Module 1 Video
Module 1 Audio
CLICK HERE to download the audio file as an mp3. (You may need to ‘right click’ and ‘save link as’).
NOTE: The video and audio files cover the written content on the next 3 tabs. [/tab] [tab]
The 3-Step Planning ‘System’
IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE WE START: This is my meal planning system. It’s certainly not the only way you can have a quick and easy meal planning system. I want you to use this as a starting point to develop your own ‘system’. Everyone is different so it’s super important that you tweak your system until you have something that works for you and your situation.
It’s going to be an evolving process. As things change in your life, you’ll need to make adjustments. Think of it as part of the fun!
STEP 1.
Keep an ‘ongoing list’ for pantry items & non-food stuff
All you need is somewhere to record when you’re running out of things as you think of them. Doing this as you go takes hardly any time or effort. And makes your shopping list writing much more streamlined!
Options include:
1. An app on your phone.
I’ve recently started using a ‘shopping list’ app. It’s brilliant. I just add things in as I think of them and then check them off as I shop.
2. A notepad
Old school but still effective! My Mum used to swear by her magnetic notepad on the fridge.
3. Chalkboard / whiteboard
Can make a nice decorative feature in your kitchen. The downside is you need to copy it over to your ‘take with you list’. Although I have a friend who uses this system and she takes a photo of her chalkboard on her phone so she instantly has it with her.
STEP 2.
Work out what you’re going to need
1. DINNERS
This is where the 2-Minute Planning Formula comes into play. I’ve included it on a separate tab to make it as clear as possible. Warning: there are numbers involved!
+ add in breakfast items
For me this means a carton of eggs, 1-2 serves veg, an avocado or 2, yoghurt, berries and possibly some lentils or quinoa.
+ add in lunches, if needed.
For lunches I tend to add in few extra serves of veg and double one of the proteins (eg getting a whole chicken so we’ll have leftovers) and make sure the pantry is well stocked with canned fish & legumes.
+ add in snacks and ‘treats’, if needed
I just keep some roasted almonds, brazil nuts or other nuts on hand.
STEP 3. Review what you already have & subtract this from your list
This is uber-important! In the last few months, the only time I’ve bought way too much food was the week I went shopping on the way home from Sydney without being able to check my fridge and freezer first.
– Leftover veg / protein ingredients.
It’s a good idea to have a few things in the freezer as a ‘buffer’. Generally at least a packet of frozen peas and a few types or protein – steak or sausages or a whole chicken.
– Leftover meals or 1/2 meals.
I usually earmark leftovers for turning into lunches so they don’t impact my dinner calculations.
– veg from the garden.
If you’re lucky enough to have one!
Then…
You’re ready to go shopping!
The 2-Minute Planning Formula
Step 1. Count the number of dinners you need to shop for.
Step 2. Work out the number of types of protein (or ‘main events’) and veg you’ll need.
Protein is the same as the number of dinners counted in step 1.
Veg is TWICE the number of dinners counted in step 2.
Or in Trudy’s (much more eloquent) words,
“At dinner, each person will have one protein and two types of vegetables”
What is a serve of protein or ‘main event’?
This will vary for person to person so be prepared to adjust according to what works for you and your family. Take these as a starting point to guide you, although if you’re feeding a lumberjack or my not-so-little brother, I’d double my quantities.
I usually work on the following for 1 serve:
:: 200-250g (7-9oz) meat, fish, poultry etc
:: 200-250g (7-9oz) tofu, setian etc
:: 1 medium eggplant
:: 2 field or portabello mushrooms
:: 125g (4oz) halloumi
:: 2-3 eggs
:: 125-150g (4-5oz) cooked lentils, beans, chickpeas, quinoa etc (about 1/2-3/4 can)
:: 75-100g (3-4oz) dry pasta / noodles
What is a serve of veg?
I like to think of this in terms of ‘handfuls’ or ‘bunches’.
