Creative catering

For more than 25 years I've used a menu system to feed the family, adjusting it from
1)  Carefree couple choices, to
2)  Food you can eat with one hand whilst breastfeeding/jiggling baby, to
3)  Dishes adapted to toddler likes and dislikes, then back to
2)  plus 3), on to
4) Carefree family meals, then back to
2) plus 4), and so on.

The menus have more or less survived, and it's as simple as this:

1 week = 7 days =

1 x roast
1 x leftovers
1 x meat free
1 x minced beef
1 x chicken
1 x fish
1 x easy (easy is whatever you do with your eyes shut, like the toad in the hole above, for me).

Days do change, but I usually stick to it, as it makes shopping easier.

The hotpot above is a leftover dish.

A sample week will be:
Sun - Traditional roast lamb dinner
Mon - Cold leftover meat from roast with bubble and squeak and pickles.
Tues - Cheese omelette with crusty bread and salad.
Wed - Cottage pie and vegetables.
Thurs - Chicken curry and rice with naan and poppadums
Fri - Scampi and chips
Sat - Egg and bacon with panfried potatoes

And a second sample week will be:
Sun - Roast beef
Mon - Beef risotto
Tues - Cauliflower cheese with tomatoes
Wed - Chilli mince in tacos with salad
Thurs - Chicken stir fry
Fri - Chunky tuna sweetcorn stew with granary baguettes
Sat - Pizza, coleslaw and beans.

The plan centres around the basic 7 days, which can vary hugely, the same dish might not turn up more than once in several months.
Don't eat fish? Have 2 chicken days.
Don't like leftovers? (or maybe don't HAVE leftovers lol) Have 2 meatfree days.
The easy day includes things like pizza, burgers, take-aways, beans on toast - we all need an easy day once a week.

Here's another leftover dish, just because. It's a chicken and vegetable pie. Rustic looking. See 2 and 5 below. (number 7, me?)

rus⋅tic

 – adjective

1.	of, pertaining to, or living in the country, as distinguished from towns or cities; rural.

2.	simple, artless, or unsophisticated.

3.	uncouth, rude, or boorish.

4.	made of roughly dressed limbs or roots of trees, as garden seats.

5.	(of stonework) having the surfaces rough or irregular and the joints sunken or beveled.

– noun

6.	a country person.

7.	an unsophisticated country person.

Happy dinners.
Eleanor

Comments

[Deanne]

that toad in the hole looks fab!! mine never turn out like that! lol xxx

[Sarah]

Lovely! My menu is always based on the contents of my veg box, which means at the moment there're an awful lot of courgette recipes :)

[soojay]

I have just started doing weekly menus to help budget..MY i LOVE the look of that toad in the hole!!! ( Sone hates sausages :( :( )No 3 on your list, so we dont have it.
Thanks for fab ideas

[Kelly]

I love your pie bird! I used to be so organised with menu-planning, but when I was doing a part-time degree and working full-time it all went out the window and became a bit of a snatch-and-grab plan. I'm now trying to rebuild my planning (I won't tell you how long it's been!) so thanks for the inspiration!

[Debbie Roberts]

I am really going to have to be more organised when I go back to school, thanks for all the ideas.