Jim is back at college now so I only need to feed myself and Isla for some of the days which means I can get away with recycling meals more regularly. Good news for me, not such good news for any of you who might be reading!
It also means on Sundays and Wednesdays I have to make something for dinner that he can take away with him and that will microwave ok as the B&B he stays in on Mon and Thurs nights has a MW but no oven. I find this a real pain as there are so many easy, tasty things I could send him away with that require an oven, but it's harder with the MW. It means a rather large preponderance of stews and the like. Grrr. Oh well, it's either that or have him eating crap out of a pub and turning into Jabba the hut - a very skint Jabba the hut at that. Never a good look.
This week I shall be making:
Vegetable curry (V)
Leek and potato soup (V)
Homemade Glamorgan sausages (V)
Roast chicken
Fishcakes
Halloumi salad with tangy tomato dressing (V)
Thurs, Jan 03
Vegetable curry
We have a really awesome, fairly inexpensive, curry place near us so I very rarely attempt to make curry, but I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. It is very easy, pretty quick, and actually tastes like a curry! My previous efforts have always fallen a bit short.
Fry one onion and a clove of crushed garlic in some groundnut oil. When soft add 1 tspn of ground cumin, 1 tspn ground coriander, 1 tspn turmeric and 1 tspn ground chilli (or not if your kids don't like chilli) and fry until fragrant. Add a selection of chopped vegetables (as many as you need for your purposes, approx 450g for this recipe) add the harder ingredients such as carrots, butternut squash or potatoes first and the softer veg like cauliflower, courgette after a few minutes. Add a tin of chopped toms and about a 1/2 - 1 pint of vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 30 - 40 mins, with the lid off. At the end add half a block of grated creamed coconut. Serve with basmati rice.
Poppy eats this with enthusiasm (rare!!). Isla loves it too, as she does most food based substances! You could add some low fat yoghurt or creme fraiche at the end if no coconut, or to reduce the fat content... And the ubiquitous coriander of course. I have a bit of a fight to smuggle coriander into food around here as I think Jim had some tragic accident with it as a child. It's the only way to explain his loathing of it now.
Fri, Jan 04
Salmon fishcakes
I should warn in advance that these are ones I made a while ago and froze. It works better this way.
Mash up a quantity of peeled, boiled potatoes, not sure how many, about 6 medium seems a fair guess. Add the zest of a lemon, a good pinch of cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and about a tbspn of melted butter and 1 large tin of wild red salmon. Bind it all with 2 beaten eggs. You can add other things according to taste, but these are for Poppy really so I keep it fairly simple. Hopefully she won't notice the lemon zest this time! Mix it all up and form into patties. I like to keep them quite small, it makes them easier to re-heat later, and means they don't collapse into a mushy pile.
At this stage I freeze them - line some baking trays with clingfilm and bung in the freezer. When frozen you can move them into smaller containers.
When you want to use them, dip (still frozen) in some beaten egg and then in some breadcrumbs and fry until golden. Obviously, they will still be frozen in the middle, so you can either put them in the oven (hence keeping them small) or I just nuke 'em in the microwave for a minute. Quick and easy and homemade. I think the traditional accompaniment to fishcakes is peas and an ocean of ketchup, but I like to make a little sweet chilli mayo and serve them with salad for Jim and I.
Saturday, Jan 05
Homemade Glamorgan Sausages
These are fantastically tasty. I use cheddar instead of caephilly which most recipes recommend as I don't often have caerphilly in the fridge. This recipe would make 12 decent size patties. It is quite messy so I tend to make some for the freezer too. If freezing, don't do the dipping in egg and breadcrumbs until you want to eat them. This is not particularly healthy in itself, but we serve it with a load of veg for Poppy as an alternative to a roast or whatever. It would be nice served as a light snack with some kind of chutney and salad too. I use brown bread crumbs, works just as well as white.
