Meal Planning Monday - 4 January 2016

It's been a long time since I joined in with Meal Planning Mondays but I'm determined to write more blog posts than I managed last year and this seems like a good place to start.

I don't think there's much in the way of Christmas food that we didn't eat over the last couple of weeks so the meal plan for the next few days includes a lot more fruit and veg and a lot less chocolate! I recently purchased Jamie Oliver's Everyday Superfood book so have included a couple of recipes from that plus I'm using it to give me inspiration for health breakfasts and snacks.

Monday - Turkey soup with granary bread

Tuesday - Omelette and Salad

Wednesday - Jamie Oliver's Seared Turmeric Chicken

Thursday - Jacket potatoes and salad

Friday - Jamie Oliver's Crumbed Pesto Fish

Saturday - Chicken & Leek Pie

Sunday - Turkey Risotto

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link. You can also find us on Facebook and on Twitter using #mealplanningmonday.

Meal Planning Monday - 26 January 2015

I can't believe we're nearly at the end of January already! I didn't get a chance to post my meal plan last week and, to be honest, it wasn't that exciting anyway. This week, though, I have a two new recipes to try plus a couple of old favourites. The meet for the Bury St Edmunds Clandestine Cake Club is also scheduled for Saturday which gives me a good excuse to bake a cake!

So, this week's menu looks like this...

Monday - Nigella's Breaded Chicken Cutlets with Potato Wedges & Salad

Tuesday - Broccoli & Blue Cheese Soup with bread from the bread maker

Wednesday - Quiche (not home made) & salad

Thursday - Tomato Curry with Coconut Rice

Friday - Something from my stash of M&S meals in the freezer & veg

Saturday - Coffee & Walnut Cake for the Clandestine Cake Club
       Dinner for P's mum which he will be cooking!

Sunday - Pastitsio

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link. You can also find us on Facebook and on Twitter using #mealplanningmonday.

Meal Planning Monday - 5 January 2015

After a long and very lazy couple of weeks off over Christmas I'm now dragging myself back to reality and that means getting back to meal planning. I haven't taken part in Meal Planning Monday for months and months but with only half an idea of what we're going to eat this week, I thought this would be a good way to get motivated.

After an entirely no-holds-barred attitude to food over Christmas any meal planning in January will require a little bit of restraint. A bit of a New Year cliche I know, but less emphasis on chocolate and more on fruit and veg can only be a good thing. So here's what I have in mind...

Monday - Pasta Bolognese

Tuesday - Fish Cakes with Rice and Veg

Wednesday - Spicy Bean Burgers with Sweetcorn Couscous

Thursday - Curly Pasta with Feta, Spinach and Pine Nuts

Friday - Fish & Prawn Lasagne & Chocolate Tart (cooking for friends)

Saturday - Undecided but maybe some sort of stir fry

Sunday - Lamb Tagine with Couscous & Mincemeat Sponge Pudding (cooking for family)

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link. You can also find us on Facebook and on Twitter using #mealplanningmonday.

Meal Planning Monday - 28 January 2013

I'm so pleased the snow has gone now - amazingly it just suddenly vanished overnight when we had some rain. The weather's not exactly fantastic now but it's nice to see some colour again after living in a brown and white world for a week or so.

Anyway, that's enough talking about the weather. I have to say I found last week's menu a bit boring as I was either using up jars of sauce from the cupboard or cooking things I'd made several times before. So this week I've set myself the challenge of only putting things on the menu that I've never made before! And yes, I'm ashamed to say that does include roast beef. 

Monday - Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Tuesday - Brocolli & Blue Cheese Soup with home-made bread

Wednesday - Spicy Bean Burgers with Sweetcorn Couscous

Thursday - Tarragon Pork Steaks with a Creamy Mushroom sauce

Friday - Out!

Saturday - Mr HaPoC is cooking for his Mum's birthday - lamb chops with a trifle for pudding

Sunday - Roast Beef with all the trimming

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link.

Meal Planning Monday - 21 January 2013

Brrr, it's cold and snowy here today! The local schools are shut thanks to a large influx snow yesterday (a whole 2 inches!) so I have a bonus day at home with the children which is handy as it's given me more time to get my meal plan for the week finished and this post written. Now I just have to find a way to get us all out of the house and into the fresh air for a bit! 

