If you’ve been here before you will know that I am a fan of Once a Month Cooking – at least for 29 days of the month. All those lovely stress free suppers are just brilliant!
My problem is Cooking Day. As I get nearer to the time that I have to fill the freezer, I can feel my enthusiasm waning and my meal planning feet beginning to drag…
And, of course, there is the problem of actually finding all that time to put aside to cook, which can be quite difficult.
But as I was trying to get myself to commit to another WHOLE day to fill the freezer for October, I realised – why do I need to cook everything at once? After all, not even my family of hungry gannets can eat 30 meals in one week!
So – I give you…
Once a Week Cooking
It’s simple really – here’s how it goes:
- Plan two weeks meals and then repeat
- Week 1: At the beginning of the first week prepare double quantities of all the meals you will need for that week only. Freeze those that you’re not going to use immediately
- Week 2: At the start of week 2 do the same for that weeks meals
- Week 3: check your freezer and heave a sigh of relief that you have all the meals for the week
- Week 4: repeat actions for week 3!
Just to make things more interesting we’re back to budgeting. Summer has been lovely with holidays and lots of people staying, but not a lot of sticking-to-budget. Hopefully now we can get back on track.
Menu plan Week 2 – 5 meals for £26
So here is the menu plan for this month – last week was Week 1 and cost £27 for the five weekday meals (feeding 4 hungry people).
This week is the second week and costs just under £26 for the five meals.
(And please remember – I’m not a nutritionist and make absolutely no claims as to the nutritional content of these menus – it’s just what we eat!)
| DAY | WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Chicken in Ginger and Lime* (Cook extra for stirfry) | Homemade Lemon and Parsley Fishfingers* with Potato wedges* |
| Tuesday | Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Tart | Sausages with pasta and roast tomato and mascarpone sauce* |
| Wednesday | Chicken Stir-fry (using extra chicken cooked on Monday) | Smoked Mackerel with Orange and Ginger Stirfry veg |
| Thursday | Meatballs in tomato sauce* | Lemony Roast Chicken* (Make sure you have some leftovers for tomorrow) |
| Friday | Tuna, tomato and mascarpone pasta bake* | Frittata and salad |
| TO DO AHEAD |
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| OTHER THINGS that can be done ahead at some stage (depending on when you’re eating them) |
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| Time Taken | Probably about 2 ½ hours – a lot was done whilst in the kitchen cooking other things or was fitted in when I had half an hour or so to spare | I’ll let you know! |
| Total Cost for the 5 suppers | £27 | £26 |
Of course, the meal plan doesn’t have to be exactly the same for the next fortnight.
The freezer meals obviously stay the same, but there will be some quick meals planned to cook on the night that can be changed.
And where the menu plans to cook enough to have leftovers, what you do with them can be changed round. For example, leftover chicken in ginger and lime is great in stir frys or in Thai green chicken curry.
Second Two Weeks
| Day | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Meatballs in tomato sauce* | Lemony Roast Chicken* (Make sure you have some leftovers for tomorrow) |
| Tuesday | Chicken in Ginger and Lime* (Cook extra for Thai Chicken) | Leftover chicken pasties |
| Wednesday | Macaroni cheese with extra veg and salad | Smoked Mackerel with Orange and Ginger Stirfry veg |
| Thursday | Thai green chicken curry | Sausages with pasta and roast tomato and mascarpone sauce* |
| Friday | Baked eggs with spinach, roast tomato and mascarpone | Homemade Lemon and Parsley Fishfingers* with Potato wedges* |
| MAKE AHEAD | Umm…
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Hmmm…
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| OTHER THINGS that can be done ahead at some stage (depending on when you’re eating them) |
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So far, so good. The cooking certainly feels easier and less of a marathon as I can fit it in around the other things we’re cooking. It’s also good to have a list of other things that can be prepped ahead of time – having them written down, means that if I have a few minutes to spare I know exactly what needs to be done.
What are you cooking this week?
And what’s your favourite way of getting ahead??
As usual I’m linking up to Mrs M’s Meal Planning Monday where you can find lots of other meal planners!
Have a good week!
