Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Menu Planning & Batch Cooking

Today i am on holiday....well for the rest of the week actually!. I went to the allotment this morning and despite my neglect have managed to bring home potatoes, beans, tomatoes and 3 blueberries!. oh, and the potatoes are blue!. i'll take a piccie of them later on!.

This afternoon i have been working on a master shopping list and blank monthly menu planner, because i'd like to get to the point of having say 6 monthly menus planned, with accompanying shopping list, so that i just pick a menu, pull off the shopping list, add any extras and away i go. I'm hoping it saves me some money(meal planning usually does) and stops me from having rubbish dinners when i dont know what to cook, havent taken anything out of the freezer, and am to tired to cook. I've used plans before... here we've tried fortnightly and monthly, but didnt stick to it long enough to evaluate.
I'm planning on doing a whole load of batch cooking and put lots of single portion meals into the freezer that are either a meal in their entirity, or just need pasta or rice cooked to go with it.
I'm going to try a new recipe each month to expand what i usually cook, so that i can take a break from a regular recipe one month, cos there is enough variety to choose from. I did this recently with my bolognese- i hadnt made it for a while, and then made some last month and it was yum!. i'm making a double batch for Sept, and resting the chilli recipe!.
I'm thinking this process is going to take me a few months to pull together, but i look forward to it....it feeds the organiser in me!!.
Who menu plans, how do you do it, and any tips?!.

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