Greetings chickadees and I think it is safe to say that summer is well and truly over after a weekend which saw us a) light our fire every night b) turn the heating on and c) get pounded by hailstones. Suits me just fine - I am not a big fan of the hot weather although I have no intention of giving up the salads that have characterised my lunches for the past couple of months. I love salad and don't see that it should be confined to when the weather is sunny.
I've been back on track for nearly a whole week now (four and a half days counts as nearly seven, doesn't it?) and although it has had its tricky moments, altogether it is going pretty well. It helps, I think, that we were SO over indulgent last weekend, my body was definitely ready to embrace a simpler, leaner diet. But, as I said in my last post and said to my WW coach at the weigh in, I will never be the type of person to count, or even attempt to count, on holiday. Food and drink are two of life's very great pleasures.
Talking of great pleasures, and another sign that winter is on its way - the new series of Strictly Come Dancing started on Saturday night which I thoroughly enjoyed. Saturday nights from now will definitely have to feature a special sort of supper to honour the occasion. Actually, this Saturday's supper was very special indeed - inspired by a photo on Bundobust's Instagram feed, I contrived a saag paneer pizza. If two of your favourite foods are saag paneer and pizza, this is a dish not to be missed. I may well post the recipe at some point.
Anyway, on to this week. I am supposed to be going out on Friday, so it is blank for now, but may try and wriggle out of it for various reasons, not least that it would be nice to have two straight weeks of tracking under my belt as we go into October AKA D's 50th Birthday Month. Elsewhere:
Monday: Tuna and onion (tonno e cipolla) pizza - we have pizza dough leftover from Saturday night and, well, it would be rude not to.
Tuesday: Mussel paella
Wednesday: Vietnamese braised pork with vegetable egg fried rice
Thursday: Chicken breast stuffed with goats' cheese
Saturday: Lobster truffled macaroni cheese - a dish inspired by our recent trip to the Star Inn the Harbour.
Sunday: A freezer dive - beef and fennel stew with mashed potatoes.
Have a fabulous week all!
Showing posts with label freezer diving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freezer diving. Show all posts
Monday, 24 September 2018
Monday, 17 July 2017
MPM: 17th July 2017
Not a particularly seasonal menu plan this week - you'll notice haggis popping up a couple of times which is something that I always associate with winter. However, we have had a veggie haggis lurking in the freezer for ages (don't ask) that needs utilising. And, let's face it, when has British summertime ever been actually summery?
We're fasting Monday and Thursday - so that will be soup (I've knocked up a batch of this old favourite). Elsewhere:
Tuesday: veggie haggis and clapshot, caramelised onion gravy and some sort of green - I'm thinking maybe a creamed spinach?
Wednesday: giant couscous tossed in 'nduja, roasted vegetables and a crumble of feta cheese
Friday: veggie haggis toasties. Don't knock until you've tried them.
Saturday: I'm cooking up a veggie Indian feast, featuring two of my favourite curries - saag paneer and chana masala (aka cheesy spinach and spiced chickpeas). To be served with rice and flatbreads and maybe a couple of cheeky chutneys. YUM!
Sunday: fish of some description - but we'll decide what we're doing when we pick up the fish on Saturday. We have an absolutely wonderful local fishmongers so we're going to choose something that looks yummy and then base what we cook around that. If it's sunny, perhaps I might even persuade young D to fire up the barbecue?
Have a wonderful week, mes amies!
We're fasting Monday and Thursday - so that will be soup (I've knocked up a batch of this old favourite). Elsewhere:
Tuesday: veggie haggis and clapshot, caramelised onion gravy and some sort of green - I'm thinking maybe a creamed spinach?
Wednesday: giant couscous tossed in 'nduja, roasted vegetables and a crumble of feta cheese
Friday: veggie haggis toasties. Don't knock until you've tried them.
Saturday: I'm cooking up a veggie Indian feast, featuring two of my favourite curries - saag paneer and chana masala (aka cheesy spinach and spiced chickpeas). To be served with rice and flatbreads and maybe a couple of cheeky chutneys. YUM!
Sunday: fish of some description - but we'll decide what we're doing when we pick up the fish on Saturday. We have an absolutely wonderful local fishmongers so we're going to choose something that looks yummy and then base what we cook around that. If it's sunny, perhaps I might even persuade young D to fire up the barbecue?
Have a wonderful week, mes amies!
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Reading, not planning
I faithfully promised my mother on Sunday that I would write a meal planning post. And indeed, I had every intention of doing so - especially since we actually had a meal plan. But then I accidentally picked up a book and...suddenly the evening was gone.
As a child, indeed, as a teenager, I was always a bookworm. I was one of those kids who started getting twitchy if there was nothing around to read. Unfortunately, I read incredibly fast which made holiday packing tricky (this being in the time before Kindles). I seem to recall one trip when my exasperated parents banned me from taking my usual mountain of reading material and I ended up practically memorising a copy of Woman magazine that my mother had bought at the airport.
