Someone asked me if I followed the menu plan rigidly, most days the answer would be yes.
I am doing a menu plan to help keep myself on track and to take that 'What can I have for tea?' quandary off the table each day. There's nothing worse to me than standing in front of the fridge or cupboard, hungry and wanting something quickly and just not knowing what to have. That's the time when all good intentions can fly out of the window and I risk eating rubbish, which then leaves me unsatisfied and leads to nibbling all evening.
But ... I am very open to switching the meals or the days around.
So I will eat a Tuesday meal for Monday's tea and vice versa. The main thing for me is to have seven evening meals, seven lunches and seven breakfasts written down and ready for inspiration. Some weeks, like last week for example, things crop up, time runs away with me or we go out and a meal isn't eaten at all. That's when I can add the missing meal to the next weeks Menu Plan to make sure that nothing gets wasted and everything gets enjoyed while it is in the best possible condition.
So to me a menu plan isn't written in stone, it is a daily reminder of what I think will be balanced for me over the course of the week, what is ready and waiting to be eaten and what I hope to be eating each day.
As you can see from these photos and this weeks Menu Plan Monday went very well. 😁
Sue xx
It does help to have a meal plan written down, isn't it, to make it easier to decide what to make or eat each day. Especially helpful if you have to take something out of the freezer to thaw or do some advance meal prep like putting beans to soak.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh yes, it makes life so much easier doesn't it. For the sake of 30 minutes on a Monday morning, you have a week where you don't have to stand in the kitchen pondering what you have available.
DeleteSounds like the best of both worlds to me. Good for you. xx
ReplyDeleteIt's working out that way. :-)
DeleteAs you know, I've been writing a menu plan for years (sometimes with less success than others!) but now I am back into it properly life is so much more simple. Removing one more task from the endless "emotional labour" which women undertake to keep a house running smoothly has made a surprising difference.
ReplyDeleteLike you I'll often swap tomorrow with today or something like that.
Yes we HAVE to stop that Julia Roberts moment ... standing in front of Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, saying 'I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy (fridge) wanting him to love (feed) her'. :-)
DeleteI quite often swap meals as well. Having a menu plan keeps me on track and using things up when they need to be used.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It's a brilliant fall back option isn't it. Takes away some of the brain-drain, especially at the end of the day.
DeleteIt's real life. I quite often can't decide what to have for dinner and things get thrown together. Your weekly planner is a great idea so that food doesn't get wasted and something I have never done but should. I made pastry the other day and made the sausage plait, oh my I really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI have started and stopped meal planning so many times before, hopefully this time I can keep it up for longer. I'm glad you enjoyed your sausage plait, I think it will be a regular thing on my menu in various guises.
DeleteThere have not been many days this year which have been too warm to fancy a bowl of porridge, Sue. I have been adding a teaspoon of seeds from Aldi, sunflower, pumpkin and golden linseed, to add some healthy extras.
ReplyDeleteOur meals for the week are based on what we have fresh to use, then what is in the freezer, and lastly what I can make from the store cupboard to manage until the next week’s rations. Red split lentils for soup are my emergency rations, and thank goodness there are eggs. I think of Nella Last and her precious chickens producing the eggs for her baking.
I've eaten quite a few bowls of porridge during this Summer, as you say it's been cool enough for a hot breakfast quite a lot of the time. You reminded me I have not even touched the red lentils that I bought on the Points ration.
DeleteI need to read my Nella Last books again, I watched the film again recently but it's a long time since I read the book, which is much more detailed. I used to live in Barrow in Furness where she lived so I can picture where she is when she's out and about. :-)
I would always write a meal plan for week nights but for some reason I stopped a quite while back and we just decide on the spur of the moment what we feel like eating for dinner. During the ration years you couldn't do this due to foods not being available. I really need to get back into planning our evening meals,,,,,
ReplyDeleteIt's an easy habit to get out of isn't it, but it's nice when you start to do it again. I guess a wartime menu plan would have been very loose, and quite possibly done once you got back from the shops with those precious supplies.
DeleteWow! You are so organized. I must admit my diet is very repetitious. It seems to work for my health and budget, though. Beautiful blog.
ReplyDeleteI think this diet could get a bit repetitive if I let it, but at the moment I seem to be having a mix of modern and wartime meals and it's all quite new. I guess once all the 'modern' foods are gone from my main food cupboard I can look even more to my wartime recipe books for inspiration to keep me going. Thank you. xx
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