Sunday lunch

[HamishBamish]

I have been trying to make Sunday a lunch a regular weekly occurrence as we don't eat together very often in the evenings during the week. DC eat at around 5pm and although I eat with them, I prefer to eat with DH later in the evening.

I just find Sunday lunch such hard going. What am I doing wrong? It's never anything particularly fancy (roast chicken, roast beef, lamb cutlets etc) but the prep seems to take up the whole day!

Any advice on how to become more efficient or even change my approach a bit? I guess I'm trying to emulate what I remember as a child, but it's harder than I thought!

Firstly, make sure that if you cook, someone else does the washing up!!
I find it helps to jot a schedule of what needs to go in when. Have all the pots you're planning to use ready and five minutes before serving warm up the plates.
Which bits are taking you the most time?

Thanks for the advice CatKisser. It's not so much the main event (the meat), but the side dishes which seem to take me ages. I just don't think I have the confidence to know when to put things in and then go off to do something else. That's what I remember my mum doing. She had the meat cooking whilst we were at church and everything just seemed to appear when we returned! I suspect it's practice, but I feel like I've run a marathon when I'm done!

I also tend to do a pudding (something like crumble) as again, it's what I remember loving the most when I was a child. It's tricky to get it all in sequence though...

What aspects of the prep are taking over your day? The veg? Stuffing? Yorkies?

Most veg can be prepped a day in advance so long as they are stored properly (under water)

Yorkies- Erm, you can always cheat, I make mine in batches and them freeze them. I'm like my very own Aunt Bessie!!!

Stuffing? Just cheat. Start it when you put the meat in and let it sit until you bung it in the oven

I tend to do everything on the day. I just lack the knowledge to know what I can do in advance and how to do it. I've only really stared cooking over the past few years and I'm kicking myself for not paying any attention to how my mum did things!

Yorkies tend to be tricky as I do them at the last minute whilst the meat is resting so I can whack up the oven temperature. It just seems like such a rush. Veggies I try to keep relatively simple, but I do find the timing tricky.

Ready prepped veg is an excellent suggestion Dancing, thanks!

Get a Christmas time plan and adjust it for your simpler roast. Use it (making minor adjustments) each week until it's natural.

That's a really good idea to start using a time plan Waiting. I remember my mum using one for Christmas lunch and it should help me with my timings for just an ordinary Sunday lunch too.

When you have time, make a really large yorkie batter, Wack the oven right up and make tray after tray load of them. Once they're cold, I put them in ziplock bags and freeze them. That way it's less of a rush. They'll cook and crisp beautifully in less than 5 min when you want to eat them :-)

Could you prepare something for the slow cooker the night before? If it was switched on high first thing, most things should be ready by lunch time.

How many different types of veg do you do?

I put my meat on first thing - once cooked I wrap in foil and leave on the side.

Veg - peas/carrots/new potatoes

Peas and carrots go in the same pan.

Potatoes don't need peeling.

I use frozen Yorkie puds and put them in the oven just as I'm beginning to serve up.the plates.