Week menu for 1 parent and nearly 3 children : ). Please help

Downunderdolphin

Hello,

I really hope someone can help me. I am looking for simple, nutritious and economical meals (does this exist?) for me to make to feed myself, one 7 year old and a 3 year old. The baby won't be eating solids for another 2 months.

My toddler is extremely fussy! That doesn't help I know but I literally want to change the boring things we do eat. I'm sure a lot of mums frequent these boards and could share a few quick recipes that may also freeze well.

I wouldn't even mind staying up at night cooking a few meals to last a few days. I am trying to find a planner, where I can write the menus out for the next week or so and cook most of it in advance. My little baby has colic so the more preparation I do the better I think. Thank you and I hope you don't mind me pinching a few recipes ; ). Thanks all.

Edited to ask if anyone bakes in bulk? things such as muffins which can be thawed for a quick snack or put in lunch boxes? what else can be baked as an alternative to bought biscuits etc? I don't have baking sheets to make biscuits in.

spendingmad

Hi!

Wow what a question - I am sure you will get plenty of answers here!

Off the top of my head I would say Rubber Chicken and Mince would be your best starting point for meals

There is a Rubber Chicken thread somewhere but it is basically buy a big chicken and make as many meals as you can e.g

Roast Dinner 1 breast off a big bird should do you and the kids
Curry (mild for kids) the other breast ( use 9p jarred sauce from tesco/sainsburys if you havent got lots of spices etc)
Chicken Pasta Bake 1 leg and thigh and plenty of tomatos and other veg
use other leg and thigh for sandwhiches/wraps at lunchtime (2 lunchs for all)
Make Soup with carcass and any veg you have around (Have one evening meal a week as soup and pudding night - make a quick microwave sponge)

Mince

Big packet of mince and make

Cottage Pie
Spag Bol
Chilli
all bulked out with plenty of veg! (which hides nicely in these dishes!!!)

Most cakes and biscuits freeze well I will try and find some recipes!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/38364 - Rubber Chicken Thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/170476 - Bulking out meals thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/109009 - Freezing Cakes and Biscuits

rinabean

I don't know anything about feeding children, sorry! For a cheap but nutritious meal plan you could have a look at this site, but fussy children might not like all the recipes.

Alternatives to biscuits could be traybake-type things? And you can make all kinds of fridge cakes in muffin tins (cornflake cakes etc.) Otherwise I recommend getting a cheap tray, without mine (silicone, I use it on the grill rack) I wouldn't know how to make burgers, sausages, bake bread rolls and so on. If you can scrounge up the coins I think it will save you a lot of money.

Aarons_mummy

There are LOADS of threads on here but I'm not so good with them so I'm sure someone will be along with links for you to read through but I'll give you a quick idea of what I do for me and my son

For baking in bulk; Yes absolutely! I make muffins, banana bread, fruit loaf, cookies, fairy cakes etc and pop them in the freezer I take them out the night before to defrost overnight, I've read you can take one out in the morning to pop in the lunchbox and it'll be defrosted by lunchtime for a quick snack you could pop it in the micro to defrost for a few seconds .

Cooking in bulk do you have a slow cooker? It's so easy to just brown the mince and onion (or just throw it in if you like) with carrots, turnip, peas or any veg you fancy. Make some mash up at some point (freeze left over portions for quick and easy meals) and have mince with mash and gravy.

There's a thread called rubber chicken on here showing how to make a whole chicken stretch to a good number of meals. I normally roast it and have a roast, pick off all the meat and freeze in portions for further use, you can get a curry, quiches, pies, sandwich fillers etc. Boil up the bones and skin with herbs and oldish veg to make stock, throw some veg in (use chicken if you wanted, I normally just use chicken stock for the flavour and don't use meat in it) for soups.

Chilli, bolognaise, lasagne, pizzas (make the bases and freeze, you can add the toppings so you can just throw it in the oven like a bought one), curries, shephards pie can all be batch cooked and frozen.

Make your own dips for dipping carrot and cucumber sticks in.

You can make tortillas to last a few days and so simple, pittas are the same and make a quick snack.

It sounds like a lot of work but the reality is if you make mince keep a 1/4 for lasagne, 1/4 for chilli, 1/4 for bolognaise, 1/4 for mince in gravy it's so easy to just add the extra bits needed for each individual dish, you could freeze the components and then make up fresh each day or you could make it up fully and then just bung in the oven on the day, which ever works best for you.

You can add lentils and oats to meals to stretch them further and make them nutritous and filling at the same time.

Once you get into it it's so quick and easy and cheap you'll wonder how you haven't always done it

Say you wanted to do all the cooking on a Sunday, some things the kids can help with, making the pizza bases, stirring the ingredients for the cakes etc means you can get some done but also be doing something fun.

The other stuff you can do as and when you have time, ie baby napping and the others are happy watching TV for half an hour you could make some things up.

For the menu planner I'm not sure if there would be a template anywhere but you could always just get a sheet of paper and get the kids to colour/stick/paint bit of paper and then just write your ideas down.

Nice picture for the fridge, kids do an activity and you get something for your meal plan I would think just write the day and what you're having so that you always have it there.

Wow this is long but I hope my waffling has helped you even a little bit

Aarons_mummy

Oh also I meant to add scour the reduced section in your local supermarket, there's normally quite a bit of fish in our one and it's silly prices, 50p for 4 fillets etc which can be sliced coated with egg, flour and breadcrumbs and thrown in the freezer for fishfingers that can be chucked in as a 'junk' tea but they'll be made with fresh fish

You could do the same with chicken (or substitute for turkey it's cheaper) cute into strips/cubes and coat ready made nuggets.

I also noticed recently that turkey mince is pretty cheap £1.78 for 450g not smartprice version either, you could use that in place of mince for variety.

spendingmad

Another idea which Aarons Mummy touched on is I used to always prepare tea at Lunchtime so I could make my own lunch and prep the veg/cook the mince etc even down to putting the pasta in an empty pan at lunch time whilst baby was asleep - that way when all the kids are tired and hungery at 5pm you just need to turn on a couple of pans and you are done.

ubamother

substitute baking trays - roasting tins, grill pans (if they haven't got meltable handles), ovenproof frying pans.
If you could advise what your toddler definitely will eat and definitely won't, you may get more specific replies. A good way to help toddlers try new things is to have one or two old favourites and add one extra thing - that he/she sees you and others eat and enjoy.

Aarons_mummy

My toddler gets what I give him, I refuse to make multiple meals especially when I'm on a budget, I know he would eat oven chips/chicken nuggets but I won't give him it every night, once or teice isn't as bad.

He normally won't eat off his own plate but will pick off mine, as long as he has something I'm not too bothered, he's only just started trying things after a year of not eating dinnertime meals!!

He won't starve himself and he does have a good lunch/breakfast so if he doesn't eat his tea then it's no biggie but maybe if you're all having the same thing your toddler might want to be like you and sibling? If it's things they don't like then as ubamother says you'll get more detailed replies

purpleheather2810

With fussy toddlers I think it's best to go for a softly softly approach. Very gradually change what you offer them to eat - they might not even notice that way. Obviously it depends what you're giving them now, but maybe just start to introduce a tiny bit of something new alongside, or mixed in with, something they do like. Don't make a fuss if they don't eat it and don't offer any other alternative. If you nip it in the bud now you'll make life much easier for yourself when they're older! I make one meal for everyone, sometimes with a small element of choice but most of the time not. I don't force anything though.