Menu

I was not born an organized person, rather the contrary! I tend to dream, leave things half done and sort of drift through life. Thankfully I have realized this, which is why I have to purposefully plan certain things within the home.

Having a weekly, "at a glance" menu has been a real time/life saver for me over the past few years. I only plan weekday meals, and then only lunch and supper, because every one of us has different needs for breakfast. The weekends are such that I never know if there will be four or twelve at the table, so the meals are the whatever-there-is-and-make-it-stretch type.

Lunch and supper are almost always cook-from-scratch meals, and we use very few packets, tins, and pre-prepared products. Neither do we have a microwave so it's all stove cooked. We try never to throw even the smallest amount away, it all gets used up somehow. Where we live the norm is a two-course meal plus dessert and this makes it much easier to eat a balanced diet.

I usually plan using the following strategy (over the seven days):

eggs x 2

rice x 2

fish or other seafood x 2

soup x 2

white meat x 3

red meat x 3

pulses x2

pasta x 4

Veggies, in some form or other, are present with every meal, and normally I serve fresh fruit for dessert, although sometimes there is yogurt or, usually at the weekend, I might bake a cake or serve something more elaborate. Many weeks will have a "no-meat" day. We eat very little deep fried food but from time to time the fancy takes me!

There is also a big difference between summer menus and winter menus. Summer menus are at least three-quarters cold food with meals which, for the most part, can be prepared early in the morning, whereas in winter this does not matter.

Really, it is not as complicated as it may seem. See below for a five-day example:

Mon.
(L) cold pasta salad, chicken croquettes

(S) boiled potato, green beans and leek, pork/bacon meatballs in sauce

Tues.
(L) lentils with rice and bacon served with semolina bread
(S) courgette soup, potato omelette, fresh lambs lettuce salad

Wed.
(L) garlic/parsley fried spaghetti, griddle-fried chicken
(S) pizza and fresh salad

Thurs.
(L) rice with egg and tomato sauce (arròs a la cubana)

(S) boiled cabbage with potatoes, oven baked panga with herbs

Fri.
(L) ensaladilla rusa, fried pork slices with crisps

(S) haricot bean casserole with carrots, leeks and potato

I will add that most of these meals take an hour or less to prepare from start to finish.

I will be posting many of these recipes and more on my blog within the near future.