- Easy
- Fast
- Family will eat
- Nutritious
Out of 10 recipes that I look at, I reject 9. Most recipes do not meet my criteria above in either 1 or 2 areas. But the ones I find, are keepers. I know there will be a period of trial and error, leftovers and frustrations. So I set my expectations right and make sure I have backup plans aka bread, eggs and milk, to ensure my family is still fed.
Then there is the area of making up a shopping list and doing the grocery shopping. Depending on the week's schedule, I may be shopping in Fairprice or in a local wet market or a combination of both. I must also make sure that I do not give into temptation to have LOTS of food in the house or because there is a sale. Not easy. Since I am not a clothes, shoes or jewellery kind of girl, I am a grocery shopaholic. My record was a $500 plus grocery bill at checkout. My kids talked about it for days. So there is only 1 rule when I do grocery shopping. Okay, maybe a couple more.
- Stick to the shopping list.
- Allow only up to 3 items of buying extra due to sale price.
- Eat before shopping.
These rules ensure I stick to the game plan. Speaking of which, here was mine for the last week.
Mon
Breakfast - Waffles with Maple Syrup, Milk, Bananas
Lunch - Chicken Teriyaki Bento serve with sliced Japanese cucumber
Dinner - Lotus Root and Peanut Soup with Prime Ribs, Orange Pork Ribs, Rice, Stir Fry Long Beans with Silver Fish
Tue
Breakfast - Eggs and Sauteed Mushrooms on Toast, Milk, Apples
Lunch - Chicken Congee
Dinner - Pineapple Rice, Fresh Lettuce/Mixed Greens
Wed
Breakfast - Store Bought Bakes, Milk, Oranges
Lunch - Tuna Sandwiches, Chips
Dinner - Stew Pork Belly, Sweet Buns, Fresh Lettuce/Mixed Greens
Thu
Breakfast - Sweet Oatmeal with Almonds, Milk,Blueberries
Lunch - Pasta Bake
Dinner - Chicken Curry, Rice and Baguette, Fried Hairy Marrow with Vermicelli, Watermelon
Fri
Breakfast - Prata with Chicken Curry, Milk, Watermelon
Lunch - Prawn Noodles
Dinner - Baked Salmon with Asparagus
Here's what I REALLY did. Breakfast was a bust since everyone basically ate whatever they liked that was available. But I did manage to serve fruit a couple of days. Note to self - make sure there is food for breakie and let everyone else choose. This would also work for tea, supper and snack attacks.
Monday - Public Holiday so everyone was at home
Lunch - Curry Chicken
Dinner - Old Cucumber Soup, French Beans fried with Haebihiam, leftover Curry Chicken, Baked Saba Fish
Tuesday - First day of school
Lunch - Teriyaki Chicken Rice, Cucumber slices
Dinner - Fried Pineapple Rice with Toppings

Wednesday
Lunch - Grilled Tuna Fish Sandwich with Chips, Simple Salad
Dinner - Western food at Food court
Thursday
Lunch - Meatball Soup with Rice
Dinner - Pasta Baked
Friday
Lunch - Store-bought Wonton Noodles, Mee Goreng fried by my dad
Dinner - Pork Chops and Buttered Corn for one child due to club meeting, the rest ate at grandparents

Weekly Meal Planning Learning Experiences
- Frozen saba fish is great to keep as an emergency supply. It is easy to cook in an over with some olive oil and served with some light soy sauce.
- One-dish meals are easy to cook and serve.
- The vegetable part of the meal can be serve as small portions of raw vegetables or salads.
- One must be flexible enough to change things around, swapping meals when schedule changes.
- There will be leftovers - learn to use them or they will be wasted.
- One must not be beyond using modern day mixes which are now high in quality.
My total grocery bill this week, which includes non-food items, came to $234.40.
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