Some examples of 1 serve veg:
:: 1 large handful washed salad leaves
:: 1 handful shelled peas
:: 1 handful snow peas or sugar snaps
:: 1/2 head broccoli
:: 1/2 bunch asparagus
:: 1/4 head of cauliflower
:: 1/2 bunch beetroot
:: 1 medium potato
:: 1 medium zucchini (courgette)
:: 1 medium carrot or 1/2 bunch baby carrots
:: 1 medium eggplant (aubergine)
:: 1/8 whole cabbage
:: 1 baby fennel or 1/2 large fennel
:: 1/2 bunch leafy herbs such as parsley, basil or mint.
AN EXAMPLE…
A normal week in our house would look like this…
dinner Saturday – 2 people
dinner Sunday – 2 people
dinner Monday – 2 people
dinner Tuesday – 2 people
dinner Wednesday – 2 people
dinner Thursday – 2 people
dinner Friday – out = 0 people
so…
Number dinners = 6
Our shopping list becomes…
Protein = 6 types (2 serves each)
Veg = 12 types (2 serves each)
Then…
Follow the ‘2-Minute Planning System‘ and look at the food you have in the fridge / freezer and adjust your shopping list accordingly.
8 Tips to Set Yourself Up for Success
As I mentioned in your bonus training the ‘6 Keys to Meal Planning Success‘, I recently took a fabulous online course to develop the habit of meditation. It was run by Leo Babauta from Zen Habits – a master at the art of developing new habits.
Anyway it got me thinking that meal planning is really a ‘habit’ in itself. There’s the habit of keeping an ongoing shopping list, as well as the ‘habit’ of doing a weekly, fortnightly, or every few days shop – and planning for that.
So it makes sense that we can apply the principles of forming a new habit to help us succeed with our meal planning.
1. Make a commitment to start.
One of the first steps is to promise to yourself that you’re going to develop a new habit. In the meditation class, we put our names into a spreadsheet as a form of public accountability. I found this really helpful in sticking to my new habit.
I really encourage you to pop your name in the comments below to make your own ‘public commitment’ to developing your new meal planning habit.
2. Start small – make it as EASY as possible.
For meditation, we were encouraged to start by doing just 5 minutes a day. And if that didn’t work, or felt too intimidating to back it down to 1 minute or even 30 seconds. The most important thing was to make it as easy as possible.
Let’s face it. Forming or changing habits is HARD WORK to begin with. So the best way to set yourself up for success is to make it as small, manageable and easy as possible. I think of it as the first major step is just forming the new habit. Focus on this first.
Then once you feel confident you’ve ‘adopted’ your new habit, it’s time to start getting better at the habit. No rush though.
3. Allow a ‘takeaway’ or ‘wild card’ night – or two.
You’ll have an idea how much volatility your schedule usually has. Since I moved to the country and there aren’t many nights we have a ‘better offer’ so I tend not to worry about this. But if you think it’s likely you’ll need a takeaway night or two… be realistic and add them to your plan.
Another thing is if you know you have a tendency to get excited at the markets and ‘over buy’ like I do. Allowing a ‘wild card’ night where you just plan to use up the excess can work really well.
4. Allow a ‘buffer’ in your freezer.
Your freezer can be invaluable for allowing a ‘safety net’ of a few serves of protein and a veg or two. This takes the pressure off getting everything right in your planning and shopping system.
I generally have at least some good quality sausages and some frozen peas in the freezer as my ‘buffer’. But sometimes there are chicken thigh fillets, minced (ground) beef, steak or all of the above. The other option I often use as my buffer is buying meat direct from the grower in cryovac packs. These keep in the fridge for up to 4 weeks and don’t require defrosting so act as a super versatile ‘buffer’.
5. Grow some herbs.
If you have brown thumbs and no interest please ignore this tip!
Otherwise, think about starting small. Buying herbs tends to be expensive AND they have a habit of going bad quickly. We’ll cover tips to making them last as long as possible in the future, but growing your own makes herb-keeping a lot easier.
I’d suggest a pot of rosemary or thyme as these are pretty forgiving. And a little bit goes a long way in your cooking. If you have more space and enthusiasm, parsley mint and basil (in the summer) would be my next steps.
