MPM: 5th August 2019

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of "the only blog post of the week" aka Meal Planning Monday.  This week posted on a Tuesday!

Is anyone else wilting in the current weather?  I feel like I am physically melting most of the time.  I completely take on board that I have more insulation that some other people but combine that with general warm-bloodedness and a genetic propensity (thanks, paternal grandmother) for a sweaty brow and nose and you do not end up with a pretty picture.  The current combination of heat and humidity is a particular killer and whatever I try, the cat refuses to fan me with palm leaves as I drift off to sleep, so I end up tossing and turning and harrumphing and generally being most annoying and annoyed. 

I don’t, however, seem to be one of these people who lose their appetite in the heat, which is a shame.  I’m permanently thinking about ice cream, which is also a shame.  If you’re a fan of Lotus Biscoff and haven’t yet tried the Lotus Biscoff ice cream stick then hie thee hence to your nearest supermarket frozen-food aisle and buy some.  You can thank me later.

Anyhoo, meal planning.  D picked a few of the meals this week, direct from the archives of The WW Foodie, which is exciting.  We were originally going to be having a third WWF recipe on Saturday night but this has now been bumped to next week in order to use up some chicken we have going spare.  Someone may or may not have accidentally cut right through a chicken breast on Sunday when he was preparing homemade Kievs and that same someone may or may not have stormed off to the supermarket in an expletive studded squall of self recrimination to buy a second pack rather than try and patch the hole with trimmings.  The remaining chicken, and, indeed the remaining breadcrumbs from the Kiev, will be put to good use.

Monday: sigh.  Still soup but now we are going homemade, having come to the conclusion that most shop bought soup is shit.  The aim is to try and make it at the weekend so that Monday can still be a night “off” cooking.  Last night, we made a Nigel Slater recipe: carrot and tomato with feta.  And, to be fair, it was miles ahead of anything that we might have recently had from a supermarket. 

Tuesday: there is half a cauliflower lurking in the fridge and I fancied making mustardy cauliflower cheese, a recipe from Ottolenghi’s “Simple”.  D suggested throwing in some pasta and making it a mac-and-cauli-cheese.  Excellent suggestion.

Wednesday: roasted veg with feta and couscous.  A bump from last week.

Thursday: corned beef hash.  Woohoo – a house favourite!  In an exciting twist, we don’t have any homemade corned beef to hand so we are going to try it using a tin.  Given that tinned corned beef is one of the definitive tastes of childhood for both me and D, I am genuinely looking forward to this.

Friday: lemon sole with brown shrimp butter.  Classic, easy, delicious Friday fish.

Saturday: homemade chicken goujons (or nuggets if that feels right) with oven fries and possibly (this is still under discussion) a wedge salad.  Just because I am intrigued by the idea and want to make one. 

Sunday:  another Nigel Slater recipe – I am loving his work at the moment.  This time, sausages with herbed chickpea mash.  Sounds like a lovely, summery twist on a classic.

Have a good week everyone!