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14. start menu planning
You might have read my blogpost over the weekend with details of my first week’s menu plan. I have to admit I really enjoyed the process and am excited to see how this week pans out. I thought you might like a bit of waffle about how I approached it.
Book a date with yourself
I looked at my schedule and decided when I could do this on a regular basis so it becomes a habit I can keep up. For me I realised I could have a quick look through the cupboards and freezer on a Thursday {a work from home day} which would give me chance to do some planning that evening and on my commute on Friday morning then pull together an online shop during my lunch break.
Make it an occasion
Ok so hear me out, if you don’t have much ‘free’ time which I guess includes me given I’m working full-time, have William, am trying to get back into running and generally keep the house ticking over, then any time you get to sit down quietly for half an hour is a time to treasure! So I made myself a hot drink, lit my favourite candle and popped a bit of music on.
What is your style?
Some people plan breakfast, lunch and dinner, others just plan dinner. A lot of people seem to assign meals to specific days and so I assumed that was how it had to be. Honestly, I think it is one of the major reasons menu planning hasn’t worked for me in the past. We often are like ‘oh I really fancy xxx tomorrow’. Which made me realise that a better plan for us is to choose the dishes and shop for them but assign which day is what on Sunday night/as we go. As I’m trying to get a bit healthier and back to being dairy free {it just doesn’t agree with me} I decided to focus on breakfast, snack {for the 3pm slump} and dinner.
The nitty gritty what went down during my candlelit quiet time?
First up I opened up a double pager in my new notebook. The left page was for menu planning and notes, with the right page being for a shopping list. I thought of a few recipes I had seen recently that I fancied trying or a favourite dish and popped them down on the planner. Then I made a detailed shopping list, don’t try to skip any of this otherwise you will go wrong in the week. Go and double check whether you have enough mixed herbs, is your cinnamon still in date and do you have plain or self-raising flour in the cupboard! I also took a moment to look at the list as a whole and check there was a good balance of quick and easy vs. prep ahead of time options, are there a range of proteins and carbs or is it all pasta?
Don’t forget to add in any non-food items that you need to your shopping list or the everyday bits like butter, milk and bread, washing tablets, toilet rolls and teabags!
For added geeky points…
Then I took it to a whole new level of geeky and decided to do a freezer inventory! Our freezer is actually in the garage as we have the tiniest galley kitchen ever. Like ever ever! The problem with this is that I often forget what is in there but regularly pick-up reduced meat etc and pop it in on the way home {we use the back entrance, infact the frontdoor is rarely opened. Random but true!}. So the freezer gets fuller and fuller and is an untapped resource.
It only took a few minutes to go through each drawer and note down what is there and how many portions. Then I wrote it up neatly in my trusty menu planning notebook! I popped the items under the categories Meat, Fish, Vegetables and Other. The plan is that as we use things I can cross them off the list and equally as I buy things pop them down on the list. Hopefully this will mean next week when I menu plan I can use what we already have in the freezer as a base to work from to help keeps costs down.
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Reading that back it sounds quite long winded but it really wasn’t, I promise! Having the detailed shopping list was brilliant as I always normally forget things which means I end up wasting time doing multiple trips. I have planned around 2 weeks worth of breakfasts and snacks so I can make some things up and freeze them in preparation for lazy days or ‘running low’ ends of weeks.
love Amy x
I love menu planning. I do a fruit & veg box delivery so base my plans around the box contents as well as what is leftover in my fridge. Our freezer is an uptapped resource – I keep thinking I will freeze some crock pot meals (all the ingredients so I just have to pop it into the pot in the morning and it will be ready at night) but I haven’t gotten that organised yet. Another thing we did was get a blackboard for the kitchen just so we both know what is in the fridge for meal ideas, that way either of us can cook when we get home.
I would love love love a blackboard, I keep talking about it but it hasn’t been approved yet lol. As for the idea of Mark cooking when he gets home…yeah maybe in time but not going to hold my breath!