I always have the best intentions for menu plans, I set them, I shop for them, but when push comes to shove I never cook them!
I don't know why, perhaps I make it too complicated for myself as I try to do breakfast, lunch and dinners just like I used to on weights watchers. But really my lifestyle these days doesn't really lend myself to that. Really the only meal that I'm certain I'll be home for atleast 5 days out of 7 is dinner so I've decided I'll just plan dinner and be done with it. But perhaps just throw in say one nice lunch, breakfast, dessert or baked item for the week.
My new favourite
website has been the latest inspiration for my menu planning and a few things in my planning system have come directly from that site, for example my
menu plan template and the left over buffet. This is a great concept, it's basically leaving one night a week perhaps a weekend or a night that is normally a busy night where you pull out any left overs you had frozen during the week and serve up a 'buffet'.
So basically I sit down with recipes, cookbooks etc one day a week, I try for Friday but otherwise Sunday and my menu plan template. I have set days for set meats, i.e red meat & chicken, fish will just get thrown in on the odd occasion as I don't eat it. Then I got through and look for recipes etc. I write in the meal, where to find the recipe and all the ingredients needed. I then stick it up on the fridge, you will notice this is just how it's done on Organizing Junkie. Then on Sunday when I do my shopping list I check through all the ingredients and to see what I need to buy. I then do my shopping Monday (blurgh with both the kids, but it's getting easier!!).
The things that stay the same each week are Saturdays as 'free' night which can be leftovers, takeaway, throw togethers or BBQ's and Sunday nights a roast nights...lurve roast night. The bonus with these nights are that if something goes wrong during the week and we have takeout on Tuesday I can move that meal to Saturday or Sunday.
As for Rat_Girl she doesn't always eat what we eat but I make sure and have easy foods for her and sometimes I modify the things that we are eating and serve to her. She generally eats an hour before us as soon as she gets home from kindy in the afternoon. She is sooooo slow at eating that the only way I can a decent meal into her is to give her time. She starts eating early while I'm finalising our dinner and then we sit to eat with her and she finishes about the same time sooooooooooooooooooo PAINFUL!
Thankfuly Rat_Boy is still breastfed but the time is coming and it's mashed pureed food.....argh the agony! I hated it and I'm seriously thinking I might just keep him fully breastfed until he's old enough to eat our food...wouldn't that be nice, I'm so lazy.
I don't throw out my menu plans, I keep them in a file so if I don't feel like planning or whatever I can just pull one out.
I've just got back into it the last 2 weeks, and I'll post those menus. The first week I was using up what meat and recipe bases I already had in the cupboard and this week I did a lot of slow cooker recipes, I love my slow cooker. People say they don't use slow cookers in the warmer weather because those meals just don't suit warm weather. I actually think in Cairns in our hot hot summer, slow cookers are awesome as it doesn't heat up your kitchen and you don't have to slave over a stove. I normally work up a huge sweat and then I don't enjoy eating, so a meal in the slow cooker and then dinner in aircon...perfect!
Anyway do you think I have waffled on enough about menu plans??? It's something I think, for me anyway, is important for keeping routine and order with a family. No more standing at the fridge for 30mins thinking "what can I coook" then finally getting pizza delivered that arrives an hour late when the kids should have already been in bed. It's definately made a difference to our household the last 2 weeks.....
