February – A time to start something new?

Now I am maternity leave It’s time I started doing more cooking. I can’t use the excuse of not having enough time in the day. Yes I get I have a new born but I can spend an hour or so a day making something from scratch that’s healthy and less boring than my standard 3 dishes that I use.

Matt has already laughed at my plan. It all started when we watched ‘Eat well for Less’ on the TV. I love the programme and it really inspires me to save money on the food shopping. Even more than that it showed me that cooking can be fun and also really simple.

I am not an idiot I can follow instructions but I need to find a love of cooking which will have a major impact on what I make.

Being a fussy child and a fussy eater (So much so that Erin eats way better than me!!!) I really want to make changes this year and try new things.

What I have done is written down things we can all eat as a family that can push my boundaries with food and textures a little bit. I have realised that if I don’t fear food then it’s usually not as horrid as I first think.

My plan to do this is simple;

• Make meal plans off all of the new ideas I have written down
• Do online shopping and try and stick to a weekly budget
• Make a fresh meal for the whole family at least every weeknight- Matt likes cooking so if he wants to do the weekends I am ok with that too.

• I have stolen one of Erin’s notepads that she hasn’t used and made it into my recipe book- this way all of my recipes are at hand and easy to get to.
• Use all of the things out of the freezer to enable me to freeze things that we have too much of which therefore gives me some days off the week after if needed or smaller portions of things for Erin when she gets home from after school clubs.
• Be more adventurous. Try new things and make our food more colourful.

Is there anything I am missing? Is there anything to make my life easier?