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 my head 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 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?

My book (which, funnily enough, is called One Dish, Two Ways) is the result.