Help me meal plan January all in one go

[ThatPirateLady]

2023 is the year I crack this food thing. So help me meal plan January.

restrictions:
2 kids. Baby always with me. Preschooler does 3 short days at a nursery and gets a main meal at lunchtime there. Husband generally not back from the office before kids bedtimes on weekdays.

breakfasts are sorted and ok (things on toast, fruit, yogurt, occasionally we’ll go wild and have a fry up or something)

baby will eat pretty much everything

Preschooler is in the fussy phase. No stews/things in sauce. No mixed things/foods touching. No potato (but will eat chips). Eats most veg raw and some roasted but generally wouldn’t touch it cooked any other way.

Husband won’t eat fish unless it’s battered and deep fried.

Id like us to be a bit healthier, swing primarily veggie (aware that’s tough given the restrictions) and ideally get away from the same six things on repeat.

suggest away!

For what it is worth, I decided on a theme for each night. So:
Monday: slow cooker (as I had time to prep it on Sunday)
Tuesday: Fish
Wednesday: use it up Curry/ stir fry (as our veg box arrives on Thursday).
Thursday: whatever needs using first from the box with pasta (spinach etc)
Friday: usually homemade pizza night
Saturday: had a theme of Spanish/Greek/Italian/ Mexican etc.
Sunday: roast of some sort.
Obviously you would decide on the 'theme' for each night based upon m your situation.

Once I had decided that, I aimed to create a month's meal plan, but actually came up with three months worth quite easily.

We don't always stick to it, but it is a good base plan.

[[https://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/courgette_macaroni_cheese.html Macaroni cheese
Burgers - you can make them whenever you have a spare second and then cook as and when you need them. Works well if you and your DH are eating later.
Naan pizzas - such a quick and easy meal.
Swedish meatballs and mash - DS likes everything apart from the sauce, so I just drain the sauce off his.
Veggie sausage rolls - these reheat well
Frittata

Maybe try to think along the lines of meals that you and OH actually want to eat.

If the fussy child has main meal in the day, it can then have an omelette, beans on toast, yoghurt and fruit, pasta pesto etc for tea.

Thank you all

@lbnblbnb i used to do something similar. I’m just finding I’m so restricted on actual meals by the fussy child. It’s much worse because it’s winter, in the summer I felt it was easier to manage.

@Fivemoreminutes1 thank you. I hadn’t considered meatballs but he might eat them without the gravy or mash so that is well worth trying.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie this is my hope. But the fussiness is such that he won’t eat baked beans (saucy/wrong even if drained), frittata (not sure as he’ll eat eats egg in other forms, yogurt (saucy - wet - again). There are some signs he may not be NT and food texture is definitely a huge thing for him. I suspect those three days will be buffet type foods for him and a breather for me.

When dd was super-fussy, we used to just have a couple of days a week when she got either peanut butter on wholemeal toast plus fruit and/or vege sticks, or a bowl of rice or pasta with tuna or cheese plus sweetcorn and fruit or vege sticks. Basically totally low effort but relatively nutritious and allowed the rest of us to eat something more interesting.

I should do this instead of making myself crazy trying to make actual meals fit

Make dump slow cooker recipes, there are plenty of these on taming twins and Cardiff mum

the great thing is you could make 14 of them and pop in the freezer ready to defrost and dump in slow cooker

feed your fussy D.C. something else but let them try your food

I should have been clearer. I’m actually a good cook. I enjoy it. Which is probably why I’m so frustrated at the Groundhog Day rotation of six meals everyone will tolerate eating.

There’s no chance the fusspot would even try a tiny morsel of a slower cooker type meal. And if I’m going to do separate meals I’d want a bit more variety for the adults and not just slow cooker every meal.

Could you do a sort of Greek/Middle Eastern type thing? You could buy falafels and hummus, make a cous cous salad, a Greek salad, warm up some pittas, make tsatziki, some crudite vege. Adults could assemble it all together in the pittas; fussy child could have a picnic.

Similar with a fajita type meal.

What are the 6 meals that are acceptable?

Ok, I love all the different meals on Cardiff mum and taming twins, but Id stretch to get 14 different meals in the shopping. Im quite happy to cook fourteen different meals and then freeze what we don't eat, this means I have them in the freezer for the end of the month when money might be tighter. I find the slow cooker cheaper to use than the oven which is very handy for saving electric

Oh this is worth trying

Toast and topping (peanut butter, marmite, cheese, egg)

roast dinner (no gravy, potatoes, cauli cheese etc)

beige and chips (may pr may not eat the breadcrumbed based beige)

pasta and a clingy ‘dry’ sauce (eg yes to pesto, no to spag bol)

Cheese toastie or quesadilla

picnic/buffet meal (bread/cheese/raw veg)

Does fussy one like pastry?
Sausage roll
Quiche
Savoury veg/cheese tart

If roast dinner is ok then try pork steaks, lamb chops, chicken pieces etc with veg on side

Huge pan of roasted veg with salmon, halloumi or chicken cooked on top (separated on plate)

Is pizza too saucy? Do make your own so they choose what goes on

Once a week I always do a big pyrex dish (easier clean up) of roast veg, varying with the seasons, varying the spices/herbs and sometimes add chickpeas or feta, or more often cook a protein separately.

Have you tried the Richmond vegan sausages, we all like them and they are very similar in texture and taste.