Several things have occurred to me over the last couple of weeks when it comes to family meals. Firstly, we seem to be stuck in a rut of eating the same meals over and over as if we are following a rota. We seem to cycle between some of the good old favourites including shepherd’s pie, spaghetti bolognaise, meatballs, tuna pasta and roast dinners. Secondly, now the children are a little older and Faith goes to nursery three days a week, I seem to be feeding different combinations of people on different days. Lastly, I have two shelves stacked high with cook books, most of which haven’t left the shelf in a good few months.
So I decided, this is the week to get organised and get down some of those cook books. To make my life a little easier, I jotted down who I am feeding this week and when, then chose three cook books to try out some recipes from. Having visited the Little Dish offices last week for a lovely brunch with the staff I thought the first book I would delve into was the Little Dish Favourites Cookbook. All these recipes are easy to cook and don’t have any added salt. Despite the fact I bought Nigella’s Kitchen a while ago, I haven’t really tried out any of the recipes so this is the week. I have baked quite a few things from Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen but haven’t made many savoury dishes yet, so I’m looking forward to giving some of these a go. I also decided that as we are all eating together on Saturday that I would make a special pudding as we don’t really eat them during the week.
So here is my day-by-day meal plan for this week – hope I can stick to it!
Monday – Corned beef hash from Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen.
Tuesday – GG’s chicken supreme from the Little Dish Favourites Cookbook
Wednesday – Everybody is eating out so no meal planned. Day off from cooking!
Thursday – Barbecued beef mince from Nigella’s Kitchen
Friday – Baked cod from the Little Dish book
Saturday – Crustless Pizza and a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake from Nigella’s Kitchen.
Sunday – We are at my Mum’s for Easter. I shall take a pudding (yet to be decided) and a cake for tea.
I’ve made my shopping list and feel quite excited about trying out some new recipes. I am still on the lookout for more inspiration so what are some of your favourite family meals? Do you have any favourite cookbooks?
17 comments
Lou says:
Apr 18, 2011
This is my exact system. I do this on a Friday night while relaxing with a cup of tea and we do the shopping on the Saturday. It works very well for me. I don’t do a new recipe every night but try to include a couple depending on how hectic the week is going to be.
I actually make a lot of my meals from magazines – Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s magazines or BBC Good Food, Olive or Delicious.
I think I am going to get myself a subscription to one of them.
Your meals this week sound great – hope they taste good.
Lou.
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
That’s a good idea, I think I might do mine on a Friday night too so I’ve got the weekend to do the shopping. I love looking at magazine recipes too especially the BBC Good Food. x
Sarah Rushton says:
Apr 18, 2011
I do the same too and it seems to work. It’s too easy to get stuck in a rut of the same things though. I have those books and Nigella’s Kitchen has to be my favourite I think.
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
I had a flick through Nigella’s Kitchen at the weekend and there are some really nice recipes. Might have to use her book 2 weeks running 🙂
Me says:
Apr 18, 2011
I used to do this all the time- helps with the budget too- I really must dig out my recipe books and have another go. BTW, can I come round for Tuesday’s dish please?! x
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
I’m hoping it will help with budgeting too as we could do with cutting back on food costs, and hopefully will lead to less wasted food too. I’ll let you know how Tuesday’s meal is 🙂
Mrs M says:
Apr 19, 2011
Did you see my meal planning post a few months ago on my blog? I meal plan every single week! I also have a Linky on Monday’s where people can link to their weekly meal plans – helps with inspiration!
Love the sound of what you’ve got planned this week.
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
I remembered about it last night and linked up. Next week I’ll grab a badge from your blog and link to you, x
Mrs M says:
Apr 19, 2011
If you look further back in my archives, I have a form I made for meal planning and everything. I’m such a geek!
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
Cool, I shall take a look 🙂
Shona Hodgins says:
Apr 19, 2011
I love the Tana Ramsay book, everything I’ve done from there turns out beautifully. Can be a bit of a faff though but worth the extra effort. The mango chicken casserole is on my top 10 list!
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
That sounds good – shall add it to my list 🙂
Fishfingers for tea says:
Apr 19, 2011
I’ll be really interested to know what you think about the crustless pizza. I’ve made it and we thought it was tasty but the term ‘pizza’ is really pushing it!
amylane says:
Apr 19, 2011
When I saw it I just knew I had to try it as it sounded very intriguing. I’ll probably blog about it if it goes to plan! 🙂
Louise says:
Apr 20, 2011
How exciting, do let us know how these new dishes turned out 🙂
I always menu plan although I am in a bit of an enforced rut due to sticking with things that I know my sometimes picky 2.5yr old will eat but am always on the lookout for new dishes that I think he might like. Definitely helps with the shopping budget 🙂
amylane says:
Apr 20, 2011
I shall blog about any that turn out well 🙂 I’m really looking forward to trying out some new dishes, x
Weekly Meal Plan – 2nd May « Cooking, Cakes & Children says:
May 2, 2011
[…] last attempt at meal planning went very well. We really enjoyed the meals I chose and I was very excited as I tried out new […]