Menu Planning Tips (merged)

OK, this is from my menu planner (Most normal people call it a diary, if mine was ever stolen it would give the thief a good laugh! I have no social life, just lists of dinners!). My husband works shifts, finishing at 9pm on alternate weeks so I try to do things which can be cooked in 2 seperate batches or re-heated later for him as I can't wait that long! I find routine is the key ingredient, it doesn't have to be repetitive food but it helps to have a basis in mind to start with.

Every Tuesday is Jacket Potato night : fill with baked beans/cheese/coleslaw/leftover sunday roast chicken in mayo/ratoullie/tuna/tinned salmon.
Every Thursday is Quiche night : I'm lucky that my mum is always making these for us but if we ever run out I make my own (using packet pastry I'm afraid) with cheese, eggs, milk & whatever veg is going soggy in the fridge, it can be frozen in slices or whole as preferred. Serve hot or cold (takes about 30 seconds to heat in the microwave) with steamed veg/salad/baked beans/chips.
Friday night is Fish night. Sometimes we have grilled salmon or tuna steaks, or rainbow trout (looks expensive but one £2 trout with veg/salad serves us both) sometimes a fish pie made with steamed cod or similar in a homemade parsley sauce topped with mash potato, sometimes a prawn curry (cheap tiny value prawns are ideal, chop & fry an onion, throw in prawns, add 1 jar Pataks tikka masarla sauce & your done! Takes 10 minutes plus rice cooking time). Occasionally we'll have fish in breadcrumbs or batter but I'm not that fussed. Whole fresh grilled sardines are cheap & lovely if you don't mind bones. And theres always fish cakes, make using tinned tuna/salmon or fresh/frozen cod/hake/whatever with parsley, a little finley chopped spring onion & mashed potato, shape into rounds & fry lightly in oil.
Saturday is "Takeaway night". Except we don't get a takeaway. We just eat takeaway style food. Pizza & garlic bread, tacos (cheap with mince or use tinned beans for a cheap veggie alternitive, go easy on the expensive dressings like cheese & sour cream, add sliced tomatoes & mushrooms or onions for diffrent flavours), Chinese food I get by buying reduced supermarket Chinese food over a period of weeks & freezing it until we've got several different things then adding my own rice, ditto for Thai & Indian food. I know I could make this myself from scratch but it's nice to have a bit of luxury without all the washing up, plus buying it in the reduced section means we often get it for pennies anyway!
We don't have a roast every sunday but if we do its usually chicken. One small chicken gives enough for both our Sunday dinners accompanied by roast potatos & veg, enough leftover chicken for a pasta bake or curry another night & we always make soup for work lunches with the bones. Quite often we have enough leftover chicken for sandwiches too.
Other meals for those in-between nights inculde pasta bakes filled with sliced cooked sausages, veg, cooked chicken or turkey pieces, in a sauce (Make a white sauce & vary it by adding cheese/peppercorns/white wine/onions/herbs) or in tinned chicken or mushroon soup. We also love macorini cheese which is nice & filling & cheap, basically pasta, cheese sauce & topped with grated cheese. Use Extra Mature chedder & you get the same flavour for a lot less cheese. Lovely served with garlic bread. We also like stuffed potato skins : Part bake potatos, allow to cool, split in half & scoop out middles leaving about 1cm flesh all round. Fill with leftover Chinese/Mexican food, veggies or mince & top with cheese and/or bacon bits, pop back into oven until hot through. Save scooped out flesh for shepherds pie/fish pie/fish cakes. We also make vegetable & chicken curry & risiotto (you don't need to use expensive risiotto rice but you do have to stand over it stirring the whole time it is cooking), we have the occasional steak or beef bourginion when the meat is on special offer & we have the occasional healthy version of a fried breakfast for dinner!

I only shop once a fortnight & find that making a menu plan & a shopping list, including breakfast & lunch materials, based on the menu plan essential. Fruit & veg keeps fine in the fridge over this time if you get good use by dates, supplemented by frozen sweetcorn & peas. I even try to estimate the cost of each item & therefore my total shop cost before going. Then I can revise my list & menu plan to fit in with any special offers when I'm in the shop without breaking the budget. I have to say, I couldn't manage any of this without my freezer though!!

