Oops! I've fallen off the OS wagon.....

Trazy

I used to live on a boat and the theory amongst sailors is everything must have at least 2 uses and if you havent used it in 6 months you dont need it

CurlyTop

I never used to meal plan, I just threw in the trolley, whatever took my fancy. Internet shopping was just as much a temptation, until I got a grip of myself.

I now meal plan for the month (teas only), whereby I write down something for a meal. I do two nights as fish nights. Every other week Wednesday is omelette night (this is the one thing I can't seem to get right and as this is the one thing DH can get right, as its his day off, he's happy to flip the omelette) and its pasta, rice and meat for the other days. During the month, we have every other Saturday as takeaway night. Once I've written everything down, I count how much of everything I need, ie; how many chicken for chicken meals, how many portions of frozen peas for meals, etc. I tot it up and then look through my fridge, freezer and cupboards and see how much I've got of what I need.

I've made an excel spreadsheet of shops I got to for stuff, such as Home and Bargain for cleaning stuff, toiletries, gravy (oh, thats another thing I can't do from scratch, thank heavens for Bisto), biscuits. Iceland for the frozen stuff - only cos Farm Foods is too far from me and we don't have a car. Aldi for eggs, frickadelen (pork meatballs that can go in pasta or gravy and very low in fat), fizzy juice, dishwash salt, etc. Asda/ Tescos for everything else. I then just fill in the boxes with quantities of stuff that's listed on there. I then top up on Tuesdays when DH is given a list and of he pops to get any fresh stuff, ie; milk, veg, fruit. It means I only have to do the list once a month. Have got it down to about 30 mins.

The other thing for instance, is that if the 'calendar' says beef stew and dumplings and I'm not in the mood for it, there are plenty of other meal choices I can choose from. Cakes I make from scratch and some of them I freeze - especially pear and almond pudding (for DH).

Hope this helps. good luck.

zippychick

welcome back! Lots of people fall off the wagon , so ive merged this with an older thread discussing how to get back on it :j

Are you a member of the grocery challenge?

Few threads which should help you ! I think the key to a lot of it is planning and organisation. :j:D

meal planning - where do i start?

Meal planning how do you do it?

Save money by not meal planning

Can you do OS and work full time?

How to organise everything in my life OS?

hope t hese links help
Zip

Introuble28

Hi all

I am gettign myself in a state and I was hoping some of you die-hard old stylers could help me.

Recenly I have been so busy at work that I have lost my old style "pizzaz"! I really want to get it back as it was going so well.

I have been spending too much money and buyign ready meals and other silly things. Also, the household food waste has gone up :eek:

Basically I was wondering how you all cope when you loose your way old style wise as I really want to get back to it!?

The reason I am so busy at work is that I am working towards a promotion coming in next month which will be great but I can hardly drag myself up my stairs let alone cook from scratch! Then I dont have teh energy to do much at the weekend either!

Arrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh! Thanks for listening anyway, and any ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated!

rosieben

First of all - cut yourself some slack, you're under stress so don't feel guilty!

Maybe think of one thing that you'd really like to improve on and work on that, don't try to do too much at once - baby steps!

If its ready meals that worry you most then maybe you could batch cook some bolognaise or something at the weekend and freeze a few portions (if you have a slow cooker you just throw in the ingredients and forget it for a few hours)

What helped me when I was working full time and under pressure was planning ahead. I carried a small filofax with lists for everything - meals, shopping, cleaning etc, notes to myself to collect dry-cleaning etc, plus a list of birthdays and other rememberables for the coming months so I wouldn't be caught out. I sometimes checked my lists several times a day but it helped me feel more in control of things. My system is different now I've retired but I still have lists

Take care of yourself, and don't try to be Superwoman!

Good luck with the promotion!

mummysaver

Good luck with the promotion! And I second what Rosie says, you can't do everything. If it's food that bothers you, a batch of curry one weekend and bolognese the next and perhaps chicken, mash and veg the next, then freeze in portions, at least you will have something when you're starving, nothing wrong with soup and a sarnie either, or how about a big bowl of pasta salad or couscous made up in the fridge so you could help yourself as soon as you arrived home.

I find posting on the daily thread keeps me motivated, I am basically nosey, but I love to see what others are up to, and find that listing even the smallest thing will help me to get it done, or look back on what I've achieved. So many people manage to do so much with all sorts of problems and troubles, that it kind of spurs me on too!

Another thing I've learnt is to do one thing regularly, such as whilst I'm waiting for the kettle to boil in the morning I usually load/unload the dishwasher, then bung the dishcloths into bleachy water to soak, when I next go into the kitchen I then use the cloths to give the sides a quick swish and swipe, and occasionally even wipe out the microwave, and remove grubby marks from the cupboard doors. Only takes mins, usually whilst the kettle is boiling, but it has really helped me to keep the kitchen tidy and clean. Same with the bathroom, I tend to wipe it over whilst I'm running a bath, and squirt cleaner down all the loos. Eventually these things have become habits, but it took some time as I loathe housework with a passion!

Good luck in finding your pizazz!

Dharma_Bunny

I find that I waste more and struggle more when I'm aiming to be fully OS when I'm not in the zone.

For instance I'll buy a big chicken, with the intention of stretching it to stock etc. but because I'm felling bleh most of it ends up getting chucked.
If I just make some scrambled eggs on toast, it's just as healthy and OS, but it's easy and there's no waste.

I'm trying to simplify as well as OS, so no more attempting to save veg scraps for compost that will never be used.

zippychick

s this has dropped down the board ive merged it with our thread on falling off the OS wagon. I hope you find your way back on its safely

doelani

After being very old style for a while, doing menus shopping for bargains etc I fell off it !!! I have been eating out way to much........went out for a meal last night and it cost £45 :eek: and had a chinese on tuesday at £5:eek:. So thats it bac to OS

Had heating oil delivered today at £300 ( paid cash as save for it each month ) and electricty price in n.ireland increasing on 1st so need to really get sorted and back on track

So here goes , going to do make list of what is in freezer etc this afternoon and back to menu planning.

We would usually have tin of soup for lunch on friday at .75p a can ( usually buy heinz ) so going to start making soup more often and freezing portions. Now my question on this is , does soup freeze ok ? I have never done this before. Apart from raw meat the only thing in my freezer is stuff I buy frozen.

I have loads of chicken fillets and as a friend showed me how to make chicken goujons which we all love . As my chicken is already frozen if I defost and make a batch of goujons and cook them can I refreeze them ?

I am sure I will have other questions but thats it for now lol

thanks

Glitzer

I believe soup freezes fine. In saying that, soup I find keeps in the fridge for quite a few days too.

Meat you can freeze again as long as it's change state. So as long as your chicken was bought fresh, you can defrost it, cook it then re-freeze it. I know some people are wary (and the official guidelines say not to) of then re-heating chicken but as long as it is piping hot before serving then you should be fine. My DH is a chef and we do this at home (though he isn't allowed to at work).