Quick easy meals for your first week in your new home
Congratulations! You made it and you’re now in your Gleeson Home. You have emptied all your boxes and found new places for all your utensils and crockery (most likely to be moved around again in a few months), so now it is your time to shine and embrace your inner Gordon Ramsey!
Your first week may be a little chaotic as you get settled, you’ll probably be spending your evenings panelling your walls and heading to IKEA, so thinking about cooking elaborate dishes on your first week in your new home, is probably off the cards.
Our new home top tip is to purchase a slow cooker. They are great for bulk cooking, simply throw in all your ingredients and forget about it until you’re ready to eat in the evening! Make sure you’ve got plenty of airtight containers that are freezer and microwave proof. Also handy, so you can batch cook your slow cooked goods for taking to work if you don’t have time to make a packed lunch.
To help you out if cooking doesn’t come second nature to you, and you’re anticipating a busy week, we have put together a few of our popular, easy meals for your first week as a new homeowner.
Monday: Spaghetti Bolognese
Spag bol is the perfect meal to batch cook at the start of the week using your slow cooker, or your new pans on your hob. You can pack it full of veg and then freeze the leftovers for a later day when you are pushed for time or just feeling like having a day off cooking!
This BBC Food easy Spaghetti Bolognese recipe is a failsafe.
Tuesday: Fajitas
Don’t you just love meals that only require a few basic ingredients? This classic Mexican dish is just that and proven to be very popular as an easy and flavoursome weeknight meal – you can’t beat it.
All you need is your favourite meat, meat substitute or veg, peppers, onions and mushrooms, and an old del paso fajita kit, which you can buy at most supermarkets and convenience stores.
Wednesday: Stir-Fry
Beef, prawn or veg, a stir-fry it the perfect mid-week dish when you are looking for something quick and simple to make, plus it is a light and delicious option if you are trying to eat healthy!
To make a good stir fry you don’t need to be a pro cook, it’s just a case of chopping, stirring and frying, then plating up. Ready in 35 minutes, check out this Jamie Oliver recipe.
Thursday: Homemade Soup
This is an autumnal favourite and another slow cooker sensation. On the morning of, or the night before you’re wanting to eat this delicious soup, get all your veg and meat ready and pop it in the slow cooker on a low heat. Then when you are ready to tuck in, all you need to do is season it and it blitz it up! Don’t forget to serve with some warm crusty bread.
Here’s 10 amazing soup recipes.
Friday: Takeaway Night
You have been ditching the takeaways to help save towards your deposit for so long now, so it’s time to treat yourself to your fave takeout that you have been craving! Pizza… Chinese… Fish and Chips, it’s time to explore all the takeaways close to your development. Enjoy.
Saturday: ‘Fake’away night
Dreaming about last night’s takeaway? Why not try cook up a ‘Fakeaway’! From homemade pizzas or a delicious curry and if you’re feeling extra creative you could try an authentic Thai dish! We recommend you purchase a cook book by Pinch of Nom – they have an excellent Fakeaway section for more inspo. Take a look at their cook books here.
Sunday: Roast Dinner
Christening your new home with a Sunday Dinner is a MUST. Crispy roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, roasted veg, gravy, stuffing the whole works! This is your time to shine in your new kitchen and push the (gravy) boat out. Sunday Dinners do take time, but after a busy week of moving in and settling in your new home, you’ll feel a massive sense of achievement when you sit down to tuck into a full roast. Getting your timings right is key, so use this handy roast dinner timing tool to guide you.
Bon Appetite and have a delicious first week in your new Gleeson home.
Mouth-watering for a new home? Discover our over 80 developments across the North and the Midlands here, with prices from only £102,995 securing your dream home couldn’t be easier with Gleeson.
