Meal Planning Monday - the nearly February edition!

As you may have guessed, I don't much like January and this one has been particularly long, due to a payroll error. My meal plans have been as thrifty as possible as a result. When I'm short, I always revert to Aldi because it is so much cheaper, even than Asda which is my regular haunt. It's lovely to stock up with a few things, have a trolleyful and still feel like I've not been extravagant.

Payday is this week but the shopping was done yesterday so I'm still being careful. Today' meal is made from leftover from Sunday roast. Wednesday is going to be a trial for a few weeks; the children already have swimming lessons after school, but until the middle of March, they also have to be at indoor cricket nets 15 mins away at 6.30 when Monkey's lesson finishes at 6! I have therefore decided we are just having pizza, and I can if necessary reheat some of it when we get home if they want more.

So here's our week in meals.

Monday - Twice baked potatoes filled with chicken
Tuesday - Mushroom rogan josh
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday - Corned beef and beans
Friday - Fish and chips (oven baked)
Saturday - Haggis, neeps and tatties
Sunday - Chicken pie and mash

Don't forget to visit Mrs M to see more marvellous meal plans!

Meal Planning Monday - the starting 2016 edition!

Let's not even talk about how long it is since I wrote one of these. Honestly, I started doing them to get into the habit of meal planning. That habit is well-embedded as I cannot function without a plan before I do a food order (thanks to Asda delivery pass, I only pop in supermarkets to do top up shops - or buy the things Asda couldn't supply!). But the writing of this post is not.

This week is back to school and work for all - two weeks for the kids and me, and husband has now been off for a total of 10 days over that time. And it's my birthday, so Wednesday is blank as I don't intend cooking, whatever we do. (Still not sorted). Apart from that, it's nothing special as weeks go.

I'm making use of my new toys, as I ask husband to buy me this for Christmas and it's been in almost constant use since. It can slow cook, roast, bake, saute or steam - so far, I've used the slow cooker function, the roasting and baked a potato. The main difference is the heat source is at the bottom so you do have to watch it although it comes with a little rack to raise things up. Still finding my feet with it but I. Love. It! It's definitely going to get lots of use, especially as thanks to an error with my pay, I'm a bit brassic this month.

So here's my plan. Everything is already here as my food delivery was booked for Sunday afternoon.

Monday - Pulled pork buns (done in slow cooker with leftover roast pork)
Tuesday - Baked potatoes
Wednesday - not cooking, yo.
Thursday - grilled cheese sandwiches (one of my new favourite easy meals)
Friday - Corned beef and beans pie
Saturday - Cheat's cassoulet
Sunday - Roast chicken

What are you having this week? Don't forget to check out At Home with Mrs M for more delicious meal plans. And I will try to blog my meal plan a little more regularly!

Meal Planning Monday - the spring is sprung edition!

Now Monkey's birthday stuff is all over and done with, we're well into March and the weather is beginning to feel springlike. The nights are lighter (which the children love as they can play out after school with friends) and everything just feels better.

I don't know if my meal plan reflects this change in weather but the children have been involved in this week's plan as I asked them what they wanted to eat. "Chicken kievs" came the reply. Great! The one thing I don't make from scratch too.

They did come up with one or two other things which I've added. I've also been going back through my mealplans and picking out things we like so that I can quickly pick them out instead of having brain freeze when faced with a blank sheet of paper. I came up with 100 different things (and some of them have variations!) so I think I should be OK for a while.

This is our week then.

Monday - Mexican lasagne
Tuesday - Pizza baked potatoes
Wednesday - Kedgeree with poached egg
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Chicken kievs
Saturday - Prawn and coconut curry
Sunday - Roast dinner

Mrs M has all the Meal Planning Monday posts. Click the badge top right to discover what everyone else is eating.

Meal Planning Monday - another 5 for £20 edition!

You may remember that I have in the past reviewed the Sainsbury's meal plans. Last May, we tried the £50 weekly one and then in October, we tried out one of their evening meal plans, which offer 5 evening meals for a family of 4 for £20. Sainsbury's have just launched a new meal plan so have given me the chance to try  the latest one. The meals have generally been brilliant, although I do find some of them rather carb heavy so I tend to cut back on quantities now if it's a pasta or rice dish in particular. And they add mozzarella to risottos - what is THAT all about?

The meal plans are great if you don't have time to meal plan and they often suggest veggie options. You can print a shopping list for you and transfer most of the ingredients into their internet shopping site - you have to add some of the items for reasons I will never understand.

So here is what we're having this week, courtesy of Sainsbury's.

Monday - Tomato and broccoli risotto
Tuesday - Simple sausage supper
Wednesday - Creamy pork and mash
Thursday - Sandwiches or soup and sandwiches
Friday - Turkey chilli with rice
Saturday - left free for family party
Sunday - Cheesy jacket potato with bacon and pepper ratatouille

Come back next week and I'll tell you how we did. Don't forget to visit Mrs M's blog to check out the other entries in this week's Meal Planning Monday and feel free to check out Sainsbury's Live Well for Less site and all their meal plans.

What's on your menu this week?

Meal Planning Monday - the children's choice edition

This week, we have a twist to the week's plan. It all started when Missy Woo came into my room this morning when I was having a lie in. She got in bed with me for a bit and was chattering away at me. I asked her to name some things that she'd like to have for tea this week and she duly named three things. Then I let Monkey come up with three more and we've jiggled it all together to make a coherent (ish!) plan. So, nothing exciting or different this week, just family favourites. Sunday is being kept free because excitingly, I've been invited by Sainsburys to the Good Food Show Winter at the NEC and they're making us lunch. There should be leftovers and the family will be able to survive without a planned meal.