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Almost a year ago I posted about a new method I was trying for meal planning. So I figured it was time to post an update!

My meal list has stayed pretty much the same, though with a few additions (toad in the hole how could I have forgotten you?!?). But the main change I’ve made is to categorise the sorts of recipes:

  • Sauce and carb (eg stir fry, pasta dishes, curry etc)
  • Oven only – whole meal in one dish (pizza, pies, lasagne etc)
  • One pot (stamppot, risotto etc)
  • Meat with veg & carbs (schnitzels, sausages, roast, chops, steaks etc)
  • Meze – help yourself (fajitas, shoarmas, gourmetten etc)

Then I mix up the types of meal each week. Doing this has certainly helped take the stress out of menu planning each week, but it also gives me the flexibility to adapt. So if one day I overcook and we have leftovers we can skip one of the planned meals without causing chaos the rest of the month.

I do have a bias for food that I can pre-prepare so all I have to do at dinner time is turn things on at the right time. With children tired at the end of the day there’s no way that I can be slaving over pots and pans to get dinner ready. And my list of meals accommodates that. I can also bring alot of variety into it, both in how complicated I want to make it and the choice of food I include. Most weeks we eat fish once and vegetarian once or twice. Though exactly which meal is which changes. We also don’t eat beef (not absolutely 100%, but certainly the majority of the time) as it is the least environmentally friendly meat.

Now that I have more time in which I can prepare dinner I am sure that I will experiment a bit more with what we eat, and try out more new things. But I will stick with this framework to organise it all.

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