Malas. Tapi terpaksa.
Starting to plan menus again. It's extremely useful to do since we plan to only go shopping once a month. Plus with all these changes in my diet I need to plan my snacks too; otherwise I'll be hungry and there won't be anything to eat.
So far, fried foods sound far more palatable than boiled, poached or steamed foods. But after some thought and browsing, they don't need to be boring. Curries, korma and soup & ikan asam pedas are boiled and poached meals aren't they. There's no need to use santan for the curries. 99.9% fat free milk is an adequate substitute. I can only eat steamed fish so I asked the fishmonger which fish were suitable for steaming. He recommended snapper. So steamed snapper is on the menu.
Beef is once a month for iron. But other than that, we're just on beef mince for pasta dishes and to put in begedil in soto. I've got tomyam twice on the menu- that's always a favourite and it has boiled chicken in it kan kan kan.
Benefits of going grocery shopping once a month:
1. Saves time
2. Saves money (I don't go in to buy milk and bread and come out with a trolley full)
- avoids impulse buying
- saves petrol from travelling to the supermarket
And everyone wants to save time and money kaaan.
How to only go grocery shopping once a month; some tips from experience and browsing the internet.
1. Plan a menu for 1 month. Make it flexible and make sure to use the ingredients (e.g veggies) that would wilt first. When I made a menu, I realised that I know how to cook a lot of things sebenarnya. Malas je. So balik-balik would be ayam goreng and kicap hee hee.
2. Translate the menu into a shopping list.
3. If one month is too hard, try 2 weekly first then gradually move up to a month.
4. Problems with bread and milk: buy 4 loaves of bread. One left outside, one in the fridge and two in the freezer. Buy longlife milk or the powdered variety. There's even longlife cream now!
5. Must have items in the pantry for "emergencies": cookies, crisps, cakes, nuts and cordial for if people come over and you don't have anything to serve. If you're the baking type, bake your own cake/cookies and store it. It can last 3 months in an airtight tin.
6. Keep your veggies and fruits in individual crisper bags so they last longer. If they are left exposed in the fridge, they can become stale. For example, bananas make peaches go stale quickly. Store the vegetables appropriately. For example mushrooms should be stored in a paper bag or they will sweat and turn bad quickly. Don't wash the vegetables before storing. They should be dry when put in the fridge.
7. Organise your "meat" according to your menu. Separate the bought meat into portions for your meals. Then put them in bags/tupperware and sort them in the freezer. Look at the menu before you go to bed and defrost the frozen meat in the fridge to cook tomorrow. No more peeking in the fridge and exclaiming "Argh nak masak pe tengahari/malam ni!?!"
8. Haaa....don't forget to buy toilet paper, shower cream, facial wash, shampoo supplies too! Otherwise you'll go to the supermarket before the proper time and... come out with a full trolley! (and budget yang lari).
6 comments:
Aliya,
frm ur exprnce,berkesan ke menu planning ni? kak sara dah lama nak buat, tp asyik tak dan je. Its true, if kerap shopping,u end up with other things in the trolley.
Cuma prob kat msia ni,the air is lembab,roti cpt rosak if uneaten,freezr lak x muat.Maybe we can buy bread regularly at kedai runcit je,tp yg lain2 once a month.
Do u actually follow the menu? or ada masa malas lak,saje tak ikut or smthg came up, terpaksa eat out ke.hehe.. (i think that will be my prob nanti).
Anyway, 1 of my nw year's resolution nk wat mcm ni la..its not too late kan?? :-)
berkesan dari segi apa? jimat duit ke? kalau dari segi jimat duit, berkesan... in my case la (3 adults and 1 kid - hari tu masa my sis stayed with me), sebulan grocery bill not more than $300 aje.
bleh je pergi kedai runcit dekat utk beli roti. lgpun roti kat msia peketnya kecik aje kan? i mean satu loaf tu tak sepanjang kat aussie punya.
i follow the menu most days. sometimes ada lebih so bawak ke hari esoknya. cthnya masak tomyam on monday. pas tu plan nak masak ayam masak merah on tuesday. tp tomyam bnyk lebih..so alihkan ayam masak merah ke last day of the month. kalau camtu, bleh extend the date next time pergi shopping. lama2..bleh lebih sebulan tanpa gi shopping.
kat msia senang kot option eat out. kat sini susah and mahal nak eat out so terpaksa rajinkan diri masak ikut menu. hehe tp kalau kitorg mkn kat luar, usually buat the same thing la..alih kan menu hari yg mkn kat luar tu ke hari lain.
kalau org yg hardcore..selalunya derg beli chest freezer! hehehe. tu dlm cita2
never too late to start being more organised!
heheh..i love this entry. thank you! i hv been doing most of them like you said jimat duit dan masa..memang dry stuff i beli once a mth tapi from wet market biweekly sebab dah tak cukup ruang :P
and i learnt to store vege in newspaper from my maid, they last longer and the cut up veges (that we prepare for 5 working days) semua dah siap2 basuh and dry up and in storage mini box.
another thing that i like to challenge myself is not to waste food te he he..so go figure :)
Yup! dr segi budget, masalah kat msia ni byk sgt kedai mkn, nak save budget tp x kan nk mkn luar je kan...hehe..lgpun its a lot healthier masak sendiri, kak sara praktik kan mcm kat adelaide dl, masak, leftovers freeze,besok masak lain, a few days later thaw lah semula curry dlm freezr tu.(atau pun bile malas masak..)
anyway goodluck to me n to the rest of us yg nak buat mcm ni..
good planning..very organised too:)
thinking of making one too later..need to buy bigger fridge for this purpose and express breast milk storage!buy for me aliya..will you?:D
p/s: milk not advisable to cook with meat right?
zan- hehe you're welcome. it also helps if you have a full pantry. hehehe sbb kadang2 take for granted jugak the small things we already have in the kitchen like rempahs, cili kering. i have enough kunyit powder, sugar and flour to last 2 years kot. bnyk giler (org bagi). cili kering pun beli pack besar.
kak sara- haah freezing foods is another option too. tp i kene belajar jugak bab tu because some foods are not suitable to be frozen.
ana- hehe buy the fridge or buy breast milk storage?!!?
according to kosher rules, yes milk not allowed to cook with meat but traditionally what is meant by meat is the bloody meat i.e. beef and lamb. not chicken.
but it's kosher rules, not halal rules so i don't think there's a prohibition to cook milk with meat.
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