Want to be a more "foodie" mum-recipe ideas to ease me in please!

[Pawslikepaddington]

Along the shepherd's pie, mac and cheese etc route. Also, thinking of doing packed lunches-what do you put in? Cheese sarnies and chopped apple seems a bit bland.

Thank you foodie guru's!

What kind of things do your family like? any particular likes/dislikes?

Packed lunches - does it have to be sandwiches what about pasta/rice salad, wraps, crudites. Can also do homemade soup if they like it in thermos.

Sandwich ideas:
Peanut butter adn apple
Cheese Salad
Wraps with either leftover meat/cheese/fish and cold roasted veg or salad.

Chicken cooked with brushed on curry paste or spices (can be mild) then sliced can be used with wraps or in a pasta salad or rice salad.

Crudites (carrots/peppers/cucumber/celery) with homous dip.

and how much time are you likely to have? Making shepherds pie/lasagne/stews/pies/big batch of tomato sauce are fab for putting in freezer. And then make quick dinners (or at least minimum effort for evening).

Thanks armadillo. It is just me and dd, and dd can be FUSSY if she is tired or not too hungry, so I need stuff that can be saved (although our freezer is miniscule, as in we have a larder fridge and no room for a chest freezer). The problem is I don't actually know what dd will eat at the mo-she loves something one day and hates it the next. Grrr to children!

how old is your DD?

She turned 5 in March, so still quite little. She used to be fine, then started nursery and got fussy, and starting school made her even fussier. Her two best friends will only eat processed crap cocktail sausages and microwave meals, but I refuse to serve them unless friends are coming so she ends up with a bowl of weetabix practically every night.

does she eat salad food? if she does you could make up your own personal salads lke they do at salad bars, lettuce, baby tomatoes, pasta etc, kids her age are a lot more likely to eat when they make it themselves. also you could try making veggie muffins-sweet potato and carrot, or courgette bread (both freeze well) as side dishes with sausages or tuna cakes. spaghetti bolonaise is another easy meal, you can make up a huge pot of sauce and freeze 2 portions to use later, and its very easy to hide chopped up veg in. another easy dinner is pita or bagel pizzas. cover them in tomato sauce, veg, and cheese and bake them for a few mins in the oven, you can even do faces.