Here's my plan for the week ahead. This week I'm trying to use up some bits and pieces from the cupboards and the freezers so I'll be using up the last of the Christmas turkey from the freezer in a pie and a couple of jars of sauce for the chilli mince and pasta. I've just realised, though, that I have no less than four rice dishes on the list this week - never mind!

Monday - Jacket Potatoes & Salad

Tuesday - Sweet & Sour Quorn with rice & veg

Wednesday - Pasta & Tomato Sauce

Thursday - Chilli Mince with rice & veg

Friday - Eggy Rice

Saturday - Turkey & Leek Pie

Sunday - Risotto Bolognese

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link.

Meal Planning Monday - 14th January 2013

Half way through January and so far 2013 is shaping up quite nicely and I've been kept very busy getting back into the swing of things at work, planning and booking our trips and holiday for the year ahead and generally Getting Stuff Done. The uber-planner in me loves this time of year and all of the exciting organising that comes with it!

Here's my plan for the week ahead. I've got a couple of things planned from my Christmas recipe book, Lorraine Pascale's Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food, and I'll be sure to report back on how they turn out.

Monday - Chicken Tikka Masala

Tuesday - Warm New Potato Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Wednesday - Mushroom & Creme Fraiche Pasta 

Thursday - Prawn Caeser Salad

Friday - Out!

Saturday - Chicken & Tomato Supper

Sunday - Fusilli with Glorious Green Spinach Sauce

The Prawn Caeser Salad will leave me with some leftover pomegranate seeds so I'm also planning on making this lush Bulgar Wheat salad for a couple of lunches.

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link.

Meal Planning Monday - 7th January 2013

As part of my must-blog-more New Year's resolution, I'm determined to get back in the habit of taking part in Meal Planning Monday's again. It's a simple concept set up by Mrs M of the brilliant blog, At Home with Mrs M, where bloggers share their meal plans for the week ahead and it's a great way of finding a bit of inspiration.

I was doing this regularly for a while but I've had a look at my old posts and, unbelievably, the last time I took part was in June last year! Seriously, where did the time go?

So here's my plan for the week ahead. There are a lot of old favourites on the list this week but over the next few weeks I'm planning on putting my new cook books to good use and trying out a few new dishes. 

Monday - Random stir fry using noodles, veg, pork and some stir-fry sauce from the supermarket

Tuesday - Nigella's Chinatown Chicken Salad

Wednesday - Veggie Enchiladas

Thursday - Jacket Potatoes

Friday - Probably takeaway

Saturday - Pastitsio

Sunday - Mushroom & Creme Fraiche Pasta

If you would like to submit your own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link.

Meal Planning Monday - 6th February

I haven't posted a meal plan for a while but I have a few reasonably interesting things lined up for this week so I thought I'd share.  Most of the things I've listed have been tried before but there are a couple of new things on the list too.

So this is how it looks at the moment...

Monday - Spanish Omelette with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Feta

Tuesday - M&S Vegetarian Kievs (love these!) with rice and veg

Wednesday - Mediterranean Vegetable Couscous

Thursday - Red Lentil Stew with Dates and Cumin

Friday - Someone else will be doing the cooking!

Saturday - Meatballs and pasta

Sunday - Possibly Toad in the Hole

I'll also be making this Bulghar Wheat Salad to use up the rest of the feta and pomegranate seeds from the Spanish Omelette and the Lentil Stew.

If you fancy sharing your meal plan feel free to leave a comment or add a link to Mrs M's blog - At Home with Mrs M.

Meal Planning Monday - 3 October 2011

What a lovely weekend we've had weather wise! Despite all the sunshine though, I'm still feeling in a very autumnal frame of mind when it comes to cooking and menu planning. The risotto and macaroni cheese I made last week are perfect comfort foods for those cooler evenings, as is one of my favourite casseroles, Delia's Chicken Paprika. This casserole also has the added bonus of having lots of sauce so I can get an extra meal out of it by serving the leftovers with pasta the next day. I'm also looking forward to trying the Cheddar Pie as it's a new recipe and sounds like a really simple but hearty dish which will hopefully go down well with the whole family.

So here's my line up...

