10 meals every child should be able to prepare!

In these health  and cost conscious times it is more and more important to cook yourself so that you know what is going in a meal  is healthy and by having a little knowhow it does not have to be costly.

When I was at primary school in the 50s I can't remember one overweight child.  Our mothers cooked nutritious meals for us and this is despite having full time jobs.  Many mums had an array of meals they cooked regularly and which did not take a great deal of time to prepare and cook. 

I followed on from what I learned from my mother and even when work demands were really high I would spend a couple of hours at the weekend preparing dishes for the week which I would freeze.  In this way we ensured having a good meal ready for every evening of the week. By cooking you can also reduce costs quite significantly. 

 I followed a woman at the checkout at our supermarket this week  and she counted out 4 spaghetti bolognese ready meals which didn't look very appetising but also would cost much more than home cooked

Mary Berry (the Great British Bake Off host) gave a speech at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and she talked about the need to bring back domestic science lessons back into schools and said.........

'It should be that every child when they leave school can do 10 meals, because when they leave home they've got to be able to eat healthily."  

http://www.maryberry.co.uk

This is just great practical common sense advice and being taught in school is an ideal solution for those who don't watch and learn at home.  I started to think about what were my 10 staple everyday meals  we eat on a regular basis.....

shepherds pie

fish pie

corn beef hash

hotpot

chicken casserole

beef stew

spaghetti bolognese

vegetable curry and rice

roast dinner

lasagne

moussaka

in fact there are 11 here and for all except the roast dinner I would prepare in advance and maybe freeze. These with a portion of vegetables are healthy and filling and satisfying. When my children were at home and going through faddy periods as to whether they liked veg or not I would often "hide" carrot by grating it into several of the dishes.  There is nothing nicer that a warm wholesome meal on a winters night and even better sitting round the table together to enjoy it! 

Can you name 10?




(Mary Berry is 78 years old and living life to the full!)