Sweat 2 finely chopped leeks for 1 minute in some butter, in a bowl mix these leeks together with 250g of fresh breadcrumbs, 200g of grated cheddar a few leaves of fresh thyme or some flat leaf parsely (if available, not really necessary) and season well. Lightly beat 4 eggs with 2 tbspns of wholegrain mustard and add to the other ingredients. Shape into sausages / patties and coat in flour. Leave to chill for at least 20 mins. Coat in egg and breadcrubs and fry until golden. I tend to make these in batches and keep them warm in the oven as they can be a little fiddly if you're making lots and breadcrumb frying is very messy.
These are a winner with kids and grown-ups, a Welsh housemate of mine made them for dinner once about 8 years ago and I've been craving them ever since.
Sunday, Jan 06
LUNCH - Leek and Potato Soup
Sweat an onion and 3 leeks in some olive oil. When soft add 3 - 4 medium potatoes chopped into bite size chunks, skin on or off as you wish. Cook for a few minutes then stir in a clove of chopped garlic and a large spoon of oats. Add enough stock (I always use marigold swiss veg boullion) to cover, a couple of sprigs of thyme and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through. I serve it as it is if the kids aren't around, but for the kids you could peel the potatoes at the start and then blend it at the end with a good glug of milk.
This is one of my safe meals, Poppy will always eat it. Isla isn't so keen, she is funny about potato but she'll eat some bits of roll dunked in it and can shovel that in herself.
DINNER - Roast chicken
I won't go into the details, I'm making this as I can send Jim off with some for his college meals on Monday. I do think groundnut oil makes the best roasties and I don't do anything particularly flash with the chicken, just buy as good a quality of bird as you can afford and the meat will speak for itself. I put half a lemon, half an onion and a couple of bay leaves up it's bottom and rub a little butter and thyme leaves mixture under the skin. I used to obsess about roasts, I would have a different sauce or method for each vegetable and enough washing to keep 3 dishwashers busy. I've learnt it's best to keep things simple in the world of roasts, maybe make a nice sauce for one of the veg if you really have to, like a honey and butter glaze for some carrots and then keep the rest as they come. It all gets drowned in gravy anyway! Plus, as long as your spuds are good, who cares??
MONDAY
Jim isn't around Monday nights so I'll probably have something really easy like beans on toast or an omelette. And lunch will prob be pitta with humous and salad or roasted meditteranean veg.
TUESDAY, 8 Jan
I have Poppy and Jim for dinner tonight, will prob give Pop something out the freezer as Tuesday is a busy day. Jim will get in after the kids have gone to bed, so I can make something for us later.
DINNER - Warm halloumi salad
I got the inspiration for this recipe from an Australian Woman's Weekly recipe book and cannibalised it a bit.
Chargrill some red peppers and slices of courgette, keep these in a warm oven until ready to assemble the salad. Put a big handful of baby spinach on each plate and sprinkle with some drained, tinned chickpeas. Now make the dressing. Fry a finely chopped red onion and crushed clove of garlic in some olive oil, when soft add some tomato juice, (about half a pint) and a couple of teaspoons of muscovado sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Simmer until you're ready to use it. In the meantime, fry some 5mm thick slices of halloumi in a dry non-stick frying pan. When golden on each side, arrange on the plates, then add the veg from the oven and drizzle over the dressing. Lush. I make this quite a lot for friends, esp if I've got veggies coming round. You could also use slices of chargrilled aubergine, but I had a tragic accident with it as child and hate it now! :-)
WEDNESDAY
I'm going to London with my best friend to brave the terrors of Oxford St January sales. I suspect we'll head straight for the pub once we get there and not move... Jim will have to fend for himself as I'm not getting back in till gone 10. I have some veg curry in the freezer from Thursday for him to take away to college.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Dec 27 - Jan 02
This weeks meal plan is a little tricky as I am at work whilst my husband is on holiday from college, which means we will have my step daughter Poppy more than we usually would in the week- thus I have to come up with more veggie options than normal, but they also have to be suitable for Isla (13 months) and also has to be stuff I am happy to eat so we can eat together which doesn't happen as often as I would like. Poppy isn't a very adventurous eater so I'm also restricted by that. Being post xmas I'm going to err on the side of frugal and lowish fat too. I'm not going to include breakfast as I think most of us can cobble breakfast together without too much headache..... I hope.....
