Meal Plan and A Homemaking Routine Update

'He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.'

Victor Hugo

I have found the above quote to be so true, just in the week since implementing my new homemaking routine. I simply cannot believe the difference it has made. I used to waste so much time just thinking about what I should do next - now I can just follow the list and everything will be accomplished. Order is so much easier! And it seems to make everything else easier to deal with as well - unexpected visitors or changes to the routine are no problem (well, I can deal with them without becoming totally flustered).

I am also noticing that I am not leaving things that I would have previously. I had a bad habit of seeing a little spill on the bench or fingerprints on the door or toothpaste on the bathroom bench and thinking, 'oh I'll get to that later.' And sometimes the later would be a long while later! Now I am getting into the much better habit of dealing with things like that straight away and they don't all pile up into one big mess.

Why didn't I believe all the books/blogs/etc. that told me this would be the case ages ago?! I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble.

Last week's meals were planned to use up lots of items from the fridge, pantry and freezer, in anticipation of doing an inventory of these areas. I have a chest freezer, which is great as you can fit a lot in it, not so great as you can fit a lot in it! And a lot can get disorganised very quickly - items disappear to the bottom, never to be seen again, unless you have a list that you update every time something goes in or out. We bought another half lamb last week and this week I really need to sort the freezer and start that list.

And why didn't this idea ever take off? I have never seen an ad for these before, but I love it! Part of my reluctance to clean out the chest freezer is that I am a bit challenged in the height department and I cannot reach to the bottom of the freezer without leaning over the edge with my feet off the ground. Wouldn't this be SO much easier? 

In cleaning out the fridge, I came up with this meal last week, which I was incredibly surprised that the boys all liked. If I asked if they wanted eggplant, they would have said it was disgusting!

Just slices of eggplant fried in the cast iron griddle pan, then slices of tomato fried for one quick second a side, then feta, then some roasted yellow capsicum. Put in the oven to warm through. Yum! I was truly amazed they ate it happily! Maybe I can try some more eggplant recipes on them.

So this week's menu is all about the freezer again! Luckily all the boys love lamb!

Monday - Lamb chops (freezer), potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce, beans, honey ginger carrots

Tuesday - Chicken skewers (freezer), green salad, coleslaw

Wednesday - Spaghetti bolognaise (mince from freezer)

Thursday - Roast lamb (freezer), roast vegies

Friday - Lamb casserole of some sort (freezer) and pasta

Saturday - Chicken korma (chicken from freezer) and rice

Sunday - Grilled salmon, green salad, potato salad

I also have lots of frozen berries which I will use for muffins and desserts during the week, and some frozen mango that I need to make into chutney. A friend dropped off some mangoes for me and the day she brought them was just too hot to make chutney. So they are chopped in the freezer waiting for cooler weather.

Next week, I will be back to my normal routine of choosing a cookbook for the week to use in meal planning. In fact, I already have the book waiting and I love it! Tune in next week for some fun retro cooking!

Linking with At Home With Mrs M for Meal Planning Monday, I'm An Organising Junkie for Menu Plan Monday and Darling Down Diaries for Good Morning Mondays.