Monday - Chicken Paprika

Tuesday - Pasta with leftover sauce from Monday

Wednesday - Jacket Potatoes

Thursday - Eggy Rice

Friday - Lemon Chicken with Rice

Saturday - Cheddar Pie

Sunday - Breaded Chicken

Meal Planning Monday - 26th September 2011

No meal planning post for me last week as I wasn't feeling particularly inspired, although I did discover this fantastic recipe for Peanut Butter Squares. This week, however, I'm a bit more on the ball and have a few really nice things lined up. At the moment I don't have anything new on the agenda but, having said that, I might switch the Cottage Pie for something different depending on what I fancy on the day.

So here's the line-up as it stands at the moment...

Monday - Curried Sweet Potato Soup with a granary loaf from the breadmaker

Tuesday - Jacket Potatoes & Salad

Wednesday - Ricotta & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Thursday - Summer-in-Winter Chicken

Friday - Roasted Pepper, Pancetta & Mascarpone Risotto

Saturday - Delia's Souffled Macaroni Cheese

Sunday - Cottage Pie

As always, if you'd like to share your plans for the week either leave a comment or log your post on Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M.

Meal Planning Monday - 12th September 2011

Well the summer holidays are over, everyone is back to school or work and I'm gradually getting used to the routine again. Hopefully that routine will include a bit more blogging that of late - my last post was on the 22nd of August (although I have fitted in a holiday between then and now) and I haven't done a Meal Planning Monday post since the 18th of July! Where has the time gone?

So let's kick things off again with my meal plan for this week. As always I hope to fit in some baking at some point but I haven't decide what as yet.

Monday - Spanish Omelette & Salad

Tuesday - Spaghetti with 5-minute tomato sauce

Wednesday - M&S Vegetarian Kievs with Rice and Veg

Thursday - Jacket Potatoes

Friday - Bacon and Vegetable Pasta

Saturday - Chicken Korma with Rice and Veg

Sunday - Nigella's BBQ Mince

If you want to share your foodie plans for the week just leave a comment below or post a link on Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M.

Meal Planning Mondays - 18th July 2011

Two blog posts in one night - how about that! I'm getting a bit behind with my posts at the moment so while I'm in the mood I thought I might aswell make the most of it.

Last week's menu went almost to plan, except for Wednesday when I threw in the towel/apron and gave in to chips and curry sauce from the local Chinese. Boy they were good though. I was a day out from then on and never made the Barbeque Mince I had planned for Sunday so we had the mince for tea tonight instead.

I was very pleased with the two new recipes I made last week - the Harissa Lamb Tacos that I posted about earlier and the lovely Zucchini Bread I wrote about on Friday. Both turned out to considerably nicer than I expected which is always a happy occurrence in my world.

So on to this week. Apart from the Chicken Adobado, a recipe from my very underused copy of Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers, there's nothing hugely exciting on my list this week. There's a couple of new cake recipes I have my eye on though so watch this space.

Monday - Pasta Bolognese (not entirely homemade I'm afraid)

Tuesday - Chicken Adobado (marinated chicken)

Wednesday - Omelette and Salad

Thursday - Jacket Potatoes and Salad

Friday - Aubergine Pasta

Saturday - Don't know yet

Sunday - Cottage Pie

Meal Planning Mondays - 11th July 2011

So here we are again, another Monday and another Meal Plan. Last week went pretty much to plan with the exception of the Chicken Risotto which got switched with a Chicken Casserole at the last minute. I'm pleased to report that the Sainsbury's Beef Burgers went down very well and I'll definitely be making them again. I didn't manage to get any photos of them unfortunately, but you can find the recipe here.

Last week I was also very happy to appear as the Friday food blogger in the Voucher Codes online lifestyle magazine, Most Wanted. Have a look at my fantastic Chocolate Marmalade Brownie recipe here.

On to this week and I have a couple of new things planned together with some tried-and-tested favourites. As always I'll try to report back at a later date.

Monday - Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry

Tuesday - Puff Pastry Tarts with Salad

Wednesday - Fish Cakes with Rice and Veg

Thursday - Harissa Lamb Tacos

Friday - Pork Steaks & Veg

Saturday - Gnocchi & Pesto

Sunday - Nigella's Barbeque Mince with Tortilla Chips

If you'd like to share your menu for the week feel free to leave a comment or put a link to your post on Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M.

Meal Planning Mondays - 4 July 2011

Last week I mentioned that I was planning to try out the Sainsburys Feed your Family for £50 plan - a meal plan that pledges to provide three meals a day, for four people for just £50.

So is it possible? Well, yes...

....and no.

