In our hectic lives there is very little time to be creative when it comes to cooking on a daily basis. When do you get the time to peruse all those glorious cook books and glossy magazines for new ideas? With a little clever meal planning, you can put a new meal on the table every day of the month. This saves your time, money and your sanity!

1 Make a Ground Beef Goulash. If you add another 1lb of ground beef and adjust the quantity of your ingredients, you will be able to make a very easy Beef and Noodle Casserole.

2 There is no point in roasting 1 chicken. Always roast 2 chickens. This means one dirty pan, one load of washing up - but 2 - 3 meals! If you make 2 Oven Baked Whole Chickens with BBQ Sauce, you can easily turn the second chicken into a number of clever leftover meals: Easy Chicken Curry Recipe, Chicken Pasta Bake or even a Chicken Pie.

3 Slow Cooked Leg of Lamb with Lemons and Olives is a treat in our family. But it is just as popular when it re-appears as a Leftover Lamb and Couscous Salad. This has to be one of the simplest meals around.

4 Always make extra tomato sauce. If you do this, you will quickly be able to produce a formidable Homemade Meatball Recipe with Fresh Tomato and Coriander Sauce. Using the same sauce you will be able to produce a completely different meal by way of Oven Baked Fish in a Tomato Sauce. Your family will never guess that they are eating the same sauce: the meatballs and fish impart such different flavors.

5 Make double Sweet and Sour Sauce. Use it one night to make Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe and for a vegetarian option, make Baked Butternut with the same sauce - this sounds unusual but is delicious.

6 Following the principles above, if you are going to make one Easy Pie Crust Recipe, why not make two? Again, one lot of mess but the base of two recipes. In this case, you can use the pie crust for both a Tomato Tart and an utterly delectable Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe.

7 Lastly, double up when you make roast butternut. You can serve the butternut as a vegetable side dish the one night and follow the Butternut Squash Soup Recipe the next night. Alternatively, you could make the Fresh Pumpkin Pie Recipe.

All the recipes above are available at Meal Planning for March

Author's Bio: 

Fiona Lesley has had over 20 years of experience cooking delicious meals for family and friends alike. A teacher by profession, she brings together her years of time and money-saving tips at www.easy-meal-planning.com