It was my mum’s specialty. And we knew every week it would be macaroni and garlic bread. It was great!
My mum has always been a great cook, but her confidence and repertoire has grown over the years. So way back when we were eating the Weekly Special, there wasn’t much else on offer.
But that wasn’t a bad thing, it simply reflected the stage of life my family was at at the time.
By the time I left home dinnertimes were much more exciting, and I took with me a range of meal ideas, some of which are below:
– Macaroni
– Lasagne
– Quiche
– Spaghetti + Meatballs
– Beef Stroganoff
– Devilled Sausages
– Apricot Chicken
That’s not to say I also cooked all of the these, because Devilled Sausages is NOT my favourite, but it gave me a good base to start from.
They were easy to make and didn’t take a whole lot of thinking. In fact, they became my ‘No-thinking’ Meal Plan; if I ever needed to put a week of meals together that I knew would be enjoyed by everyone, fed a few, and didn’t cost a lot, that’s where I would start.
Even now, after meal planning for so long and having a huge range of recipes to choose from, I will still add these meals in to our monthly meal plan because they are always well received, and easy on the mind, senses and emotions.
No matter where you are on your meal planning journey, you should always have a ‘No-thinking’ Meal Plan on hand. Then you can use all or part of it whenever you need.
And there’s going to be times where you won’t want to think about what you’re going to eat, because food is completely tied to our emotions. When we are deciding what to eat, it’s all about what we FEEL like eating, and stress can do all sorts of weird things to our food receptors! If life is throwing a few curveballs your way, the easiest thing to do is use your meal plan that is already put together. Use it for a whole month if you need to.
Sometimes the simple act of getting food on the table for our family is the bravest act of the day. Rest easy in knowing you’ve already THOUGHT about what that will be.
Here is how you can put a ‘No-thinking’ Meal Plan together:
– Choose 7 meals you know you can make easily, and everyone will love. It doesn’t even matter if it includes weetbix, or eggs on toast! you can always change it up later.
– Write down the exact list of ingredients you’ll need for each one so you can refer to it easily when doing your shopping list. Ideally you’ll have a steady supply of these ingredients in your pantry week to week so you don’t need to go out and get them specifically.
– Place your ‘No-thinking’ Meal Plan somewhere where it can easily be seen and when you’re at a loss as to what to make for dinner, or you don’t feel like cooking, choose one of these. You can even use it as it is for a whole week if that tickles your fancy!
A ‘No-thinking’ Meal Plan will change your life. It’s one little piece of organised un-organisation that will make dinner time a whole lot less stressful!
And to make it even easier for you to create your ‘No-thinking’ Meal Plan, I’ve created a template that you can download right here.
If you would like to know more about meal planning for your family, recipe ideas and cooking from scratch tips and tricks, make sure to join my community over on Facebook, Siobhan Mundy, #filledtooverflowing.