Lambing time help please

[fourpawswhite]

Hello

I am officially now (due to staff shortage) on actual lambing time cooking. Normally I do me, dh and niece and nephew as they eat early. I now have dh, two kids 13 and 10 (niece and nephew) plus another 4 adults.... for four weeks. Let's say 8 adults two kids as some of these guys eat loads.

I have access to beef, lamb, pork and eggs.

I am an average farmers wife cook, not a chef.

I will be doing evening meal all April, plus topping up lunches. I will drop to three days at work, four at home so can batch cook. Kids eat at six ish. Five adults eat at nine ish. One adult is on nights so eats at breakfast time. I would rather not cook a million things. No vegetarians, kids can be fussy but I'm ignoring that for now.

I have

Lasagne
Spag bog
Stir fry
Macaroni cheese
Baked ham
Pasta bake
Burgers in buns with wedges and salad
Meatballs
Meatloaf
Toad in hole
Mexican stuff
Chicken casserole
Steak pie
Stew and dumplings
Fry up

Lunch top ups I have
Soup by the gallon
Quiche
Leftover ham
Sausage rolls using beef sausage meat

I will do cakes, tea loafs, banana bread, crispie cakes etc.

I can make a meal go further by adding a pudding but I'm not doing that every night. I have
Crumble
Rice pudding
Bread and butter pudding
Apple pie
Cake

I need help. What are good, filling easy meals to add to my list. No takeaways near by but I may make a journey one night if I get desperate.

I need stuff I can make, leave. In theory if the main bit is done people can microwave later and SIL will stick on extra tatties if need be when she gets in.

Ready steady go.........meal plan my month please....

[GlitterRollerSkate]

Cottage pie (Shepard's pie)
Stuffed marrow
Stuffed peppers
Mediterranean chicken
Curry
Fish pie
Jacket spuds with various fillings


Personally I cannot eat lamb during lambing time and neither can my family so you might want to check if everyone lambing would eat it. And I wouldn't worry too much quoits what you are serving to the adults as they will be knackered and happy to eat anything!

[Calphurnia]

Pulled pork & wedges?

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

You list chicken casserole so assuming chicken ok in addition to the beef, pork lamb. Are veggie dishes acceptable or is this a group that 'needs' meat at every meal? How about fish?
I think casseroles are going to be your friend when doing two sittings and reheating
Pork in cider with shall Still and mushrooms
Sausage casserole
Beef Bourgogne
Chicken in red wine
Morrocan lamb tagine
Chilli (make lots serve once with rice then again over jackets)
Most curries reheat really well.
Mousaka

Lunches
Big frittata (could serve in evening then do cold leftovers for lunch)
Lots of cheese and pickles for ploughmans
Pittas with houmous and crudités
Big puff pastry tarts

[fourpawswhite]

Brilliant brilliant, thank you all.

Yes, very true. They won't eat lamb at lambing time. I may get away with it in a pasty or soup or something but you are quite right.

Sorry re chicken, I meant we have our own lamb beef pork eggs. Chicken I can buy. Trying to use what I have first off. Will absolutely need to top up. The ham will feed about thirty and is actually my Xmas one.

[fourpawswhite]

Veg dishes are acceptable but not every day. They do tend to stick something on the side of macaroni etc. Frittata fantastic. Just making one now actually so no excuse for forgetting that. I suppose I don't want to bore anyone and just do the same every day. Big task for me, I am out of my depth.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

If lamb is out chicken in a tagine is good too.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Pasta salads could work for lunch, just cook extra night before, great for incorporating leftovers too!

[Eatingcheeseontoast]

Roast 3 chickens and have with jackets and roasted veg or a big beany casserole. Sausage casserole or sousages with mash and peas.

[fourpawswhite]

Adding all these thank you so much.

Pulled pork, excellent. Everyone loves that.

Roast chicken. Fab. I was staying away from roast because to difficult to do different timings for but roast chicken works regardless.

Shall Google chicken tagine.

Shepherds pie, how did I forget that

Pasta salads great idea.

You know when your brain just freezes, this is so helpful. I have more ideas here than I did after an hour on bbc food, going in circles.

[fourpawswhite]

Chilli and curry as well. I can do that. I could leave nan bread just to warm up and rest all ready.

I'm feeling better already.

[imsorryiasked]

Pizza and wedges?

