Moondog, Franny and anyone else who prides themselves on cooking good food for their kids - I have a challenge for you....

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Whenever I try and feed my family on "good" food, it seems to cost me a fortune.

So, I challenge all you foodies to give me a week's worth of meal ideas that are not going to break the bank - have three kids aged 7, 5 and 3.

TIA

melt butter
add flour, stir a bit
add milk bit by bit, stir
add cheese
serve

I mean come on.

did I hear mention of falafel?

anyone got a good recipe? I love the stuff

I buy falafel from M&S

but when you buy chilled falafel they're always too dry, and the packet mix is no better either

not dry when drowned in houmous

Yoghurt and mint sauce or tomato and cumin sauce to spoon over.
Slathering on the hummus is just asking for a big arse.

my arse is teeny ta v much

I have houmous and pitta every night after my dinner, I should be a balloon.

has anyone mentioned cranks Homity Pie yet?

I used to make that a lot when I was veggie - shortcrust pastry filled with potatoes onions and cheese ... absolutely delicious

I am asking for a big arse. But I never get one.

I buy catering packs of felafel from here - 50 felafel for 8 quid. Well I do when HC is coming to stay, anyway

OO - he is 3, and he is a very good eater. This fact is responsible for about two thirds of my entire smugness quotient.

whats falafel?
Ive heard of it but not sure what it is.

well dd1 was a brilliant eater and then it all went pear shaped

so I am holding in my smugness on dd2 until she has left home

So who wants to take on the challenge of my 3? Bet no-one can do it (plus food for us) without cooking god knows how many meals a day, I;ve never managed.

no-one? Go on- if you made cooking easier in this house and mealtimes less painful it would lead to a big improvement in quality of life. Can give you details of who can/does eat what.

I buy those falafel too. What are the quinova chunks like - has anyone tried them?

Go on then jimjams!

Thanks for those Moondog - now you have authroised curry paste I'll try it....

OK-

DS1 (7) gluten free - (also no aspartame or MSG but assume that;s not going to feature anyway). Will eat buckwheat pancakes (actually that;s the one thing they all eat), mashed potato and sometimes casserole type things, but other times not. Will eat white fish hidden in the mashed potato. Will eat gluten free pancakes, and waffles, and chips sometimes. Nothing else, at the moment. (And it took a year of work to get him to that stage). He still needs feeding a lot of the time.

DS2 (4) Can eat anything, doesn't like mashed potato (texture thing) or pizzas (otherwise I'd do homemade gluten free pizzas). Will eat gluten free bread etc, although can eat normal bread as well.

DS3 (18 months) gluten free and on limited cows milk - fine with goats. Not very good with textures like mashed potato (gags and chucks up a lot)

Dh and myself, eat anything. At the moment I cook 3 separate meals for the boys, or combinations of separate bits and pieces and then argue with dh about who is going to cook dinner. Any ideas welcomed.

Will ds1 eat meat - ie, when you say casserole is it meat or veg?

He won't eat chicken, stewing steak etc very easily (very occasionally), more likely to accept mince (pork, beef or lamb) BUt would have to be in quite a runny sauce I think.

Nobody has mentioned pancakes. You can put various savoury fillings in them, e.g. veg in cheese sauce, veg or pulses in tomato sauce. You can use wholemeal flour (or a mixture of white and wholemeal) to make the pancakes healthier.

I mix some finely chopped cooked frozen spinach with cheese sauce to use as a pancake filling or pasta sauce, and it goes down well with dd1 who is normally picky about veggies.

There is also a dish that Jamie Oliver did on a Sainsbury's advert: you sandwich little pieces of chopped veg (eg broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, spring onion) and some grated cheese between two soft tortillas. Then dry-fry it in a frying pan for 10 mins or so, slice and serve.

Soups can also be good e.g. minestrone. I made a good soup a while ago that had pasta and chick peas in it, along with tomatoes and lots of fresh parsley. We also sometimes do red lentil soup flavoured with lemon juice, garlic and cumin (very cheap), and put chunks of veggy sausage into the soup just before serving.

Toad in the hole?
a version of homity pie with leeks in it too.
Vegetarian chilli served with tortillas, yoghurt cheese and lettuce (like fahitas)
Love fahitas!!
rissoto/paella use pudding rice if you can't get hold of the real short grained rice for it - works reasonably well.
Lots of casserolse filled up with veg - and cooking the cheaper cuts of meat long and slowly means they are very tasty
Shepherds pie - try onion or garlic mash on top.

jimjams, I suppose the easiest way forward would be to concentrate on one part of the meal that everyone likes and just cook the chips, rice etc separately. Or aim to make only 2 meals which at 2 of the boys and you/dh will eat. Ideally it should be made in double quantity and frozen. Mashed potato can keep in the fridge for a couple of days (can be frozen too, but not for long ime) Also keep a tub of tomato sauce in the fridge and freezer.

Mini meatballs in tomato sauce (can be served with anything)

Homemade burger & chips (+ sauce for ds1)

Sausage casserole (can be served with anything)

Chilli con carne "

Minced beef hotpot "

Fish pie (for you and dh, mashed up for ds1, separate meal for other boys)

I'm not much of a cook as you can tell so I'm probably not being much help!! Hopefully someone else will be along soon with some beter ideas

Just wanted to say thank you everyone, have been lurking here and am all inspired now, just in time for tea.

I can't think of much to add, but am v fond of frozen spinach as it comes in little nugget sized pieces and can easily be added to all sorts of sauces etc without being noticed.

Frozen spinach is great

Fresh spinach is all very well in salads, but is a sodding nuisance to cook with, as it starts out all bulky and then wilts to NOTHING