Systems Junkie Series: Menu Monday

To launch my Systems Junkie Series I thought a Menu Monday was in order.

I love checking out the great recipes linked up, and many have made their way onto our regular menu plan as well.

I'm not sharing a recipe myself today (cheeky!), instead I thought I'd share how menu planning works in our house to keep things running smoothly.

I grocery shop weekly on a Wednesday, so on a Tuesday night I will sit down and start by thinking about dinners. There are a few that are on high rotation... now that the weather is warming up we're starting to get back into steaks, chops, chicken or sausages and salads. We'll often have chicken wraps or chilli con carne served with corn chips too... the kids always seem to eat more when they are part of putting it together so I love setting the table with bits and pieces and letting them go for it.

We also have home made pizzas every Friday night (our 'takeaway' night). The kids like ham and cheese but the supertrucker and I will have salami, ham, onion, capsicum, feta cheese and baby spinach as well. I use this recipe from Picklebums that I've modified for my Thermomix for the base, and if you're looking for more great pizza topping ideas check out this post at Bogue Living.

Once I've sorted out dinners I write them on my weekly planner on the fridge and list the ingredients we will need. I find lunches and breakfasts easy to plan, having two at school we alternate between sandwiches and home made scrolls for them and I make sure we have plenty of fruit on hand at all times.

This year I've not been giving the kids pre-packaged snacks in their lunchboxes, so every Sunday I have a bake up and get biscuits, muesli bars, muffins or cupcakes prepared and frozen for the week. I also make all the sandwiches that day too and freeze them... I hate feeling rushed so doing them in the mornings is out, and after school can be mad enough without the added pressure of thinking about lunch prep too. It does save a fair bit of time as well all up.

I do a quick pantry check over and add any ingredients we're running low on to my list, and while I'm there check out the breakfast cereal situation. My kids seem to go through phases with cereal. At the moment they're alternating between Sultana Bran Buds and porridge.

And speaking of breakfast, how would you like to offer a great assortment of cereals to your family and not worry about the brekkie menu plan for a while?

The lovely people from Kellogg's are generously providing one reader a set of seven full sized breakfast cereals, a different choice for every day of the week! The winner will receive a box of Special K, Crunchy Nut, Nutri-Grain, Corn Flakes, Rice Bubbles, Sultana Bran, and Sultana Bran Buds (which means the grocery shopper can totally justify that sneaky block of chocolate in the trolley too).


To enter simply use the form below and leave a comment telling me your favourite breakfast cereal.


And after you've entered be sure to check out the great recipes linked up below!!