love any kind of planning – give me a list or a timetable for pretty much anything and I’m a happy lass. There’s one kind of planning that never really meshed with me though and that’s menu planning. The reason why it doesn’t work for me is because I’m young-ish and child free. I have no idea what I’m going to be doing on Wednesday night next week so I can’t very well plan for that can I? I’ve tried several times to menu plan but I just end up with a bag of lettuce slime and a guilty conscious at the end of the week. This week on Straight and Curly, Kelly and I talking about the pros and cons of menu planning and why you should (or shouldn’t!) do it.
A few ways you can menu plan without menu planning and hopefully make your week way less stressful.
Plan snacks
Even if I’m travelling, I always plan snacks. If I’m walking past a supermarket, I’ll grab some apples, bananas, eggs to boil, carrots and a tub of hummus. I find having little snacks like this on hand everywhere I go, it stops me from resorting to sugary muesli bars or biscuits at meetings.
Make ahead some meals
I’m a huge fan of the make ahead meal. Most Sundays I’ll make a vegetable bake or soup to have for meals during the week and it just takes the pressure off for a few mid-week meals. I can commit to eating a pre-cooked meal, pre-planned cooking just doesn’t seem to happen for me.
Never cook for one
I live in a two person household and I always over cater. Instead of eating the extra food, I always make a meal for four people and serve two portions into bowls for dinner and two portions into tupperware containers for lunch the next day. It stops me picking at leftovers when I’m cleaning up the kitchen later and I’ve got a lovely meal for lunch the next day.
We’ve got heaps of tips of resources this week for meal planning. You can listen to the podcast on your smartphone or can listen to it right here.
Stacey and I also have another podcast out this week and we’re talking about Sweet Valley Confidential – the long awaited 10 years later sequel of the Sweet Valley High series. What happens when Francine Pascal tries to write a sequel to a book series she didn’t actually write herself? Inconsistent story lines abound!
Talk to me about meal planning – do you do it? Do you hate it? Love it? I feel like I should be able to do this better so I’d love some tips if you have any!
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