New Year, New Start with Food Planning

Fusspot

Happy New Year to everyone.

My food planning has gone downhill and I really want to get on top of it this year. But I don't want any complicated cooking as I work full time and live on my own but I don't want to live on ready meals every day either. However, I don't find it the same when I cook a meal myself than if someone else cooks it or its a ready meal.

My lifestyle is as such - I don't have a car so rely a lot on online shopping for the heavy stuff (I have two cats so there is a quite a bit of cat food and litter to buy), I don't have a local shop nearby that is reasonable so tend to do the shopping for fresh foods in town. I often find I am carting too much stuff home at once on the bus (I am wary of ordering fresh meats and fish etc online so it buy it in the shops), or I forget things I need. My social life mainly involves meals out with friends after work but not every night or even every week but I find I get food out of the freezer to thaw and then end up not eating it before it goes off because my plans have changed and I eat out instead. This is where ready meals come in really, or food you can just cook straight from frozen.

I do have fresh chicken breasts and fish but this gets a bit expensive to have every night. I am trying to cut down the ready meals to just once a week (at the weekend).

For work I take sandwiches or buy a tub of pasta from Sainsburys which is very tasty. I have tried making my own but it never tastes the same as is too bland.

I just want to eat healthier, cut costs when cooking and shopping for myself but not be too tight with myself either.

Oh and the cooking implements I own are: a small 1.5 litre slow cooker, a mini oven which works very well but the hobs don't work and a microwave.

Any suggestions most welcome. Thank you.

mummyjane

Soups and stews are great and can keep for several days in the fridge or be frozen in tubs or bags. Can pad them out with lots of veg and pulses too so very economical. If you will eat Lasagne or cottage pie, they are easy to make single portions which can be frozen and put in the oven when needed. If making mash is difficult, you can always slice potato thinly on the top instead. Perhaps a friend could lend you the use of their hob once a month?

Islandmaid

I would suggest Batch cooking, you don’t want food to get boring, so once a month, when you have a quiet weekend, make chicken curry, chilli, stew, Cottage pie etc, make enough for 4, then freeze 3, also make soups etc to take to work, personally, I take soup every day, I call it fridge gravel soup, whatever’s left in the fridge, lettuce and pea this week snack on nuts and fruit, you can freeze sandwiches as long as they don’t have salad in em LOL

Meals out with your mates, carry on, but limit it, say that you will go where you can get decent discount codes for, you’ll probably find most of your friends will be happy, as most people want to save dosh, especially this time of year