A month of meals - developing a menu

Steve-o

I'm developing a rolling monthly menu, for some clients in a supported-living environment, and I'm looking for a bit of inspiration - my imagination is sadly lacking when it comes to conjuring up meal variations.

The menu needs to be: varied enough, so that it does not feel too repetitive; relatively healthy (nothing wrong with fry-ups, in moderation); economical in terms of cost; relatively easy to prepare, due to different people preparing the meals; and easy to modify for different dietary needs (specifically, one of the clients is on a blended diet).

Some meals are easy to modify, for instance chilli & rice becomes blended chill & ground rice. Some things aren't really blend-able (such as pizza), or blend but taste awful (such as stir-fried veg).

So, any meals ideas that you have would be received gratefully.

boultdj

Cottage pie, beef stew,chunky tomatoe and vegtable soup. hth.

Steve-o

boultdj wrote: »

Cottage pie, beef stew,chunky tomatoe and vegtable soup. hth.

Very much so. Cottage pie is something easily modified, while still looking 'normal' - you just blend the meat mix before the mash is put on top.

squeaky

And the same is true of cod mornay - basically fish in a creamy cheesy sauce and topped with mash.

Obviously curries can be treated the same way as chilli... will the residents be making them from scratch or can you put various ready mix jars of curry sauce on the "menu"?

How well blitzed do the meals have to be for those who need it? If you don't go over the top things like roast taters should still work(?)

If your going to blitz mince... then de-boning a chop before blitzting, or chicken bits, should work too.

There must be three million different omelette recipes out there.

For things "like" stir fries - is it practical to quickly stir fry each vegetable separately and blitz them? So the end user gets a dollop of carrot, of peppers, onions, taters, whatever...?

SOUP!! Again - loads of soups. My favourite and most recommended site is https://www.soupsong.com - it's a brilliant site put together by a real enthusiast and every recipe I have ever tried is magic.

Steve-o

It will be staff members preparing the meals, so the curry base will most likely be jarred sauces. This will also mean that they have a level of consistency in the preparation. It doesn't rule out the possibility of being prepped from scratch, but staff cooking skills vary (he said, politely ).

squeaky wrote: »

How well blitzed do the meals have to be for those who need it? If you don't go over the top things like roast taters should still work(?)

If your going to blitz mince... then de-boning a chop before blitzting, or chicken bits, should work too.

The food should be a pureed lump-free texture, but that can range from well-mashed potato through to blended down carrots (which are a more watery consistency). Potatoes that are blended tend to turn out extremely smooth, but also semi-liquid (like honey, but not sticky).

Meats tend to blend well, as long as there are no burnt outer edges. Chicken turns into a smooth puree which can hold it's shape well, with the addition of a little milk. Other meats are the same, but need either a little gravy or relevant stock adding. Blending mince actually improves the flavour of cheaper packs - not so much sinew to chew through.

squeaky wrote: »

For things "like" stir fries - is it practical to quickly stir fry each vegetable separately and blitz them? So the end user gets a dollop of carrot, of peppers, onions, taters, whatever...?

SOUP!! Again - loads of soups. My favourite and most recommended site is www.soupsong.com - it's a brilliant site put together by a real enthusiast and every recipe I have ever tried is magic.

It would be possible to blend each veg in a stir-fry, but it suffers from diminishing returns - the extended time spent in cooking, and then individually blending, could be put to better use preparing a meal that tastes good without as much micro-input. That doesn't mean a meal is off limits, but it has to be balanced against the staff time used vs the benefit.

Soups are a funny one, in that most are too thin for the person needing the modified menu. They usually end up being thickened with bread crumbs, which then detracts from the soup's flavour a little (although he doesn't seem to mind). The consistency of either yoghurt or honey would be the thinnest possible, before the person gets frustrated and gives up on the meal.

Thanks for the input and suggestions.

adelight

Does everyone need to eat the same meals? Could the person having blended food have a big batch of vegetable stew that tastes good made for them to eat two days a week when others are having food that isn't easily blended?
I would check the indexed recipes for cheap/easy family meals and things that can be batch cooked ie mince with onion and garlic in sauce can have different herbs/veg added and be served with pasta, rice, potatoes etc

Steve-o

adelight wrote: »

Does everyone need to eat the same meals? Could the person having blended food have a big batch of vegetable stew that tastes good made for them to eat two days a week when others are having food that isn't easily blended?
I would check the indexed recipes for cheap/easy family meals and things that can be batch cooked ie mince with onion and garlic in sauce can have different herbs/veg added and be served with pasta, rice, potatoes etc

The menu is aimed at two people who live together. They don't have to have the same meals, but sharing the core daily meal (with any modifications) is a lot better for their budget. I'd also like to avoid repeating meals as much as possible, unless there is variation in there somewhere.

Batch cooking is fine, especially if different meals can be made from the same base (such as the example you gave above).

cheeswright

chicken with mushrooms ( cream and mushroom jar sauce) & mash

mash & cheese with blended onion sauce over and parsley sprinkles ( like champ)

unset / loosly made polenta with tomatoe bolognese sauce
(and lots of other sauces)

risotto

sweet potatoe chips with bbq sauce to dip 4 one - and mash rest drizzel with bbq sauce

parsnip , cheese celariac & cream bake

erm.....bit tricky this one - good challenge.....:T

ajs88

Roast root veg and sausage
Marrow stuffed with Bolognese
Baked sweet potato with cheesy leek topping

taplady

Hi Steve - I organise the menu's for a sililar set up to your but for 5 people although we dont have to blend food but it does need to be fairly soft and easily eaten.

We do a 5 week rolling menu and change it with the seasons to include fresh sesasonal veg etc.

I make thick soups and use a few spuds to thicken it and less liquid - leek and potato, butternut squash, veggie are all favourites.

Other meals we do are

casseroles with dumplings, fish pie, curry, chicken with sweet and sour or blackbean sauce and rice, roast dinners, home- made fishcakes, chilli, bubble and squeek, cottage pie, sausage and mash, lasagne, spag bol are on the Autumn menu.

we also do puds such as crumbles, angel delight, yoghurts, bread and butter pudding, jelly with banana in it and custard, ice cream, semolina, rice pudding and HM cake.

you could do smoothies too.

taplady

ajs88 wrote: »

Baked sweet potato with cheesy leek topping

that sounds yummy :T- how do you make it?

also just thought of a couple more - cheese and potato pie and macaroni cheese.:)