These are the things I shall be making this week.
Bean Tacos (v)
Pasta and Pesto (v)
Chicken and Chorizo Stew
Lasagne (v)
Jacket Spud with tuna mayo and salad
Crispy coated chicken with healthy coleslaw
Wholemeal muffins with bacon and egg.
Spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf
THURS, Dec 27th
I only made dinner today as was driving back from the folks house so had to endure the horrors of service station offerings. Grimace. However, I have made dinner after finishing work at five then having to drag my trolley around the sorry hordes of freaks at Tesco.
Chicken and chorizo stew
This is so easy, it really requires the minimum of effort and is very tasty. You could easily tone it down for kids by omitting the paprika and olives if they won't eat them and adding some roasted pepper slices instead. I use chicken breasts as my husband - Jim - prefers them, but I reckon it would benefit from being made from chicken pieces, bone still in. Obviously that would effect the cooking time. Preserved lemon instead of fresh would be nice too.
Thinly slice one medium brown onion and fry in a little oil until starting to caramelise. Put this in a casserole dish. Add a tin of drained chickpeas or cannelini beans to the casserole dish. Make up a cups worth of chicken or vegetable stock and add it to the casserole dish, along with 2 cloves of garlic, bashed a bit but skin on. Then put 2 chicken breasts on top. Season, sprinkle with paprika (smoked or not, doesn't make much diff) and drizzle with extra virgin. Tuck in slices of 1/2 a lemon around the breasts, also some chunks of sliced chorizo sausage (I use a lot because I am a chorizo addict, but it is quite over-powering so it's up to you). Then add a good handful or two of black pitted olives. The jarred ones are fine for this. Back in the oven with the lid on for 15 mins on GM6 and a further 10 mins with the lid off so it doesn't look quite so anaemic! If you were using chicken pieces with the skin on, the lid wouldn't be required and the juices would thicken up and make it even better, but hey... fussy husband.
FRI, Dec 28th
At work so only have to make dinner.
Bean tacos
I have no idea wether or not Poppy will eat these but it's worth a shot.
I am going to keep the recipe simple as I prefer it that way, plus, there is nothing as irritating as going to loads of effort with a recipe than to have it turned away after one mouthful... I have oven chips and a variety of veggie 'convenience' food in the freezer for these moments. I'm going to split the recipe so I can make it hot for me and Jim, and keep the girls version mellow.
Chop one large onion and crush a garlic clove, fry in olive oil until soft. Add 1tspn cumin and one tspn chilli powder and fry until fragrant. For kids, just the cumin. Add a drained tin of kidney beans, black eye beans and borlotti beans (all 412g size). Or any bean combo you have in your cupboard. Add 2 - 3 tins of chopped tomatoes and simmer until thickened (about 20 mins). Season. Serve with taco shells, sour cream, grated cheddar, and lime wedges. Can also be served with some chopped coriander stirred through at the end, but I didn't have any.
Turns out Poppy doesn't really like this, she ate the taco shells, cheese and sour cream and any accidental beans stuck to the cheese and tacos. Isla wolfed it down though!! She's a good little piglet
SAT, Dec 29th
Pesto and pasta for lunch
I just use the jars of pesto, the Sacla one always gets good ratings from chefs in magazine reviews I've read and who has enough basil around to make fresh?? We always use wholemeal pasta, the kids can't tell the difference and it just a really easy (and obvious!) way of improving the health content of a pasta dish.
I make it a bit more interesting (and upping the all important veg content) by finely chopping a few handfuls of baby spinach leaves and stirring in after the whilst it is still hot enough to wilt it. I also add some halved cherry tomatoes and some roasted pine nuts at the end and finish it off with some parmesan shavings, and a little drizzle of the ol' extra virgin once in the bowls. For Jim and I, I'll add some sliced, grilled bacon rashers too. Isla can just about shovel in some bits of pasta unassisted, she gets frustrated with me feeding her all the time and likes to do it herself.
Veggie Lasagne
I'm not going to write out the recipe or method for veggie lasagne as I might embarrass myself with my method and everyone has their own take on it. I use the Quorn mince as others I have tried have a texture you just can't hide. Even after a bottle or 2 of red wine.
