Are you a regular meals person? Do you serve the same thing each Wednesday, and do you find comfort and rhythym in a predictable routine? Or do you have a looser rotation - the same large handful of meals, appearing regularly but in no particular order?
I have been torn in the past - I love the idea of a structured rotation (easy to plan ahead, shop ahead, you can look forward to a specific meal) but since I love to cook, and like to cook a real mish-mash of dishes (from oyako don to paella to lacquered duck to bolognaise), I quickly worked out that I could never commit to a weekly rotation. Choose just seven dishes? Impossible!
For a while, I tried a monthly meal-plan. I know, it seems crazy to me now too! Each month I would sit down and plan every meal for the following month - I'd need to schedule any nights out (such as a planned dinner with friends) and would try and schedule meals so that leftover ingredients would be used up (for example, risotto on one night, then a couple of nights later, another meal requiring a little chicken stock).
It sure was fun to plan (for a weirdo list-nerd like me), but it proved unsustainable. Inevitably, plans would change, and we'd go out for dinner on a night when I'd planned to cook something specific. Ingredients went to waste, favourite meals were missed for the month, and there was no room for whims - "gee whiz, I really feel like a massive plate of chili con carne and cornbread tonight!" sort of whims.
So now, I am back to drifting. I do have an extended list of meals I like to cook, which I keep on my iPhone when I need some inspiration, and there are certainly dishes which we eat more often than others, but I prefer the freedom of being able to decide what to cook on the day, or to wander around the market and buy whatever looks particularly good at the fishmonger, poultry man or butcher.
I love hearing about what other people eat! I like peeking at other people's menu plans, shopping list, shopping trolleys, and I always ask my friends what they are having for dinner when I talk to them during the day.
So in the interest of sharing, here is the list of foods which appear on our dinner table - regularly or just occasionally. Tabitha can easily eat all of the below, with the exception of soups. When we have soup, I dip fingers of toast into the soup, and she eats it that way.
Poultry
- Green curry
- Paprika chicken and nokedli
- Coq au vin
- Chicken and mushroom pie
- Teriyaki chicken
- Oyakodon
- Udon noodles with sesame poached chicken and bok choi
- Chicken Kiev
- Lemon chicken
- Chicken schnitzel and vegetables with Israeli couscous
- Chicken Provincal
- Roast chicken
- Southern-style chicken and dumplings
- Duck breasts with orange / soy / ginger glaze
- Congee
- Chicken risotto
- Pot roast chicken
- Yakitori
- Hainanese chicken rice
- Soy sauce poached chicken
- Chicken satay
- Fajitas
- Chicken and corriander quesadillas
- Chicken and cashew stir fry
- Chicken rice
- Pan-fried chicken with thyme, cream and mustard sauce
- Chicken marylands with spiced skin, potatoes and lemon
Seafood
- Teriyaki salmon
- Salt and pepper grilled fish
- Tuna and zucchini pasta
- Salmon kedgeree
- Tuna mornay
- Garlic prawns
- Spaghetti marinara
- Salmon Patties
- Paella
- Hot smoked salmon pasta
Meat
- Roast pork / beef / lamb
- Baked ham
- Lasagna
- Bolognaise
- Chilli con carne
- Pork chops with apple cider
- Osso bucco
- Lamb shanks
- Sausages with mash and onion gravy
- Meatloaf
- Beef burgundy
- Beef and vegetable stew
- BBQ pork ribs
- BBQ steak with salad or vegetables
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Homemade rissoles with grated vegetables
- BBQ Pork Fillet
- Char Sui Pork
- Beef stroganoff
Vegetarian, Pasta and Vegetable-Based
- Pita pizzas with roast veggies
- Agedashi tofu
- Spinach quiche
- Potato salad
- Roast vegetable frittata
- Carbonara
- Pesto
- Polenta corn fritters
- Vegetable lasagna
- Bubble and squeak
- Baked potatoes
Soups
- Roast pumpkin
- Lentil
- Dad’s Healthy Soup (veggie / bean / bacon)
- Chicken and matzo ball
- Winter chicken soup
- Pea and ham soup
If I don't feel like cooking, we get take-away, generally a few times a month. We are fortunate to have lots of great takeaway options in our area, including some healthy choices. Our favourites are:
- Japanese from Ocha2Go
- Thai from Sukhumvit
- High Tech Burrito (amazing healthy burritos full of Spanish rice, beans, salad etc.)
- Charcoal chicken (our local uses free range chicken)
- Hainanese Chicken Rice from Hawker's Cafe
- Baked potatoes from Spudbar
- Indian from Bombay Beat or Tandoori Den
- Chinese from Choi's or Chun's
- Indonesian from Kedai Nasi Uduk
- Pizza from Mojo's Weird Pizza
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9 comments:
Hi Talia - I've just stumbled across your blog, and I'm impressed at the variety of dishes you've got going! I love cooking and baking but I'm not nearly as organised with meals to choose from. Do you use a specific iPhone app to store your meals/recipes?
Hi Alison - welcome, thanks for stopping by!
I was shocked the first time I wrote out the list, too. It seems like a lot! I go through phases - making heaps of Asian dishes for a while, or lots of seafood... Some dishes only get made a couple of times a year. But they are there to remind me.
