One of the things I really like about meal planning is that you are really in charge of deciding what you put into your body and when. This week we had a lapse in judgement due to fatigue and we spent too much money at the chip shop. The quality wasn’t the best either and we knew we could do so much better.
So out came some of our favourite home-cooked takeaway style meals. Most of the week was also ad hoc like last week in terms of the meals we had because we were in and out so much of the time. It’s always a good idea to have in the back of your mind, some quick meal ideas for when you don’t have much time, or that the younger ones can either prepare or help themselves to.
Here are the dinner meals we really had planned:
Jerk chicken and festival
Rice and peas with baked chicken
Callaloo with saltfish, fried dumplings and plantain
Chicken and vegetable stir-fry with noodles
Chicken enchiladas
We had planned to dish up, label and freeze any leftovers for a later date.
Sometimes life gets in the way of our plans though, so we had to grab for other ideas and this is what we eventually had:
Chicken and vegetable stir-fry with noodles (two days)
Callaloo and saltfish with fried dumplings and plantain
Fruit smoothies and milkshakes (it was the really hot weather)
Oven style fried chicken
Pizza
Chips with fried chicken/lamb kebab/fish
Tips for you
One tip which we shared with some folk recently (and they were quite shocked) is that chicken thighs have more flavour and are much cheaper when compared to chicken breasts. Most supermarkets now do the boneless thighs which you can then cut up and use as you would chicken breast pieces.
We always find it much cheaper to buy one whole chicken and cut it into smaller pieces for the dishes you want to prepare. We did a video to show you how to do this.
Also, we would strongly suggest that if your child or children get the opportunity to do Food studies and Cooking lessons, that you encourage it. The knowledge and skills they learn are valuable for life.
Don’t think that branded food items are always more expensive. This week, we found quite a few food items like passata, for example, were coming up much cheaper as a branded item.
Look out for the unit cost of products on the shelves to see what is best for your budget.
Avoid buying multi-buy packs unless you can safely store and use them before they have passed their use by date.
Related Posts
9 reasons for planning your meals
Make great meals even when your cupboards are almost bare
50 money saving tips for the savvy shopper
How was it for you this week? Do you manage to plan your meals in advance? I’m sure when you do, you will find that you save so much more on your grocery bill. Do let us know though.
This week we are linking up with Katy of KatyKicker and Naomi of The Organised Life Project
I know what you mean – sometimes dinners don’t go quite to the plan!
Ahh! Most weeks we have a day that never works out but it’s OK. Sometimes life gets in the way.
I had to Google what Callaloo was. I’ve never heard of it before. x
We’d rather they go to plan as we definitely save more money that way! Thanks so much for stopping by. We appreciate it.
I think we’ve all been there spending a bit too much at the chip shop! Great meals this week, I LOVE the sound of this: Callaloo and saltfish with fried dumplings and plantain
Thanks for linking up!
You should try them one day Katy! I should do a video to show you. Let me know.
I love Caribbean food but struggled with Saltfish when I had it! I definitely have weeks when the meal plan doesn’t go to plan and we end up cobbling something together. Hope it’s worked well this week.
I’m so happy to report that things worked better this week.
Great post. I have been wanting to get into meal planning. I have been too lazy and not motivated enough to do it. Maybe because I don’t even know where to begin. But I know it needs to be done, especially since summer is upon us. Thank you for the tips
It’s really something amazing to get into! We used to waste so much food before we started! Also, now, we freeze or refrigerate leftovers that always come in handy as part of other meals. I got into it when another blogger wrote a guest post for us. It was one of the best posts we’ve had in terms of saving us some money. You can read it here.
This point which you have mentioned, “The knowledge and skills they learn are valuable for life.” I loved it. 2ndly Caribbean food is great and Saltfish is my most favorite.
I have a hard time meal planning and actually keeping up with it. I can plan all day and still never end up cooking it. Or i plan and end up forgetting an ingredient. im so unorganized lol
Just give yourself a chance. You may make a few mistakes at the start but after a while, you do get used to it. The biggest saving is on time and money. You waste so much less too!
I’ve never thought to just buy a whole chicken and piece it out! I always end up with trays and trays of chicken breast and thigh in my fridge and freezer. Great tip!
We learnt this tip as teenagers living in Jamaica. In fact, we used to raise our own chickens so that was an easy skill to learn. Glad the tip is useful to you. Thanks for stopping by too.
Great tips! I know what you mean about life just messing up your plans! I try to freeze batches of dried mushrooms,peppers,onions and carrots so they are ready to use in any dishes. Oh and I only try them in a tablespoon of olive oil.
Thanks
D, xo
Sorry not dried but fried! 😉