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Why do I plan the week’s meals? Well…..
I just popped into Sainsbury’s for a couple of bits and was walking behind a couple with a trolley absolutely piled high. They had no plan, no shopping list and no flipping clue! The conversation went like this: “Have we got any cornflakes? What about bread – did that last loaf go mouldy? Might get a beef joint in case we don’t go out Sunday…. do we need tea bags?”
It has been so long since I shopped without a meal plan and a shopping list, I can’t believe I ever did it. The money that couple must have been wasting – they didn’t have a clue what food they already had or what their plans were for the week. They didn’t even know if they needed basic items like bread and teabags! I also hope they had at least four kids at home or they were never going to get through the pile of fresh stuff they bought before it went off either.
Checking what we have in the fridge, freezer and cupboards, compiling a meal plan and writing a shopping list are second nature to me. It takes all of 15 minutes and saves us a lot of time and money. I wrote a post about the benefits of meal planning here.
Anyway, without further ado, here is this week’s meal plan.
Saturday
I have mentioned a few times that I have gone for a monthly subscription to Simply Cook*. We really enjoy their recipe mixes and they give me an easy night in the kitchen. All of the meals we have had so far have been really delicious.
I only use one a week and have decided to go for a Saturday night fakeaway this time! We will be having the Thai yellow fish curry, made with cod, a red pepper and a tin of light coconut milk, all of which we already have. Rice and some of the naan bread I found reduced to 30p for two in the week will be nice with this.
The other dishes I chose for this month’s subscription are Malay Laksa, a kind of soup meal, Beef massaman, another Thai inspired curry dish with potatoes, and Mexican pulled chicken.
You can claim a £3 trial box for Simply Cook here* if you fancy giving it a go.
Sunday
Roast chicken with roast potatoes done in my VonShef air fryer*
Monday
Chick pea casserole from the freezer. I batch cooked a load of this a while back. We will probably have this with rice.
Tuesday
Another cheap and cheerful favourite tonight, sardine spaghetti. Some people hate the sound of it, but it is really nice! Healthy too with lots of omega 3 fats in the sardines.
I have used various recipes for this, but actually it is as simple as an onion chopped up with a little garlic (I don’t bother with the onions as they do not agree with me), maybe a pepper too, a can of sardines in tomato sauce, some herbs and seasoning. Sometimes I add half a can of tomatoes too.
Simple, cheap and yummy.
Wednesday
Sausages and mash, the rest of the kale if there is some and maybe some peas. Gravy too, of course.This is one of my favourite dinners! It is so warm and comforting for a winter evening.
Thursday
Broccoli and pepper pasta bake. I will make a tomato and pepper sauce with some fresh tomatoes. When I was in Lidl last week I bought a big bagful but they aren’t very tasty so better for cooking. Then I will mix with small florets of steamed broccoli, top with cheese and finish off under the grill.
If we have bacon that needs using that will be grilled and added as well.
Friday
Ham, eggs, chips and peas. An easy, fuss free tea. I will make the chips in the air fryer with a spray of Frylight to keep the fat content down.
Do you always plan the week’s meals, or leave it to chance?
As usual, I am linking up with Katy Kicker for her meal planning linky. For more of my frugal food ideas see here.
Julia says
I always plan meals – usually a month in advance though I’ll tweak each week nearer the time and shift meals round within the week- eg yesterday was supposed to be masala fish but my brother came round and we ended up going to the chippy instead, so it’s now replacing next weeks fish meal in order to use up the yogurt it needs.
Saturday: Chicken in Sauce with brown rice and probably cabbage as there’s one in the fridge needing using up (I shall ave a handful of Quorn Chicken cubes & sauce in a separate pan) Something easy as I’ve done 2 hours of volunteering bramble digging in the conservation area this morning and then dropping 200 election leaflets door to door for our local MP., and I’m knackered!
Sunday: Meatballs and Beetballs, with wholewheat spaghetti & garlic bread. The beetballs are Iceland’s No Bull vegan range for me – again in a separate pan with some sauce. Again, something simple as I have another 300 leaflets to deliver first!
Monday: Lentil & Peanut Layer – a sort of casserole with a layer of cheesy sliced potatoes on top. This was to be on Sunday, but a) it takes longer and b) one son won’t be in to eat it and as he prefers meat, they were swapped.
Tuesday: Spicy Chicken Strips in wraps (I’ll just have a salad wrap) as I’m in London all afternoon, so nice and quick.
Wednesday: BCS Day – brown crispy stuff – this time chicken Kievs and chips as people need to be out early. I’ll have any leftover Lentil & Peanut Layer, or failing that, I have a curried sweet potato & peanut soup in the freezer.
Thursday: Fend for Yourself Day – I’m in London in the evening so everyone at home can sort themselves out – I’ll probably end up at McDonalds or Subway!
Friday: Masala Fish, brown rice & broccoli florets we didn’t have yesterday. The fish is frozen so no worries about it keeping.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
That sounds delicious. I like the sound of the lentil and peanut layer
Sam says
Julia, I completely agree that monthly meal planning is the way to go. Like you I don’t always stick exactly to the plan, but use it as a general guide. It really takes the stress out of thinking what to eat every night.
Sam
Jackie says
I always plan our meals and like you can’t imagine how I ever managed without doing this. It prevents us having much food waste and saves money too. Oh and it also helps me stay at my target weight which is brilliant.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Agree with that. It makes you eat more healthily
Su says
I am the first to admit that I don’t meal plan, well not before going to the supermarket anyway. I prefer to see what’s cheap, on offer or reduced and work around that, but since I live alone and I’m not a fussy eater it doesn’t matter if I eat the same thing for three days or have some unusual combinations of food. Having said that I do know what’s in my cupboards and I have a basic shopping list and I would ALWAYS know if I needed tea!
It always perplexes me when I’m in the queue behind people with a mountain of food on the belt but it’s all absolute crap, not a single ingredient amongst it all, do they actually live off it? They can’t be very healthy, it must cost them a fortune and it’s hardly a good example to their children.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I think lots of people do live off total crap!
Sam says
Unfortunately that’s true and maybe why the NHS is at breaking point.
Sam
Kellie @ Big Style Finance says
I don’t meal plan so much as I batch cook and then eat from the freezer. Any time I cook something I cook four serves minimum and the other three go in my big upright freezer. It probably works for me because I’m single and live alone.
Kim says
Ahh! I couldn’t imagine shopping without some sort of plan. I do my online shop while I’m meal planning. I see what’s on offer. It works doing it online but couldn’t imagine walking around the shop doing it that way.
The Simply Cook meals do sound delicious.
Sausages and mash is such a great meal. I’d skip the kale though, I’m not a fan.
Great meal plan x
Katy Stevens says
It feels like madness to me to go shopping without a meal plan and a list. SO glad I haven’t done that in years! I do occasionally visit a local store for ‘snacks’ which is a real impulse shop but I budget this isn’t treat money. It’s such a shame to hear of people wasting food too, especially considering all of the factors like environmental, financial and just the sheer sadness of people going without food when others are binning it!
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Totally agree. It’s awful that people are so wasteful
Catherine says
If I didn’t meal plan I would overspend by a ridiculous amount each week… and I would end up wasting so much food (which is something I can’t stand). I worked on a campaign recently and discovered that in othe region I live in the average family throws away £810 worth of food per year – how shocking is that?!
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
That’s terrible!