This week is going to be busy, and I will be at BritMums on Friday and Saturday, so I am trying to prevent everything descending into chaos by being really organised.  That’s the theory anyway!  Things always go better when we make a meal plan, and we use all the contents of our veg box without having to make soup on Thursday night, also known as veg box eve!  Nothing wrong with making soup, but making it in the middle of the night is a bit crazy.  I have made a meal plan for the week and Suburban dad has done a big shop, though there will be inevitable trips out to pick up things we have forgotten (somehow fruit juice didn’t make it to the list), bread from the baker’s and meat from the butcher’s at the weekend.

Breakfasts will be cereal, fruit and yoghurt, as we won’t have time for anything more complicated.  Lunch today will be at Granny’s house, and the rest of the weekday lunches will be bread, cheese, ham, salad, etc.  This is the plan for the evening meals :

Monday – Spaghetti Bolognese (with Quorn mince), grated cheese and salad.
The big boys have got a friend coming round for supper and I have checked that he likes it.  I quite often do it when we have friends round, as it is easy and popular.

Tuesday – salmon fillets, new potatoes, peas, broccoli, greens.
The greens are from the veg box, we have some frozen peas already and I added broccoli to the shopping list because everybody likes it.

Wednesday – Quorn chicken, peppers, mushrooms and rice.
I think we will probably have our friends from 3 Kids and a Gluestick round for tea before Rainbows and Beavers, so I’m hoping this will suit all seven children.  I will cook everything separately for the kids, and save some for us to have later with some kind of sauce, probably tomato-based and spicy.  I usually eat with the children, but not on Wednesdays as they have to eat at 4.30pm, and also because I will be weighing in at Rosemary Conley in the evening so I prefer to eat afterwards!

Thursday – pasta and pesto, ratatouille, grated cheese and cottage cheese.
I will make the ratatouille in advance and offer Owl the opportunity to prepare the pasta and pesto.  It is his favourite meal and he can’t wait to be able to cook it on his own, but at the moment I think the pan of pasta and boiling water is too heavy for him to drain it safely without my help.  He enjoys doing it anyway, and it is a good quick and easy meal to do before he goes to Cubs.  The ratatouille is mainly for me, so that I don’t overdo it on the carbs, but some of the children like it I think.  And the cottage cheese is my alternative to the grated cheese, but most of the kids will probably have both.

Friday – pizza, olives and salad.
This is my suggestion for daddy and the kids while I am at BritMums, a nice simple Friday night supper.

Saturday – burgers, sausages, bread and salad.
Again, this is just a suggestion, and I don’t know if it will be needed as they will probably have eaten loads at the church fair in the afternoon, but I think daddy might like a trip to the butcher’s on Saturday morning and a chance to fire up the barbecue if the weather is good enough.

Sunday – baked potatoes, steak and salad.
Daddy’s favourite meal – I think he will deserve it after looking after the children for two days!