Feature Friday is an occasional highlight of something that works in my home/ life.

I love menu planning.

It saves me such a lot of time and helps us all to eat healthier and shop better for groceries.

Here is my favourite little magnetic menu planning board (South Africans, I got it for R30 at Mega Mica about 3 years ago and it’s not actually intended for menu planning – I think it’s for kids’ homework).

I start off by cleaning the whole thing.

I then check my freezer and see if there’s anything I want to use up or if there are freezer meals that need eating.

Add those to the board.

Then I make sure we don’t eat any one carb two nights in a row (I like to switch things every night).

I only plan for Mon – Fri and on Saturdays and Sundays we fly by the seat of our pants.

Not really, I just felt like saying that.

We usually use up any leftovers or I’ll do the quickest thing which is a pasta.

Notice our meals are on top and the babies’ meals are on the bottom of the squares.

The babies eat what we had for supper the previous night since they eat at 5 pm and I’m not even home from work then. Except when we have spicy meals like curries.

And that’s it.

Easy-peasy menu planning.

I don’t consult a lot of recipe books except when I’m uninspired which is fairly rare because I do love food.

I have set myself a little goal this year though; I’m to try two new meals every month. Of course, all these new things are always cooked on the weekends which is the only time I have more than 30 minutes to spend in the kitchen.

Do you menu plan?

Do you cook the same things or do you like trying new recipes?

P.S. Are you joining me for Spring into Organising?

pic from the Household Organising File

(part of the Organise your Home ecourse) 

Do you menu plan?

Menu planning is probably the one thing I do that saves me the MOST time every single week.

It’s also going to save you mo.ney when you start using up all the food in the freezer and in the back of the cupboards. Oh, and not doing so much impulse shopping.

Note – you should do your menu planning BEFORE you go to the shops to do your grocery shopping

Here are the five steps I use:

1. Go to your freezer and cupboards to see what food you have that you need to or want to use, and make a list.

2. Write out a menu plan for a week (if you do weekly shopping) or longer, using recipes to use up that food.

3. Add any items that you need additionally to your weekly shopping list and do your shopping.

4. Stick the menu plan to your fridge.

5. Follow the plan to the letter, or move things around and have Monday’s meal on Wednesday, etc, etc. At least you have the ingredients for all the meals available.

Now you don’t have to rack your brain every night wondering what to cook.

You have a PLAN.

Another tip that will save you lots of time is to cook something on a Sunday afternoon. This meal is not for eating that day, but for freezing.

When you have a busy day it’s easy to just defrost the meal and have a healthy supper on the table in minutes.

We went through a stage where we didn’t buy any meat for two months while we finished everything in the freezer and started on the cupboards.

You see, we all get into a habit of buying the same groceries every week without checking if we really need it.

If you’re not already menu planning, I’d like to encourage you to at least start. Do so for at least a month and give it a good go. If it REALLY doesn’t work with your personal style then so be it.

If you already do menu planning, then your challenge for this week is to only buy perishables for your next shopping trip and eat from your freezer and cupboards.

Today I thought I’d give you some insight into how I do my menu planning around my weekly appointments.

My first responsibility is always to create a healthy home environment so I like to have a healthy supper prepared and ready to eat by 7pm.

I check the calendar to see when I have appointments in the evenings. I currently have a private platinum client permanently on Mondays, around supper prep time, so Mondays have to be super-quick (like a stir-fry) or freezer food.

If I’m doing teleseminars or group coaching calls, they’re usually a little later in the evening, so those don’t affect things too much, unless they follow normal coaching calls.

I note down all these appointments, including when we’re going out for supper, maybe with friends.

Then I check the freezer to see if there are any ready meals that simply have to be heated. I’ll use these on my “busy” days and only then will I have the luxury of “proper” cooking around all my appointments.

And that’s how I do it.

How do you decide what to cook?

My menu for the week

Monday
Pasta carbonara

Tuesday
Stir-fried rice and veggies with chicken steaks

Wednesday
Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and salad

Thursday
Out with friends to an Indian restaurant (Suzanne, I can’t wait!)

Friday
Hot dogs and chips

Visit Laura for more menu ideas.

Don’t forget to visit on Friday to show off what you declutter this week. The Mr Linky will be up at 12am EST so get ready

P.S. Download your free menu planning form and grocery list here

The search for a cleaning lady continues but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Bea’s friend is bringing a lady on Wednesday and I CAN’T WAIT! I really hope she works out because I’m a bit fussy (!).

And in case you’re interested, I have still not done one stitch of ironing! I am wearing absolutely everything in my wardrobe first

Our goals
Dion and I had a goals review session last night – such fun! And then we went through MOUNTAINS of research for when we go to the UK in May. Our goal is to have flights booked by the end of the month. We’re actually travelling for 4 weeks this year.

Good thing we’ve been saving because I had a bit of a shock yesterday looking at UK prices. Remember we have to multiply everything by 14 to get the prices in South African Rand, which can stop your heart beating for a few seconds

But how are you doing on your goals? If you haven’t been successful in the past, then maybe you should have a look at how to set and achieve your goals. Go here to read more.

Monday
Healthy macaroni cheese – see below for recipe

Tuesday
Dion’s night

Wednesday
Stirfried beef, veggies and rice

Thursday
Baked potatoes with kidney bean sauce

Friday
Hamburgers, chips and salad

Healthy macaroni cheese
300g macaroni
1 can (410g) tomato and onion mix (or 2 tomatoes and an onion, chopped up)
500 ml fat-free milk
100g cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkt thick white onion soup

Cook macaroni as normal.
Pour soup powder into a saucepan, add milk and bring to the boil. If you stir with a whisk, it keeps your sauce lump-free
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
In a greased casserole dish, layer macaroni, tomatoes & onions, salt & pepper, cheese, then again macaroni, tomatoes & onions, salt & pepper and cheese. Keep some cheese for the top!
Pour the sauce over the top and bake for 15 minutes.
Then add the cheese and bake for the last 5 minutes.
Enjoy – it is SOOOO yum!

Please visit Laura for more menu plans.

Please also go to this post if you want to win a Household Organising File.

Have a great week!