Routines and meal planning

This post is mainly to reply to Nicole's post/questions. It was too big for me to leave as a comment! And hopefully some of you who don't follow Nicole's blog might find it helpful too.

Both Peter and I are routine type people. Although it is a routine which actually allows us to have flexibility, as it makes us calmer as we know/can anticipate what is happening next, even when what we are currently doing isn't part of the 'normal' routine.

We have a daily routine for the things that 'need' to be done (making lunches, washing dishes, cooking meals, bathing, cleaning, washing etc.). And a weekly routine which includes weekly activities eg. grocery shopping, bible study, gym visits etc. So I know where there are the regular gaps each week and can then fit in non-routine activities eg. play dates, other shopping, gardening etc. Along with this I also have a constant 'to do' list which I list any tasks that need doing, so if I find I have some spare time during the day I can quickly see what needs doing and choose something that fits the amount of time available or the energy levels I have (I found this list particularly useful when I had little babies who aren't necessarily predictable, so specific planning of tasks was more tricky).

I find that having all planning stuff (weekly routine, shopping list, 'to do' list) in one place (book/diary or phone) that gets taken everywhere with you is useful as you can add things you think of wherever you are when you think of them (while waiting for kids to come out of school or sitting watching kids swimming lessons etc.). As well as being able to remind yourself of what needs doing and you can use those small patches of free time you end up finding in your daily routine.

In relation to meal planning, I've used a couple of different approaches in the past that have worked in different season/stages of life. At the moment I'm using a weekly meal plan. Each week we have a 'fish and chips' night (it's quick and easy to prepare and a family favourite) and a 'easy meal' night (ie. a defrosted frozen meal, or pasta with pesto/stir-through sauce). Also my husband is responsible for cooking dinner on Saturday and Sunday nights. So that means I only have to find 3 recipes that I want to cook that week (I like cooking a wide variety of recipes) based on what is in season or in the garden or what meat is in the freezer. I don't assign any particular meal to each night, I just choose one of those on the plan at about lunchtime (so I can get meat out to defrost if needed), using the quicker/easier meals on days I'm more busy or feeling tired.

The big reason for using a weekly plan at the moment is I don't know exactly what we are going to have a large supply out of the garden from week to week (it is summer glut season in the veggie patch). I also used the weekly plan when I was part of a fruit and veggie co-op and I didn't know what I would get in my box of veggies each week. The down side is that you do have to sit down each week and have ideas for what to cook each week - it can become tedious.

I have also used a 4 week meal plan too. Once a month I would sit down and choose the recipes I wanted to use (again based on seasonal produce). Along with the name of each meal, I would also write the ingredients I would need to buy for that meal. I would then look at the list and split the meals up into weekly block - making sure all the pasta meals weren't in one week and if I was cooking something that used eg. some pumpkin, that there was another meal soon after to use up the rest of the pumpkin. It then would work the same as the weekly plan as far as not assigning a meal to a specific day, but choosing each day from the list.

I liked the monthly meal planning as it meant only having to sit down once a month and decide what I want to cook - I can find weekly meal planning a little tedious. I also used monthly meal planning when I was buying meat from a cheaper/better quality butcher that was a bit of a drive from home, so I only had to buy meat once a month. It also meant that I could buy non-perishables in larger quantities (if I was using it a few times in the month) and make use of bulk buying prices. The down side of monthly planning is that you have to sit down for a large chunk of time to plan a whole month of meals (unless you are happy with repeating meals a number of times in the month)

The other thing that is an important part of my meal planning, is making sure 1 meal each week is freezable and cooking a double quantity of it and freezing half. I find this harder to do in summer than in winter, as winter meals (soups, casseroles etc.) lend themselves to freezing more easily. But this is how I always have meals in the freezer to use for 'easy meal' nights.

I hope this gives you some ideas, helps you think through some of the advantages and disadvantages of each option and realise how different methods can work in different stages of life and circumstances.