Stuck in a food rut...

[JKL]

Hi All,

With the new info coming to light about food allergies etc etc I've been thinking about meals etc.

I know a number of you have said that you have a 2/3/4 weekly meal rota.

Would any of you lovely people be so kind as to suggest some 'different' meals we could try?

I'd like to get a meal rota in place that I can review maybe every 6 months. This also reducing the 'extra' work of detailing allergens where necessary.

TIA xxx

[natlou82]

Tonight I'm making a bean burrito, very simple, cheap and tasty. 2 tins of mixed beans in tom sauce warmed up with some taco seasoning put in a tortilla with a bit of creme fraiche - job done :-).

As we are entering Autumn I shall again be getting the full use out of my slow cooker :-)

[Kiddleywinks]

Slow cooker is a must in my book

Prep in the morning, switch on, leave till tea time
It's not all about stews these days, we've had ribs, gammon, shredded meats, soups, and of course stews and casseroles

There's a Facebook group called 'slow cooker saddos', and Amazon have loads of free recipe books, as does the apple store

[flipflop20]

Hi I have a 4weeks meal plan, which I intend to change termly, so this one is an autumn/winter one. It took my ages to do it, but I did 4weeks menu and then 4weeks worth of shopping list and then typed the the recipes as well. I've printed it all off and it's in a folder in my kitchen

Recipes are there, shopping list is done

I basically started with chicken, pork/sausages, beef/mince, fish, meat free. I then started to plan the meals around this, I have also put in a couple of lamb dishes but these aren't weekly. I'm only on week two but it's so easy, I have two copies of the menu one in the kitchen for me and one on the notice board. Having the recipes there means I've already got the list of ingredients. I won't lie I did work on it every night for a week, but I am so pleased I put the effort in. I will do another one to start in January, and then one in May. Once these are done, they will just rotate every four months.

[natlou82]

I like your idea flip flop - got my brain ticking.

[JKL]

Tonight I'm making a bean burrito, very simple, cheap and tasty. 2 tins of mixed beans in tom sauce warmed up with some taco seasoning put in a tortilla with a bit of creme fraiche - job done :-). As we are entering Autumn I shall again be getting the full use out of my slow cooker :-)

That sounds yummy I may have to give it a go. My DH is likely to pull his face unless I drop chicken in but again that's easy enough to do.
Thank you xx

[JKL]

Hi I have a 4weeks meal plan, which I intend to change termly, so this one is an autumn/winter one. It took my ages to do it, but I did 4weeks menu and then 4weeks worth of shopping list and then typed the the recipes as well. I've printed it all off and it's in a folder in my kitchen Recipes are there, shopping list is done I basically started with chicken, pork/sausages, beef/mince, fish, meat free. I then started to plan the meals around this, I have also put in a couple of lamb dishes but these aren't weekly. I'm only on week two but it's so easy, I have two copies of the menu one in the kitchen for me and one on the notice board. Having the recipes there means I've already got the list of ingredients. I won't lie I did work on it every night for a week, but I am so pleased I put the effort in. I will do another one to start in January, and then one in May. Once these are done, they will just rotate every four months.

This is the kind of thing I am looking to do also. I'm just going round and round in circles trying to decide on different meals. Where did you find your inspiration? xx

[flipflop20]

This is the kind of thing I am looking to do also. I'm just going round and round in circles trying to decide on different meals. Where did you find your inspiration? xx

I started with 5 days and then chicken, beef, pork/sausages, meat free, fish and then trawled through Internet and cookbooks a lot of my recipes comes from bbc good food website. I have meal planned everything including snacks and lunch.

I have things like soup once a week for lunch, sandwiches or wraps, beans or egg on toast, pasta salad, couscous salad. I used what we already eat like cottage pie, casseroles and then found a recipe for it, and searched for different things as well so introducing vegetable lasagna and veg curry.

It makes shopping a lot easier and a lot cheaper as u buy what u need and not loads of stuff. I rarely buy anything frozen now so if I cook too much I can freeze it and it can be a weekend meal or used next time round.

[mum67]

I went on pinterest, they have so many recipe ideas and really good ones for getting children interested in the food like gimicky ideas (that cost nothing) for dishing out fruit and vegetables. They do a cheese dip, you put a big bowl of mince,cheese anything else you want to add and the children dip in with breadsticks, tacos, crackers whatever you offer them to use. Cheap, easy, filling and fun for lunch time.
There's loads on there with good wholesome meals, snacks but not time consuming or costly.
There's loads of ideas for absolutely everything you need.
Well worth a look.

[natlou82]

Hi I forgot to say you need rice in the burrito lol!

[*daisychain*]

Hiya,
I have been using my menus on a 4 week rota , it's worked well for me. I've recently updated mine and googled nursery menus to get an idea, I was surprised how many were on there and got some good ideas. Took me a full day to do mine last year, should have just googled it in the first place :-/
I also found this available online too, I have it in book form and it's useful to determine portion sizes and has easy recipes to follow
http://www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk...nteractive.pdf
Hth x

[JKL]

Thanks everyone. I'll have a proper sit down and spend some time googling tonight once my DS is in bed. I already cook a number of things from scratch as I do slimming world so batch cook evening meals about once a fortnight. I'm temped to use a lot of my freezer stuff and get batch cooking for lunches now too. Thanks again xx