Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

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

168 replies

englandflag · 04/07/2006 11:46

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

OP posts:
moondog · 05/07/2006 19:19

I've got that red quinoa this week.
Had it yesterday with taro leaves in coconut cream and Korean BIL's homemade kimchi (pickled cabbage and chilli).
Delicious.

FrannyandZooey · 05/07/2006 19:26

oh moondog you always manage to trump me

I have never even heard of red quinoa

Greeny you are just too too easy to annoy

Greensleeves · 05/07/2006 19:30

Au contraire, O flatulent one - I am impossible to annoy!

FrannyandZooey · 05/07/2006 19:32

Greeny, would you post some more photos and threads about how gorgeous your sons are, please? We haven't had one for about - ooh - 20 mins or so

Greensleeves · 05/07/2006 19:36

Nope, nothing doing

Greensleeves · 05/07/2006 19:37

....and at least I only changed the photo once...haven't you got another album-full you'd like to share with us? I think there are a couple of angles we haven't seen your ds from

NotQuiteCockney · 05/07/2006 19:40

That muesli recipe is very good, but perhaps a bit too coconutty. Also, I add nuts and more seeds (particularly pumpkin).

FrannyandZooey · 05/07/2006 20:45

Ha HAH - see, I got a rise out of that one as well

beansprout · 05/07/2006 21:47

Thanks for the breakfast ideas Franny much appreciated!

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 05/07/2006 21:50

He's never eaten pasta for me. I have a vague recollection he ate it for goosey. Goosey??? Or was that ds3??? That's the other problem, lack of generalisation. So he ate mashed potato and beans at school for about 4 months whilst refusing point blank at home.

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 05/07/2006 21:51

And in fact he is no longer eating mashed potato for goosey, although he ate it for her before eating it for me.

FrannyandZooey · 05/07/2006 21:51

Ooh yes I forgot this was a Let's Be Helpful and Post Recipes Thread and not a let's be as rude as we can about Franny thread

beansprout · 05/07/2006 21:53

Franny - anyone who is rude about you is going to have me to answer to

Respect to the lentil weavers!!

FrannyandZooey · 05/07/2006 21:54

Hey hey I have a Frannyette

beansprout · 05/07/2006 21:55

Can I be your bitch?

FrannyandZooey · 05/07/2006 21:59

I would never agree to such a non-respectful, degrading use of a precious human life

FrannyandZooey · 06/07/2006 08:34

Englandflag, here is

BEAN CASSEROLE

as promised:

Fry garlic, 1 lb leeks, carrots, mushrooms (chuck in any other veg you have or whatever is in season) until tender. Add tin tomatoes, 1/2 pint stock, 1 tbsp paprika, splash soy sauce. Bring to boil then cover and simmer for 20 mins. Add tin kidney beans, good amount of frozen sweetcorn and you can add dumplings at this point (not healthy but bloody lovely - mix 4 oz self raising flour, 2 oz suet or veg suet, 1 tbsp dried herbs, 5 tbsp cold water into balls and plop on top of stew). Cover and simmer for 20 mins.

Freezes v well. Good on its own in a bowl, but cheaper to stretch it out with baked potatoes, crusty bread, dumplings, rice or quinoa. You can mess about with it and add extra beans, or extra root veg in season is nice too(parsnips, swede etc)

FrannyandZooey · 06/07/2006 08:34

Oh that one is from Vegetarian Suppers by Jane Suthering.

Bozza · 06/07/2006 08:43

That sounds pretty much how I make a sausage casserole. Apart from putting sausages in first. But actually you only need 3 or 4 sausages chopped us so it is still fairly cheap and (I suppose dependent on quality/quantity of sausages) reasonably healthy.

FrannyandZooey · 07/07/2006 11:32

Do you still want the curry one or shall I leave it for now? How's it going?

ZinedineZidane · 08/07/2006 09:29

F&Z, I've been printing them off and compiling my shopping list for next week - can't thank you enough. If you've got time for the curry one, I'd love it .

kickassangel · 08/07/2006 09:54

what stock do you use if you don't eat meat? we tend to make our own after a roast, but i'm shocked at how expensive it is to buy.

FrannyandZooey · 08/07/2006 12:19

I just use Kallo stock cubes. They are organic and you can get lo-salt ones which I like as I prefer to keep ds' salt intake down.

ZZ, you are welcome! I am happy they are useful. Here goes on the curry one which is a bit vague (another home grown concotion)

Fry say 2 onions, and garlic if you like it, until tender, then add garam masala, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric (or whatever spices you have and like), say about 3 tbsp in total? (I am guessing btw please don't blame me if it's too hot). You could also add mushrooms and peppers and fry them too.

Meanwhile steam some diced veg such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, cauli, squash, swede, whatever. I think you could saute them in with the onions instead, but that takes so long I can never be arsed to do it. Steam so they are basically cooked but still have a fair bit of bite to them. Save the water used to steam them.

Mix the veg with the onions, and add ground almonds (erm, say 6 oz?), a block of creamed coconut, a few handfuls of raisins, and enough of the reserved steaming water to just barely cover it all. I usually add frozen peas, green beans or sweetcorn at this point as well, and a tin or two of chickpeas. Simmer gently until the veg is all tender and the sauce has thickened a bit. If still too sloppy more almonds may rescue it, or take some of the veg out and liquidise to thicken it.

Anyone who can cook proper Indian food will probably be appalled at this bastardised version but it does taste quite good

We usually eat it with rice or quinoa, although it would be good with Indian breads like naan as well. It freezes very well and children like it because it's very sweet tasting.

monkeytrousers · 08/07/2006 22:43

Kallo veggie cubes are great. Espesh in lentil and veg soup. Yum.

kickassangel · 08/07/2006 23:04

ok, i have to admit to being incredibly anal after following this thread. i listed all the meals i think i can do fairly quickly & easily between work & dinner, whilst having 'quality time' with dd.
the i decided that each week we'd have 2 veggie meals, 1 meat, 1 fish & 1 'easy' (e.g. beans ontoast) meal. Now i'm trying to work out calories & cost of each meal.