I have had some technical issues (hard drive died 🙁 ) with my laptop over the last couple of weeks, so it was great to get back my laptop on Friday and to be able to use some of my planning tools again.
Although I post my menu plan on a weekly basis, I actually plan fortnightly. I have created a database of all our family meals and use this system to plan out the meals and the associated shopping lists for the fortnight. I have weekly shopping lists for fruit and vegetables which we buy at the market on Saturdays, a meat list for the butchers (I freeze the meat that I need for the fortnight) and I aim to shop once a fortnight at the supermarket. We are lucky enough to have a delivery service for milk, juice, cheese and eggs which comes twice a week. I buy bread every couple of days from a local bakery, which generally fits in around trips to after school activities.
It is true that you don’t really appreciate something until it is gone, because I missed my database meal planner a lot over the last couple of weeks. I had reverted back to weekly shopping and found my hand collated shopping lists weren’t as accurate as my spreadsheet generated ones, and thus I would forget the occasional essential item. So it was with great excitement that I installed the planner on my laptop again last night and set about collating my meals for the fortnight. I then went and shopped on line to have the groceries delivered Monday evening.
I do like to shop in person myself, but there are times when Mr Infrastructure’s work load is high and he is not home at a reasonable time for me to go out and do the shop. As I do a fortnightly shop, it is just not possible to do it with the kids. Some weeks when I need to stock up on nappies and other large items, I have to split the shopping in two, paying for one amount, going back to the car and then making my way around the remainder of the supermarket.
Here is our meal plan for this week:
Monday: Beef Stroganoff with rice
Tuesday: Pumpkin and feta risotto
I am purposely cooking a risotto, so that I can then make risotto balls with the left overs. The idea was inspired by a cookbook a friend lent me during the week called Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros . It is the most divine, family oriented cookbook I have seen for some time. And it is absolutely on my wish list – the price tag is a little hefty, but it would be worth every cent.
Wednesday: Pasta with chicken and spinach
Baking: Orange and Poppy Seed Muffins (recipe attached below)
Thursday: Beef Stir Fry
Friday: Tuna Carbonara (recipe attached below)
Saturday: Eating out at the school fair
Sunday: Roast Chicken and Vegetables
Do you plan on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis?