Meal Planning Mondays March 3rd - 9th

Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE to plan and organise things. I have often been told I should be an event planner as not only do I love planning parties and events but I am a list maker extraordinaire!! I seriously have lists for lists (I kid you not!) so it's probably no surprise that every Sunday I plan out my meals for the following week.

There are many advantages to Meal Planning and if you have 30 minutes to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee (or even a glass of wine!) then you have time to plan your meals. Now I know a lot of people like to do giant batch cooking on one day of the week so they are set to go but I'm not one of them. Generally I don't have the time or energy to spend a full afternoon or better part of a day cooking but I do like to know that I am semi organised for the week ahead so this is why I plan out our meals. It makes shopping so much easier as you know exactly what you are shopping for and the theory goes that it means you will also spend less money. Since shopping for food is my weakness I can't quite attest to that being completely true (in my case) but if you stick strongly to a shopping list and don't buy on a whim then meal planning definitely also helps with sticking to a budget.

For all of those reasons I have decided to start a new weekly series of 'Meal Planning Mondays' where I will share our meal plans for the week. Where possible I'll include links to recipes and if the series really takes off then I would be happy to include shopping lists as well.

Of course I'm not alone when it comes to meal planning. Lots of people find meal planning to be a necessity that takes little time to do but solves the daily problem of deciding what on earth you are having for dinner, especially after a long day when you haven't defrosted anything or the fridge is empty! One thing I would say however, is that I only ever plan about 5 meals for the week. Generally we will always have leftovers on at least one night of the week and let's be honest, as the week passes plans do change so you might end up being invited to family or friends for dinner (yay!) or eating out. For those reasons don't stick too rigidly to your plan and keep it flexible until you know what works for you.

So there you have it - Meal Planning Mondays are a go and without further ado here is my plan for this week......

Monday March 3rd - Sunday 9th 

                                        Monday: Albondigas Soup (Turkey Meatball Soup)

                                        Tuesday: Fresh Tomato Pasta with Salad

                                        Wednesday: Chicken Bhuna (from The Hairy Dieters Eat for Life)

                                        Thursday: Leftovers

                                        Friday: Beef Stroganoff (from the Hairy Dieters Eat for Life)

                                        Saturday: Mushroom & Ham Calzone

                                        Sunday: 5 Hour Smoked Ribs; Coleslaw & Salad

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