I am incredibly low-tech. I store them in an ordinary list in the notepad on the iPhone. In addition, I have notes for each of the recipes I use a lot, so I can shop for the ingredients when I'm out, and check the instructions without dragging out a book or my laptop.
I have notes for maybe 15 of the recipes. There are some things I cook over and over again (teriyaki salmon, lentil soup, oyakodon, lemon chicken, duck breasts, pastas, salmon patties, bolognaise, to name a few.)
What's on your meal rotation, Allison?
xx TM
I love the variety of your "menu plan". It's not a traditional "rota of dishes" which is nice. We tend to do a list on Saturday for the week which minimises the number of times Mr K has to head to the shops during the week, but now I'm not working we have a bit more freedom to cook what we feel like. I like being a bit more free-form about it.
The only thing on rotation at the moment are meals that either I can eat one-handed whilst demand-feeding a colicky, unsettled 8-week-old baby (wholemeal pasta spirals with sliced chicken, zucchini and pesto - easy to spear with a fork), or meals that my husband can easily prepare (anything BBQ'd with salad)! Pre-baby, I loved doing roast chicken/beef/lamb with roasted potatoes/beetroot/fennel and hopefully I'll be able to get back into these soon - as I'm sure you know, it's difficult to do the prep work when your little one needs you.
That said, it's soon to be winter which means lovely thick soups, and if I prepare the vegetables by shredding/chopping with the food processor, they'll be dead-easy to get ready.
How did you go with preparing, cooking and eating when Tabitha was younger?
I can't meal plan because I am very guided by what I "feel" like eating and am guided by my moods and what my body tells me I need. My repetoire is quite small. I like to cook what's in season. Glad you liked the lemon chook.
Allison, having a small needy person around does make things harder!
This is how we got through the early months:
- We bought a lot of pre-made, but nutritious, foods. Such as freshly made vegetable lasagne and vegetable soups from a good deli.
- We asked people to drop over food - so my dad, friends etc., would often drop by with a container of casserole if they had leftovers. (This is after our supply of frozen cooking finished).
- I did a lot of prep earlier in the day, when I had more energy and / or Tabitha was sleeping. I would slice prepare as much as I could in advance, keeping things half-made in the fridge, keeping chopped veggies in some acidulated water. I would sometimes prepare a whole meal (like bolognaise or a stew) earlier in the day, then reheat it in the evening. Most babies are harder to entertain and keep happy in the evenings!
- I tell you, babywearing is your friend for food-prep! As soon as I learnt to wear Tabby on my back, my life changed. Now, most evenings I can fully prepare dinner (including cutting with a sharp knife) with her on my back. She is safely tucked away, cannot reach over, and is safer than if she were on the floor. It also keeps her away from the hot oven door.
- Pasta was certainly my friend. Still is when the day is rough.
- I ALWAYS try and cook a double or triple (or more) batch of anything freezable. If you can cook a massive stew or lentil soup in the morning, while baby is asleep, then freeze it, you have a few nights' dinner sorted.
- Like you, BBQ was used a lot. Fish, chicken, meat... The Daddy would cook that, while I'd throw together a salad with some bagged leaves.
As far as eating, The Daddy would sometimes need to hold her while I quickly ate, then we'd swap.
Baby-Led Weaning is just the Most Awesome Thing Ever for mealtimes. We can eat our meal slowly, enjoying it, while Tabby happily feeds herself.
Much love to you and your lovely baby!
Miss Kitty-Cat, it is an eclectic list, to be sure! I agree that working full time really limits how spur-of-the-moment you can be, since shopping is often done in advance.
FF, I envy your way. It's what I always tried to do - a nice small rota, influenced by season. I am too much of a scatter-brained Gemini for that. I think your method is well suited for baby-life, too, since you are more likely to have the ingredients on hand for your regular dishes.
Thank you so much for your hints! The mornings are a lot better for us, Arabella actually sleeps for a couple of hours before lunch and I hadn't thought of getting dinner ready earlier - great idea.
We're not yet at the point of being able to have the Ergo in back-carry mode (Arabella's still a bit too little for that) but as soon as I can, I will - I can do the dishes with her in front-carry but I'm not game to try knives/stove/oven with her attached to my front!
Thanks again for your hints, greatly appreciated :-) I'm so keen to try BLW when she starts showing an interest in food and I've loved reading about your experiences.
Once they're big enough to wear on the back in the Ergo, that helps... But allow me to tempt you to try backwrapping with a woven wrap?!
It's a little tricky to get the hang of (and you'd need help getting a newborn onto your back while you're learning) but once you have the hang of it (a few weeks, I'd say), it is brilliant, because the baby is high on your back, meaning that they feel lighter than in the Ergo, and when they are a bit older, they enjoy peeking over your shoulder!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2amR7Z6UwA is a good video.
Also http://www.wrapyourbaby.com/rucksack.htm
If you search for woven wrap and / or babywearing and / or rucksack carry you might have some luck. It is a great way to babywear once you get the hang of it, particularly for cooking, since they can peek over.
X TM
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