Of course you know what's for dinner! (Right?)

"What's for dinner?"

Do those words send a shiver of dread down your spine?

I used to hate them. I never knew. I was always winging it and then rushing to the shops for last minute supplies. (Last minutes supplies like "a takeaway kebab", ahem...)

But that last minute rush just isn't as feasible with young ones. Once you fit in a couple of daytime naps and add in an absent husband, I can no longer just duck out. So instead, I meal plan. It saves me cash, stress and time. We eat more healthily, and have a greater variety of food. And fewer kebabs (is that an upside? I do like a good kebab...)

Meal Planning

Here's how I do it:

1) Check the calender. No point planning meals for times you're eating out; no point planning a six course degustation on soccer night. Unless you're super mum, in which case by all means carry on.

2) Peer hopefully into the fridge and see what's left after Mr Accident has done his daily "hoard of locusts" impression.

3) Check the "Peanut and Mr A approved meal list." Do not check the Bug approved meal list. It includes dog food and licking her own shoes.

4) Slot meals into spaces on my meal planning sheet, trying to use what's left from last week first (i.e. "not much").

I use the Kikki K meal planner (this is not a sponsored post, I just do.) The planner itself is nothing special, just a magnetised notepad where each page has space for a week's worth of meals, and daily snacks. Never forget the snacks!

5) Write out the ingredients for each meal under the headings. This sounds like a pain. It is. But it comes in handy in the next step, which is:

6) Peer again into the depths of the fridge, trying to memorize the contents. Then write out the shopping list.

If I don't list the ingredients in the previous step, I always miss something in this one. ALWAYS. Chicken salad tastes sad with no chicken, coincidentally. Also, if Mr A decides to cook, lovely man that he is, it stops him constantly running in and asking me what sides he should be making. Curse him for disturbing my relaxing bath while he slaves over a hot stove!

7) Season to taste. Meal planning isn't a contract. If I don't like what's for dinner today, I can shift it to another, but it's nice to know I have the ingredients I need to make a week's worth of food, regardless of when it actually gets eaten.  


Giveaway **now closed**

And now I want to share the love. It's my 200th blog post, and I reckon it's high time we had a giveaway! So, if you would like the chance to win your own Kikki K meal planner, read on.

No hoops to jump through, no need to follow (but I do love it when you do). Just comment on this post and you're in the draw. I'll get Peanut to pick the winner out of a hat at 9am EST on Sunday 8 July, and announce it here the Monday after. You'll need to come back and check if you've won, so I can ask you to email me your address. **The winner was VANESSA! Email your postal address to theaccidentalhousewife(at)live.com to claim your prize. Congratulations!**

Blog Award!

Now on to other things: in the spirit of giving, Beccra from True Blog! has awarded me a blogging birthday surprise: the Sunshine Award! 

It comes with caveats, of course, but they fit nicely into the "facts about me" expectations that surround  hundredth blog posts, so I am happy to oblige. But before the questions, let's pass on the love.

I hereby award the Sunshine award to:

Charlotte from The Old Milk Can. Her posts recently have been just lovely. Really, truly delightful. Thanks for writing them, Charlotte. They make me happy.

The Old Fashioned Housewife. A girl after my own heart.

Katherine from Girl World. She still makes me laugh every single day. I'm suspect she thinks I'm some kind of weird blog stalker, and I always hope I don't make her uncomfortable, because I heap her with as much gushing praise as I can manage. I freakin' love her writing.

And now, finally, what you've all obviously been waiting for with baited breath, let's get on to the bit where it's all about me!

Favourite Colour: Maroon.

Like this:

Maroon. Lovely.

Not to be confused with this:

Maroon 5.
Image from here.

And CERTAINLY not to be confused with THIS:

Queensland's Rugby colours.
Image from here 

Favourite Animal: Chicken. Both as a food and a companion animal (writing that makes me feel a bit like Hannibal.) Before Milly and Tilly came to stay, I had underestimated chickens as a species. They are not in the least bit "chicken". Instead they are brave, amusing, intelligent, eternally interested pets. And delicious. So delicious!

Milly

Favourite Number:  I'm apathetic towards this question. If I had to pick, I'd choose 8. She's sassy, look at those curves! Nice belt, too. And so divisible! Oh la la...

My Passion: Yes. Well... Besides the children, obviously, and my handsome husband.... my love of aprons and the written word.... I'm not sure. I wish I knew, it would make selecting a new career to train into so much easier!

Facebook or Twitter: Both. I love that on Twitter I can ask anyone anything, and they will probably answer. And once I was retweeted by Hamish Blake. I'm pretty sure that was me reaching my social media pinnacle. I'm done! But I also love keeping in contact with old friends on Facebook. We would have drifted apart if we weren't able to lazily watch each other's lives develop while we grew from relatively uncomfortable-with-communicating-and-showing-affection teenagers into functioning adults. (Hi Joel! Hi Stu!)

Giving or Receiving: Give give give. I love giving away a well wrapped present or a basket of cookies. Or a meal planner. Ahem.

Favourite Pattern: Well, stash THIS in the "things I've never considered before" drawer. Looking at my wardrobe and homewares, I'd say stripes. Especially blue and white. In the right tones and widths, they are kicking fresh.

Beachy.
Image from here.

Favourite Day of the Week: Monday. Yeah, I said it. Peanut's at school in the morning, so Bug and I have a chance to spend quality time together, and I can catch up on laundry after the weekend's madness. So "Monday so I can clean the house". It's sounding worse and worse, isn't it!

Favourite Flower: The freesia. So simple and they smell so nice. They grew wild on the hill behind my house when I was growing up, I used to come home with armfuls. I have a pot of them growing on my kitchen window sill right now. Roll on spring!

White ones, please!
Image from here. 

And that concludes this epic 200th post. Thanks for sticking with me, both through this post, and through my blogging journey*. Now head down below there and comment, so I can give you the chance to win!

{*I put that in for you Mr A. I know how much you love a good reality TV "journey". Just don't make me pay "the ultimate price" at the end...lol}