I have a couple of things that I do with lasagne that I stole from the 'Cook Yourself Thin' show on Channel 4 which are really useful tips for reducing calories without reducing taste. I swap one of the layers of pasta for a layer of roasted and skinned red peppers and chargrilled courgette. I only use one layer of pasta and cheese sauce on the top. For the cheese sauce, instead of using a classic roux base, I bring the necessary quantity of semi skimmed milk to the boil, then thicken it with a cornflour paste. The girls also recommend using parmesan instead of cheddar as it has a stronger flavour, thus you need less. I also add a good dollop of whatever mustard I have closest to hand. I strongly recommend you look up their recipes, I use loads of their ideas since watching the show.
This turned into shepherds pie instead as I realised we'd already had pasta for lunch and discovered a bag of potatoes that weren't going to get any younger
SUN, Dec 30th
Jacket spud with tuna mayo and salad
No great mystery there. I know mayo isn't low fat, but I only use a little dollop to loosen it up. You could make up a vanaigrette instead or maybe some 0% fat greek yoghurt. I always put some sliced spring onion in tuna mayo.
I tend to microwave the spuds first for about 5 mins then finish them off in the oven. You can rub them with a bit of oil and salt to further crisp up the skin, but I rarely bother.
For the salad, I love iceberg. That's probably a really naff admission, but I think for an easy weekend lunch with no-one to impress, what's the problem? Plus it keeps much better than others. I always make a little salsa with some chopped cherry tomatoes, red onion, roasted peppers (if I have any lurking around) and a balsamic and extra virgin dressing. I spoon this onto some slices of avocado on top of the iceberg.
Crispy coated chicken and healthy slaw
I find a mandolin indispensable for this recipe, but a grater is fine.
Finely slice some red cabbage, a head of fennel, some red onion and grate a carrot. The quantities are up to you. Mix these all together in a large bowl. Make up a dressing of 0% fat greek yoghurt (small tub), 1 tbspn white wine vinegar and 1 tbspn dijon mustard and stir it into the slaw.
Slice 2 x chicken breasts into strips, and dip into a lightly beaten egg white. Make up a mixture of fine polenta, cayenne pepper, grated parmesan and salt in another bowl and dip the eggy strips into the polenta mix. I don't know the exact quantities, probably at least 2 big handfuls of polenta, a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a small mound of grated parmesan (1 tablespoon?) and suitable seasoning.
Shallow fry the strips in some vegetable oil, I use groundnut oil, turning once and serve when crispy and golden.
I reckon I could eat this every week, Jim loves it too.
MON, Dec 31st, NYE
Spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf
This is taken from Olive magazine, if you like cooking or just reading about food, get a subscription - it's great. Fry one brown onion and a clove of crushed garlic in 25g melted butter, when soft add 300g sliced chestnut mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes, add 250 grams basmati rice, 4 cloves,4 cardamon pods bruised, a cinnamon stick, zest of one lemon and stir to coat. Fry for a couple of minutes. Make up some vegetable stock and add to the pan (can't remember how much, sorry, and cover the pan. Cook for 10 mins, check on the stock situation and continue to cook until done. Prob another 5 mins. At the end, add 150 grams ( a couple of BIG handfuls) of chopped baby spinach. Turn the heat off, cover the pan and let the leaves wilt. Stir in a few squeezes of lemon juice at the end.
not making dinner, probably getting takeaway to compensate for not going out.
TUES, Jan 01, NYD!!
I am anticipating some level of hangover, being New Year n all, so it needs to be simple but also something that is going to bash the hangover into submission.
Wholemeal muffins with grilled back bacon and a fried egg.
If you use that 1 cal spray on a non stick frying pan, this really isn't that unhealthy. If I'm not so hungover I can't see I might poach them, as that is even better. I love eggs benedict normally, but the sauce that goes with it is way too naughty.
I'll make some fruit salad as well, Isla could eat a whole punnet of blueberries in one sitting if I let her. Makes for interesting nappies though...
WEDS, Jan 02
Nothing today, going to a funeral.