6. Plan some time for a pantry ‘spring clean’.
We’ll cover pantry management in great detail in module 3. So no need to do anything with this yet. Just start making some ‘mental notes’ that it will be really helpful if you have a pantry spring clean some time in the not-to-distant-future.
7. Don’t expect to be ‘perfect’ from the first week.
Perfection can be scary. And the thing is we don’t need to have a ‘perfect’ meal plan every week. Or even a ‘perfect’ system.
I prefer to aim for ‘mostly’ to keep it realistic AND make it much more likely that I’ll keep going, rather than giving up because it’s ‘all too hard’
8. Take the first step! Decide on your preferred ongoing shopping list method.
Having an ongoing shopping list that you add to as you think of things is the best first habit to develop. Just this one simple action will make a massive difference to how much time you need to spend ‘planning’. It also really helps you feel ‘on top’ of things. [/tab][tab]
WEEK 1 Daily Updates
This is where you get to see a real life example of how I plan, shop and cook.
:: Week 1. Planning & Shopping Video.
:: Week 1. Day 1. Saturday – Entertaining Tonight!.
:: Week 1. Day 2. A Lazy Sunday.
:: Week 1. Day 3. Meat-free Monday.
:: Week 1. Day 4. Stir-fry Tuesday
:: Week 1. Day 5. Michael’s 40th [/tab][tab]
Your Module 1 Funsheet
Click on the cover above to download your Module 1. ‘fun’ sheet. It walks you though the meal planning process step by step…
(You may need to ‘right click’ and ‘save link as’.)
NOTE: To get the most out of your pdf, the best program to open it in is Adobe Reader. You can download a FREE version over here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/.[/tab][tab]
Your Action Steps.
Remember, insight without action is worthless. Nothing is going to change until you take the first step!
STEP 1. Download your ‘fun sheet’ from the tab above.
STEP 2. Have a think about your current Meal Planning System and where it is letting you down. Where would you like to get to with your meal planning? Public accountability can make a massive difference when it comes to adopting new habits. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
STEP 3. Use the ‘fun sheet’ to try the 2-Minute Planning System for yourself. [/tab][/tabcontent] [/tabs]
MODULE 1 ‘Template’ Recipes
Note: The videos for these recipes are using specific ingredients. Please refer to the written recipes for the ‘general templates’ to make them as flexible as possible.
:: ‘Smooth’ Veggie Soup
:: Shaved Vegetable Side Salad
:: Quick Stir Fry
:: Thai-style Curry
:: A Classic Omelette
:: The Ultimate Roast Potatoes
:: Full Irish Breakfast
:: Roast Root Veg
:: Wilted Greens
:: Cooked Quinoa
:: Slow Cooked Meat Ragu on a bed of baby spinach.
:: Green Pea Salad
:: Pan Fried Protein With Raw Veg Salad
:: Raw Veg Lunch Salad
:: Green Smoothie
:: BBQ chicken
:: Roast Chilli Harissa
:: Roast Veg Salad
:: Shaved Veg Side Salad
:: Simple Butter Cake
:: Chocolate peanut butter tart
__
Have just made the shaved veggie side salad for my dinner (with some left over fish patties from the kids). Last night I made the roast veggie salad.
Both nights I had not planned to make these recipes and I am amazed at how liberating it feels to open the fridge and whip up something to eat that is quick, interesting, tasty and healthy. Thrilled also to not be wasting so many veggies that sit in the fridge unused. I’m by no means a “master” yet but excited to be on the journey.
Good for you Natalie!
Sounds like you’re well on your way to mastery. Keep up the good work 🙂
Jx
I’m making a commitment to develop new habits for meal planning through this program! I tend to be unrealistic about how much I can accomplish with a fridge full of food, so I’m going to ease my way into this by going through the proteins I already have in the freezer and getting veggie pairings to go with them. I’ll start with once or twice a week for now instead of a whole weeks worth of planning.
Brilliant Raelynn!
Starting slow is key. And eating up your fridge and freezer is a great thing to do from time to time but especially when you’re moving!
Let us know how you go with the once or twice a week.
