Meal Planning Monday - 5 May 2014 - the Morrisons Mums Edition

How excited was I to be given £80 worth of Morrisons vouchers as part of their BritMums #MorrisonsMums bank holiday campaign! Fresh food is good, but free fresh food always tastes better, so I got stuck into my meal planning with gusto.

I will say that I am a fickle supermarket shopper. Within two miles of my house I have access to Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and Marks & Spencer. With eight supermarkets to choose from and the need to keep an eye on my budget, I vary my shopping depending on who has the best deals. I have always found Morrisons to be one of the more expensive supermarkets, but they've recently put their prices down on a lot of items and I wanted to see if it made any difference to my weekly shop.

On the menu this week:

Pork and Beef meatballs with homemade tomato sauce and spaghetti

Venison burgers with salad

Chicken wraps and salad

Dinner for breakfast - bacon, sausage, egg, beans, toast/bagels

Steak with Bearnaise sauce, spinach, and new potatoes

Fridge Frittata

Leftovers

There is quite a lot of meat in the menu this week, partially because I didn't have to pay for it, and partially because I have been training for an upcoming weight lifting comp and want more protein.

The kids have been after me to make mint ice-cream so, taking advantage of a sunny bank holiday, we used this fast and delicious recipe, which uses milk, double cream, sugar, and fresh mint. A batch serving eight people worked out to £2.01, or just over 25 pence per portion when served in bowls, and tasted just like summer.

Another hit was the venison and pork burgers (£2.59 for 2), which I served with a fresh knot roll (25p each), yellow peppers, baby spinach, and salad tomatoes, costing around £1.82 per serving.

I can't say I'm a Morrison's convert, but having seen their new prices and the quality of their food, not to mention the lovely staff and well laid out store, I will be a lot more open to shopping there in future. 

Meal Planning Monday - 28 April 2014

Wow! Last MPM post for April. How this month has flown. It's back to work/school here this week - always a hard ask after two weeks off. Here is what we're eating this week.

DIY wraps - chicken, sweetcorn, peppers, avocado, cucumber, etc

Mushroom, Courgette and Bacon risotto

Sweet Potato Burgers with roasted garlic cream and avocado (I suspect the roasted garlic cream may end up as mayo)

chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta, spinach, tomato & basil

Ham, cheese & veg pie topped with sweet potato/cauliflower mash

Breakfast for dinner - toast, eggs, beans, etc

Leftovers

I am going to experiment with one or two of these quinoa recipes for lunches. I don't have much time for lunch, so it has to be quick to make/eat, and healthy.

Breakfasts will be protein shakes of one form or another. My body is a temple, and all that.

Have a great week, and remember to check out Mrs M's for more Meal Planning Monday posts. 

Meal Planning Monday - 3 March 2014

Hello! It's been a few weeks since I have a done a meal plan and I have really noticed their absence. Not only have I started to freak out from the pressure of having to think of something to cook every day, but my grocery bill has been creeping up as well. This week's menu looks like this:

Peppered steak, spinach and veg

I'll have mine with quinoa but my husband hates it so he'll probably have potatoes of some sort.



 

Meatballs in homemade tomato sauce

Pasta and garlic bread with these for the kids. I daresay I'll have mine with some spinach becase I am a bit addicted at the moment

 

Roast chicken with all the trimmings

 

Crustless quiche, frittata, whatever you want to call it

 

Bacon, eggs, beans and toast

 

Leftovers

 

Freezer dinner - fish fingers, waffles, whatever for the kids. Soup for me.

 

I made a batch of sweet potato, butternut and lentil soup yesterday so that's my lunch sorted for the week. I will also bake some brownies and flapjacks.

 

I have found a few new recipe sites I will be investigating when I get a chance: http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Lunchbox+10.htm

www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes

 

Australia and New Zealand has a great tradition of balls - apricot balls, chocolate balls, chicken balls, etc. I think it's time I introduced my kids to their heritage and tried something like this:

http://www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes/milo-balls/

substituting rich tea for Arrowroot bickies and drinking chocolate for Milo.

 

Have a great week. Remember to check out more Meal Planning Monday posts at Mrs M's

Meal Planning Monday - 9 December 2013

Yay! I managed to get my Meal Planning Monday post ready for an actual Monday! The past fortnight has seen me running my pantry, fridge and freezer stocks down and it's fair to say that in the last few days there have been some rumblings. Not tummy rumblings - there has been plenty to eat - but mutinous rumblings from the troops who are not best pleased that their favourite cereal hasn't been replaced and they have been forced to munch their way through the copious other boxes on offer.

