Why menu planning doesn't work......

 at least not for me in Algeria at any rate!

I was once a huge advocate of menu planning, in the UK and here too when I first started running my DZ home.

It took me a long while to admit that planning menus in a country where I have next to no freezer space, a moderately unreliable electricity supply, and prices that rise and fall like nobodies business just wasn't working.

Menu planning used to make my life easier, when I was able to buy my groceries bulk,

I knew what I was cooking and when, and it took the hassle out of having to think about what I was going to feed everyone.

Here in Algeria, it's a whole different ball game.

I no longer bulk buy my dried goods because they become so  easily infiltrated by beasties...

I do have an extra room in my house to use for storage but it's humid most of the time and not ideal for storing things that would be affected by it.

These days the only things I buy in bulk are water and milk, flour and semolina.

The rest is bought as is needed.

 

 Menu  planning also doesn't take account of my leftovers, and whatever I find in the market that's too much of a bargain to pass up. 

I shop differently these days and it's had a knock on effect, I used to be able to plan a month in advance..now I have to think on my feet.

And lets face facts.. we're in North Africa.... food prices are erratic at best and when I plan a menu I look for things to cook.

I'm an avid reader of cooking books and blogs, and I'm always easily seduced by a new recipe.

which of course takes it's toll on my budget!

So, I have been dragged kicking and screaming to the conclusion that menu planning is no longer for me,

for the past three months I've still written out my menu, but have barely followed it.

We eat well, I cook healthy, nutritious meals and masha'allah my kids can pack food away like you wouldn't believe!

I've learnt to be more flexible, I've asked questions of the Algerian women around me, I seek out what works from people who have been running homes here far longer than I have. 

I sometimes miss the ease with which I ran my home and fed my family in the UK..

but would I swap it for what I have now?

I dont thnk so.. I think we can cope without a menu plan.

But what do you do? 

Are you a menu planner... if you're living in Algeria do you plan your meals?

Have you adapted your cooking to suit your life in here.