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Original poster

Meal-planners...I need help please!

10 replies

mogs0 · 09/05/2012 22:45

I don't meal plan. I would like to have a go as my working week is about to get a whole lot busier!

How long does your meal plan last? If it's a week, does that mean that you eat the same seven meals every week?

I'm a CM and have lots of different children on different days. Two are fairly picky eaters and two are vegetarian and picky!

I'm a bit worried that we will always end up having pasta and pesto on a Thursday night because that is the one meal that I know everyone who comes on a thursday will eat. Or does it not matter in the grand scheme of things?

Last night was a particularly hectic tea-time due to after school activities and there being more children here than usual so I served up beans on toast (they ate their way through 4 tins of beans and a whole loaf of bread Shock!). I don't really like giving them this sort of tea though because most of my mindees have had a packed lunch so I like them to have a more substantial meal at tea time but I find it really tricky to think up different meals that they'll all eat. Maybe it's not a big a deal if they have this once a week.

One of the hurdles is thinking up enough meat-free meals to last a couple of weeks. The vegetarian mindees usually come twice a week but some weeks it's as much as four times so I need to have a few meal ideas that would be fairly easy to organise.

Any tips / suggestions /recipes to share? I'd be very grateful Smile.

OP posts:
MrsMuddyPuddles · 10/05/2012 07:52

What's your relationship with the mindee's parents like? Could you ask them about the children's favourite teatime meals?

I don't personally meal plan, but what I do have is a list of meal ideas that we eat all the time/want to eat more often (am up to 21 meals!) Maybe you could do something like this (say about 10 meals, so you have 2 weeks worth of things), and if you were anal organized, you could tick them off as you go to minimize repeating.

For a meal idea, you could do DIY burritos: get wraps, heat up some black beans/a tin of mixed beans, fry some beef/pork/turkey mince or chunks of chicken separately (spiced to the taste of those eating), shred/dice lettuce, cheese, onions (spring or reg), and tomatoes (all chopping can be done ahead of time if required), and have sour cream/guacamole/ ketchup at the ready. Put everything on the table in separate bowls and let the kids fill their own wraps (or pick which items they want you to put in their wrap, if they're too little) DH is veggie and I'm not, so this is one of our favourite flexible meals. It's also not too tough to prepare.

BlackAffronted · 10/05/2012 08:05

I meal plan for 5 days a week, leaving 2 days a week for spontaneous meals (eating out/takeaway/lazy dinner/DH turn to cook!). I keep a food blog with all my meals/recipes (I can PM you the address if you like?).

What about soups? You could do big batches at the weekend & freeze, and bring out on busy nights. The burritos idea is good too, and DIY pizza.

Kellamity · 10/05/2012 08:09

Have come on here to steal get some ideas! Please could I have a link to your blog? Smile

BlackAffronted · 10/05/2012 08:11

Sure jensfoodandphotos.blogspot.co.uk/

Original poster
mogs0 · 10/05/2012 09:17

Thanks for the replies!

Burritos sound good...I'm not sure if any many of them would eat any of it but i know they'd enjoy making them Grin!!

I have asked parents before about what things they like...one parent says her two will only eat sandwiches and no hot food. The other parent suggests things, I cook them and the children say they don't like it.

The vegetarian children eat quite a lot of quorn products at home so maybe I should get some of that and just cook two separate meals.

Thanks for the link to your blog...I'll have look Smile

OP posts:
BlackAffronted · 10/05/2012 10:48

You could make up batches of spag bol/lasagne, using real mince for the meat eaters & quorn mince for the veggies?

perrosc · 10/05/2012 20:27

BlackAffronted Thanks for the link to your blog. I saw you link to it on here before but forgot to save it and then couldn't find it again! Hope you don't mind, but I've pinned your snowman cookies to my pinterest so I remember to make them this Christmas! :)

anthonytrollopesrevenge · 10/05/2012 21:43

I'd try the non-veggie children on the quorn so as to minimise cooking if I were you. They might like it!

My kids eat meat but sometimes we have vegetarian food, they like home made veggie burgers and savoury pancakes (with cheese and sweetcorn). I also make a Spanish omelette, with fried onion, sliced boiled potatoes, peas and sweetcorn hot in the pan before adding the eggs, I'm sure it isn't authentic but the kids eat it.

Good luck, and I'm sure beans on toast every now and again is fine.

BlackAffronted · 11/05/2012 08:06

perrosc, hope you have fun making them!

Newtothisstuff · 25/06/2012 18:13

Love your blog.. Think that's my meal plan done for the next few weeks Grin

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