When meal planning, do it in chunks you can cope with. For example, if you can only cope with a 2 week plan, then that is all you need to do.
Some people would bake double amounts during that 2 weeks and freeze the extra's so that they can get 3 weeks worth in reality.

One very good tip my dmother gave me was this:- PLAN YOUR LEFTOVERS!

If you're making spag bol one night, make up double the sauce, either put the spare half in the fridge to make a pasta bake on day 3 or, freeze it for another time.

If you are making a meal with mashed potatoes, make double, then in your menu planning, consider using the extra mash for another meal - making Shepards Pie, Fish Cakes, Bubble n Squeek, potato cakes etc.,

A casserole is a great way to eek out the cooking process, menu planning game and the budget! Leftover casserole can be made into a pie (either a mashed potato topping type pie or shortcrust pastry); it can be pureed to make the base for your soup.

When I first began menu planning, I attacked it and knuckled it down using a couple of methods until I'd streamlined it.

1) I wrote on the calender what we'd eated that day (a pattern began to form!)
based on that I then:
2) Shopped for what I believed I needed then used the shopping receipt to draw up a menu plan

By doing both, I eventually worked out just how much I was spending!!! Then, a few nip and tucks - voila - a more cost effective, less stress way to feed my hungry brood

Here is my menu plan, I’ve put in where I got a some of the recipes from – they may give you some ideas too. Any other recipes are from my mum.

You may guess that I have a Jamie Oliver cookbook – ‘Happy days with the naked chef’ – really good book, I’ve used it loads – some of his recipes can be found on the BBC website.

Week 1

Mo Lamb Curry & rice (with left over lamb from Su)– Jamie Oliver curry sauce recipe can be found on https://www.bbc.co.uk/food
Tu Tomato Pasta (as posted before)
We Frozen meal (left-overs not convenience meal)
Th Chilli – Baked Potato, salad, homemade coleslaw, cheese
Fr Griddled salmon, new potatoes, veg/salad
Sa Lasagne, garlic bread, salad
Su Roast Lamb, potatoes, veg, gravy, Yorkshire puddings

Week 2

Mo Braised Steak, roast potatoes, veg
Tu Tomato Pasta
We Frozen meal
Th Nachos – Chilli, tortilla chips, cheese, salad, guacamole
Fr Fish pie – fish in white sauce with mash on top
Sa White Fish Curry & Rice
Su Roast Chicken, stuffing, potatoes, veg, gravy

Week 3

Mo Chicken White Wine & Cream Sauce (left over chicken from Su), sauce = glass of white wine, small pot of cream, chicken stock cube, cornflour to thicken served with pasta or mash & veg
Tu Tomato Pasta
We Frozen meal
Th Chicken Tikka Masala, not quite like the take-away but very nice and quite quick – will post recipe if anyone wants it.
Fr Mustard Seed Salmon & Gratin recipe from https://www.uktvfood.co.uk
Sa Sausage Casserole, very similar to tiff’s recipe above
Su Roast Chicken, stuffing, potatoes, veg, gravy

Week 4

Mo White Fish with herby crust, recipe from https://www.uktvfood.co.uk
Tu Tomato Pasta
We Frozen meal
Th Lemon Chicken & rice, veg stir-fry, my own recipe will post it if anyone wants it.
Fr Vegetable Curry & Rice
Sa Avocado & White Fish, Jamie Oliver recipe – in an oven dish put white fish, a handful of prawns, a handful of basil, a sliced avocado - pour on a small pot of cream grate some cheese on top & bake for 20 minutes serve with salad and new potatoes.
Su Roast Lamb, potatoes, veg, gravy, Yorkshire puddings

When I won’t be using left over roast meats the next day I freeze it and use it either on a Wednesday or next time I need it for a recipe/make soup out of it. I always use the bones from the roasts to make stock - I make a big pan of soup from this each week for my lunches at work with any left over veg.

You are all soooo helpful! I'm fired with enthusiasm now - had got into a really boring rut of pies, spag bol, fish sausages etc. Have printed out your routines and will try to be different!