It's really important to keep kids off bad food for as long as is possible for us as mothers to do. We do try to eat a healthy diet in our house. Without a weekly food plan, I would be lost; my carnivorous husband was the reason I started to follow a weekly plan. That, and the fact that i am a working mother, and without a weekly plan, I would doing a fry-up or buying pre-cooked, mass-manufactured frozen convenience meals (or worse still, resorting to tinned beans) whenever I simply don't have time to cook, which is very often these days in most people's lives. This is why I am a fanatic of preserving our garden crops if we can't consume them as quickly as we harvest them. I feel good about myself when I follow a plan, or serve up food that I have cooked myself. I know I am doing my bit towards less environmental pollution, fewer carbon footprint and a sustainable lifestyle. Above all, I am serving a balanced weekly diet. This is the weekly plan I follow to ensure that I am providing a healthy meal for my family. Here are some tips for rushed mothers (let's face it; the burden of running the whole house rests on them). Remember, you can swap around the days for each meal plan to suit your household's schedule.
Monday: use beans as the basic dish - we eat fakes, fasolada or some other bean dish every week alternately. This can be accompanied by leftover roast from Sunday OR cheese and a boiled egg.
Tuesday: use rice as the main meal, accompanied by vegetables - we eat rice cooked with spinach, stuffed vegetables with rice, or pilafi. All these can be accompanied by yoghurt, or maybe some cheese or a boiled egg.
Wednesday: because this is my busiest work day, I take out some deep-frozen ready-to-cook meal that I have made myself (pastitsio, moussaka, aubergine shoes), and re-heat it in the oven or the microwave, depending on who's serving it. This also constitutes the midday meat dish.
Thursday: there will be LEFTOVERS from the last three days, so this is another good no-fuss day to use them up; in this way I can get some outdoor jobs done without worrying about what's for lunch. A salad can accompany these meals if there are only small servings left.
Friday: the basis of the meal is egg and cheese - an omelette with some boiled greens or a fresh salad OR a courgette pie or quiche are easy to prepare and very healthy.
Saturday: the basis of this meal should be fresh fish (accompanied by vegetables or a salad) if it is easily obtainable and reasonably priced. I find most kinds of fresh fish in Hania are too expensive, so if I can't afford fish on this day, I might make a simple filling dish like spaghetti bolognaise, puttanesca, carbonara, stir-fry noodles and vegetables, boiled greens or a hot potato salad.
Sunday: the traditional Sunday roast consists of oven-roasted meat with potatoes, or BBQ pork, lamb, chicken and sausages. Any leftover meat is used to make kebabs or to accompany Monday's bean dish.
Tuesday: use rice as the main meal, accompanied by vegetables - we eat rice cooked with spinach, stuffed vegetables with rice, or pilafi. All these can be accompanied by yoghurt, or maybe some cheese or a boiled egg.
Wednesday: because this is my busiest work day, I take out some deep-frozen ready-to-cook meal that I have made myself (pastitsio, moussaka, aubergine shoes), and re-heat it in the oven or the microwave, depending on who's serving it. This also constitutes the midday meat dish.
Thursday: there will be LEFTOVERS from the last three days, so this is another good no-fuss day to use them up; in this way I can get some outdoor jobs done without worrying about what's for lunch. A salad can accompany these meals if there are only small servings left.
Friday: the basis of the meal is egg and cheese - an omelette with some boiled greens or a fresh salad OR a courgette pie or quiche are easy to prepare and very healthy.
Saturday: the basis of this meal should be fresh fish (accompanied by vegetables or a salad) if it is easily obtainable and reasonably priced. I find most kinds of fresh fish in Hania are too expensive, so if I can't afford fish on this day, I might make a simple filling dish like spaghetti bolognaise, puttanesca, carbonara, stir-fry noodles and vegetables, boiled greens or a hot potato salad.
Sunday: the traditional Sunday roast consists of oven-roasted meat with potatoes, or BBQ pork, lamb, chicken and sausages. Any leftover meat is used to make kebabs or to accompany Monday's bean dish.
You might be wondering if I ever fry chips, or eat takeaways. We eat fried chips in an omelette, which is usually a frittata, in our house. Fries also go well with boiled greens or a simple salad. I simply avoid frying as much as I can, because it is so unhealthy. As for takeaways, I don't even like the smell (there's always a rancid greasy odour to it), so I always have supermarket pizzas in the deep freeze if I'm running out of time to cook. Takeaway food usually consists of a souvlaki once every two months. We are never out of dackos ingredients in our house, I make a huge home-made pizza once a week, and there's always the weekly loaf of sourdough bread for making a quick sandwich to go with a glass of milk. And we never tire of tiropitakia, kalitsounia or spanakopita.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
SEE ALSO:
School meals
In search of food
Taste sensationalism
The restaurants in the Agora
The rape of the countryside
Bulgarian pasta
Snacks
The open-air market
GAIA
To eat or not to eat?
A day in the field
Losing weight
Freezer clearout
Weekly food plan
Fridge contents
Eating locally
Low income and diet
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
SEE ALSO:
School meals
In search of food
Taste sensationalism
The restaurants in the Agora
The rape of the countryside
Bulgarian pasta
Snacks
The open-air market
GAIA
To eat or not to eat?
A day in the field
Losing weight
Freezer clearout
Weekly food plan
Fridge contents
Eating locally
Low income and diet
