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.

more cook booksSo 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?