New month = new start

pipkin71

Whenever September rolls round, it always seems to set me on the path of new starts.

One area I want to tackle is the daily meal planning. Looking over my previous plans, it seems we are eating the same foods on a monthly basis, so I want to try something new. Problem is, DD1 wont eat potatoes of any kind so the meal has to be rice or pasta based. She wont eat veg, so I have to plan meals that allows me to blend / disguise them. Fish and eggs are also out due to DD's fussiness.

So, Im going to be looking over recipes on old style today that will hopefully give me some inspiration for some new meal ideas.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Pipkin

knithappens

i will be watching this thread carefully as my son is the same, however he will now eat carrots, broccoli and sweet corn without me having to disguise them, so the perseverance has paid off.

atypicalblonde

Hi Pipkin, will she eat couscous? x

Teresita_2

I think its time for my new start too!!

I dont post very often but am more of a lurker :eek: From this month on I promise too.....

1) Meal plan and organise groceries needed before I shop.
2) Set budgets and not just spend willy nilly.
3) Batch cook and make meals from scratch.
4) Plan my cleaning and stick to it!!

Well thats my start to september Roll on Christmas :T :beer: :T

pipkin71

atypicalblonde wrote: »

Hi Pipkin, will she eat couscous? x

We've actually never tried it so I don't know. I think that a couscous based meal would be something new we could all try - any fave recipe? Is it easy to cook?

Ches

This thread is so well timed. Thank you. As I am fed up with a lot of the things I cook I am currently trawling my cookery books and making a list of fairly quick meal recipes that don't use too many ingredients. To the list I have also added our favourites such as Toad in the Hole and Roasts. So far I have a list of 27 so that should rotate monthly quite nicely with the other days being soup and sandwiches or similar. I am also making a list of the ingredients I need to store to enable to me to make these. Especially herbs and spices that I haven't been using much recently as I have got so lazy and have been turning out plain meat and veg with boring monotony.

I am about to type all this up and put on disc for easy access when ready to make shopping list. Recipes I am going to type up and store in a ring binder with the list of meals on the front page.

I am hoping that doing this will mean less wastage as I won't be buying stuff that then doesn't get used because I can't think what to do with it or haven't the rest of the ingredients to make a meal.

pipkin71

Ches wrote: »

I am currently trawling my cookery books.

Snap!

I've found a nice cannelloni in Jamie Oliver's cookbook, where instead of laying the pasta flat in the dish, he stands it up, which gives a honeycomb effect. Although we regularly have bolognese based meals, the appearance will make it different. This would also enable me to hide the veg so is on our meal planner.

When I make up a bolognese, I'm able to blend in around 6 different veg, and one of DD's favourites right now is a puff pastry base with bolognese mix - not too runny - in the centre, then baked so the pastry puffs up round the edges.

I do this when we have leftover bolognese mix that has already been cooked, as it doesn't take long in the oven.

Pipkin xxx

odds-n-sods

pipkin, does your dd help in teh kitvhen, they say kids who help make dinner are more likely to try out new foods. Just make the sauce before she gets home so she still doesnt know whats exactly in it but could help you put together the pasta bake, for example??

Cous cous is really easy to do: follow the directions as to how much cous cous and water, but all you do is put the cous cous in a bowl, pour boiling water over it stir and cover for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and hey it's ready! I add salt + pepper into the couscous before I put the water in, and then you can add any herbs you like (dried before the water, fresh afterwards) or not. Lemon zest is nice too. You can even add sugar to it and make it sweet for dessert. And tell your DD that its pasta that thinks it a grain.

bobmats_shel

Oooh, me me, I'm in too! I start college this September, then its on to University next year for 3 years, and with my daughter starting primary school and my 2 year old going into a local nursery I NEED to get organised.

I'll be:

Meal Planning
Batch cooking like a woman possessed.
Organising and sticking to a cleaning rota.
Washing and ironing on set days so I'm not rushing around like a loon in the morning.

Plus I have until the 17th before I start college and dd starts nursery do I need to muck out and really sort the house out before then.

It's really all about persevering with kids, my DD funnily enough eats veg, loves potatoes, but it took me 7 years to get her to eat "convenience foods", by this I mean pizza, burgers, curries, also things cooked in sauce, chinese etc. I've now got a curry in the oven, and she's finally eating the other things.

pipkin71

Thanks for that odds-n-sods.

Yes DD helps prepare food but still wont eat it. For example, we bought a Georege Foreman the other day and for dinner tonight, myself and DD2 had sausage and bacon cooked on the grill [delicious], with oven chips, scrambled eggs and beans.

DD1 had sausage cooked in gravy in the oven - so the sausage doesn't go dark and beans. Helped make the dinner but wouldn't eat the meat from the foreman because it was scorched. it was the same with the chicken breast yesterday, so she helped make her chicken nuggets instead [but wouldn't touch the egg].

She will also help chop up veg - but not mushrooms as they leave her hands dirty:rolleyes:

I didn't know you could eat cous-cous sweet - this is definitely on our shopping list.

pipkin71

bobmats_shel wrote: »

I'll be:

Meal Planning
Batch cooking like a woman possessed.
Organising and sticking to a cleaning rota.
Washing and ironing on set days so I'm not rushing around like a loon in the morning.

bobmats_shel, the Organising and sticking to a cleaning rota is next on my list of new month = new start

Pipkin xxx