Every week I sit down to write a meal plan, and either write it and don’t adhere to it or forget to buy one or two (alright, often more) vital ingredients for the meals. It doesn’t help that we don’t do our food shop on a regular day due to Sams unpredictable work schedule and only having one car! I should really set up a weekly home delivery slot but that too seems to slip my mind every week and we end up eating freezer scraps for a day! There are several big supermarkets around us along with a few smaller local ones but trying to get more than a bagful of food with a baby and a toddler in tow is a bit of a mission!
We have decided however that with the start of Arlo on solids we need to:
- eat proper meals so that he can partake in them
- eat more healthily so that what he’s eating from our plates is suitable (so not processed, no added salt etc)
- start shopping online to reduce temptation to buy sweet/unhealthy things.
- attempt to reduce our food spend and eliminate wastage
So here’s what I aim to do to try and get on top of meal planning:
Plan meals for the next 10 days on a Sunday evening – generally Sam is around so we can plan together, plus it’s always easier with him here as he can see into the kitchen cupboards without standing on a stool like I have to so he can let me know what’s in there
Keep a written list of what tins/jars we have – and cross out as we use them. I used to do this but somehow got out of the habit. It means that if you always like to have a couple of pasta sauce jars (for example) and use one you know you need to add one to your next shop, like par levels for anyone who’s ever worked with stock holding in a shop or hotel like me!
Set up a grocery delivery every 10 days – with the basic bits saved in a favourites list. We can then add extras we might need for the meal plan and then can top up with fresh fruit and milk from local shops as and when needed
Batch Cook & Freeze – Things like curries, chillis and stews can be easily cooked in double portions and frozen for a later date. Donna has written about this, and I even have a slow cooker to help with the process, I just need to use it more! That way I can have a night off from cooking and we’ve got a back up in case I forget to do a grocery order!
If you’ve got any helpful tips or posts then please do let me know, or leave links below for me to have a perusal!
This is a collaborative post, all words are my own.
I plan all out weeks meals on a Sunday for the week ahead and get the shopping delivered on a Monday nap time. Like you, we cook big batches of chilli, spag blog etc and freeze portions. I usually use one of these on a Tuesday evening as that’s our busiest day!
I don’t understand how some people (like my mum!) can just go to the supermarket and randomly put things in the trolley without knowingn what she is cooking that week!
Great tips! Meal planning saves me most of the time. If I didn’t batch cook and freeze some days we just wouldn’t have dinner! hehe x
I’m so bad at meal prepping, meaning i never do it! so bad i know