New Menu Plan...

I thought I'd share my new menu plan. For no particular reason other than that I'm in a sharing kind of mood. I have two new starters at the end of August when I get back from vacation and wanted inexpensive, easy to make and freezable meals. I cook once every 8 weeks, and I make meals on a 3 week cycle enough for 9 weeks worth. I prefer to cook it all in one day including the majority of my snacks which also freeze, and then all I am left with is fruit and veggie sticks to cut once or twice a week. I really don't have time to prep everyday.

Here goes...I work M-Th from Sept and have the same 4 am and pm snacks each week and then 12 lunches. I have tried to do one soup a week, one meat a week, one fish a week, and one meat free a week. One of my meat free ended up being a fish dish this cycle as I have a little one who is adamant he wont eat beans simple as they are and I really don't want to deal with that while I am transitioning two new ones.

AM SNACKS
1.Cheese, fruit, crackers
2.hummus and raw veggies
3.a variety of fruit and veg smoothies ( works perfectly with the fact that my own 12 year old daughter has them for breakfast)
4.mini lemon raspberry muffin bites(think the size of two bite brownies)

PM SNACKS
1.Carrot-Apple Cupcakes
2.apple cinnamon pancakes(I make enough for all of them for the 9 weeks, and freeze them in-between wax paper and in a zip lock bag and pull as many as I need out for the day when I need them and reheat them by putting them in the toaster)
3.fruit and yogurt
4.cranapana bread( cran-cranberry, ap-apple & ana-banana)- When this is cooled I slice it into portions and cling wrap it and freeze it. I just pull out what I need for the day in the morning

All my snacks are supplemented with additional fruit and veggies for those with larger appetites. I also offer a lighter snack in the morning and a heavier one in the afternoon in the hopes of giving them something more substantial after naptime to put them on till dinner.

LUNCHS

Soups- Carrot-Fennel Soup, Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup & Sweet Potato Soup. All served with either crusty bread or unsalted tops, and raw veggies.

Meat- Beef or Turkey Stroganoff(loaded with extra veggies), Meatloaf with roasted root veg(I make sure the root veg is only cooked about half way so when I reheat the tray they don't end up being gross) & Chicken, Veg & Rice Casserole

Fish- Fishcakes, typically salmon or tuna. The tuna will be out of a tin but the salmon is not, served with potatoes and veggies. Asian Baked Fish with potatoes and veg. The fish is not cooked prior to going in the tray for freezing, only the potatoes and veggies. By the time they have reheated, the fish is cooked through perfectly. Lastly I make a mean fish curry with whiting and serve that with rice.

Veggie- Rice and Bean sliders served with veggie sticks. My son is a vegetarian so when I make his burgers, I just make additional smaller ones. Tuna and Rice Casserole(loaded with veggies), and finally a Pasta Primavera Alfredo. I have an amazing "cheat" for alfredo sauce that I jar and freeze, and I load this dish up with broccoli, spinach and peas.

After every lunch for desert, fruit is served.

It may sound like a lot of work to some but to me it really is so much easier than cooking everyday or weekly. I prefer to put my daily energy into cooking my family healthy meals and this method ensures that I do so. All meals are put into foil trays with lids, and are labelled and marked with meal name and day of which week in the cycle. I have used this method for a couple of years now and it really does work.

So helpful! Thanks for sharing!

I also find that I need to do a lot of prep work for meals or else it's the family dinners that suffer.

Your menu sounds awesome but my dckids wouldn't eat some of that, they are picky and like things plain, don't even use sauces or dips except for an occasional tiny bit of ketchup and mustard. You know how I make my life easier? No soups, stews, applesauce or anything else that spills. I serve all finger foods/fork/spoon foods. I do serve yogurt but at least it sticks to the spoon. I have a rug under my dining room table so they have to learn about soup and stew at home.

Mom of 4, even my little ones eat soup without mess. The secret is they drink it out of a cup so there's no issue with using a spoon. I never used to serve soup for the very reason you don't, but you can get so much additional nutrition into them through blending a soup so seems a shame not to serve it but obviously the mess with a bowl and spoon is insane. They love to drink it out of the cup and those who can use a straw without problems can have one which makes it even more of a novelty.

This menu plan is actually really mild on the flavour front because I am making some old favourites of mine and also to gradually introduce stronger flavours to the new ones joining me. My menu always has a curry dish, and I always consistently have different cuisines for them to try so that they become better eaters. I have never really had any issues with adapting a child's pallet through gradual introduction to different ethnic foods and flavours. If there has ever been a fussy child its not exclusive to me they are fussy at home too and with even the most popular junk food that their parents serve too. It tends to be more of an "I don't want ANYTHING", versus disliking certain foods.

Wow. Thank you. There are a tonne of great ideas here. I am writing it all down. :) I am in a daycare food rut, I think because summer makes me want to just take a huge break.

Looks amazing! I've been trying to get some new ideas. I believe you mentioned in my post re: wheat free that your almost exclusively gluten free. Is the cranberry/banana/apple bread gluten free? I'd love to try and make that for my kids!

I would love it if you would post your Cranapana bread recipe, pretty please. I bet lots of other people would love it too!

I have a gluten free version of it and a regular version. The majority of my baked goods are not gluten free, as Judy mentioned in the wheat allergy thread that gluten free baking from scratch is tricky at first so I have never bothered. My daughter is completely gluten free and I just don't give her the baked goods other than a couple of tried and tested GF recipes I do have. I am mostly GF except I am a sucker for fresh crusty baguettes with butter and good cheese so that's my free day indulgence. :) I also add banana to every baked good I make as I hate banana bread so it totally prevents any temptation to eat any kind of cake lol I literally have about 35 bananas in my chest freezer right now. Its nuts.

alaynek, I will PM you the gluten free recipe tomorrow and I will start a new thread for the regular recipe tomorrow too.