Meal Planning - Part 1

OK, meal planning basics...

Plan for at least a week, if not 2. Sometimes this will depend on how often you shop and how big a freezer/cupboards etc you have.

We got a second freezer from Freecycle/Freegle that lives in the garage, mainly for this purpose.

Right, take a large piece of paper, and make a list of all the meals you cook regularly, no matter what they are. E.g. Spag bol, fishfingers and chips, chicken curry, jackets and beans, pork chops etc.
Even if you only cook them once a month, write them down.

I usually end up with a list of about 20 or so things. My next step is to decide what new things I'm going to try out this month.

I use several sources for recipe ideas - these are in the links list to the right - BBC Food, Riverford etc. I also have loads of cookbooks, and recipes clipped out of magazines.

For example, I'm currently planning April's menus and this month my new recipes are Leek and cream risotto (Riverford recipe), potato, onion and rosemary frittata (Riverford), pollo alla cacciatore (Nigella Express), Pork chops with lentils, cider and cream (New English Table, Rose Prince).

If these are successful recipes, i.e. we like them, they aren't too fiddly and don't call for exotic, expensive ingredients; they will be added to the list of regular recipes.

So, go and make a list of what you eat regularly, and find a few new recipes to try out...