Jx
Hi Jules,
This method seems totally revolutionary! I am excited to try, but somewhat confused as to how to know what proteins and vegetables to choose. Do you have recipes in mind when you go shopping, or do you decide what to make after you have already purchased the ingredients?
You can do either Susan…. I sometimes have an idea for one meal for example that I want to have fish one night and then decide on the others once I’ve purchased the ingredients…. it’s up to you what suits your style and situation best 🙂
Ok, that helps to clarify it for me.Thanks so much!
Because
– some of my children don’t like most the things I am cooking (for no other reason then being kids ;-))
– this critique nevertheless minimizes my motivation to cook
– I would like them to know how to cook, BEFORE they NEED to cook for themselves
I will take the time and the patience to cook with each of those children a dinner they like. That takes me off meal planning duty and “dinner-critique” two times a week and makes room for much-valued “just the two of us”-time.
I can only imagine how tough it is to have children as critics every night… but so glad to hear you’re planning on including them in the dinner making process. From talking to my friends it seems that the more childen are involved the more likely they are to what to eat what’s on the table… would love to hear how you go?
Jx
Thanks Katrina! You know it’s about breaking habits isn’t it? I don’t always have breakfast but I am now keeping a little aside from some main meals to have for breakfast if I want! I’m understanding the idea of the template recipes too! I made a big omelette/fritatta the other day with all sorts of little odds and ends which normally would have been hard to use up. Hubby AND son enjoyed it! I’ve used the one simple dish template with chick peas and a curry flavour and another one using the meat burgers from the food bank which I squished into smaller meat balls and used tomato and onion as my main flavour. The lentil ragu was yummy but hubby was only just ‘okay’ with it. He is really a carnivore pie and mash man…..but we can’t afford a lot of meat and he needs to lose more weight than me!!!! In fact this week I have lost 4lbs in weight!!!!! The eggs I made quiches with and froze, made the big omelette as a main meal using up 10 eggs! I have also poached some eggs, not a good as fresh eggs but as they were for my breakfast it doesn’t matter. So all in all I’m a very happy bunny, looking forward to trying out more templates and eating healthier! Thanks for your suggestions!
I’m feeling a little bewildered at the moment. If I take stock of what we have, in theory we have enough protein and veg in the freezer/fridge but it’s mainly food from the food bank. So cheapo frozen beef burgers, white fish of sorts and some pre-packaged meals. I try not to touch those…. I cooked some lentils and have them in the fridge and we were given lots of eggs, most with only a few days left of freshness, although I do know how to check them for freshness….they don’t freeze and I’d hate to waste them. So I’m not sure where I go from here with the meal planning. I getting stuck for breakfast ideas too, restricted to porridge, toast, cereals, lentils and eggs….. anyone have ideas? :O)
Hi Anne,
A big thing for me was realizing that breakfast was just a name and really I could eat whatever I wanted for the first meal of the day. Often, that ends up being leftovers from the night before, because a semi-conscious me and stoves don’t mix well. How much time do you have in the morning to make breakfast?
Similarly, “breakfast for supper” can also be a treat. How many eggs are we talking about here, and how many people to feed? My standard go to meal is a frittata or big omelet stuffed with whatever is in the fridge, although my husband likes scrambled eggs a lot too. My lunch today included crumbling up a small square of leftover meatloaf and adding it plus a handful of mushrooms to scrambled eggs, for instance.
If you bake, you can use the eggs in baking and freeze the baked goods for later. (I don’t really bake so I’m no use there, sorry.) Maybe a quiche? If you cook them while they’re good, they’ll stay good longer. I believe this and other food preservation techniques are covered in module 4. Although the link isn’t live on the main page yet, you can still access last year’s version of this module in the meantime at: https://stonesoupvirtualcookeryschool.com/mympm4/
Hi all, I’m just so happy that I started keeping a running grocery list in a new app on my phone! I can even email it to my husband. He does really well with a list even when he’s hungry!
Angela, I know what you mean about the weekly box of veg dilemma. I found that even the small box supposedly for 2 people was too much for my family especially now that my work schedule is more demanding. I’ve stopped getting the delivery. Fortunately, near my office is a farmer’s stall once a week so I always have access to quality veg.
