Our daily routines have changed a little since The Father Figure stopped doing night shifts. For the first time in a very, very long time his days of work will coincide with the rest of the world’s working week, which means I can make some simplifications to our menu plan (you can print my monthly and weekly and fortnightly menu planning grids)! For the first time I am allocating meals to specific days of the week! Yay! (I know, it’s a little sad that I am excited by the idea of ‘pasta night’… such is my life)
With the colder weather and shorter days it’s also time to change over a few of our dinner staples from meals that are salad heavy to meals that use vegetables that are in season now. So here’s a run down of our current winter dinner menu…
Monday – Bake Night (because we are at ballet till 6pm)
Mexi Bake (from the famous Planning Queen, I can’t blog about this enough)
Tuna Bake
Tuesday – Meat and Veg Night
Sausages or rissoles with seasonal veggies
Meatloaf with a cheesy mashed potato top
Wednesday – Pasta Night
Chicken and Mushroom Pasta (family fav that never goes off the menu)
Lentil Bolognaise
Porcupine Meat Balls.
Thursday – Cook in the Pan Night
Chicken and Fried Rice
Chile with rice and cheesy bread.
Meat Pies
Friday – I can’t be bothered to cook night
Toasted Sandwiches
Scrabbled Eggs.
Saturday and Sunday – Comfort Food
Home made Pizza
Chicken Noodle Soup
Empanadas
Indian Chicken with Naan bread.
As you can see I’ve decided to keep it simple and just cook the same things that I know almost everyone will eat over and over. I know it might get a bit boring, but I’m sick of trying to come up with new ideas that everyone will eat and I’m going for easy, easy for me! My menu plans are never set in stone, so we’ll likely throw in different things here and there as the budget and inspiration hits…. but this is my fall back plan!
Adding to the list of dinners, I’m also putting together a list of sweets and snacks.
We made the cinnamon swirl bread (image above) on the weekend and it turned out great, And so versatile, made a great dessert warm from the oven and a fabulous afternoon tea toasted and slathered in butter the next day too. I think my fussy breakfast eaters would also go for a slice or two in the mornings!
I’m going to try out Little Eco Footprints Pita bread recipe as my kids are always hungry for flat bread filled with anything!
These Berry Bars and the Hundreds of Biscuits recipes are always on rotation here at the Pickle Farm, because they are quick, easy and yum.
So what’s cooking at your house? Share with me your favourite winter dinners, sweets and snacks!
PlanningQueen says
I just did our monthly plan and it does run very similar to this. I love soups though in winter for the nights we have swimming, with some crusty bread. The slow cooker chicken noodle soup is a big hit in our house and I could easily serve it up once a week with no complaints.
Marita says
I have fond memories of mums home made pita bread, she used to make all our bread when we lived in Nigeria, must have been hard going, late 70’s, wood fire oven. But it tasted delcious, especially with egg and lettuce.
katef says
I can’t even begin to imagine making all of our bread and I have a bread machine to do the kneading and rising bit!!
Deb G says
I like the idea of having a ‘night’ for something too… we’ve been trying a bit of that. Your list is inspiring.. far from simple – to me it sounds delightfully interesting! Do you have a recipe for Chicken and Mushroom pasta – why such a favourite?
katef says
Believe me it is much simpler than trying to make sure I cooked something with enough left overs on the right day of DH’s shift!
I promise I will blog the chicken and mushroom pasta recipe – it’s a favourite because it is easy but most of all because everyone eats it!
Leah says
It’s ace you get a go at regular meal planning, I bet you will love it :) My meal plan sheet has equal space given over to what we are doing on the day, good recap of the calendar for the week ahead.
I made a great risotto the other night but I am not feeling it for the left overs!! I always find that with risotto so will probably not be a winner this winter.
I am hanging for a slow cooked shank stew, great over polenta or couscous to keep things interesting. Best over mash tho, buttery salty mash mmmm.
I’ve been buying the butterflied legs of lamb from woolworths and making a potato bake, some couscous, some tzatziki and a green salad. Nice not quite winter not quite summer meal :)
We are not normally so “meaty” but I am finding if I plan a meat meal we end up eating more veggies, rather than the small amount we’d eat in a pasta or rice dish. I might experiment with some other veggies for a potato bake like dish, to do for a few nights as a side dish. Tonight we are having posh sausages and mash as per A’s request, probably with carrots and broccoli (honey and cheese sauce respectively lol)
katef says
oooh I am totally drooling over the lamb, potato back and tatziki and salad… though I am not a couscous fan, but maybe you’ll convert me with a meal like that! Yum!
Bec @ Bad Mummy says
YAY! Good job chicken! It looks much better than the one I made :D
Jodie says
Had the empanadas for dinner tonight – made my own filling though with lamb mince and diced veges. They were fantastic!
Alice says
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing this. I have been menu planning every week, but think that a fortnightly plan for winter will be much better for us all.