Autumn/winter family meal ideas ahead of lockdown 2.0

[magnarocks]

Hi all,

Looking for some recommendations for your favourite everyday autumn recipes please? Ideally healthy(ish) and if they'll be liked by fussy 3yo, even better.

I found it very hard to keep inspired in the kitchen in the last lockdown and have a horrible feeling that this one might be harder with regard to this due to the long dark evenings.

We eat most things, usual everyday dishes include cottage pie, curries, risotto, spag bol. Keen to eat more fish/veggie meals which I often feel less inclined to in the colder months.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Cobbler www.nationaltrust.org.uk/recipes/autumn-vegetarian-cobbler
Vegetable crumble www.livegreenandgood.com/vegetarian-recipes/vegetable-bean-crumble
Enchiladas www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bean-enchiladas or enchilada pie www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/enchilada-pie
Fish pie realfood.tesco.com/recipes/healthy-fish-pie.html
Veggie hot pot recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/vegetarian-hot-pot
Sweet potato stew and dumplings www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chipotle-sweet-potato-black-bean-stew-cheddar-dumplings

I hear you, totally got food planning and cooking fatigue. A change of season has helped as opens other possibilities. I love autumn and winter food

Made this genius oven baked pumpkin rissitto at the weekend

fish cakes use potato or sweet potato

beef and barley doup ? Soup

Thanks both - some really lovely sounding recipes.

Spent this evening prepping and chopping a pumpkin... I have to say, it was a lot of effort. Hopefully pumpkin and bacon risotto later in the week will be worth it.

How about smoked mackerel kedgeree
allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/34526/kedgeree-with-smoked-mackerel.aspx The are more complicated recipes put there. I just kind of make it up each time. My kids loved smoked mackerel but I'd go through it with clean fingers just to check there were no bones.

A family favourite for this time of year is Jamie Oliver's sweet potato veggie chili www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/veggie-chilli/. Sweet potatoes are much easier to prep than a pumpkin.

How about smoked mackerel kedgeree
allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/34526/kedgeree-with-smoked-mackerel.aspx The are more complicated recipes put there. I just kind of make it up each time. My kids loved smoked mackerel but I'd go through it with clean fingers just to check there were no bones.

A family favourite for this time of year is Jamie Oliver's sweet potato veggie chili www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/veggie-chilli/. Sweet potatoes are much easier to prep than a pumpkin.

I couldn't get an ocado delivery until next Sunday so I've just done a 10 day meal plan - here are the dinners I have planned (without the takeaways and meal kits that I'm going to order to support our local restaurants!)

• Greek roast chicken with tomato, feta, lemon and orzo, green salad (cut up cuke/carrot/toms for the kids as they are so annoying about salad at the moment) - recipe here: www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/stuffed-greek-chicken-cayenne-oregano-orzo-recipe/

• Hash with sweet potatoes, leftover roast chicken, chorizo, sweetcorn and cabbage with a crispy fried egg on top

• Pizza (easy Friday night!)

• Brussels sprout, bacon and chestnut galette (with bought shortcrust)

• Pasta with spaghetti squash, walnuts, parmesan, breadcrumbs

• Jacket potatoes with hot smoked salmon, sour cream and pickled beetroot and cucumber and feta

• Mushroom, butternut squash, sage and hazelnut white lasagne

• Cheaty cheese & herb souffle (no egg white whipping required) - this and the galette above are both from a new family cookbook I've just bought called the Home Cookery Year that is all divided by season and is excellent!!

Also - I often feel uninspired in the kitchen so I try and plan the week in one big burst of creativity, balancing 2 meat, 2 fish, 3 veggie days and then do the weekly make sure I have everything in. Then when it comes to the day by day, I don't have to be particularly inspired - I just have to go by what's on the fridge on the meal plan. DH sometimes moans that he doesn't fancy whatever is planned, but I say either he cooks something else or we stick to the original plan, otherwise all the best before dates are out of whack and we end up wasting food.

We like things like cassoulet, lentils etc

A suggestion is sauté onions, carrots and celery until soft and gooey (around 45 mins) add garlic cook further 5 mins then add chopped tomatoes, mixed beans, herbs de Provence and paprika, cook for 20 mins then add chopped parsley at the end. I serve with spicy meranguez sausages if I can source, otherwise Cumberland sausages are good or Linda McCartney chorizo style veggie sausages.