Meal Planning

Let’s talk about Meal Planning

I know it’s a bit boring but it really does make family cooking much easier!

We are big on meal planning in this house.  Once it’s done, we know the plan for dinners for the week and it takes away the ‘what’s for dinner’ stress each day (and the accompanied wandering around your local convenience store trying to cobble a decent dinner together)!

What are the benefits of meal planning?

• In theory, it’s cheaper.  No constant trips to the local shop.  I say ‘in theory’ as we still seem to pop down to the shop most days to pick up any forgotten items from the big shop at Aldi!!

• The planning and thinking and decision making is done - no more ‘what the heck we are having for dinner’.

• The meals are more balanced - when you think of the whole week, there is a balance between ingredients.

• On the nights where the boys are sporting, or working or just out, we plan the meals that are easily reheatable for them when they get home.

This is how we do it

We try to have at least 2 easy and cheap nights.  These are usually meat-less meals.   

We have a very basic framework and within that framework, there are options.

Here’s what I mean…..

Basic Framework

• Pasta

• Fish

• Mince

• Soup & Toasties

• Curry

• Roast

• Leftovers / Ready Meal

PASTA

Pasta with shop bought or homemade sauce.  Tomato and basil; carbonara; macaroni and cheese.  No guilt if it’s shop bought - its meant to be an easy night.  We often have this on a Monday night.

FISH

Fresh fish from the local fish van.  Mr Spice Pots breads it, makes homemade chips and the veggies vary.  A night off for me!

MINCE

This could be cottage pie, lasagne, chilli or burgers.  We mix it up each week so we don’t get bored.

SOUP & TOASTIES

A recent addition - it’s cheap and easy!  We vary the soup but the current favorite is roasted red pepper soup.  And we try to keep the toasties interesting - goats cheese, sundried tomatoes and other yummy stuff.  (BTW, the boys are not overjoyed by this meal - which according to them is not a meal, it’s a snack!).  For soup inspiration, including more filling options like Cullen Skink or Lentil Soup, we have a number of suggestions here.

CURRY

Obviously,  an easy one for us - we vary between the 6 Spice Pots blends although we do have our favourites.  We mix it up - chicken bhuna;  lamb rogan josh;  beef madras;  korma daal;  goan fish curry;  tandoori masala marinated chicken skewers.

ROAST

During the winter, we love our roasts on a Sunday night.  We mix it up - chicken, lamb, beef, gammon, pork.  And we make sure we change the sauces and veggies often too so it never gets boring.  Our current favourite is gammon with ratatouille and parmentier potatoes - it’s a winner dinner.

EASY DAY

We are talking leftovers, something from the freezer, perhaps a ready meal.  Take the pressure off the night that you really can’t be arsed to cook!

EXTRAS

In the winter, we also always have a pot of soup on the go for hungry boy snacks to keep them going.  

BONUS

As we both work full time, we share the cooking.  This is HUGE as it never gets too boring.

WINTER / SUMMER MEAL PLANNING

This winter meal planning framework will change when spring arrives.  Then we change it up to include more salads, BBQs and homemade pizza.  The key is to keep it changing otherwise boredom can set in!

Check out our recipes section for some inspiration for your weekly meal plan.