Thursday 22 August 2013

Meal Planning Mania

I mentioned the other day that as part of my being a good mid-century housewife I cam going to go back to planning our weekly meals. This is the sort of thing I want to do -

vintage 1960 menu plan for winter, by Mrs Beeton


You may be able to tell, by the little giveaways like 'liver and bacon', 'fricassee of rabbit' and dessert with every dinner, that this is a vintage meal plan. From my 1960 copy of 'Mrs Beetons Cookery and Household Management,' to be exact.



Mrs Beetons Cookery and Household Management 1960


This copy was given to me by my mother in law - her father gave it to her for Christmas in 1961.  It's a truly amazing book, and include tips for decorating a home and for laying out a kitchen. I'll feature some of those pages at a later date.

Anyway, here is my two week menu plan equivalent. I plan to rotate the weeks, but ad a few more vintage type dishes. We are in week one (and yes, we had braised ox-tails last night - recipe tomorrow).

Week 1


Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Sunday
Scrambled Eggs on toast
Bacon/sausage
Butter and jam
Coffee
Tinned salmon salad
pikelets
Rice paella with sausages and mussels
Jelly and custard
Monday
Porridge
Stewed apricots
Tea/coffee
Leftover rice
fruit
Chicken drumsticks
Potatoes and veg
Fruit and ice-cream
Tuesday
Toast
Poached Eggs
Juice/coffee
Chicken sandwiches
fruit
Chicken mince and cabbage stirfry with
Noodles
Jelly and fruit
Wednesday
Cornflakes
Tin fruit
Tea/coffee
Chicken mince sandwiches
Fruit
Braised beef/oxtail
Roast potatoes
Green veg
Apple pie
Thursday
Scrambled Eggs on toast
Butter and jam
Coffee
Cold beef sandwiches
fruit
Vegie curry
With rice
Friday
Porridge
Stewed apricots
Tea/coffee
Vegie curry pasties
fruit
Fish
Mashed potatoes
Green veg
Bread and butter pudding
Saturday
Pancakes
Butter and jam
Coffee and juice
Fish cakes
salad
Pizza

Week 2



Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Sunday
Scrambled Eggs on toast
Butter and jam
Coffee
Bar b q sausages
salad
Curried chicken
Rice paella
Jelly and fruit
Monday
Porridge
Stewed fruit
Tea/coffee
Leftover curry and rice
fruit
Beef casserole
Potatoes and veg
Jelly and custard
Tuesday
Toast
Poached Eggs
Juice/coffee
Leftover casserole
fruit
Mince burgers
Salad and Rolls
 Jelly and fruit
Wednesday
Cornflakes
Tin fruit
Tea/coffee
mince sandwiches
Fruit
Roast Beef
Roast potatoes
Green veg
Jelly and fruit
Thursday
Scrambled Eggs on toast
Butter and jam
Coffee
Cold beef sandwiches
fruit
Vegie curry
With rice
Pudding
Friday
Porridge
Stewed apricots
Tea/coffee
Vegie curry pasties
fruit
Fish  and potatoes
Green veg
Bread and butter pudding
Saturday
Pancakes
Butter and jam
Coffee and juice
Fish cakes
salad
Lamb stew
Mashed potatoes
Apple crumble

Don't forget to enter my give-way - there's only a day left to enter!

♥ Deb

2 comments:

  1. In my old Swedish book for housewives is a similar chart for planning meals during the four different seasons. Ofcourse, our weather being so much different than Australias, the meals are quite "sturdy", but I have sometimes introduced "retro"-weeks in my kitchen and getting rave reviews from my son. Some old recipes really are nice, and there is a lot to be said for proper homecooking and taking care of left-overs - both from a health point of view and environmentally. Good luck with the planning!

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  2. Thankyou Angeline. I lived in Sweden as a child for a year, so I remember those seasons! Here in Queensland we have winter for about six weeks, so we make the most of porridge, soup and stews. You're right about home-cooking being healthier - there is some fat in these recipes, but at least you know there are no nasty chemicals or preservatives (I have a bad reaction to preservatives and therefore most processed foods.) It takes a bit more work, but is usually tastier, and cheaper too.

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