So last week was manic. It was the sort of week when I really should have done a clear meal, but I didn’t! We did some crazy hand-to-mouth living and I resolved to get straight back into meal planning this week to save my sanity and my budget.
I have run the stock cupboard, freezer and fridge down to nothing, so it is a great week to try some new recipes and get in some new ingredients. I have written my meal plan using another two books I haven’t used for a while: Seriously Satisfying (a WeightWatchers book I reviewed a while back) and The Pampered Chef Fast and Fabulous cookbook. I’ve also included a couple of quick and easy recipes that are good old favourites for days when we are busy.
So this week we are having:
Monday – Pizza and homemade wedges
Tuesday – Paprika chicken and pasta (from Fast and Fabulous)
Wednesday – Slow cooker chilli and rice
Thursday – Toad in the hole
Friday – Salmon Puffs (from Seriously Satisfying)
Saturday – Lamb Tagine and Couscous (from Seriously Satisfying)
Sunday – Roast chicken
For more inspiration and meal plan ideas, head over to At Home with Mrs M and check out the linky.
15 comments
Kerry says:
May 17, 2011
I really think I need to do some meal planning we all go a bit mad if I don’t sort out meals have to be honest xx
amylane says:
May 17, 2011
Planning has saved me money and has also brought back my interest in cooking from scratch. I really look forward to planning and cooking our meals now, x
justalittlepiece says:
May 18, 2011
One of these days I will do a real plan for the week. For now–just a general idea. 🙂
amylane says:
May 18, 2011
It’s definitely worth the effort 🙂
Graham White says:
May 18, 2011
I’m glad we’re not the only ones who do this every week!
amylane says:
May 18, 2011
I’ve discovered it’s the only way to keep me on track 😉
Graham White says:
May 18, 2011
Well on Friday night or Saturday morning one or other (or both) of us write down the seven things we’re going to have for the next week taking into account what’s in the fridge and freezer, what’s seasonal and what’s ready for picking at the allotment. We can then write a full shopping list of things we need to buy from the supermarket, butchers shop and our favourite little organic shop in town, oh and what we need to pick too. Then it’s off shopping. Really quite anal but it works, we don’t have to think about what to cook during the week, all the ingredients are in the house, probably saves a bit of money by reducing waste, allows us to more easily eat seasonally and plan a balanced diet.
amylane says:
May 18, 2011
Great system – hope mine gets that slick soon! I can’t wait to start using stuff from the garden. Only just got into it properly this year so haven’t got much produce yet but should be some stuff ready in a few weeks. Any recommendations of good farm shops etc round here?
Graham White says:
May 18, 2011
hmm, not sure about farm shops around Eastleigh, Beth and I are in Alton where there’s a proliferation of very good ones, we’re lucky!
Happy to share knowledge and tips with growing stuff though, Dale’s not mentioned anything at work so had no idea you guys were starting out with growing stuff. Beth and I do maintain a blog of our allotment escapades which isn’t updated nearly as frequently as your blog.
amylane says:
May 18, 2011
Lol, Dale’s not really into the gardening, just me! I will check out your blog – sounds good. Looks like trip out to Alton is in order then 🙂
Graham White says:
May 19, 2011
Well in that case the three we use (aside from the local butcher, Brocks Farm Shop, in town) are Mill Farm Organic at Isington, Lantern Foods in town and Bowtell’s Farm Shop at East Tisted. All the farms have open days which are fun to go along to, especially for the children, Mill Farm has some nice trails around the farm land for walking too.
Another good one to look out for is Blackmoore Apple Farm which is a relatively little known but large local producer of excellent fruit (they supply Sainsbury’s for example). Every October they have an “Apple Day” which is hugely popular and you can go along and try tens of different varieties of apples, there’s a farmers and craft market on site too, great day out.
Anyway, enough plugging from me 😉 You’d be welcome to come visit the allotment too if you want to swap growing tips of course!
amylane says:
May 19, 2011
Brilliant, thanks for all the links! I shall take a look and plan some visits.
I’ve also got to the bottom of the voting issue – it’s not that someone already used your name and address, voting is restricted to one vote per IP address. Dale had the same problem trying to vote from work! If I can gather together a list of people who want to vote from IBM and a 1/2 hour time slot then they will briefly lift the restriction to allow you. Although, I think this may be a bit of a tall order! 🙂
Graham White says:
May 19, 2011
That’s a pretty awful voting system then! I’ll be able to vote from home but that means Beth will have to vote from work which further means nobody else from the civil service in London will be able to vote! Their system is just daft!!!
amylane says:
May 19, 2011
I have to say, it is a bit frustrating! Dale couldn’t vote from work or home (as I had already voted) but managed to do it from his phone. It’s to stop spammers apparently but is very limiting. I doubt many IBMers will bother (or remember) to vote when they get home and the message they get suggests that someone has already tried to use their email address 🙁
Mrs M says:
May 22, 2011
Thanks for joining in! I could just eat a roast chicken right now!