Tuesday 28 October 2008

Day 28: I just want your extra time and your list

I mentioned the other day that I've started making a list of meal options for the week. I loves me a good list.



The plan is (and there's always a plan!) that it will make shopping easier, make deciding what to cook every evening easier, mean I have all the necessary ingredients to hand, and reduce waste. I'm a shocker for buying things on a whim then letting them rot or go off in the fridge because I don't have a plan for them.

I've even got a dedicated notebook where I make the list, and then make a note of how the meal went afterwards. Beloved is always saying "That was great - we should have it again" and then I forget about it and we never do! So I hope this is a way of keeping track.

Each Sunday, I sit down with a couple of magazines or recipe books, and a cup of tea, and browse through them to choose a few recipes to try for the week. Then I add a few sure-fire favourites, and make sure there is a variation of "chicken and rice" included. This is PJ's favourite, so it's essential for household harmony.

Then I check the ingredient lists and add anything I need to the shopping list for Monday morning.

This week's list includes:
  • Lemon baked chicken with couscous

  • Vegetarian chili with brown rice

  • Chicken stir-fry with rice

  • Tacos

  • BBQ - sausages, flat mushrooms and corn on the cob with salad
It has been slightly complicated by the partial-breakdown of our fridge on the weekend. Freezer Roulette will now feature highly as I try to use up stuff that has been lurking in there. A container of unidentifiable something, which turned out to be bolognese sauce, will now be tonight's dinner.

I'll report back on the success or otherwise of the new system!

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I've been a bit slack with the Blogtoberfest Inspiration Word. The word for Wednesday, from page 1511, is opinion.

8 comments:

Rose Red said...

the list is a good idea - better than my "random decide when I'm doing the shopping" approach!

Bells said...

wow, keeping it all in a notebook - that's novel. I might try that. I'm all for the planning - but I write it on a scrap (when I do it) and then lose the scrap during the week and, much like stash, wonder what I bought this or that for specifically!

Anonymous said...

Oh Tom Jones!!! Most amusing!! You need to make something Welsh. I love meal planning: I can spend hours in bed with magazines and pen and paper making plans!! Strikes fear into my heart- the UFO (Unidentified Frozen Object!!!)

Donna Lee said...

I shop and buy what I like or what's on sale and then "plan" meals around them. I keep staples on hand and try to honor requests from the family. I've never been able to keep up with a notebook or a real plan. I like to cook and most often go into the kitchen and play around until I have a meal on the table. Rarely do we have food that tastes the same way twice!

Alwen said...

Ne'mind that -

Can I come and eat at your house?

:D

Leonie said...

Dinner at our house is always in two stages, the kids and then the adults mostly because the kids can't wait until J gets home. I try to mix it up a little but we do get stuck on the basics a lot. LOL. We are getting our veg delivered at the moment so I have been making new meals because the veg has been different, that's as good as it gets!! Oh and Buffy is great to knit to, I have been doing it for years, we have all 7 seasons on DVD and have watched them lots too! Borrow the first few some from a friend or the DVD shop and don't take it too seriously, LOL.

Lynne said...

Lucky it was bolognese sauce and not pureed rasberries or something more dessert-ish!

Denise said...

When I'm organised I write a weekly menu, and shop to that - makes life SO much easier! But I haven't been organised of late (and I'd really benefit from it at the moment!)...

Hope your fridge is fixed by now :)