The Joy Of Meal Planning : Simplify Your Life Series 2016

Ever found yourself in a complete food rut or staring at a cupboard full of food, but with no idea what to make?  Well I did and it got to a point where I flung my hands in the air in despair and declared "No more!".

The problem:

My boyfriend and I found ourselves making and eating pretty much the same meals week in/week out and it was getting a little boring (sorry hon!).  That made us start to rely a bit too much on take-aways and meals out for the variety our palettes craved....not great when you are trying to stick to a budget or trying to shrink that waistline!  

The solution:

Having got a fantastic calendar from my sister for Christmas we began to plan in what we would eat for dinner each day - it's so convenient as it is hanging right there in our kitchen where we need to see it.  As it's a calendar we can clearly plan for when we won't have much time to cook in the evening, or when one of us is out.  We are then in a great position to write our weekly shopping list to fit exactly what we plan to make.

The benefits:

More variety achieved - we quickly began to see what dishes we made consistently and began to experiment with new menu ideas to mix it up a bit.  We still have our old favourites, but appreciate them more now we are not only eating them.
Fewer take-aways - this has benefited our wallets and our waists.  We still enjoy meals out and the occasional cheeky indian take-away, but again this is at a better balance with our home cooked food.
Less food waste - as the shopping list is tailored to what we plan to cook, we are wasting a lot less food on a weekly basis.  Again better for the old wallet and the environment benefits too which is an added bonus.
The list is the list - this has allowed us to become more disciplined at the Supermarket.  We power round that store in less than an hour as we know where everything is and it means we avoid the dangers of browsing and finding unplanned items creeping into the trolley!  Again this has led to much better budgetary control - do not get me wrong, we still occasionally go "off piste" as we call it and treat ourselves, but it is far less than before and actually feels like a treat rather than just shopping for random stuff.
I have become more of a cook - something I never thought would happen in a million years, but I have actually begun to enjoy cooking more - I am the self-declared queen of "one-pot cookery" in our house now!

So I'd highly recommend you give this a go - you don't have to stick to the plan rigidly.  We are forever swapping meals across the days to better suit our schedules and/or what we fancy eating that day.

Do you meal plan?  Any tips you can share?