I only have five meals planned this week because I think we may eat out one night and will probably have either left overs or a cupboard dinner the other night.

Lemon chicken

Swedish meatballs

Slow cooker pork with caramelised onion and mushroom sauce

Vegegable rice pilaf (didn't have this last week)

Chicken pot pie pockets

Remember to mosey on over to Mrs M's for more Meal Planning Monday posts. 

I've started getting organised with our Christmas food. We are having gammon and chicken and veg that someone else has prepared because I have better things to do on Christmas Day than peel carrots! I have booked my grocery slot, now I just need to finish my shopping list and remember to update it in time. 

What's on your menu this week? More importantly, have you planned your Christmas menu yet?

 

Meal Planning Monday ... um... Tuesday 3 December

Yep, it's Tuesday but I don't even feel guilty because I am already doing better than last week when it comes to having a meal plan. I am in the middle of project Empty the Freezer and Pantry in preparation for all the yummy Christmassy goodness with which I plan on filling them. I will never forget two years ago when I had just filled my freezer to the brim only to have it conk out sometime during the night leaving me with a bench full of rapidly defrosting Christmas dinner. Fun times...

Last week wasn't too bad but this week requires me to concoct meals involving six pairs of bread crusts and some rolls with a bit of freezer burn.

Chicken pasta bake (made by my son at school)

Sweet chilli chicken

Tex Mex Quinoa casserole

Bacon topped meatloaf made with turkey mince, and garlic bread

Toad in the Hole

Breakfast for dinner (eggs, spinach, sausage, beans and bagel)

I'd remind you to check out Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday linky except I'm so late with this that you've probably already been there. 

If you see me Tweeting requests for suggestions for using random ingredients you'll know I'm struggling to sort next week's meals!

Meal Planning Monday - 14 October 2013

I'm writing this Meal Planning blog post whilst eating Nutella from a spoon (no bread) and drinking black coffee (no milk) and wondering where the plague of hungry hoards which clean my pantry out on a regular basis are hiding, for surely it can't be the two skinny kids sitting in front of me. There's no way they could put away two bowls a cereal (each) for breakfast, is there?

This week's dinners are pretty easy as my freezer is fairly full of leftovers. I'm doing

Beef Stew with Herb Dumplings

Slow Cooker Pork in Cider with potatoes and veg

 Fish in Batter with peas and chips

Creamy Gammon and Vegetable Pie

Breakfast for dinner

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Leftovers/eggs/fish fingers/whatever

I am going to give these Brownie Cookies a go if I get time. They're from Pure and Yummy 

... otherwise I'll just bake my standard chocolate cake or ANZAC biscuits because they take virtually no effort and are always eaten. I used wholemeal SR flour in my chocolate cake the other day and no one noticed, so I'll be doing that again. 

Remember to link up with Mrs M's linky for lots of fab Meal Planning Monday inspiration.

Meal Planning Monday - 7 October 2013

It's Monday so that must mean Meal Planning. There are times when I have my act together and plan, blog and do my online shop on the weekend. This is not one of those times. In fact, the last two weeks have been spectacularly fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants in terms of grocery shopping, and it's only meal planning that has held it together and ensured we're not eating plain pasta every night (not that my kids would complain about that - they love pasta with nothing on it... strange).

This week's meal plan is almost solely thanks to posts on last week's Meal Planning Monday linky

Fridge Frittata (which includes some yummy Y Fenni cheese)

Chicken Katsu inspired by The Organised Penguin

Thatched Cottage Pie inspired by Onions and Paper

Toad in the Hole inspired by Cookies and Cwtches

Saucy Chicken and Vegetables inspired by Working Berlin Mum

Tomato Rice (inspired by an ad I saw in a magazine... I'm so susceptible!) with roast cauliflower

Left overs

Head over to Mrs M's linky for more Meal Planning Monday posts.  

What are you cooking this week?

Meal Planning Monday - 23 September 2013

Hello and welcome to a brand new week! I have spend the weekend working at the Abergavenny Food Festival (I will blog about how fantastic it was later this week) so am full of foodie inspiration and raring to go. I hope you all has an equally amazing weekend with lots of late spring sunshine.

