Beef Stew

With a little simple meal planning, you can eliminate a great deal of stress from your daily life.  There is nothing worse than getting to the end of the day and wondering what on earth you are going to feed a hungry family. So often we apply extraordinary precision and care to our jobs, to our kids' schedules or to our interest groups, but when it comes to the simple act of putting healthy, nutritious food on the table, we fail.  
1    Double up on a few simple ground beef recipes
It sounds so obvious to double up on recipes, but how often to we do it?  Somehow we have visions of being knee deep in pounds of raw ground beef and chopped onions.  However, if you are going to chop one onion, you may as well chop two.  If you are going to brown one pound of ground beef you may as well brown two.  And so on.  You have one dirty pan, but two meals.  One to eat now and one to act as one of those freezer meals which are a total blessing on chaotic days.
So, if you apply the rules above you can take two pounds of ground beef and use the same recipe for both.  However, you can make the one lot into Chili con Carne and the next into a Ground Beef Taco Recipe.

2    Slow Leg of Lamb Roast
Whilst a Leg of Lamb is not an economy cut, it it nevertheless honest!  You can easily make a delicious roast with a fresh salsa recipe - in this case Olive, Cashew and Feta Salsa.  It sounds so unusual having a salsa with roast lamb but it is quite delicious.  
The next night you can indulge in a Leftover Lamb and Couscous Salad - no trouble at all.  So, your Leg of Lamb has easily made two meals.

3    Double up on Easy Beef Recipes
Just as with ground beef, you can double up on beef recipes.  Double up on browning the onions and the cubes of beef and you have either two freezer meals, or two completely different dishes.  You can make an easy Beef Stew Recipe and the next night you can pop some puff pastry on the same easy beef recipe and you will produce an impressive Beef Pie Recipe!
Furthermore, if you add some good beef stock to your leftover Beef Stew, and throw in a little barley, you have the makings of a respectable Beef Barley Soup Recipe.

4    Make the most of Boneless Chicken Breast Recipes
A Coq au Vin recipe is a classic.  People have illusions that this red wine chicken dish is difficult to achieve but nothing could simpler.  But better still, you can make double of this recipe, add a pastry topping, and you have a sumptuous Chicken Pie.  Alternatively, you could add leftovers to some pasta shapes and you have a simple Chicken Pasta Bake.

5    Garlic Mash Potato Recipe
You can make garlic mash potato as an accompaniment for sausages as a simple family meal.  However, make a little extra mash potato and you have the base for a formidable Salmon Patties Recipe.  Mildly flavored with fresh coriander, capers and gherkins, this is one of those canned salmon recipes which is also good in lunch boxes.  An all-round winner.

So,  with a little bit of thought and simple meal planning, you can save time, money and your sanity! April Meal Planning offers a free plan and free recipes.

Fiona Lesley has had over 20 years of experience cooking delicious meals for family and friends alike.  A teacher by profession, she brings together her years of time and money-saving tips at www.easy-meal-planning.com

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