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.