These are the things I shall be making this week.
Bean Tacos (v)
Pasta and Pesto (v)
Chicken and Chorizo Stew
Lasagne (v)
Jacket Spud with tuna mayo and salad
Crispy coated chicken with healthy coleslaw
Wholemeal muffins with bacon and egg.
Spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf
THURS, Dec 27th
I only made dinner today as was driving back from the folks house so had to endure the horrors of service station offerings. Grimace. However, I have made dinner after finishing work at five then having to drag my trolley around the sorry hordes of freaks at Tesco.
Chicken and chorizo stew
This is so easy, it really requires the minimum of effort and is very tasty. You could easily tone it down for kids by omitting the paprika and olives if they won't eat them and adding some roasted pepper slices instead. I use chicken breasts as my husband - Jim - prefers them, but I reckon it would benefit from being made from chicken pieces, bone still in. Obviously that would effect the cooking time. Preserved lemon instead of fresh would be nice too.
Thinly slice one medium brown onion and fry in a little oil until starting to caramelise. Put this in a casserole dish. Add a tin of drained chickpeas or cannelini beans to the casserole dish. Make up a cups worth of chicken or vegetable stock and add it to the casserole dish, along with 2 cloves of garlic, bashed a bit but skin on. Then put 2 chicken breasts on top. Season, sprinkle with paprika (smoked or not, doesn't make much diff) and drizzle with extra virgin. Tuck in slices of 1/2 a lemon around the breasts, also some chunks of sliced chorizo sausage (I use a lot because I am a chorizo addict, but it is quite over-powering so it's up to you). Then add a good handful or two of black pitted olives. The jarred ones are fine for this. Back in the oven with the lid on for 15 mins on GM6 and a further 10 mins with the lid off so it doesn't look quite so anaemic! If you were using chicken pieces with the skin on, the lid wouldn't be required and the juices would thicken up and make it even better, but hey... fussy husband.
FRI, Dec 28th
At work so only have to make dinner.
Bean tacos
I have no idea wether or not Poppy will eat these but it's worth a shot.
I am going to keep the recipe simple as I prefer it that way, plus, there is nothing as irritating as going to loads of effort with a recipe than to have it turned away after one mouthful... I have oven chips and a variety of veggie 'convenience' food in the freezer for these moments. I'm going to split the recipe so I can make it hot for me and Jim, and keep the girls version mellow.
Chop one large onion and crush a garlic clove, fry in olive oil until soft. Add 1tspn cumin and one tspn chilli powder and fry until fragrant. For kids, just the cumin. Add a drained tin of kidney beans, black eye beans and borlotti beans (all 412g size). Or any bean combo you have in your cupboard. Add 2 - 3 tins of chopped tomatoes and simmer until thickened (about 20 mins). Season. Serve with taco shells, sour cream, grated cheddar, and lime wedges. Can also be served with some chopped coriander stirred through at the end, but I didn't have any.
Turns out Poppy doesn't really like this, she ate the taco shells, cheese and sour cream and any accidental beans stuck to the cheese and tacos. Isla wolfed it down though!! She's a good little piglet
SAT, Dec 29th
Pesto and pasta for lunch
I just use the jars of pesto, the Sacla one always gets good ratings from chefs in magazine reviews I've read and who has enough basil around to make fresh?? We always use wholemeal pasta, the kids can't tell the difference and it just a really easy (and obvious!) way of improving the health content of a pasta dish.
I make it a bit more interesting (and upping the all important veg content) by finely chopping a few handfuls of baby spinach leaves and stirring in after the whilst it is still hot enough to wilt it. I also add some halved cherry tomatoes and some roasted pine nuts at the end and finish it off with some parmesan shavings, and a little drizzle of the ol' extra virgin once in the bowls. For Jim and I, I'll add some sliced, grilled bacon rashers too. Isla can just about shovel in some bits of pasta unassisted, she gets frustrated with me feeding her all the time and likes to do it herself.
Veggie Lasagne
I'm not going to write out the recipe or method for veggie lasagne as I might embarrass myself with my method and everyone has their own take on it. I use the Quorn mince as others I have tried have a texture you just can't hide. Even after a bottle or 2 of red wine.
