Julie says: OK… We do bunches of meals and freeze them so dinners are easy.

I’m looking for a solution to the “Lunch” thing.

How can I make lunches in advance so that I can just grab and go every weekday morning. Sandwiches get soggy. Too hot for soups. Any ideas?

Great question.

I also hate soggy sandwiches.

Have you tried making them the previous night and putting in the fridge?

Otherwise, do as I do and package each of the sandwich fixings separately, all in a cooler bag in the fridge, take with you to work/ school and assemble there.

Readers, what are your suggestions?

Let’s talk super powers.

We all have them, some of us just haven’t recognized them…yet.

It’s the thing you do easily that other people battle with.

So… let’s talk about superpowers in the kitchen.

Some people can cook anything that tastes DELICIOUS.

Some people bake absolutely heavenly cakes, scones, biscuits (cookies), etc.

My superpower is that I can take the oddest assortment of food and make a meal out of it.

Once I figured that out, it’s actually become fun for me. I also feel that my creativity is stimulated when I’m “forced” to use a little bit of this and a little bit of that to “throw something together”.

And we’ve had some interesting combinations, some of which have become meals that are firm favourites.

What’s your superpower?

This week’s WFMW is easy-peasy since this is the kitchen edition.

I have most of my “bright ideas” in the kitchen. I think it’s because I’m naturally lazy so I find shortcuts for almost everything in there.

Anyway, back to the topic.

Whenever I buy meat, I get home and split it all up into individual portions immediately. I’m on Weigh-Less so one portion of beef is 60g and one portion of chicken (white meat) is 110g.

I get out my scale, use the small sandwich bags as a glove as I measure out the meat, scoop it up and pull the plastic bag over the meat, twist and that’s one ready. And so on and so on.

Then I put the individual portions in a plastic container like this…and into the freezer.

Aside from the meat, I do the same when I boil up legumes like chick peas, lentils and my favourite, red kidney beans. They also go into individual containers in the freezer.

And then the vegetables. I try and chop up enough veggies for the week or if I don’t get that far, then at least enough for Monday’s meal (remember every Monday we eat lots of veggies).

I always stirfry our meals individually because I use only 1 tablespoon of oil for my meal whereas I don’t deprive Dion. LOL

So while mine is cooking, here are all the ingredients for his meal.

Having all the portions ready and prepared saves a lot of time and certainly works for me with my busy lifestyle.

For my other kitchen posts, click here.

For more great tips from this week’s kitchen edition, go visit Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer

Here are this month’s challenges

Week 1 – Baking stuff, pots and serving dishes
It’s the first week of December!

Organise all your pots and baking stuff so that you’re ready for all the cooking and baking you’ll do later this month.You don’t need two sets of measuring cups or spoons. If you have some old muffin pans, you can use them to plant seedlings or organise a drawer.

If there are serving dishes you’ve had for 5 years but never use, cook or bake something in it (casserole/ lasagna) and give it away as a present.

Take charge tip – Double up on some baking recipes and give the baked goods away as gifts. Arrange biscuits or muffins on some plates you don’t like any more, cover with cling wrap, tie a red bow and there you have it – an inexpensive, useful gift.


Week 2 – Put up decorations and the Christmas tree & finish wrapping gifts
Decorate your house and put up the Christmas tree. Hang Christmas cards from a piece of string or attach to the side of your wall unit.

Finish wrapping your gifts and writing out gift tags. It’s always a good idea to keep a few spare gifts around in case someone pops by and you don’t have anything for them.


Week 3 – Finalise your menu and finish buying food
This is more important if you’re hosting Christmas dinner.

Finalise your menu. If you’d like people to bring a dish, phone them now. Check your pantry and buy last-minute ingredients and drinks. Download your shopping list at http://takechargesolutions.org/downloads.html

If you’re having Christmas dinner elsewhere, make sure that you know what the host wants you to cook.

Merry Christmas!


Week 4 – Sort out your planning tools