Meal Planning and household matters

Meal planning is something that I do not normally do.  I usually go shopping and depending on what I find I usually go with that with no real thought for the week and perhaps an outline of what would like during the month but that all depends on the pennies at the end of the day.  Probably due to the fact that OH does not always fancy what I propose for tea or dinner and so there has always been a flexible attitude when it comes to meals.

However on deciding on trying a different way of dealing with things this year and trying to get into a routine with them I need to approach from a different angle.  Due to the fact that we have a strict budget to keep to (like a lot of families) I need to work out what I actually need a month to cover everything that I need for a good high quality (not necessarily expensive) day to day life on the food front.  I need to be able to make sure that those ingredients are going to be affordable within budget and going to be available to sustain how we live. 

We are not drinkers, although we enjoy the odd cider, or glass of wine but nothing on a regular basis, and we are not gamblers or anything else but we do appreciate good quality food and I suppose at the end of the day that has always been our treat to ourselves.  I also need to put in hand the re-stocking of the freezers with meat as well as freezing items myself.

I have always focused on ingredients and have in the main part done a lot of things myself, but I have also bought ready made stuff.  However these days I hardly buy boughten stuff and prefer by choice just to get  the ingredients and then have a go at making stuff myself.  It is a learning process and time consuming with me doing more stuff for myself but my instincts tell me that this is the right choice for us.

I am expanding little by little the things I am doing and notably at the moment bread and dairy products are on the agenda to start with.   A weekly baking session each week is also being restored and when I cook the Sunday roast will do the weekly bake.  This in turn  will maximise the use of the oven and also save money as boughten cakes are far too expensive for what they are.  Better results and flavours are achieved at home.  

I  also need to explore parameters and need to work out how much flour I need a month minimum, i.e. how many bags, how many bottles of milk etc. and also electric and gas parameters are going to have to be adjusted to take this into account.  I am hoping that this will also limit waste packaging and anything that needs wrapping I will use my beeswax wraps for a lot of things, along with paper or foil. I am hoping ultimately to save a lot of money in the long run that can be utilised elsewhere.  

Ultimately, I want to create a workable practical kitchen for this household and for me.  I also want to have a few spare pounds per week to take advantage of reductions both at the veg shop and at the supermarket as well.  Things like double cream can be turned into something useful like butter which I use an awful lot of and butter is dear.  I do not use margarine spreads apart from the Stork margarine for cakes.  For fruit cakes I always use butter.

I have already got rid of fabric conditioner which although lovely was costing an arm and a leg.  I am using a little white vinegar which I buy in bulk from the Cash and Carry. There is no residual smell of the vinegar and the darker colours are coming out oh so much better and no longer streaky and the clothes smell lovely and clean.  During winter months I use the tumble drier but during the summer I prefer to hang out on the line. 

I am going to experiment with adding nice aromas to the vinegar in due course for next to nothing.  So far the vinegar seems to be really working well.  I already use orange and lemon vinegar for cleaning in the house in any event because of the animals but am also looking further into this to see if I can improve it for myself too.  There are so many methods that our forbears used to keep clean and to keep disease and infections at bay normally by the use of herb and vinegars.  That really appeals to me.

So I am going to be getting stuck in one way or another.  I have to try and see whether or not I can make a difference and also save the pennies.

Right had better get a wriggle on.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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