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Meal Planning and Tips for Organising Things

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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

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Comments

  1. Louise Fairweather says

    May 13, 2018 at 8:32 am

    I know what you mean – sometimes dinners don’t go quite to the plan!

    Reply
  2. Kim Carberry says

    May 14, 2018 at 7:37 am

    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

    Reply
    • Joleisa says

      May 17, 2018 at 6:22 pm

      We’d rather they go to plan as we definitely save more money that way! Thanks so much for stopping by. We appreciate it.

      Reply
  3. Katy Stevens says

    May 14, 2018 at 7:44 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Joleisa says

      May 17, 2018 at 6:23 pm

      You should try them one day Katy! I should do a video to show you. Let me know.

      Reply
  4. Naomi says

    May 17, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Joleisa says

      May 17, 2018 at 7:37 pm

      I’m so happy to report that things worked better this week.

      Reply
  5. Roland says

    May 27, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Joleisa says

      May 27, 2018 at 3:54 pm

      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.

      Reply
  6. Monidipa Dutta says

    May 27, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    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.

    Reply
  7. Kelly says

    May 27, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Joleisa says

      May 28, 2018 at 9:32 am

      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!

      Reply
  8. Jenny says

    May 28, 2018 at 12:02 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Joleisa says

      May 28, 2018 at 9:25 am

      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.

      Reply
  9. D says

    May 28, 2018 at 11:50 am

    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

    Reply
    • D says

      May 28, 2018 at 11:52 am

      Sorry not dried but fried! 😉

      Reply

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Hi, we're Jo and Leisa, twin sisters and authors of Joleisa.com. Originally from the sandy beaches of Jamaica we now reside in England where we followed our calling to teach. But sometimes that call changes and our new passion is writing. We're here to give the ups and downs of it all with our lifestyle tips and tricks to help you avoid the sour lemons that can get in our way of frugal budgeting, intentional living and happiness. Join us and learn more about how we found the simplest ways to achieve easy living. Read More…

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