1st Jan 2011

Happy New Year!!  I have decided to return to my blog after a challenging 18 months or so.  I am not going to try to be fancy or smart - just my thoughts each and every day.

Today is the first day of a new year so here goes.  This year we are going to be organised leading to more money to plough into holiday savings and paying off some debt.  I am off to clean out the fridge and freezer and discover what meals I can make.  I need to menu plan for the next 2 weeks until we go on holidays.  I have already made muesli slice and banana cake for packed lunches at work.

GOAL:  No eating out or takeaway before we go to Melbourne in 2 weeks.

I have emptied both freezers and checked all of the contents.  Also, defrosted the small freezer.  I found some minestrone soup which we had for lunch.

Based on what I found I have made a menu plan for the next 2 weeks until we go away.  We went and got some fuel for the mower ($25) and also 2l of milk and a few beans.  

Here is the menu plan – it may provide some inspiration.  I am not feeding a family but just 2 adults.

Saturday – Beef stir fry and rice – beef in freezer
Sunday – Pumpkin soup – soup pre-made from freezer
Monday – Pumpkin and bacon risotto – bacon in freezer and home-grown pumpkin
Tuesday – Chilli con carne and rice – chilli in freezer
Wednesday – Grilled salmon and vegies – salmon in freezer
Thursday – Beef stroganoff – beef in freezer
Friday – Nachos – Aldi corn chips, Mimi’s refried beans (in freezer), Aldi salsa and grated cheese
Saturday – Chicken and mushroom crepes – chicken in freezer
Sunday – Pizza – make dough in breadmaker
Monday – Pasta with mushroom bolognaise sauce – bolognaise sauce in freezer
Tuesday – Tuna patties and vegies – use home-grown sweet potato in patties
Wednesday – Chicken and pasta bake – chicken in freezer
Thursday – Beef stir fry – beef in freezer
Friday – Scrambled eggs and bacon on Turkish bread

We live in a rural area and are not particularly isolated, but takeaway is not really an option as it is 10-15 minutes from the nearest shop to home and it would be cold by the time we got home.  The downside to this is that if we do not want to cook it results in eating out which is generally more expensive than takeaway.  I try to avoid this a) planning and b) factoring some ‘treat’ meals such as the pizza and nachos.

I generally only menu plan our evening meal.  We both work full-time and tend to take left-overs for lunches.  I have an abundance of home-grown cucumbers at the moment so I will be having cheese and cucumber sandwiches.  There is muesli slice and banana cake in the freezer which I will use for snacks.  I will need to buy some more vegetables during the week but that should be the only expense.