Menu Planning

I had a difficult time with my menu plan last week; I planned my meals for the week, blogged about it ... and then pretty much ignored it. Which led to some food waste (which is very annoying) ... but! - the cause of the menu plan ignoring, the food waste and the unplanned non-blogging (I haven't posted anything in nearly a week)?! I was suddenly compelled to do some major spring cleaning around the Simply Burbs home. I am not a cleaner by nature, so I know better than to interfere when the mood strikes me! I got lots of sorting, cleaning and organizing done around here, which was well worth falling off the meal plan for the week!

But - back to this weeks plan!

 Little Boy, very proud of 'helping' mama with the menu plan.

We are still eating down the cupboards and freezer, which is certainly making for some interesting meals. I am also experimenting more with some gluten free baking, thanks in no small part to the encouragement of my GF friends, and my intense cravings for anything sweet and baked!

Monday
      Spinach and Mushroom Pizza (with an almond flour crust, from The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook, by Elena Amsterdam)

Tuesday
     Veggie and Brown Rice Stir Fry

Wednesday
     Pasta and Homemade Pasta Sauce, with Roasted Beets

Thursday
     Rice and Pinto Beans, with Avocado and Tomatoes

Friday
     Pasta Salad, with Sauteed Squash

Saturday
     Homemade Black Bean Burgers, with Quinoa and Roasted Corn

Sunday
     Quiche and Salad (quiche made with almond flour crust, from Elena Amsterdam's cookbook!)


How is your menu plan looking this week? Feel free to share or add a link back to your own menu plan blog post; or join us over at Organizing Junkie, for her Menu Plan Monday blog link-up. I'd love to hear from you!

Menu Planning

Evening meals here at the Simply Burbs home are simple affairs. Between busy working schedules, three children and a weekly grocery budget, we don't tend to go in for fancy cooking.

I am a huge fan of bulk cooking, whether it be cooking double or triple servings of a meal, with the goal of freezing the extras, or cooking large amounts of single ingredients, such as beans or rice, so that they can be used in a variety of ways throughout the coming week.

This week's menu is a typical one for us; we are having a 'cupboard' week this week - using up some of the things that are hidden in the back of the pantry, or at the bottom of the freezer.

Monday
      Brown Rice and Pinto Bean open-face Burritos, with Avocado (both the rice and the beans will come from the freezer)

Tuesday
     Raw veggies with Hummus, Chickpea Salad

Wednesday
      Pesto Potato Soup, with black olive bread (potatoes and pesto from the freezer; we have a can of olives in the pantry, and bread flour stored in the freezer to make the bread with)
    
Thursday
     White Bean Chilli (beans are from the freezer; they were bulk cooked from dried in the crock pot, and then frozen)

Friday
     Egg Salad

Saturday
     Picnic Dinner (we are going to an outdoor concert, and will take a simple dinner of bread and cheese, olives and fruit)

Sunday
      Gluten free pasta, and home made sauce (from the freezer stash!)
    

How about you? what is on your menu for the upcoming week? Feel free to share, or add a link back to your blog post; or join us over at Organizing Junkie, for her Menu Plan Monday blog link-up. I'd love to hear from you.

Menu Planning

Menu Planning is one of those household chores that I don't really look forward to doing ... but I loathe not having done it (rather like unloading the dishwasher!)

I am always surprised at both how easy having a menu plan in place makes meal prep for the week, and conversely, how difficult meals are without one.

So, it is Sunday afternoon as I am writing this, my usual time to sit down with pencil and paper, and my schedule for the week, and plan my meals for the coming seven days.

A couple of quick asides; I follow a gluten- and dairy-free diet, and we are a vegetarian family, although we do eat eggs and fish. The rest of my family does eat gluten and dairy, but I tend not to base meals on either of those things, making it easier for me to avoid them.

Monday
     White Bean and Sweet Potato Stew, with Kale (cooked in the crock pot)

Tuesday
     Egg salad with salad (romaine lettuce and watercress, and cucumbers)

Wednesday
     Quinoa, baked fish, carrot salad

Thursday
     Corn pasta and home made pasta sauce

Friday
     Pot luck supper with friends (I will probably take a salad)

Saturday
     Open face burritos, with pinto beans and brown rice, avocado, salsa and lettuce

Sunday
     Baked tofu, with mushroom amaranth and green salad

I have had a couple of really successful, zero Food Waste weeks, which I think in part is due to me writing out a realistic menu plan each week, and partly because I have recently adopted a totally different grocery shopping method. I'll write more about that later this week!


What is on your menu plan this week? Are you doing anything in particular to help prevent Food Waste? Feel free to share, or post a link back to your own blog post; or join us over at Organizing Junkie, for her Menu Plan Monday blog link-up.

    

Menu Planning

Each week I make a menu plan (well, most weeks!)

I have found that spending just a few minutes each weekend, planning ahead what our evening meals will be, make our days much smoother. No more last minute rushing or runs for expensive carry out food.

I tend to base my meal plans on a couple of factors:

- what fresh produce do I have available in the fridge,
- what we have available in the pantry,
- what our schedule looks like for each day,
- and, using my psychic abilities to correctly predict what every member of my family will want for dinner on each day.

At this stage, I only make one evening meal; the two Little Ones eat the same as we do, which makes meals a little easier.

One other thing! We are a vegetarian family, although we do eat eggs, some dairy, and very occasionally fish. I also try to follow a mostly gluten free diet, so although the rest of my family are not gluten free, evening meals are typically GF.

This week is fairly typical, schedule-wise, so our menu is pretty typical too!

Monday
     Fish Sticks
     Quinoa
     Roasted Broccoli

Tuesday
     White Bean and Hominy Chilli
     Popovers
     Green Salad

Wednesday
     Chicks and Pots (Roasted Chickpeas and Sweet Potatoes)
     Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms

Thursday
     Spinach Pesto Pizza

Friday
     Open Faced Burritos (Brown Rice and Black Beans)
     Avocado Slices
     Spinach
     Salsa
 
Saturday
     Egg Salad, with Green Salad

Sunday
     Rustle (We love Rustle in our home! Those meals where you pull all sorts of leftovers together to make a meal? Rustle!)


So what is your menu planning for this week looking like? Do you make a menu plan each week? Feel free to share, or post a link back to your own menu planning blog; I'd love to hear from you!