Mamahood: 5-Day Menu From A Shopping List

Hello there..

I have a confession to make. All these while I had complacently left the preparation of Sophie's meals to my mum since she was 1 year old because she eats rice porridge. My grandma eats porridge too so it was convenient for my mum to just prepare one big batch for the both of them.

As Sophie got older and need more nutrition from various sources I had to find a way to cook for her fitting her eating habits and taste. Initially I would just pull whatever that is available in the fridge but most of the time I find that I'd either be missing certain ingredients for a meal I had in mind or I'd have no idea how to cook something I bought on a whim for Sophie to try (such as tomatoes). I have since discovered that it is always better to have a cohesive weekly meal-plan so that I'd know what to stick to a shopping list.

Here is an example of how a weekly plan of Sophie's menu looks like with a shopping list of chicken meat, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, potato and Cheddar cheese. Garlic, Bombay onion, salt and pepper is a staple in our home so I don't count that in.

Ingredients:
600gm chicken breast meat, diced (separated equally into 4 portions)
1/2 a medium carrot, shredded or diced (separated into 4 equal portions)
5 medium sized mushrooms of choice, diced (separated into 4 equal portions)
20 medium florets of cauliflower, chopped (separated into 3 portions with 1 portion being slightly more than the other 2)
1 medium potato, peeled
1 small Bombay onion, (1/4 roughly chopped, the rest minced and separated into 3 portions)
1 clove garlic, minced (separated into 4 portions)
1 tbsp grated Cheddar cheese (optional)
1 Litre water
Cooking oil
Salt & Pepper
Maggi Seasoning
Oyster sauce
1 tsp of cornstarch

Day 1: Chicken & Carrot Stir-fry (Serve with rice)
1. Sauteed 1 portion of garlic and Bombay onion in a pan.
2. Add 1 portion of chicken meat.
3. Once all the chicken meat starts to turn white, add 1 portion of carrots.
4. Season to taste with Maggi Seasoning, salt & pepper.
5. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge.

Day 2: Cauliflower & Potato Mash (Serve as is or with Day 1 meal)
1. Boil the potato with a pinch of salt.
2. Once the potato starts to soften (but not completely cooked yet), add 1 of the smaller portion of Cauliflower.
3. Add 1/2 portion of garlic (yes, you need verrryyy little of this stuff) after 5 minutes.
4. Once the potato is cooked through, strain the water out and leave to cool for 5 minutes before mashing manually or using a food processor for 30 seconds.
5. Stir in the grated Cheddar cheese and leave to cool before storing in the fridge.

Day 3: Carrots & Mushroom Clear Soup (Serve with rice or noodles)
1. Sauteed 1 portion of minced Bombay onion in a pot with a bit of cooking oil.
2. Add 400ml of water and bring to boil.
3. Add 1.5 portion of mushrooms and carrots each and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
5. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge.

Day 4: Hearty Chicken Soup (Serve as is or with grated Cheddar cheese)
1. Sauteed 1.5 portion of garlic and roughly chopped Bombay onion in a pot with a bit of cooking oil.
2. Add 300ml of water and bring to boil.
3. Add 2 portions of chicken meat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add 1.5 portions of carrots and the bigger portion of cauliflower.
5. Season with salt & pepper to taste and simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. Let it cool for 15 minutes then blend using a blender.
6. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge.

Day 5: Chicken with Mushroom & Gravy (Serve with rice/pasta/noodles)
1. Sauteed 1 portion of minced Bombay onion.
2. Add 1 portion of chicken meat and continue to sauteed.
3. Add 1.5 portions of mushrooms, 1 tbsp of Oyster sauce.and 200ml water
4. Mix 1 tsp of cornstarch with 100ml water and add to the pan.
5. Stir until the gravy thickens.
6. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
7. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge.

So there you have it, 5 days of different meals that can be made from a shopping list of 6 items (cheese and garlic is always available in our household). I have made room for day 6 and day 7 because families would usually have a day in a week where they eat out. At any rate, most of these recipes will have leftovers that can be used to 'fill in the blanks' so to speak.

I hope this post have helped to give you an idea of how to streamline you child's menu without wastage.