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Monday, June 27, 2011

Menu madness

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These days Pebble is eating meals along with us – in case you didn’t know she’s spent the last six months or so eating a combination of the same finger food every day for lunch AND dinner. Pasta, cheese, cucumber, peas, chicken, beans, strawberries, grapes, peaches. Healthy, yes. Variety, kind of. But not proper family meals.

Now she’s a spag bol enthusiast, has had a go at risotto and does mind a bit of meat and three veg (as long as one of those veg is PEAS) and she’s happily feeding herself with a spoon (too proud!). This means that I have to think a bit more carefully about what I plan to have for dinner for the three of us – nothing to spicy, plenty of veg, child friendly but healthy and tasty, and still good food for us to enjoy.

I’ve always been pretty good at meal planning, but usually it’s been an adults food plan. I need help with a family friendly meal plan. I’ve begun several times on this tedious job, but just can’t help thinking that surely someone has been here before me and done this job already? Google hasn’t really helped me here. I found a bunch of American pay sites for family meal plans, but American recipes drive me crazy with all the converting and un-recognisable products.

We’re also trying to penny pinch quite a bit more these days, so where I used to happily throw anything I fancied into the trolley, lately it’s been a dearth of mince, mince, mince.

How can something seem so simple and yet so complicated all at the same time? And so very, very boring.

Help me internet, help me! Point me in the direction of a healthy, family friendly, budget-wise, tasty and satisfying meal plan! Please.

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2 comments:

  1. I dont really have any internet sites as suggestions, but i find " Super Food Ideas " magazine pretty good. Most of their meals are budget friendly, and you can adapt them for little people ( like taking a small portion of meat out for Pebble before adding spice for eg ).
    Flynn also eats what we eat - i've given him curry and mild taco mince and he's loved it! He als smashes down any roast dinner, spaghetti or stir fry. Good luck!

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  2. Honestly, after the kids first goods, they eat what we eat, or a slight variation of. I don't have the time to go cooking separate meals! I would generally do a batch of something like a tuna morney, and keep that in zip-lock bags for nights where we might have a late dinner, takeaway or something really spicy. I tone down curries with milk/cream/cheese.

    I bought 1.4kg chicken breast yesterday for $14, and that will do the 5 of us for 4 meals - 2 x honey mustard chicken (1 batch for freezer) - padded out with extra carrot and beans, 1 x tomato and chicken risotto (rice-cooker) and 1 x pizza.

    Also get 3 meals out of a roast chook - 1 x roast chicken dinner, 1 x toasted sandwiches and 1 x pizza/risotto/pasta/soup.

    Corned silverside is beautiful too, esp in the slow cooker/pressure cooker with a bit of brown sugar, vinegar, cloves and bay leaf. I buy a big one and cut it into 2 smaller portions of about 600g each to feed the 5 of us. Leftovers are great on sandwiches or into corn fritters.

    Do you have anywhere you can buy a bit of bulk meat?

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