This week I am cooking

Chicken and Pancetta with wilted spinach.
Garlic mushrooms and roasted autumn veg.
Slow cooked beef in ale with with garlic bread topper & you guessed it - more spinach. I love it.
Fridge frittata. I have tail ends of veggies and probably left over pancetta that needs using up.
Slow braised pork shoulder with cider and parsnips (BBC Recipe)
Carrot and lentil soup with homemade bread rolls. Suspect I will be the only one eating this!
Leftovers

Edited to add:
Look at this morning's breakfast. I got heaps of late season blackberries on the weekend and some of them went into my breakfast smoothie. How awesome is this colour!


That's it from me. Remember to hop over to Mrs M's linkup for more Meal Planning Monday inspiration. There are loads of new recipes to be found.

Have a great week.

Meal Planning Monday - 2 September 2013 (The Slow Cooker Special)

It's the Slow Cooker Special on my Meal Planning Monday post today. School goes back tomorrow, the nights will start to draw in, and I will once again be reliant on my trusty slow cooker at least two or three nights a week to get a hot and tasty meal on the table. I actually tried to replace my slow cooker with a pressure cooker this summer. I got as far as buying one from Aldi only to get it home and find it was a) ENORMOUS and wouldn't fit in my cupboard, and b) without sufficient instructions for anyone other than a Pressure Cooker Whisperer to be able to use it, so back it went. I am still tempted to get a pressure cooker but only when I can find one at the right price (ie: cheap as chips).

I am not going to pretend that I will be cooking all these meals this week. Tonight's dinner is pork with a glaze made from soy, honey, grainy mustard and crushed garlic and it smells gorgeous, but I haven't actually planned my menu or shopping for the rest of the week so I am going to skirt the issue and share some of my favourite slow cooker recipes.

Teriyaki Beef

Pepper Steak 

Italian Meatloaf 

Pulled Pork (pork shoulder with a jar or Reggae Reggae or homemade BBQ sauce)

Beef & mushroom either stew or pie filling

Beef, winter veg hotpot

Ham and split pea soup

I also just do pot roasts where I chuck in a chicken or joint of meet, add some onion and stock and let it cook. 

There are lots of things I would like to try in my slow cooker including cake and risotto, so I may include them when I actually do get around to doing my meal plan. 

Do you love your slow cooker as much as me, or is it something that just gathers dust in your cupboard? Add a comment with any recipes you think I should try.

Remember to head on over to Mrs M's for more Meal Planning Monday inspiration.

Meal Planning Monday - 20 May 2013

Welcome to another Monday. Let's calmly gloss over the fact that it's been around a month since I last did one of these. Needless to say, I have been eating in that time! On the menu this week:

Chicken breast with a herby crust and roasted tomato sauce (left over from last night - score!)
Roast Beef in big Yorkshire pud. Possibly pot roasted in slow cooker depending on time
Frittata with sweet potato and peppers
Vegetable curry with spinach, butternut squash, sweet potato.
Sausage and onion casserole (or barbequed in a bun, depending on weather)
Left overs

Six meals and one night of probably brown dinners (fish fingers/nuggets, beans, you know the drill) or maybe tortilla wraps with salad and cooked meat if I get to the supermarket. A lazy cook's night, anyway.

Have a great week. I have been pinning delicious looking recipes like mad, and am off to check other Meal Planning Monday posts on Mrs M's blog, so next week should be more inpsired.

Meal Planning Monday - 25 March 2013

Welcome to another Monday. I actually have my shit together this week, doubly impressive since it is school holidays here and we've started with one stomach bug (5 year old) and a packed schedule that hasn't allowed sufficient time for sleep (10 year old). Let's hope things calm down soon!

This week we are eating:

roasted chicken breast with garlic mushrooms

beef casserole and dumplings

meatloaf

pork schnitzel and ratatouille

brekkie for dinner (or brinner, as I've seen it called)

baked fajitas

leftovers

I have no plans to bake this week. In preparation for Sunday's choc-fest and next week's visit to Cadbury's World I aim to fill the kids with as much fruit and veg as I can. 

If you're looking for more inspiration check out Mrs M's linky and don't forget the Shared Family Favourites Pinterest board. Just leave me a message if you want to be able to contribute.

Have a sensational week everyone, and Happy Easter!