Feeding the clan can result in making a multitude of meals – and Jane Kennedy has had enough. Thankfully, the mum-of-five has a cunning plan: one dish, two ways My name is Jane Kennedy. I cook for seven people. Every night.

I have five kids and one husband, and even though I love cooking for my family, to be honest, sometimes I find it absolutely painful.

And I know I’m not the only one who thinks it’s stressful. It’s not so much the cooking bit... it’s the coming-up-with-ideas bit that does mine and, as I’ve discovered, other people’s heads in.

It doesn’t matter how many kids you have; one, four, 10... I’m bailed up all the time in the supermarket by weary, anxious mums and dads asking me the same question: ‘What’s the one meal I can cook for kids and for grown-ups?’ It’s easy cooking for adults. We love spices and chilli and herbs and zest and can dress up a boring piece of chicken or fish or steak in a flash. But kids don’t like spices and chilli and herbs and zest. At least, most kids don’t. Not all mine do.

Green bits. Orange bits. Hot bits. Weird bits. These all get a big thumbs down in my house. And even though you may think they’re being ridiculous or dramatic when they say ground black pepper is ‘hot’, it’s ‘hot’ to them. So there’s no point wrecking an otherwise delicious meal kids would have eaten with a careless twist of your pepper grinder.

So how do you feed everyone and keep the meal-peace?

When the kids were very small, I used to cook two shifts of food. However, the banality of a 5.30pm mealtime-slot finally led me to cook one dish for them, and one dish for us.

We could then enjoy (and look forward to) a peaceful, tasty, meal with a glass of wine at a decent dinner hour. Ah... good times.

But pretty soon, I realised I needed to shake that frying pan only once a night to keep my sanity. And I accepted the fact my entire family should probably eat at the same time, preferably in the same postcode, possibly at the same table.

There was, however, one thing I knew for sure. There was no way I was going to start eating ‘plain’ food just to keep the kids happy. I refused to ‘dumb down’ my taste buds.

So I gave myself a challenge. What if I used the same base as a meal for everyone and simply jazzed it up or down? Serve the base of the meal to the kids – unadulterated – if you like, but add spices and flavours and herbs to the adult version. One dish; two ways?

Here are three recipes to please the whole clan:

Lasagne Carbonara

(Serves 4)

6 prosciutto slices or very thinly sliced bacon rashers 40g butter Salt 1tbsp white vinegar 6 eggs 4 fresh lasagne sheets (10cm long) Grated Parmesan, to serve Ingredients for adults: Splash of white wine Squeeze of lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper Chilli flakes, to serve Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve In a non-stick frying pan, cook the prosciutto or bacon over a medium heat until crispy. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Add the butter to the pan and keep warm over the lowest heat.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil over a high heat. Add the vinegar and reduce the heat to low-medium, to maintain a gentle simmer.

Crack the eggs into six small cups. Give the water a good circular stir, then tip one egg at a time into the centre of the swirling water. Simmer the eggs until the whites are white and the yolks remain soft (about three minutes). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a clean tea towel to drain.

Bring another saucepan of salted water to the boil. Reduce to a medium-high heat and cook the sheets of pasta for two to three minutes, or until just tender. Remove the pasta with a slotted spatula, allowing it to drain for a few seconds.

Lay out the pasta sheets on four warmed plates and top with one poached egg each for the kids and two eggs each for the adults.

DISH ONE: Top each of the kids’ plates with a slice of the prosciutto or bacon and one-third of the butter. Serve with some grated Parmesan.

DISH TWO: Heat the frying pan with the remaining butter over a high heat and add the wine and lemon juice. Let it bubble for one minute, then remove from the heat. Divide the sauce and the remaining prosciutto or bacon between the adults’ plates. Season with salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan, chilli flakes and fresh parsley.