Technically it is possible, however you need a family that is prepared to change the way they eat quite considerably and go without a lot of the little extras such as snacks between meals or any kind of drink that isn't water. It's also worth noting that the meal plans aren't designed for small children and I did make a few changes to accommodate their needs. The main example being breakfast as the options were toast and jam or muesli and yoghurt and none of my family were prepared to stray from their usual selections of cereal.

Having said all that, it was really interesting to try some of the economy options, some of which I'd happily buy again (the mozarella and the bag of muesli) and some I wouldn't (the 18p jar of pasta sauce and the economy Rice Krispies I decided to try). I also discovered some great new recipes that I'll be using again in the future.

Cheesy Bolognese Bake - this was really nice and made absolutely loads. I liked the addition of the bread on top which added a nice crunchy texture.

Sausages with Potato Wedges and Creamy Greens - the creamy greens were a real revelation in this dish. Just a simple mixture of softened onion slices mixed with cooked beans and peas and some cream cheese. So simple but really delicious.

Salmon fishcakes - I don't have a picture for these but again the recipe made loads and I still have another meal's worth left in the freezer. They were very simple to make and tasted great.

I ended up chopping and changing my meal plan last week so the Chicken Risotto and Burgers have reappeared on this week's plan and I'll try to report back about these at a later date.

So how much did I spend in the end? Well, all in all my total weekly shop came to about £70 - more than the £60 I was trying to keep to but still considerably less than I'd usually spend. Plus, as the portion sizes were more than we needed I still have some leftovers in the freezer for another day. You can find all the details and recipes for this plan, and the two preceeding ones on Sainsbury's website here.

So on to this week's meal plan. I've quite enjoyed the challenge of keeping to a budget so while I don't intend to be as restrictive as last week I'm concentrating on using up items already in my cupboard and freezer.

Monday - Sausages with Potato Wedges and Creamy Veg

Tuesday - Pasta with Aubergine and Tomato Sauce

Wednesday - Tortellini with Courgette and Lemon

Thursday - Chicken Risotto

Friday - Out

Saturday - Fish Cakes with Rice and Veg

Sunday - Barbeque Mince or burgers

Meal Planning Monday - 27 June 2011

I've decided this week to try out the Sainsburys Feed Your Family for £50 plan. You might have seen the adverts or read about it on their website - apparently the plan provides meal ideas for 3 meals a day, for four people, for 7 days and all for a cost of just £50. Hmmm. Considering I usually spend double this and then some this seemed like quite a challenge but we're all trying to save money these days so I thought it would be interesting to give it a try. Not surprisingly, cutting the budget this much will involve some compromises so many of the products on the shopping list are from the Sainsburys economy range and there's nothing of the free range or organic variety. I usually aim for the mid-range products rather than the economy lines so it will be interesting to see if I notice a difference.

As the menu is not aimed at small children and because there are a few items I'm not willing to cut out altogether I've actually decided to try and keep to a budget of £60 and to only make changes or additions to the plan using things I already have in the house.

You can find full details of the plan on the Sainsburys website here. I'll try and report back with the results over the next week or so.

So here's my menu for the next week and a bit. I get my shopping delivered on Tuesdays so my week using the plan will run from Wednesday to the following Tuesday.

Monday - Baked Aubergines with Potato Wedges

Tuesday - Pork Chops with Veg

Wednesday - Chorizo & Chickpea Stew

Thursday - Chicken Risotto (Sainsburys recipe)

Friday - Burgers & Potato Wedges (Sainsburys recipe)

Saturday - Out

Sunday - Cheesy Bolognese Bake (Sainsburys recipe)

Monday - Sausages with Potato Wedges and Creamy Greens (Sainsburys recipe)

Tuesday - Salmon Fishcakes with Salad or Veg (Sainsburys recipe)

Meal Planning Mondays - 14th June 2011

Oops, I know this was supposed to be yesterday (the clue is in the title!) but I just didn't quite manage to get down to the task. Yesterday's dinner was a bit of a hurried affair anyway and not worth mentioning however from today onwards it gets a bit more interesting.

So here's my menu for the rest of the week...

Tuesday - Pomegranate Marinated Chicken and Couscous (but without the aubergine in the recipe)

Wednesday - New Potato, Bacon & Blue Cheese Salad

Thursday - Duck, Orange and Honey Stir-Fry

Friday - Pasta with Spicy Sausage Sauce

Saturday - Lasagne

Sunday - Roast Chicken

Nothing new on the savoury front this week however I'm hoping to try out some new strawberry recipes as we head towards the peak of the season.

