Where has the week gone already?

When I started this blog I had plans, not exactly grand plans, but plans none-the-less. I was going to have something to write about every day, and put up my post without fail. That lasted 3 days.

Sunday we had a family day, so I figured if I only post 6 days of the week that's still pretty good for someone starting out. Then Monday happened. It didn't exactly go badly, but I work Mondays and Tuesdays (and some Wednesdays), and well, the time I had I wanted to spend with my family. Yesterday the same thing happened, though I did spend quite a bit more time on the net last night than I'd normally like to mention.

I have however devised a plan to have a fully planned out menu for 6 weeks then repeat it, so I will only have to write my master shoping lists once, then as the week rolls around I can just cross off anything I have in the pantry and only buy what I really need, or what is on special that we actually use. When I get the full file organised I'll share it with you all here too

For now though, this is my Wednesday off so my plans are to catch up on a little housework (second load of washing is in the machine as I type), get some practice in on my camera, then come home after getting some photos printed and this fortnight's groceries done with part 1 of my new system.

Trying to be organised - meal planning

In my quest to be a little more organised, I'm back on the meal planning bandwagon. I actually meal planned 5 weeks in one sitting, but this week has been a little hectic and we haven't stuck to it. The way I (try) to do it is plan til the end of next week, then work out my shopping list til next grocery day. Even though our bin night is Sunday, I work Monday-Wednesday, so groceries are Thursday or Friday. So here's what I have planned til Next Sunday night:

• Fri: Steak, gnocchi bake and veg
• Sat: Beer battered fish and chips
• Sun: Lamb hot pot

• Mon: Chicken Risotto
• Tues: Spicy lamb patties
• Wed: Meatloaf with chips and veg (this in one of Charlotte's favourites)
• Thurs: Baked apricot chicken
• Fri: Baked potatoes with chili con carne
• Sat: Satay Beef
• Sun: Jimmys butter chicken

I should add, we're trying to cook as much of our meals from scratch as possible. I still buy curry paste for when we feel like Thai, and jars of pasta sauce as a base for Italian, but otherwise most of our cooking is from basic ingredients. The above is a combination of recipes from the Baby Led Weaning cookbook, the Aldi cookbook, and Margaret Fulton's satay recipe. My shopping list is from Kikki.K, and  love that it's magnetic so it sticks to the fridge, and it is divided up into categories, so as I'm going through the supermarket I don't have to filter through one big list of everything, I just need to scan one smaller section to get everything we need.

I use Jade's menu planner and hang my clipboards on the fridge with magnetic hooks from Kikki K (I love that shop, but my credit card bill doesn't). The empty hook in the middle is home to a bulldog clip that I keep my bills on so I know what's coming out of the account and when, but I thought for privacy reasons I better not post a photo on the internet that contains my home address.

Hopefully the weather fines up on the weekend so I can share the start of our veggie patch.