#MealPlanMonday Mon 1st to Sun 7th Sept 2014

As part of my Project 100 days shake up, I wanted to be better at one aspect – food planning.

We have always used a meal plan for years, as it is our way of ensuring we eat well and balance our food budget each week/month, but I find that planning for lunches during work and at home suffers due to lack of attention in a similar way.

So I wanted to start afresh and take part in #MealPlanMonday where at the start of the week at least you do a complete meal plan, along with your complete shopping list ready for action.  Personally I find that I always prefer to do a top-up of fresh fruit & veg, and usually milk during mid-week where possible, to keep all products as fresh as possible.

One tip I did learn this week straight from my Mother, was to freeze bread to save money!  What an insight that I never realised.

So off we went to the reduced bread section in the supermarket, and for the same cost as one loaf of bread (approximately £1.30) I managed to pick up 4 fresh naan breads (perfect for curries and pizza bases), and 2 “Finest” Wholewheat loaves for the freezer.  One trick I did was as soon as we got home, I broke up the bread into 4-slice bundles and used cheap freezer bags to separate them in the freezer.

Already I have seen this is saving us money, and makes it ideal to always have bread at the ready.  All I need to do is take out a slice or two when needed, and I can toast from frozen OR leave it on the counter for a few hours and make sandwiches from it etc.  As always, it is best to eat same day definitely with frozen bread – but what a tip!

Here is my planned menu for our family this week, including prep for good healthy work ready lunches.  Feel free to use it for inspiration for your own menu plans each week.