Meal Planning…Where The Fun Starts

I’ve always loved cookery books. At one stage I had about 300, but when we moved in 2007 I gave most away on Freecycle because I just didn’t have the room 😦 I have been known to take a cookery book to bed instead of a fiction book lol.

I’m not the most organised of people, so in the past, dinner would be kind of “ad hoc” or, a takeaway (one of the reasons I gave up work 3 years ago was because I suddenly realised that I hadn’t cooked a meal and sat down with my family to eat it in 8 months!) and those mouth watering masterpieces that I drooled over on those glossy pages would stay in print and never grace my oven.

But now, I’ve actually started cooking stuff…real food. Not the “bung it in the oven from the packet” type stuff. I mean the kind of food that requires chopping, stirring, frying and basting (usually accompanied by Thirty Seconds to Mars, a pug and 2 cats who seem excited by mummy spending time in the kitchen….or are they just praying I’ll drop something?).

And so it dawned on me….I need to meal plan lol. Every Sunday afternoon/evening (since the beginning of December) you will find me on the sofa, or standing at the kitchen breakfast bar, with a pile of cookery books. I tend to pick one book, and use that for a week, then the following week I’ll switch to another. I’ve never been one of those mums who says to the family “Mondays is Spag Bol night…Tuesdays is sausages…Wednesday is…” and do the same thing every week, just ask my kids. They will tell you that over the years we’ve had some pretty weird stuff lol. My daughter will never forget Ainsley Harriotts Spicy Baked Bean Pasties (they went down very well) or my husband the Chicken Liver Risotto (YUK!).

The meals aren’t set in stone, and sometimes I just use the books to inspire me. This week I’m using Nigel Slaters Real Food and The Great British Bake Off Everyday

• Monday – Coq Au Riesling with Potato Cakes, spinach and broccoli
• Tuesday – Sausage Pie with roasted vegetables
• Wednesday – Prosciutto & Fontina Pastries with salad
• Thursday – Pork with Mushrooms & Garlic served with noodles
• Friday – My night off…possibly pizza
• Saturday – A good old fashioned “fry up”
• Sunday – Roast (cooked by the husband)

I’m going to have to limit myself when it comes to cakes and puddings (my favourite!) to two a week. And this week i’ll be doing:

• Monday – Chocolate Doughnuts with Butterscotch Sauce
• Wed or Thur – Poppyseed & Lemon Cake

Today I’m buying a new piece of kitchen equipment (will tell you about that tomorrow) which I’m really excited about, and hopefully it means I’ll be able to use my most recent book purchase…

What? I couldn’t help it…I’ll find some shelf space for it if it kills me 😉

 

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