Wednesday 24th August
 |
| 236/365: spirea |
In the end, yesterday turned out to be a productive day. I didn't find as many photos as I was hoping for but then I did walk rather than take the car, so I was fairly limited on subject matter. Things looked up when I got home however as I spent most of the afternoon meal planning.
For some time I've been wanting to tweak how I organise everything food related from planning, shopping, cooking, storing and eating. I've been looking for new recipe ideas over the past few days and yesterday I made three lists of meal ideas; one of recipes suitable for batch cooking, one for meals that don't freeze too well so I will need to have the ingredients on hand to cook from scratch, and one of freezable lunch ideas. I still have to print some of the new-to-me recipes but I have decided on a short list that I will tackle first and made a start on a shopping list. So today's task is to finish the shopping list for the batch cooking and to check the cupboards/freezers to see which items I need to stock up on.
There are a few reasons driving this desire for change. I think the most important is that I feel it's time to resume my efforts to lose weight, something I've allowed to slip over the first part of this year. I also want to add a lot more variety to my meals and be consistent about eating meat free every other day. Now that I'm not just eating alone at home but am also meeting with friends for meals and/or takeaways I need to tweak my budget to find the extra pennies needed to allow that to happen.
I haven't decided yet whether I will start making my own bread ... that was always Ced's responsibility, but I do miss having homemade bread. I'm just not sure how much cheaper it works out so if anyone has done the costings I'll be interested to hear whether there is a good saving to be made please.
Tonight's TV viewing is the next episode of Shetland, and I missed Fake or Fortune last night so will catch up with that on iPlayer.
Home made bread is too tempting for me. I'm still trying to lose weight so keep away from things like that. Planning meals is a good idea, something we do to keep to the SW food plan.
ReplyDeleteI always found the homemade bread more satisfying than shop bought so ate less of it ... don't know if I'd still be the same though! I need to be more disciplined about planning again.
DeleteNothing beats the smell and taste of home made bread although it's not something I have ever done. I don't really meal plan just do a weekly online shop from my favourites list and then see what's on offer and I will freeze a few things depending on the use by dates. Fake or Fortune was interesting last night, different is all I'll say.
ReplyDeleteI have no sense if smell so don't get to appreciate that, but I do think it tastes much nicer. I eat healthier meals when I batch cook and freeze in portions and then all I have to do is pick whatever I fancy on the day.
DeleteI'll be catching up with Fake or Fortune tomorrow now but it sounds intriguing!
Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into your new meal planning! Which is good because it means you are more likely to follow the plan! My daughter likes to try new recipes; I usually stick to the tried and true! When all else fail, I make a curry! LOL. As for homemade bread, mine didn't last as long as store bought bread does! :D
ReplyDeleteI'll be batch cooking a selection of new recipes and old favourites, so the best of both worlds. I eat more healthily when I keep up with the batch cooking so that's what I'm aiming for. I usually slice and freeze bread in small packs, enough for a couple of days at a time which helps prevent it from going stale and stops me eating too much of it ... that's the plan anyway š
DeleteI like your idea of three lists of meal ideas. Now that I'm back at work full time, I like to have meals to pull from freezer. I'll do a large batch cook this weekend. I don't bake much, so no homemade bread. I eat very little bread anyway, never have. That spirea is lovely!
ReplyDeleteIt's always the lunchtime meals that I struggle with so am hoping that freezing a variety helps me stay on track. Hope your batch cooking goes well this weekend.
DeleteI really need to do better with the meal planning. I need to work on cleaning out the freezer and organising anything that I do freeze. I have good intentions - freeze the stuff and then forget about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm determined to do better at my meal planning this time. I still need to sort out the freezer but am good to go next week!
DeleteYou have done amazing things this year - the garden, the personal trainer, piano and Italian lessons and all that decluttering. I'm not surprised that new recipes are on the list. You will make awesome food!
ReplyDeleteOh, thanks Lyssa. It has been a full year so far and lots has been achieved. New recipes are always good fun. I started looking for different ideas to use up cooked chicken and found lots of interesting ideas so will be freezing some new to me meals to try out.
Delete