Mary
Mary!
LOVE that you’ve got your husband so well organised.. that’s great
I’ve wondered how weekly veg boxes go in terms of getting the quantities right… glad to hear you’ve got a brilliant alternative 🙂
J
Just wanted to post here and say I’m really excited to be starting this – I feel it’s a new paradigm!!! Proclaiming it publically to hopefully keep me on track 🙂
Over the years I have gone back and forth from getting a delivered/ pick up weekly box of veg. I like the convenience of getting a box, that it’s all seasonal, but then I get overwhelmed with the ingredients and not knowing what to do with it/ trying to find recipes to fit what I have… and then it all ends up in the “too hard” basket and I have a bunch of things going off OR I don’t use them to their best potential and just do a “have to use it all up” dish at the end of the week or fortnight. And so then I’ll go back to shopping as needed but so often just get the same old same old because it’s safe and easier for me to cook spontaneously with.
I was just coming up to the part of the cycle where I get OFF the regular box again, but I’m not going to. I’m going to stick with it for now and try and incorporate it into this new system! At least now I’ll have a formula. Going to see if I can go and collect my box, see what’s in it and subtract it from my formula and then be able to get any supplementary stuff while I’m there in the shop (I have a 10 month old baby, I don’t want to have to make extra trips if I don’t have to!).
With that, the template recipes, and our new upright freezer that we’ve been stocking with bulk ethically produced meat, this could be a WHOLE NEW WORLD!
Also really keen to hear how you might end up tweaking things Jules as you enter the wonderful and chaotically gorgeous world of motherhood 🙂
Welcome Angela!
Look forward to hearing how you get on with your veg box this time Angela.
And yes.. who knows where I’ll end up with the motherhood thing… Time will tell 🙂
J
I’ve done my weekly shop using the 2 minute meal planning formula, easy peasy – love this! I surveyed the cupboards before I left home – enough almonds for snacking and took stock of what I had in the freezer, I had forgotten about the salmon in there! That will be protein for 2 nights. Bought some fresh veg and some chicken. I’ve got my dinners all ready to go, looking forward to a great week.
PS. I can make this even simpler by eating the same meal for 2 or 3 nights in a row, as my palate and taste buds do well on this, but I’ll avoid that for now, so I can maximise the fun 🙂
That’s awesome Sonna!
Thanks for sharing… and if you can eat the same meal over… you’re lucky in some ways… as that will give you extra flexibility in the long run 🙂
I really loved how my grocery list got really short when I did this. I folded a piece of paper in half twice…and I’ve been using one square per trip. It’s going to be awhile before I need a new piece of paper.
Hunting for “6 veg” or “3 breakfast fruits” also makes it more fun – like a treasure hunt – and less like a targeted “Search and acquire” mission. If you use this method, I recommend going shopping when you’re well-rested, the store/market is not crowded, and preferably they just got restocked.
Great Katrina!
And I’d add it’s a good idea to not go shopping on an empty stomach.. I always add more things than I need when I’m hungry!
J
Another successful dinner! Had Jules’ Chicken &/or mushrooms with creamy mustard sauce. I know it’s not a template, but I used the planning or no planning concept. My protein was chicken breast tonight so I knew I was either doing something pan-fried or a stirfry. I had the ingredients to make this dish plus adding in some broccoli & bacon that needed using up. Yum! I realised today how nice it is not to be always consumed by ‘What will we eat?!’ I’ve set a reminder on my iPad to pull some protein out of the freezer the night before & I just go from there at dinner time. So freeing!
Wonderful Nicole!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Katrina,
You sound further ahead in you’re food journey. We buy organic chicken mostly, but I admit we haven’t gotten it together with the red meat yet. When we first started buying organic chicken, I couldn’t believe how much moister the chicken breast stays through cooking. Free range eggs here are about the same starting at $4.50. There’s an issue in Australia where more free range eggs are sold than could possibly be produced by the free range farms. The company I buy my eggs from have a chicken cam, where you can watch the chickens wander around the field. I can’t say I’ve checked it out lol! We have some chickens in our backyard, just 3. One in each colour so we can tell them apart!