I have a couple of things that I do with lasagne that I stole from the 'Cook Yourself Thin' show on Channel 4 which are really useful tips for reducing calories without reducing taste. I swap one of the layers of pasta for a layer of roasted and skinned red peppers and chargrilled courgette. I only use one layer of pasta and cheese sauce on the top. For the cheese sauce, instead of using a classic roux base, I bring the necessary quantity of semi skimmed milk to the boil, then thicken it with a cornflour paste. The girls also recommend using parmesan instead of cheddar as it has a stronger flavour, thus you need less. I also add a good dollop of whatever mustard I have closest to hand. I strongly recommend you look up their recipes, I use loads of their ideas since watching the show.
This turned into shepherds pie instead as I realised we'd already had pasta for lunch and discovered a bag of potatoes that weren't going to get any younger
SUN, Dec 30th
Jacket spud with tuna mayo and salad
No great mystery there. I know mayo isn't low fat, but I only use a little dollop to loosen it up. You could make up a vanaigrette instead or maybe some 0% fat greek yoghurt. I always put some sliced spring onion in tuna mayo.
I tend to microwave the spuds first for about 5 mins then finish them off in the oven. You can rub them with a bit of oil and salt to further crisp up the skin, but I rarely bother.
For the salad, I love iceberg. That's probably a really naff admission, but I think for an easy weekend lunch with no-one to impress, what's the problem? Plus it keeps much better than others. I always make a little salsa with some chopped cherry tomatoes, red onion, roasted peppers (if I have any lurking around) and a balsamic and extra virgin dressing. I spoon this onto some slices of avocado on top of the iceberg.
Crispy coated chicken and healthy slaw
I find a mandolin indispensable for this recipe, but a grater is fine.
Finely slice some red cabbage, a head of fennel, some red onion and grate a carrot. The quantities are up to you. Mix these all together in a large bowl. Make up a dressing of 0% fat greek yoghurt (small tub), 1 tbspn white wine vinegar and 1 tbspn dijon mustard and stir it into the slaw.
Slice 2 x chicken breasts into strips, and dip into a lightly beaten egg white. Make up a mixture of fine polenta, cayenne pepper, grated parmesan and salt in another bowl and dip the eggy strips into the polenta mix. I don't know the exact quantities, probably at least 2 big handfuls of polenta, a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a small mound of grated parmesan (1 tablespoon?) and suitable seasoning.
Shallow fry the strips in some vegetable oil, I use groundnut oil, turning once and serve when crispy and golden.
I reckon I could eat this every week, Jim loves it too.
MON, Dec 31st, NYE
Spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf
This is taken from Olive magazine, if you like cooking or just reading about food, get a subscription - it's great. Fry one brown onion and a clove of crushed garlic in 25g melted butter, when soft add 300g sliced chestnut mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes, add 250 grams basmati rice, 4 cloves,4 cardamon pods bruised, a cinnamon stick, zest of one lemon and stir to coat. Fry for a couple of minutes. Make up some vegetable stock and add to the pan (can't remember how much, sorry, and cover the pan. Cook for 10 mins, check on the stock situation and continue to cook until done. Prob another 5 mins. At the end, add 150 grams ( a couple of BIG handfuls) of chopped baby spinach. Turn the heat off, cover the pan and let the leaves wilt. Stir in a few squeezes of lemon juice at the end.
not making dinner, probably getting takeaway to compensate for not going out.
TUES, Jan 01, NYD!!
I am anticipating some level of hangover, being New Year n all, so it needs to be simple but also something that is going to bash the hangover into submission.
Wholemeal muffins with grilled back bacon and a fried egg.
If you use that 1 cal spray on a non stick frying pan, this really isn't that unhealthy. If I'm not so hungover I can't see I might poach them, as that is even better. I love eggs benedict normally, but the sauce that goes with it is way too naughty.
I'll make some fruit salad as well, Isla could eat a whole punnet of blueberries in one sitting if I let her. Makes for interesting nappies though...
WEDS, Jan 02
Nothing today, going to a funeral.
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