Dinner's ready!
Are you happy with the way you eat? Do you eat healthily? Do you know what you’re having for dinner tonight? What about dinner tomorrow night? Do you waste food and end up throwing out sad, wilted fruit and veg? Be honest! Are you going to pick up takeaway tonight? Are you going to pick up something from the supermarket…but go when you are starving and buy naughty things that you know you shouldn’t? Don’t you just hate thinking about all of this stuff? Don’t you wish you have a live in chef? My hubby has just started a new job involving 12 hour shifts. He has to take all of his food, there is no cafeteria and no shops close by to his work to buy food from. This means that we have to be organised. I am actually really grateful for this….because it has kicked me up the bum and put me back on the “organised” path. I now sit down once a week with his roster and do our menu plan for the entire week. We have things like steak and salad when he has no work the next day and things like: stir-fry, curry and casseroles that are easy for him to take to work and heat up when he does have work. I now shop better and have less waste.
Here are my top 10 menu planning/ shopping tips that really help me:
1. Plan once. Write down a menu plan for a week. It takes 5 minutes and you will not have to think about it again….not until next week.
2. Make a shopping list that matches your menu plan and stick to it.
3. If you are having veges plan your menu to use them all up. E.g. stir-fry, meat and veg, shepherds pie over 3 nights will use all of your veges.
4. If you are doing a shop and don’t need veges right away, let’s say you are having a curry and a pasta over the next 2 nights….don’t buy your veges yet…get them fresh.
5. Some people like to shop weekly, others more regularly. Whatever
suits is fine but if you shop more often be strict with yourself and only get
what you need…it is a real trap shopping hungry…that chocolate aisle seems
to have magnets that drag you in when you are hungry.
6.When you make meals that can be frozen…make
extra and freeze…to me this is like a night off cooking.
7. Think about what is happening in your week and shop and cook accordingly….let’s say you plan to go to gym or have a meeting on Tuesday night……that might be the night you grab some leftover casserole out of the freezer. It is easier, healthier and way cheaper than takeaway.
8.When you have more time, for me that is the weekend…I have a bit of a cook up and make those meals that take longer..for example casserole, roasts, lasagne and remember to freeze some.
9. Make up things like fruit salad, pasta salad etc that can be eaten over a couple of days. They are easy to grab on the run and great for lunches etc. Make stuff like this when you have time and then when you have no time…they are magically there.
10. Have a well stocked cupboard so that you don’t run out of stuff…when you do a menu plan, make sure you have all the ingredients you need.
Do whatever works for you….try to be healthy and organised…it is
amazing how it all comes together and involves way less time, money, effort and
stress.
Look after yourself……..What are your tips????????????????
happyasapiginmud 