Keep trying with ur veggie/herb garden. If you only grow herbs you’ll save so much money & free your cooking choices up. We’ve only had a few seasons. All we’ve done is found a sunny spot, chucked some plants & seeds at it & waited to see what happens! The first year our zucchinis didn’t work as it was a wet season, this year we did exactly the same thing, but every time we turned around another one would pop up! I’ve found rocket very easy to grow & great to have on hand. We haven’t had much luck with corn, cucumber & carrots. I say it’s the weather, not our ability! Lol
Ah yes, the chicken breast…Here in Canada, the difference is because regular butchers pump their chicken with a saline solution to make it all plump and glisteny. IT then promptly evaporates when you cook it.
The farmers don’t really have the time or money to add the extra step, so they just sell it to you straight. (Plus, their birds are fed and treated better.)
I admire your ability to just “chuck some seed and see what happens”. I live in an apartment so everything has to be done with containers. However, there ARE wild blueberries growing in the woods behind the building. And probably a lot more native edibles that I’m not aware of — learning about wildcrafting is one of my food-related “to do” items someday…
Katrina & Nicole!
Love the discussion you have going… this is brilliant.
Nicole,
So glad you’ve got a system that works for you in 2-Minutes… love it!
Katrina,
Sounds like Canada and Australia are similar in terms of food pricing. I pay about $6 doz for good free range eggs and a little more for grass fed ground beef, usually around $7-$8 /pound.
Don’t give up on growing your own food! If you’re in Canada the climate is probably similar to where I am in the Snowy Mountains. I’m learning (but have a LONG way to go) that the trick is to find things that work well in a cold climate.
So no to tomatoes (unless you want to get a greenhouse like one of my friends has). Some herbs are good… mint and parsley… basil not so good except for the height of Summer. I also find the woody herbs like rosemary and thyme and oregano do really well… It helps if you can buy seedlings them from a local grower so they’re acclimatized to your area.
Lettuce does really well here. And rocket (arugula). Also broad beans, kale and even collard greens. And of course potatoes.
J
Thanks for the suggestions! I tried basil twice last year, and both times it died a horrible horrible death. (The oregano was much hardier.) I didn’t kill the tomato plant, I just wasn’t consistent enough in watering it and as a result got tough-skinned tomatoes and a very low yield.
I do love rosemary, mint, and thyme, so that is good to know. While I could theoretically grow potatoes, they are honestly so cheap here there is no point.
Katrina!
Don’t let my Irishman hear you say that about potatoes 😉
But I know where you’re coming from.
J
Thanks Katrina. My husband & I made a conscious decision to change the way we ate when my daughter started solids. After travelling we thought one of the biggest problems is that we’re happy for the convenience of buying everything in one big supermarket & foregoing quality produce. Other cultures seem to be so much more discerning when it comes to produce (I’m Australian). So we started buying our veggies from a farm, which as sad as it sounds, is one of our weekly family outings! It’s stress free to shop at the farm though, not like taking your kids to the supermarket – eeek! It’s good, my daughter helps & knows all types of vegetables. She actually loves broccoli, but this is fresh crunchy broccoli. Last week we found purple carrots, which she was so excited about that she took one for news at preschool! We grow a few things of our own, but mostly just herbs & the odd experiment. Jules has been a huge influence in our house. Giving me more confidence to cook simple fresh food. My daughter even watches her videos & helps me cook. She always asks if it’s Jules’ recipe! Lol!
I’m happy to share my flow chart. It’s super simple & a work in progress. I made it in an ipad app called Idea Sketch (it’s free) if you want me to email the actual file so you can change it to suit you.
Jules, in the app Mealboard that I was telling you about, I added recipes called the Monday, Tuesday etc & made the ingredients 1 protein & 2 vegetables. Now when I do my shopping list I add the recipe called ‘Staples’, then look at my calendar & add the days we will be eating at home & sync the shopping list! Done! Less than 2 mins! Great system, thank you!
