New baby, no time, help with meal planning needed

Mrshaworth2b · 25 January 2016 at 8:45PM

Hello, never posted on this bit of mse before but hoping there will be some that can help or take pity!

So I am a mum of two, I've trundled through with half hearted meal plans on and off, over the last 18 months in the hope to reduce our food bills and waste but never really managed it.

I've never been taught how to cook, my mum was ill from when I was 14 and died when I was 20 so I've never been taught budgeting or how to use leftovers or how to be frugal and since having a new baby I would love to get organised.

So I'm looking for meals to feed 2 adults and a 3 year old, easy meals I can preferably prepare and cook before tea time which seems to be hectic at the moment. But also to cut our food bill, I buy the same things ever month but haven't planned any meals. Stupid I know. I get a monthly delivery from Asda and then we top up through the month.

Please help pointing me in the right direction.

Mrs_Cheshire · 25 January 2016 at 8:51PM

Come and join us on the monthly Grocery challenges, loads of meal plans, meal ideas and budgeting tips are shared there. I have 3 sons 6, 4 and 12 weeks so know where you're coming from!

SmlSave · 25 January 2016 at 9:39PM

I found with two young ones that convenience became the key to start with, ready made sauces, spices, easy meals like chips and jackets till I found I had more energy.

Now I'm cooking more often our meals look like this

Monday - pasta night. I'll cook double/triple the sauce so I'm done for the month.
Tuesday - rice night. We make vats of mild chilli/paprika pork in the slow cooker. Often make chorizo rice which the kids love.
Wednesday - DH cooks so think toad in the hole, meat and veg basically.
Thursday - easy night. Egg and beans/soup/freezer food
Friday - leftover night/sandwiches/crackers and salad
Saturday - I try a new recipe if I can
Sunday - we get family to feed us

There are meals that we make over and over again so we now batch cook them. DH got the book my daddy cooks which added several meals and I've started finding recipes on good food of food we like - we now make oyster stir fry sauce from scratch and I even made naan bread from scratch.

We are not good at sticking to meal plans

but I'm getting very good at 'missing' a weeks shopping to stretch the food we have in the house. For example, pancakes when the bread runs out!

One good idea I heard today was to write down every dinner you have for a month - then you have a meal plan all written which you can tweak

[Deleted User] · 25 January 2016 at 9:41PM

Stews, casseroles, curries and soups are all great for advanced prep and reheating later on. Do you have a slow cooker?

pigpen · 25 January 2016 at 9:57PM

I cook or prep during the day.. while cooking lunch for the smalls I chucked sausages in for casserole tonight.. I bossed a big child to peel spudatoes.. though for 3 of you I guess that takes about 2 minutes.. and they went in pressure cooker.. dinner prepped and cooking in about 10 minutes .. I chop each sausage into 6 and there were 40 of them.. it takes a while.

Tuna pasta is my super lazy go to last minute dinner.. cook pasta while prep everything else and chuck in the same pan.

the slowcooker is splendid.. all manner of lumps of meat, casseroles, stews, corned dog hash gets thrown in about lunchtime while I'm doing the girls their lunch and it gets slopped out about 5ish.

If you seriously cannot be bothered.. freezer crap it is.. frozen veg, potato waffles or oven chips and kievs, chicken burgers, whatevers.. takes 5 minutes and everyone is fed.

Noone can expect a gourmet dinner every night it small dementors sucking up your time and energy.. they are lucky to get fed at in here some nights.

I occasionally throw jacket spudatoes in the microwave and do a jug of beans, a tin of tuna mayo and a dish of cheese, throw the lot on the table and shout help yourself.. DD2 faffed coming down one night and literally had a potato!! haha.

If I'm cooking a lump of meat I do tend to do 2 so there is enough for a further meal. Or mince meals I add a pile of lentils to get more out of it.

I despise cooking, absolutely hate it.. so I make everything as painless and quick as possible.

