There are times when you just don’t know what to eat even though you have a full freezer. For busy people especially mums, planning your weekly menu is very important to save you time and a lot of stress. So, for those days that you are stuck with the foodie version of writers block this page will come to your rescue. I’ll be updating this page regularly with fresh menu ideas for your daily, weekly and even monthly food plan. I’ll also be including what you can add to your shopping list, so you stop buying the same of the same. Boring meals come from repetitive shopping lists. You can only cook what you have at home. So, no matter your budget, no matter your cooking expertise you will find something here that you can relate to and prepare at home.

Menu Plan 1

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sunday	Akara (fried bean cake) and Pap	Sunday Roast (whole chicken, a big slab of beef, leg of lamb, joint of ham, goose) and Vegetables	Peppersoup (fish/meat) and bread
Monday	Cereals (granola, wheat bran, fruit and nuts) and skimmed milk/low fat yoghurt	Jollof rice – with your choice of protein e.g boiled eggs, fish, chicken or meat	Moi – Moi (steamed savoury bean pudding)
Tuesday	Oats + honey and warmed milk with a drop of vanilla	Afang Soup + Boiled Yam	Noodles vegetable stir fry (Indomie or other brands) -meat optional
Wednesday	Pancakes with a selection of fruit + honey or maple syrup	Beans  + sweet corn porridge	Dodo and eggs (scrambled with a selection of chopped vegetables)
Thursday	Tuna and crabmeat sandwiches	Rice and Stew (buka stew or Don Jazzy stew)	Grilled Chicken + vegetable salad
Friday	Fruit Salad + low fat yoghurt	Ogbono soup + amala/garri	Lasagne
Saturday	Boled yam or lightly toasted bread and fried eggs	Bitterleaf soup + pounded yam	Curried Chicken or curried goat + basmati rice

So, this is my idea of a healthy, delicious and well balanced menu plan for the week. You will notice that my breakfast options are light and refreshing. Just what you need to start the day. My lunch options on the other hand are packed full with meals designed to digest and get you through the day while my dinner options are light, just what you need to wind down the day. The recipes for all of the dishes are already on the blog except two, which are Lasagne and bitter leaf soup and they will be coming soon. Just type the words into the search bar on the left hand corner of the blog and it will take you straight to the page. I hope this helps many people

Shopping list to the rescue

Vegetables – To be able to prepare these meals this week. Get out the shopping list and include vegetables in your list. Options such as spring onions, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, sweetcorn, tatashe (red bell peppers), green bell peppers, ata rodo (scotch bonnet/habanero pepper), zucchini, cucumbers and radishes. You can also buy pre-packed vegetables for stir fry. If you don’t have access to stores that sell them, buy the vegetables whole and dice with a food processor. Using the different blades attached, this will take you minutes. Also stock up on local vegetables such as Ugu, waterleaf, okazi, oha, ego tete (spinach), soko

Meats and fish – If you’ve always bought the same combination, try something different this week. Buy different cuts of meat, e.g chicken breast instead of whole chicken which will be great for thursday’s dinner of grilled chicken and vegetable salad. Buy thick cuts of lamb, beef, or even ham for sunday roast which you can grill in the oven with potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions and garlic

Cereals – boring old cornflakes and Weetabix? try quinoa, granola (you can make your own), dried fruit and nuts, oatmeal. Spice up your breakfast by warming your milk in the microwave with drops of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon/nutmeg.

Beans – Peel a big batch of beans and store in plastic bags or freezer bags, so you can make akara (fried bean cake) or Moi-moi (steamed savoury pudding) in minutes. Simply defrost and blend.

Canned goods – stock up on tuna, crabmeat, chopped tomatoes, plum tomatoes, sardines, etc

Fruits – buy a selection of your favourite fruits, and chop ahead of time. Sprinkle lemon juice over the chopped fruit. This will preserve the fruits in the fridge for longer.

This page will be refreshed every saturday afternoon/night with a weekly menu plan for the coming week. A new week starts tomorrow, I hope I have given you ideas. Now get to shopping. Lol.