Weekly Menu Ideas: 02-06

Simple is often the best

I consider myself to be a world class obsessive mom - not in the super annoying sense but I generally have a concern when my kids are not eating enough. Time and time again, I am often told that kids will never starve themselves and should eat when they are hungry but sometimes I feel that kids need to eat more.

This is why I developed this menu, with meals we generally all ate and loved. I loved to think of my menus as a kid proof eating plan, and while I pride myself on this, I had a very humbling experience this week on my night off.

As any mom - I often take a night off to enjoy a meal with a friend, and this week I did exactly that. In my absence my family totally disregarded my meal plan and instead opted for a night of baked beans and chicken - a meal that even in my thoughts drives me absolutely crazy.

To my surprise - my kids ate three plates each and woke up asking for this for breakfast as well. Sometimes I get so carried away that I often forget that sometimes it's the simplest meals that mean the most.

Weekly Menu - 02 June

Monday

School Lunch: Mini Wraps

Dinner: Sausage Chutney

Tips for this idea:

There are great ideas for sausage alternatives for vegans and vegetarians - as a note some of these recipe have a softer sausage filling therefore in the recipe below please do not cut them up but rather serve them whole.

Sausage Chutney Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp of oil (any oil of choice)

• 1 onion

• 2 teaspoon of masala (adjust depending on the strength you prefer)

• 1 teaspoon of sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric

• 4-5 tomatoes (grated)

• 500 g of sausages

• 50 ml of water to cook

Instructions:

1. In a pot add oil and the 1/2 cut up onion and cook until golden brown

2. Add in the sausages and cook in until they have been cooked through

3. Once they are cooked - remove them from the pot and add in the other 1/2 onion and cook until golden brown then add in the tomato and all the spices listed above. I try to keep the recipe basic so my kids eat it but feel free to add all your preferred spices.

4. Then cut up the sausages in bite sized pieces and add it to the gravy once the gravy is cooked.

5. Enjoy the meal with some delicious bread or rice.

Tuesday:

School Lunch: Cold Pesto Pasta

Dinner: Red Pepper Soup

Tips for this idea:

Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

• 500g cherry tomatoes

• 3 red peppers (paprika in the Netherlands)

• 2 onions

• 2 garlic heads

• Optional (1 carrot)

• 500 ml of fresh cream / coconut cream

Instructions:

1. Add tomatoes, red peppers (cut in halves), onions (peeled and cut in half) as well as the two garlic heads to a baking tray. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper and bake it for 15-20 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees.

2. Once vegetables are starting to brown or even slightly burnt depending on the roast flavour of your choice remove it from the oven - add all the ingredients to the blender with 250ml of cream. At this point if you have left the skin on the garlic cloves remove them before adding it to the blender.

3. Once all ingredients are smooth - add it to the pot with the rest of the cream and bring it to the boil.

4. Once it reaches boiling temperatur, remove it from the heat and serve it with some bread or even a toasted sandwich of your choice.

Wednesday:

School Lunch: Flapjacks/ American Pancakes with Fruit

Dinner: Lasagna

Tips for this idea:

While I never follow a specific recipe for lasagna, I usually follow a similar technique. It involves cooking the mince and then adding pre-cooked pasta sauce, the boiling up some lasagna pasta and then layering it. The possibilities for making vegan lasagna are endless you can add chickpeas and lentils to the filling and or even mixed vegetables.

Thursday:

School Lunch: Buffalo Wings (Potato Tots) and Sauce

Dinner: Chicken Schnitzel, Mash Potato and Mushroom Sauce

Tips for this idea:

Chicken Schnitzels are easy to make it involves crumbing chicken fillets and I believe that every household has their preferred method. Coupled with mash potato and mushroom sauce this serves as a great German treat!

Friday:

School Lunch: Chicken Mayo (Salad) Rolls/ Pancakes

Dinner: Mac and Cheese

Tips for this idea:

I have posted a recipe for an easy and delicious Mac & Cheese.

Saturday:

Lunch: Savory Waffles

Dinner: Family Nacho Night

Tips for this idea:

I love a good family nacho night - if you do not have classic nacho chips, doritos work just as well. The great thing about these family meals is that you can top the nachos with literally anything you have in the fridge. Each person can create their own nacho bowl with preferred toppings so there is literally something for everyone.

Sunday:

Lunch/Supper: Your favorite childhood meal!!

Tips for this idea:

Instead of me giving all the recipes for this week, I thought we could spice things up and give everyone a taste of their best childhood memory. Feel free to share and comment your favorite meal.

I hope this makes this week easier for you. If you feel like you this is something you need for the weeks ahead, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas for next week. ♥️