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I’m looking for recommendations of good “family” cookbooks - what I mean is I have two daughters age 2 and 6, both now in preschool and school all week long. I want simple recipes that are nutritious but will also stretch their palate, but hoping as well for help on meal planning and organising myself, my cupboards, my shopping list. I find a lot of cookbooks have great recipes but I have to still do a lot of the thinking to get it right! So anything that can help 😊

501 Bento lunches has a children's section using recipes that can be shared between children and adults.

I think a good place to start would be Time for Dinner by Jenny Rosenstrach.  The Minimalist Kitchen by Melissa Coleman is also good, albeit in a different way, and The Dinner Plan (Brennan and Campion) or The Family Cooks (Laurie David).  You'd have to see what works for you -- I've enjoyed all of them.  

I really like the America's Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. It has a good mix of child-friendly staples (pizza, mac & cheese, etc.) with more interesting and slightly more complex recipes. (I love the spinach and goat cheese calzone recipe.) The shortcuts are useful, not just using ready-made things from the grocery store; for example, microwaving sausage briefly to get it started cooking and render out some fat before adding to a dish, rather than having to get a skillet dirty and browning it. I'd also recommend Colu Henry's Back Pocket Pasta if you're in the mood for pasta. Many of the dishes are quick and easy, though they might push kids' palate's a little bit (such as Linguine with Savoy Cabbage and Salumi), but it sounds like that's what you're looking for. My now-10-yr old has happily eaten everything we've made from it (except the dishes with cooked spinach).