Nicole,
It took a long time for my husband and I awhile to reach that point. We sort of “dabbled” in and out of humanely raised meat and local, organic, seasonal vegs for a long time. His health really improved every time we did it, though, and it just tastes so much better. It’s good you are teaching your kids where their food comes from!
Even now in the winter there is not always the choice to do local for fruit and veg (I live in Canada). Food is also about twice as expensive as it is in the US. Sometimes more. (I don’t know how it compares to Australia, but a dozen free range eggs starts at $4.50 and goes up as high as $6, and a pound of grass fed, pasture raised ground beef is $6. You can get that down to $4.50 if you buy a quarter cow, though.)
And I count going to the farmer’s market with my husband as a date. 😛
Do you guys have the yellow carrots too? Carrots are one of the few vegs I really don’t like the taste of, but I’ve found ways to sneak in the purple and yellow ones because they’re just so colourful…
I’ve tried to grow herbs and tomatoes last year and pretty much failed. I’ll give it a try again this year but am not very hopeful. I’m hoping I’ll have better luck with lettuce or strawberries.
I look forward to seeing your flow chart in next week’s module! 🙂
Day 1 he he he, it’s like AA or recipeoholics anonymous! All went well tonight, put together my available protein, aromatic veg etc & my 3 yr old chose a herb from the garden (really pot luck, I was just pleased she came back with thyme & not grass). As thrown together as it was using the Simple ‘one dish’ supper template, it tasted great! Success!
As I previously mentioned, my issue is thinking what I want to eat at the end of the day cause I’m usually brain dead & my kids are usually whingy at that time. So I decided to make myself a little flow chart splitting the templates into hot & cold weather & then some general categories eg curries, soups etc. That way I can quickly look & decide on a soup say, then I have the list of soup templates to choose from. I don’t expect I’ll need it forever, I just thought it would help me transition to free cooking. I can attach it here, but I’ll email it to u Jules in case you’re interested.
Nic
I for one would be very interested in this flow chart.
Also, good job getting the three year old to help with the cooking! So many people I know do NOT know how to cook. (My sister-in-law can cook neither potatoes nor rice. She and her husband literally eat out ALL THE TIME. It astounds me.) You are doing your daughter a great service by getting her started on this young and making it fun.
Great Nic!
I love the idea of your flow chart… will include it in next week’s module (with proper credit of course!)
And also very impressed that your 3 year old knows her thyme from her grass 🙂
J
And Katrina,
I agree it’s definitely a good thing to start them young and make it fun.
i seem to be leaving comments all over the place…anyway, i am embarassed to say that at 48 years old (but no kids, so that explains/excuses a lot) (: -my goal in general is just to be able to make a meal from something without a tedious recipe search in books & on internet – i want to have the bare minimum of knowledge just to be able to COOK something easily/quickly/with few ingredients! oddly enough, i just bought a brisket a couple of days ago, so looks like that is perfect timing. i will also be making a couple of saffron recipes, just to get that expensive little bugger used up. so my goal for the week is just to COOK SOMETHING for dinner 5 nights this week – brisket, frozen ravioli w/pasta sauce hubby makes and freezes (we already have this), leftover carne asada (we already have this), a saffron soup/salad & something else…. my husband has his breakfasts and lunches pre-made in the freezer constantly, so he’s on his own. breakfast for me is a smoothy or cereal/oatmeal & lunches are leftovers, so…we’ll see how it goes!! shopping later today for mostly vegetables!
There’s no such thing as too many comments Jody!
You’ve reminded me to tel everyone I’m actually having a competition and the person who asks the most questions and the most challenging questions will win a special prize.
And love your goal to just COOK something.
I LOVE brisket – look forward to hearing how you get on with it.
