simple recipes that would suit my family tastes, at this point my eldest child normally gives me a list of what she wants, generally something obscure. At the moment she has developed a taste for duck and salads, so I am having the discussion that you can't have that everyday. I try and work the following into the week, 1 fish dish, 1 red meat, 1 vegetarian, 1 chicken, 1 traditional English roast, we have 1 day a week where the children eat at my mother-in-laws so we have take-away and film night :-) then I always leave Saturdays as 'free'. This is because I am at home and I can experiment.
After planning the meals I then write down a shopping list of all the items I don't have in the cupboard, and go online and order my shopping (all major supermarkets have online delivery now). All my shopping is delivered the following day.
I know this whole process seems very structured and a bit OCD, yes I have lists and plan the whole week on a Saturday. But the whole process takes about an hour, and I challenge anyone to do their normal weekly shop in this time!

As a result I have the rest of the weekend to spend with my husband and children.... and of course doing what I love... cooking :-)

So this week we have planned (oh and by the way... its my birthday Tuesday so bit of a different week ;-) and probably not the best example when starting this blog....)

Mon - Something and chips - haha well, my husband is cooking, so it is cheat night! I did say I share my bad habits too! Basically I make a lot of hand cut chips and leave them in fridge then he will cook these in the air fryer later along with grilled chicken or sausages.
Tues - Its my birthday.... so its a surprise for me??
Wed - Nasi Goreng (trying this for first time)
Thurs  - Pecan Crusted Cod with Creole Vegetables (another first)
Fri - Cottage Pie (Trusted family favourite)
Sat - out for dinner
Sun - Roast Chicken & Vegetables

So that's the plan, lets see if I stick to it?

Lesley