I have on many occasions had OH peel potatoes for today and tomorrow and just kept them covered with water until the next day.

When I went in hospital to have my littlest I cooked a huge lasagne and a big sausage casserole so they had food for 3-4 days to help themselves too.

Mrshaworth2b · 25 January 2016 at 11:39PM

I do hate cooking, I prefer chucking everything in a casserole dish or making something real easy that doesn't require a lot of thought. At the moment it's hard to time it right between bottles winding wiping etc to get tea out or started in fact. We've had quite a few freezer teas and it's just not satisfing my tummy ha.

Have had a look on the grocery thread and will be looking at the recipes on there.

No slow cooker, is it any easier than casserole in the oven?

Thanks for your replies

JIL · 26 January 2016 at 12:15AM

How about things in the oven that cook together?
For example a chilli con carne,and jacket potato? Use a packet mix 39p to make it easier. Don't need to faff about frying just bung it all in a casserole dish.
Sausage casserole, chuck it together with carrot, onion, and in the oven with jacket potato.
Chicken casserole or beef casserole, put sliced potatoes on top.
Corned beef hash, bung it all together and bake in the oven.
I appreciate the oven can be an expensive way to cook so you could make two night dinners and heat up the following nights in the microwave, make one of them a Bolognese sauce or a curry and you will then only need to do the pasta or rice.
It's not easy when little ones take up all your time, but make the best use of time. I would use the oven as I could just put things in set the timer and go off and do something else while the meal cooked.

Gigervamp · 26 January 2016 at 12:15PM

A slow cooker is cheaper in energy usage than using the oven and you can chuck all the food in, in the morning/lunchtime and leave it to do its thing.

Also, think about tray bakes. On a baking tray put a few sausages, chicken thighs or drumsticks, some peppers, tomatoes, onions, chopped into large chunks. Sprinkle on some oil and mix so the food is coated, add seasoning and any herbs and spices, then bung in the oven for about 40 minutes.

kathrynha · 26 January 2016 at 12:39PM

Agree with others about a slow cooker. It is so easy, and ideal if you end up eating at different times as you can serve some out, put the lid back on and others can help themselves later.

The prep can be done when you have time, and they have a high and low setting depending on how long it will be on for. If you have time to sort it in the morning put it on slow, but if you don't get round to it till the afternoon put it on high.

It is ideal for cheap cuts of meat. Sometimes the butcher is better for this than the supermarket, as they have the knowledge to advise. It's fine to ask for meat by the money value rather than weight.

And if you aren't confident cooking, you can get the packet powdered mixes. Some of these are specially designed for slow cookers, although others work fine. I find at least one brand tends to be on offer most of the time. They are cheaper than jars of sauce.

mashedavocado · 26 January 2016 at 12:55PM

How do you feel about leftovers? I find making a one-pot meal doubled up can help - you can either eat the leftover portions the next day for lunch, or for tea again (maybe skip a day in between if you don't want to eat the same thing twice two days running!).

Thick soups, chilli, stew, risotto etc - all good in one pot. Serve with bread for an easy carb side.

As mentioned above, tray bake type things are good too. My basic go-to is vegetables & sausages (veggie ones for our house) in a variety of combos, like:

Sweet potato, parsnip, carrot & apple (you could add a bit of honey, which will be safe for now - just omit it a few months down the line when your newest addition starts eating too!)

Peppers, courgette, garlic, oregano

Frittatas/quiches are good and quick and healthy too, and can just go in the oven - whisk eggs, add a splash of milk, add chopped veggies/cooked meat (leftover veg works really well here), pour into a shallow cake tin or pie dish and pop into the oven until the eggs are set.

Grumpelstiltskin · 26 January 2016 at 4:33PM

Try this slow cooker, I'm more than happy with mine.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-slow-cooker-scss12-3l-silver/173-0852.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=173-0852

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

New baby, no time, help with meal planning needed

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free