J
ha, well i have PLENTY of questions & challenges!! one that i was pondering today is that i think my biggest challenge is figuring out what foods “go together” – i mean for example i can sometimes manage to scare up a recipe for a marinade for a steak and make it…but then i have absolutely no idea what “flavors” go with it, so then it becomes a totally plain salad or french fries…or…i can make a vegetable side dish or something but then don’t know what to do with the chicken breast that is going with it (is it italian? mexican? does it smell like thanksgiving??) (: i mean it’s kind of like my wardrobe – if i wear a patterned skirt, then there is no other option than a solid white or gray t-shirt…if i wear a patterned shirt, then it is nothing but jeans. so for me there is no putting 2 foods together that are in any way complex or i might be eating rosemary potatoes with a chimichanga!! (: ok, i’m not quite THAT clueless, but almost. and maybe i just need to pare back my expectations and decide that it is OK to choose one more complex piece to a meal and then just let the rest be simple – i think that is what attracted me to your strategy to begin with was its simplicity (in a good way!)…and i think i just need some practice understanding what spices/herbs/flavors go together naturally and which don’t. i have already learned a little reading some of your posts about sugar & salt, acids & oils…i mean i don’t really “understand” it, but at least i understand that they are things to consider, that affect each other.
i bet you can tell i’m one of those people that drink Gewurztraminer with steak!! (: but i guess at least i know how to spell that and what it is! (;
i was going to ask what black pudding was, but i googled it (sorry, not happening).
was also going to ask what halloumi was, but i googled it (that sounds good, am going to try to find some)
oh, here’s one – at the store today i don’t know if i bought “long red chilis” – everything of that sort was called a pepper – so i bought fresno red peppers – are chilis & peppers the same thing…ish?? (:
Hey Jody,
If you are looking for what kinds of ingredients match together nicely, there is a wonderful book called “The Flavor Bible” by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg that is essentially a big list of just that. It also includes flavours and ingredients that are considered to be prominent parts of different cuisines. It is American-based but has a pretty broad list of ingredients, all things considered.
If you are talking about combining dishes so they make a cohesive meal, I haven’t heard of any resource for that, although Dornenburg & Page’s “Culinary Artistry” talks a bit about designing courses for a menu. It’s meant for a restaurant chef but can be useful at home too. To be honest I’ve found the best way to learn good dish combinations seems to be trial and error. Also, there’s nothing wrong with rosemary potatoes and chimichanga. 😉
I have gradually come make most of my dishes more simply in terms of flavour. Sweetener, salt, oil, and lemon juice all highlight the existing flavour of whatever you put them on. If you start with good quality produce, it really doesn’t need much. I forget who said this, but some famous chef’s strategy for making amazing food was once summed up as “buy the best ingredients you can and mess with them as little as possible”.
For wine pairings…well…I usually just use Google and go with the majority answer.
Jody & Katrina!
I couldn’t have said it better myself…
Jody,
Awesome questions!
In module 5 we’ll go deep on flavour pairings and ‘what goes with what’…
But before we get there I want you to do 2 things…
1. Keep it simple as Katrina has suggested… and what you’ve actually said yourself. I can’t stress this enough in making life easy but also getting great tasting food.
2. Trust your instincts… you knew that the patterned shirt was going to go with jeans and not your floral skirt… so you’d be surprised about how well your natural instinct will guide you if you let it. Don’t over think but trust yourself…
And the chilli vs peppers question… tough one… for me chillis have some sort of heat to them but peppers are more neutral flavoured…. So for my recipes if I say chilli I mean something that’s hot… but if I say pepper I mean something that’s not… I hope that makes sense…
I just googled Fresno red chilli peppers… and they look like they’ll be fine as a substitute for long red chillies…
And my thoughts on wine pairing is that if it works for you that’s the most important thing 🙂 So keep up the Gewertz + steak!
Keep the questions coming!
J
And Katrina!
Thanks for stepping in… great answers 🙂
J
The only problem I have with rosemary potatoes with Chimichanga is the rosemary. I don’t much like rosemary. I never have any problem with chosing which wine to go with which food as I don’t like wine. Everybody is entitled to their own taste in food.
I agree Virginia!
Everyone is entitled to their own taste… in all things but especially food. I really believe the way everyone experiences flavours is so varied that it’s impossible to know what’s going on in someone else’s mouth 😉
And if you’re not a rosemary fan just skip it!
Jx
what iphone grocery list app do you use/like?
It’s just called ‘Shopping List’ Jody.
I think I paid $0.99 for it because I hate having ads on things. It’s simple and does everything I want!
Great question
J