Food and meals

The average mum will prepare over a thousand meals every year (3 meals a day x 7 days a week). Even if you don’t cook each one, that’s a lot of food to think about! Also, as extra curricula activities and work demands eat into our time, people are spending less family time together. So it makes perfect sense to enjoy the family meal, and that includes the process of putting it together.

To help you restore the balance and sanity in your household, we have a great system that will see you turning meal time madness into bliss.

Scenario 1: Culinary Confusion

There are so many cook books on my shelf and gourmet magazines, and yet I can never decide what to cook.

Solution:

You need a plan. To kick start your meal plan, take a minute to determine your criteria for meal time bliss. Some examples are:

• I need meals that will to survive two different sittings in one night without losing their texture and taste.
• I want at least 2 nights off from cooking per week – therefore I need some great recipes for meals that freeze well and I can get from the freezer to the microwave to the table in 15 mins.
• I want seasonal fresh ingredients.
• I want to be able to create a slimmers version of whatever I’m cooking for the rest of the family.
• I want at least five meals that I can produce under $15 as we’re on a budget.
• I want a great list of lunch box winners that are packed with nutrition so that when the kids get home, I know that at least half their daily nutrition requirements have been taken care of.
• etc.

So now you can go through your recipe list and ONLY choose recipes that match your criteria. Put a tab on them, then on a masterlist, write down the name of the recipe, the cook book or magazine it’s in and the page number.

 
Scenario 2: Lack of inspiration.

I’m not very inspired to cook at the moment.

Solution:

Now that you have your criteria for meal time success, it’s time to put your feet up, literally. Find a window of a few uninterrupted hours one evening, and gather all of your recipes together.

Go through your recipe books, magazines and websites, and take note of which one you like. Use sticky tabs to keep track, but you don’t have to write anything down just yet. Simply browse. By the end of it, you are guaranteed to have a wide range of beautiful dishes to tempt you. Inspiration returned.

Scenario 3: Out of season.

Items I need are out of season or expensive.

Solution:

Rotate your meal plan according to the season. The good thing about cooking with seasonal produce is that it will be fresher, locally grown and tastier. It will also be much cheaper. Simply search for recipes that use the produce of the season. 

Scenario 4: Sick of cooking.

I’m sick of cooking every single night.

Solution:

Create a list of tasty and nutritious meals that can be frozen and thawed easily. You can make a big batch in advance and then enjoy several nights off a week. Great freezer meals include: casseroles, soups, pies, pizzas, pasta sauces, lasagne, and the trusty bol sauce. Remember to freeze them in individual portions, with a label that says contents, date and use by date. For the freezer life of your meals, check the list on page 79 of Did You Remember The Milk?

Scenario 6: Family don’t like what I cook

Solution:

This can be simply a case of their tastes have changed, and you’re still cooking what they liked 6 months ago. Or perhaps you’re repeating the same dishes too many times? On a regular basis – say each season, it’s a great idea to explore your and your family’s eating patterns and preferences to liven up your family meal plan.

Some important questions to ask each person are:

• What are their favourite meals?
• What are their preferred mealtime tasks?
• What their definite dislikes?
• What special circumstances/needs do they have?
• What are their favourite take away meals?
• What are their favourite restaurants or cuisines?
• What have they eaten at friends’ houses that they liked?
• What is on their calendar for the next few weeks? (Will they be out or eating at home?)

Scenario 7: The supermarket shop.

When I get there, I’m never quite sure what to buy. And I am always having to go back to the shops because I forgot something.

Solution:

This is such a huge waste of time and money. Shopping this way means you end up tossing fruit and vegies out at the end of the week, and you end up taking 3 hours to do what should be a 1 & ½ hour job. The simple answer to this question is to always have a list with you. But not just any old list. The list should be written from your meal plan. i.e. you have already decided in advance what you’re going to eat for at least the next 7 days. I advise The Rotating 14 day meal plan. This means you have a list of 14 different dinners that you are going to cook each night. Then after 2 weeks is up, you go back to the beginning again and repeat throughout that season. The beauty of this is that you get to master some really good dishes, there is enough variety that the family won’t even notice you’re repeating the same 2 weeks over, and you will get really fast at doing these dishes. If you’re keen on setting this up, you can buy the meal planning system in the shop for only $8.95. This includes a 14 day meal planning template, a master shopping list to hang in your pantry, a weekly shopping list template which you can print out unlimited copies of, a recipe finder sheet to easily locate your favourite recipes, as well as a take away directory template! Click here to buy.

Scenario 8: Can’t find that recipe.

Solution:

This is a common issue. You did a fabulous meal that everyone loved a few months ago, and you simply cannot remember where the recipe is. The way to solve this is to use your recipe finder. You will find yours on page 75 of Did You Remember The Milk? If you’ve run out of room, then simply download another template from the members area of this site(link). If you don’t yet have a copy of DYRTM, you can either make your own list, by simply taking a blank sheet of paper, and writing three headings: Recipe Name, Book or Magazine, and Page number. 

Resources:

Some useful resources to help you along the way

• What’s For Dinner? workshops. Written and presented by Brigitte Hinneberg in collaboration with MaryAnne Bennie from in8. Click here to find out more
• Storage guidelines – page 77 of Did You Remember The Milk?
• Master Shopping list: - page 67 of Did You Remember The Milk?
• Recipes: www.marthastewart.com
• Cooking schools: www.jamesstcookingschool.com.au
• For Australian food in season, visit the website of Australian food writers Allan Campion and Michele Curtis: www.campionandcurtis.com/seasonal.html