Thermomix Menu Plans - 21st November

So how's the menu planning going, guys? It was great to see a few of you are menu planners too. And for those of you who aren't (as yet), don't be frightened off because you think your plan has to be perfect and complete and you can't deviate from it. If you're just starting, why not pick five or six main meals for this week and shop for those ingredients, then fit them into your week as you go. That way you have a day or two free for leftovers, or sandwiches, or eating out, or for 'impulse recipes' (which is what I call those recipes that jump out at you from the internet, magazines, cookbooks, etc, and you just have to make them right away!!) You don't have to say, 'Monday we're having such-and-such...'; you can just say, 'Here's the main meals I'm planning to make this week'.

Some people are natural list makers - like me - and can plan way ahead and stick to it - unlike me. I often 'tweak' my menu plan, changing meals around to different days, having leftovers instead of the planned lunch, etc. But whether you stick to a strict plan, or have a more flexible plan, the idea is to have a plan of some sort, because it will decrease your stress levels and save you money. So even if you don't feel like you can go 'the whole hog,' just start somewhere, and see what a difference it makes.

 

We have smoothies every day! (This is my Green Chocolate Smoothie)

Here's a few other ideas I find helpful for saving time with meal preparation (and preparing school/work lunches):

- When you buy your salad greens for the week, go ahead and separate the leaves and wash them well with cold water, spin the water off in a salad spinner, and place in bags in the fridge ready to use. It's much quicker to whip up a salad at dinner time, or put together sandwiches for lunches, if this step's already done. (And it takes up less room in the fridge than whole lettuces do.)

- Wash, peel and/or cut up raw vege sticks (carrot, celery, capsicum) for snacks and lunches in one big lot, wrap them in a damp tea towel and keep them in the fridge. You'll be surprised how long the veges stay fresh and crisp kept this way! This is great for kids, as they can get some vege sticks to snack on whenever, even if you don't have time right then to cut them up.

- If you have lots of fruit that is ripening too quickly, cut it up and freeze it in small sandwich bags. Pop a little bag of frozen fruit into kid's lunch boxes (mine like strawberries, pieces of orange, and grapes). It's also handy to have fruit pieces pre-frozen to use in smoothies, sorbets, fruity dream, crumbles, cobblers, cakes, muffins, jams, etc.

- If you've got the oven on cooking a casserole or roast, go ahead and bake bread, cake, muffins, etc for the week at the same time. You can freeze slices of cake, muffins, biscuits, slice individually wrapped, which is handy for quick lunch box packing, or for grabbing a snack to take with you when you're going out for a while.

- If anyone in the family takes a cooked meal to work, serve it out into their container when serving up the plates for dinner. That way it's ready to go for the next day, and you don't have to worry about whether there's going to be enough left over from dinner.

- And don't forget to look at your menu plan each night for the next day so you can get out any meat that needs thawing, or soak anything that needs soaking!

 

Sue-Ellen's Singapore Noodles - a firm favourite here!

Okay, so here's my plan for this week... not including all the baking I'll be doing for family and Christmas class preparation!

Gluten Free Gingerbread People - spicy & crunchy!

(P.S. Sorry I didn't get my Huevos Rancheros recipe up yet - will try again tomorrow!)

Monday:
(lunch) Tuna fishcakes (prepared in tmx) with raw vege sticks & homemade mayo (tmx)
(dinner) Leftover roast meat pie (tmx) with green salad; also cooking mini meatballs and spelt bread rolls for kid's lunch tomorrow while pie is cooking

Tuesday:
(lunch) Mini meat balls (tmx), spelt bread rolls (tmx), raw vege sticks
(dinner) Vege spaghetti (tmx - a double batch of vege pasta sauce so I can freeze some for another day) & salad

Wednesday:
(lunch) Quinoa & chia seed flatbread (tmx) with tuna, avocado, salad
(dinner) Fish, mashed potatoes, steamed veges (potato & veges cooked at same time in tmx; fish coated in cornmeal & shallow fried)

Thursday:
(lunch) Baked potatoes, salad and a big chocolate green smoothie (tmx) for energy - it's going to be a big day! Thermomix Christmas Cooking Class in Innisfail this evening...
(dinner) Leftover spaghetti sauce in slow cooker with chicken breasts/thighs, cooking all afternoon, for family to have with pasta & salad

Friday:
(lunch) Tuna pasta (tmx, from EDC - keeping it simple because I'll be tired!)
(dinner) Baked pumpkin, bacon & baby spinach risotto (tmx - based on this recipe, with baked pumpkin & spinach stirred in at the end) Cooking ahead and leaving in Thermoserver for family as I'll be at a demo.

Saturday:
(lunch) Potato salad (steamed in tmx) with sun dried tomato mayonnaise (tmx)
(dinner) Sue-Ellen's Singapore Noodles

Sunday:
(lunch) Cold meat & salads (coleslaw in tmx)
(dinner) Leftovers/sandwiches

Amigo enjoying a fruit smoothie :)

So what's on your menu this week? Link up below!