Meal Planning Monday – 20th January 2020

Let’s pretend it’s Monday! Only a day late. I’m really enjoying the meal planning at the moment. I love to have a look through the recipe books sitting on our kitchen shelves and think about what we’re going to eat during the week. It’s not something I’ve always enjoyed doing; it can be repetitive, frustrating when the children refuse to eat said meals on the plan and time can be a hurdle but meal planning with all this in mind is possible, just more of a challenge!

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been making a more considered effort to use up the contents in the cupboards and the freezer. We have lots of tins and odd packets in our cupboards which still don’t ever seem to empty and half portions of various meats in the freezer. The boys really enjoy pasta and I love a good spaghetti bolognese and love to cram it full of vegetables so that’s always a good meal for us to plan.

My biggest hurdle is time. Having time to prepare the meal and cook it. It’s only been until recently that I’ve felt comfortable leaving Freddie in the dining / play room on his own. Sometimes Olly will play with him but on other evenings he just wants to relax on his own on his console. Our kitchen is attached to the dining room so I can see what he’s doing but you know what toddlers are like if they’re mischievous. Our kitchen is too small for children to play in as well as me cook in it so I have to have eyes everywhere keeping an eye on what’s going on in both rooms.

Our meal plan this week again is all about using up what we have in throwing in some fresh vegetables. We’re trying to vary the meals we have so we don’t get bored and hoping that we can stretch the food budget to the end of the month (why is January the longest month?)

This week we’re planning on eating the following meals (the boys meals follow ours)

Spaghetti Bolognese / Pasta and ham for the boys

Chicken Katsu Curry  / Waffles, nuggets and vegetables

Gyros Chicken, Actifry chips and salad / Actifry Chips and Sausages

Burger in a bowl / Hot dogs

Gammon, Egg and Chips

Last week at Slimming World, I lost 5.5lb which was a very pleasant surprise! I’m not entirely sure how that happened but it was nice to see nevertheless. I had a good week on plan and we used up lots of fresh vegetables and I made another batch of soup which I am really enjoying. It’s great to be feeling in control of my food again.

I’m linking up with Katy Kicker’s Meal Planning Post where you can find more foodie inspiration.