Last year I blogged about my 2011 Vogue Diary from Daycraft. Now that I have started using it I thought I would revisit it again.

The A5 size is perfect for writing out the brief recipes and planning meals, I can also tuck in recipe cards and magazine clippings that I’ve come across already this year. This means I can roughly plan out my week with what I am going to eat.

I also use it to note down the expiry date of the perishables I’ve bought. So I can make sure that I make the best use of the ingredients I’ve bought and use a recipe to use them all up before they expire.

For example if I’ve bought meat e.g. pork fillet and it is 2 meals worth I will straddle my recipes and I will know that I will use pork on Monday and Wednesday. It also encourages proper usage of the vegetable with as little wastage as possible.

Additionally, it has allowed me to note which ingredients I can get in my local corner shop and which ingredients I need to go to the supermarket for. This also helps me plan my shop more effectively as well as plan my “filler” recipes in between shopping trips (as I will learn what is available without doing a proper shop).