I loved reading so much that when it came to choosing a degree subject, there was, in the end, no contest. My head said that something vocational like law was the way forward, but my heart pined for English literature and was ultimately victorious. When people ask me what is the purpose of an English degree, I can talk the good talk about the critical reading and communication skills that you pick up, but the truth is that most English students that I encountered were the kind of children who, like me, dreamt of being accidentally locked in a library overnight.
Anyway, the point of all this is that recently I have been trying to get back in touch with my inner bookworm. I don't know whether it is part of growing older, or the demands of work, or the fact that I no longer have a daily train journey, but I just don't seem to read as much anymore. D and I therefore declared a mindless television ban (it remains off unless there is something that we specifically want to watch) and our evenings are to be devoted to literary pursuits. Which is great. But yesterday, I picked up an old copy of Sebastian Faulks's "Engleby" and barely looked up until bedtime. So I forgot to meal plan.
Sorry about that.
I did manage to throw together a delicious dinner for us, as per the abstract plan. Pan fried salmon, warm potato salad dressed with olive oil, lemon and mustard, and some lightly pickled, dill drenched cucumber ribbons. Gorgeous stuff.
The rest of the week we are aiming to eat as much of the perishable stuff in our kitchen as possible, prior to our departure for Scotland next Monday. Which means cod curry tonight (the second half of the batch that we made last week), then haggis hash and 'nduja spaghetti with garlic bread later on. It all sounds like pretty tasty stuff.
When we get back we plan to revisit some of our recent budget ideas to ensure that any profligacy while enjoying the whiskies of Islay and the seafood of Mull (not to mention the pre holiday Kindle binge), is balanced out. I see macaroni cheese in my very near future!
As a child, indeed, as a teenager, I was always a bookworm. I was one of those kids who started getting twitchy if there was nothing around to read. Unfortunately, I read incredibly fast which made holiday packing tricky (this being in the time before Kindles). I seem to recall one trip when my exasperated parents banned me from taking my usual mountain of reading material and I ended up practically memorising a copy of Woman magazine that my mother had bought at the airport.
I loved reading so much that when it came to choosing a degree subject, there was, in the end, no contest. My head said that something vocational like law was the way forward, but my heart pined for English literature and was ultimately victorious. When people ask me what is the purpose of an English degree, I can talk the good talk about the critical reading and communication skills that you pick up, but the truth is that most English students that I encountered were the kind of children who, like me, dreamt of being accidentally locked in a library overnight.
Anyway, the point of all this is that recently I have been trying to get back in touch with my inner bookworm. I don't know whether it is part of growing older, or the demands of work, or the fact that I no longer have a daily train journey, but I just don't seem to read as much anymore. D and I therefore declared a mindless television ban (it remains off unless there is something that we specifically want to watch) and our evenings are to be devoted to literary pursuits. Which is great. But yesterday, I picked up an old copy of Sebastian Faulks's "Engleby" and barely looked up until bedtime. So I forgot to meal plan.
Sorry about that.
I did manage to throw together a delicious dinner for us, as per the abstract plan. Pan fried salmon, warm potato salad dressed with olive oil, lemon and mustard, and some lightly pickled, dill drenched cucumber ribbons. Gorgeous stuff.
The rest of the week we are aiming to eat as much of the perishable stuff in our kitchen as possible, prior to our departure for Scotland next Monday. Which means cod curry tonight (the second half of the batch that we made last week), then haggis hash and 'nduja spaghetti with garlic bread later on. It all sounds like pretty tasty stuff.
When we get back we plan to revisit some of our recent budget ideas to ensure that any profligacy while enjoying the whiskies of Islay and the seafood of Mull (not to mention the pre holiday Kindle binge), is balanced out. I see macaroni cheese in my very near future!
Monday, 13 April 2015
MPM: 13th April 2015
After being a little OTT with our spend for Easter Sunday, D and I decided to reign it in for a couple of weeks. Which has meant taking a critical look at the contents of the freezer and the cupboards and using those as the basis for meal planning. We've actually ended up with some really yummy dishes - (I would definitely rock the Masterchef invention test) and, across two weeks, our total food shopping bill has probably come in at around £50 in total.
This week, I've got book group on Tuesday, so D will be freezer diving (there's a portion of coq a la biere in there that I reckon has his name all over it) and on Wednesday we're heading out for another one of our Cheap Nights Out, as we continue to explore the best and lowest priced that Leeds has to offer. Elsewhere we will mostly be eating:
Sausages, mash and onion gravy
Burmese chicken soup
Chilli con carne with rice and herbed yoghurt
Spaghetti with 'Nduja
More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.
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