As always, if you're planning to cook something exciting this week feel free to leave a comment here or on Mrs M's website, At Home with Mrs M, the original home of Meal Planning Mondays.

Meal Planning Mondays - 30th May 2011

Well here we are again - another Monday and another meal plan already!

Last week went pretty well meal-planning-wise and I managed to make everything on the list on the day I'd planned to make it, with the exception of the Cottage Pie which got scooted off the menu yesterday and on to today's in favour of a quick dinner of pasta with tomato sauce. I've already done a write-up about the Crustless Pizza that I made last Monday and I'll post about my two favourite meals from last week, the Spaghetti with 5-minute tomato sauce and the Lamb Biryani, later on this week.

So on to this week's plan...

Monday - Cottage Pie

Tuesday - Beefburgers and Salad

Wednesday - We're off to the Suffolk Show so will probably take a trip to Pizza Express on the way home

Thursday - Moroccan Fish Stew

Friday - Spanish Omelette and Salad

Saturday - Ricotta and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Sunday - Fish Pie

Feel free to share your meal plan by leaving a comment here or on Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M.

Meal Planning Mondays - 23rd May 2011

I didn't manage to post my meal plan last week as life had conspired against me and I was still working through the preceding week's meal plan well into last week. I did manage to make almost everything I'd planned though, with the Chinatown Chicken Salad and the Tortellini with Courgette and Lemon being particular highlights. The rest of the week was very much unplanned and included a few too many meals of the pizza and takeaway variety.

Back to normal this week though and I've got several interesting things planned together with a couple of old favourites. Nigella's Crustless Pizza is on the list again as, up until today, I still hadn't made it. However, it is now safely in the oven as I write and I'll hopefully be able to report back later this week.

So here's my plan for this week...

Monday - Crustless Pizza & Salad

Tuesday - Curried Lamb Meatballs

Wednesday - Spaghetti with 5-minute Tomato Sauce

Thursday - Lime, Paprika and Honey Glazed Chicken

Friday - Lamb Biryani

Saturday - Breaded Fish & Chips

Sunday - Cottage Pie

If you'd like to share your menus for the week then feel free to add a comment below or add a link on Mrs M's website - At Home with Mrs M - the home of Meal Planning Mondays.

Meal Planning Mondays - 9th May 2011

Right then, here's my meal plan for the week. My menus have been a bit unexciting lately but I've included a couple of new recipes this week to spice things up a bit (Chinatown Chicken Salad and Crustless Pizza, both from Nigella Kitchen). The others are old favourites than I make on a regular basis, in particular the Courgette and Lemon Tortellini which I can't believe I haven't posted about yet.

As always I'd like to fit in some baking too but only time will tell whether I'll actually manage to fit it in!

Monday - Chicken with Boursin & Parma Ham, served with Jersey Royal potatoes and veg

Tuesday - Jacket potatoes & salad

Wednesday - Griddled Halloumi with Spiced Couscous

Thursday - Chinatown Chicken Salad

Friday - Crustless Pizza & Salad

Saturday - Courgette & Lemon Tortellini

Sunday - Chicken Chow Mein

If you want some more ideas, check out Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, for some other meal-planning blog posts.

Meal Planning Mondays - 18 April 2011

Just a quick post this week. As I mentioned last week I had accumulated enough recipes on my to-do list to last me a couple of weeks so it didn't take too much time to put together my meal plan for this week.

Hopefully I'll find the time to fit in a bit of baking too. I've already made a banana loaf today and no doubt Easter Nests will be part of the program at the weekend.

Monday - Cottage Pie and Veg - meant for yesterday but we enjoyed a lovely day by the sea which included an excessive amount of fish and chips for lunch and so the pie was put in on hold until today

Tuesday - Chicken and Leek Pie and veg

Wednesday - Asparagus, Ham and Cheese Tarts with Salad and Potatoes followed by Lime and Passionfruit Meringue Pie

Thursday - Roasted Pepper, Pancetta and Mascarpone Risotto

Friday - Toad in the Hole with onion gravy

Saturday - Tomato Pasta

Sunday - Easter Sunday so Roast Dinner and lots of chocolate!

So what are you cooking this week?