[BrassicaBabe]

I feel less of a nutter knowing I'm not the only one to not eat lamb at lambing time. Doesn't the cooking smell the same as the lambing shed! (not envy)

Anyhow, try this Mexican beef recipe
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1853639/mexican-beef-chilli

[Laquila]

I hope you get a good price for the lambs, otherwise you're going to be skint by the end of all this! 😄😵😄

Thinking cheaply, Nigella's lentil chili is very good and actually quite quick, I've never frozen it but can't see why you couldn't. I don't usually make the cornbread she serves it with, but my mum has in the past and it's good. Lentil dhal might be good, in the same vein.

A couple of whole roast chickens, cold with jackets, salad, corn on the cob and baguette will go quite far.

[Laquila]

I've done a good quick chilli before by frying onions, celery, and garlic wth chopped chorizo, then add a splash of wine, tin of chopped tomatoes and letting it summer. Add tins of butter beans towards the end. Good with rice or jackets.

Potato salad? Particularly good with gammon and eggs.

[fourpawswhite]

Pizza, brilliant, can get kids on board with making that. Chuck all the random bits on them. Same for huge pasta dishes.

Yes, I'm going to be bankrupt if I don't plan carefully. I cannot just wander aimlessly round the supermarket.

Thank you for those recipes for the Mexican beef and the lentil chilli. Will look at those. Cheap and filling is Defo the way forward. Dh claims not to like onions but he's the least of my worries, he will eat them, he can moan elsewhere.

Potato salad also a great idea as no warming up needed and a bit of a change.

[paulapantsdown]

God you are amazing cookind for 10 everyday! How long does lambing last?

I can remember happy Easter holidays on my uncles farm in Ireland during lambing and my Auntie always seemed to be frying pounds rashers and buttering entire loaves!

Massive pot of pulled pork, served with rice and veg and then leftovers in rolls for lunch next day?

[greenworm]

Spaghetti carbonara (so easy, it's just pasta, eggs, bacon, bit of cream/garlic)

Pork casserole, something like this one: www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/dorset-pork-and-cider-casserole-with-mustard-and-sage/
If you're pressed for time and have a really big pan, just stick the bacon, pork and shallots/onions in all at the same time to brown, then add the herbs and wet ingredients and just leave it to simmer

You could do oven baked risotto, great for using up whatever bits and pieces of meat/veg you have, and less faff than stirring for ages. Google for lots of recipes.

Bulk out meals with french bread / garlic bread / bowls of salad - even cheese maybe? If they're really hungry guys, you could get in loads of cheese and stick it on the table after the main course, French-style.

Sounds like a real task, but I bet you'll be fine! Good luck.

[Laquila]

Has anyone said fish pie?

[Coldhandscoldheart]

Rice salad? Cook an enormous amount of rice into your biggest bowl, layer it with tuna, chopped carrots, peas, pepper, (essentially any veg you can find made small, I've even used broccoli) maybe some pickles or capers.
Sprinkle dry roasted peanuts on top. Put salad cream & mayo on the side.
Depends a bit how cheaply you can get tuna.

For that matter, what about kedgeree? Might go down well with your breakfast time eater? Btw can they manage main food at breakfast? I've never found it that easy to eat 'dinner' food at brekker, even after long stints of nights.

Did someone say pasta bake already? Stuffed pasta, chopped mattesons sausage in tomato sauce cover with cheese & bake.

[Coldhandscoldheart]

Curries are really good for your veggie days. Chickpea curry with maybe a spinach & mushroom one, rice, naan, Dahl. Also good for making the night before. Frozen spinach should come in quite cheap.
They'll keep themselves warm with that as well, if you get me parp

[AdaColeman]

An idea for some of your ham is ham, parsley sauce, mash and cabbage or colcannon. Sausage & tomato pasta sauce is always popular. And another vote for oven risotto. Chopped chicken and mushrooms in white sauce served on rice is good for left over roast chicken.

And a quick pudding is sheets of ready made puff pastry with the edges knocked up, spread the centre with fruit, apple and blackberry or chopped apricots work well, then into a hot oven to cook the pastry.
Eves pudding is filling and can be served cold, use any fruit.
Pancakes, made ahead and when cold, foil wrappped then heated up in the oven, serve with stewed fruit if available.

Add puy lentils and grated carrot (even pudding rice) to all your mince dishes to bulk them out. Mushrooms for flavour and bulk in caseroles.

Would you have time to make a large pate with some of your pork? That could be for lunch.

You've got your work cut out for sure, but you will be fine with a bit of planning and lots of lists.

[fourpawswhite]

Thank you all so much, wonderful ideas. I have made a massive planner. This afternoon I am going to go through the farm shared freezer and list what we have, then section it out for each week. Then I will do additional ingredients list. Seems much more manageable with a plan and some other ideas.