Alright… I am not a masterchef…. but…. sometimes I cook like one.  Alright, so once a week I cook like a masterchef.  Why?  Because I can.

PAH!

No, it’s because otherwise I end up spending over 100 bucks a week on buying lunch and/or breakfast or takeaways for tea.  And I would rather buy ridiculous leggings (Blackmilk), geek supplies (thinkgeek) or travelling.  (I am aware that without my other obsessions I would be able to travel FAR more often than I do now).

So I use Sundays for preparation.  We go grocery shopping on a Friday night, so I have to be rather organised mentally for what we buy…. but generally I am at a loose end, and we grab the usuals, with whatever fresh is on special/in season…. and whatever is growing in the garden.  Saturday becomes housework and garden… by which time I am mentally prepared for the week ahead.  We also make curry with all the fixin’s, yep, the husband is Indian and a week without curry isn’t worth living I have been told.  Also, it’s the time that I would have seen my mother and my sister and a bit of a swap of fresh veg occurs.  (The sister has tomatoes and blackberries aplenty atm and the mother is a great source of lemons…)

Today broke all records I believe….

• Red Lentil Dahl made.  The sister wants some, and it is super easy, so I made it. 😉
• Bombay Potatoes.  The husband wanted these… and they are super easy…
• Frittata
• Mac ‘n’ Cheese
• Pasta salad
• Vegies prepped for a mid-week vegetable soup and a leek and mushroom penne.

I hate boiling potatoes for one reason… so I end up doing a double batch- hence the frittata and the Bombay potatoes….. and Pasta seems to come in bags that are too big for one dish…. but I hate half bags that the mice, dogs or clumsy elbows get into and cause a pantry mess…. so the pasta salad.

The plan.

Tonight:  Curry…. We have lamb, Bombay potatoes, dahl, roti and I’ll make rice.  (Some of this will become onigiri balls)
Monday:  Lunch – leftover curry for him, mini-mac-n-cheese, frittata and salads.  Dinner… leftovers!
Tuesday:  Leek and Mushroom Penne for him…. I’ll have leftovers.  Wraps for lunch.
Wednesday:  Vegetable soup for me, stuffed peppers and roasted chicken legs for him.  Penne for lunch for him.
Thursday:  Chicken stir fry – either noodles or rice… depending on how much time I have after work.  I’ll have soup.
Friday:  Stir-fry for his lunch.  I’ll be lunching in Wellington on a school trip.

All that remains is to put things in containers…. I’ll make rice tonight and container-ise his leftovers.  I’ll do a set for the sister as well who with 3 kids under 5 tends to forget to cook for herself.  I’ll end up with 4 meal servings of mac and cheese… which I COULD freeze…. but they never last long around here… and 12 mini-macs.  And 6 servings of frittata for lunch during the week for both of us.  The vegies are all prepped and bagged ready to go during the week for stress-free cooking.  Or at least… that is the plan.

Mince selected and bagged, labled and frozen.