Meal Planning Monday - 23 Jul 2012

Hello! Two weeks in a row. Would I say that I am on a roll, or do I need to have done at least three consecutive weeks to qualify for that?

Last week's meal plan was not ambitious, but was still a success. I didn't get around to making the chicken, so that is on the menu for this week; and the paprika and cheddar burgers were made with mustard powder and cheddar (and were delicious. Love burgers).

So, here we are:

Paula Deen's Meatloaf (honestly, not too dissimilar to my own, but I will give it a go)

Dijon Chicken Chanterelle Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds with sauteed potatoes (from last week)

Cottage Pie with Sweet Potato topping (because I have six sweet potatoes, for some reason)

Fishcakes

Skinny Chicken Divan

Baked chicken breasts with Mango Slaw with cashews and mint

If you have tried anything noteworthy lately please let me know. I am always happy to try tasty new recipes. Unless they are fish. I do not like fish and will probably not eat this week's fishcakes, but the rest of my family does so I cook it maybe twice a year.

As always, head over to Mrs M's for more Meal Planning Monday posts. Have a great week!

Meal Planning Monday - 16 Jul 2012

Hey there! I have missed a few weeks of meal planning, and suffered the consequences, but I am back this week with a menu I am looking forward to cooking and eating.

Double crunch honey garlic pork chops 

Fridge fried rice

Five Spice Ginger Beef

Dijon Chicken Chanterelle Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds with sauteed potatoes

Smoked Paprika Cheddar burgers

That is all I need this week as we have a couple of meals out planned. If you click through to the recipes you will see, with the exception of the fried rice, that they all come from a fabulous blog called Rock Recipes. It's a Canadian food blog I discovered through Pinterest (of course!) and everything sounded so nice I decided not to look any further. 

As always, don't forget to check at Mrs M's blog for more Meal Planning Monday posts. 

Bon Appetit!

Sew Fabulous - Part 2

I had to share this as I was really pleased to have busted my sewing machine out not once, but twice this month! Normally I leave projects hanging around for ages, but made myself find the time for these two.

Following on from the success of my ribbon tag blanket and bunting I made new cushion covers today. I am not sure about my choice of fabric, but we are planning on redecorating at some point this summer, and they will look better then. (What? doesn't everyone paint a room to match their cushions?). I made them like pillowcases because I couldn't be bothered faffing about with zips and/or buttons. They would probably look better on the other sofa, which is cream, but ... meh.

I haven't found fabric I like for the rest yet. Actually, I have, but I haven't found fabric that my husband also likes. He even think the apples are "too flowery". This fabric is actually a tablecloth I bought from dotcomgiftshop. It made four cushion covers with nothing left over, but I think that is pretty good for £6.95. The feather inserts came from Tesco and were £3.50 each a fortnight ago, but I have just seen that they are down to £2.80.

Celebrities* We Love To Hate - Alex Reid

I heard yesterday that Alex Reid, he of the Katie Price, cage fighting, super sperm, cross-dressing (phew, he's been busy) fame, has added "ROCK GOD" to his CV with the release of the critically panned acclaimed Stardust. Seriously. It's so ridiculous credible, I can't believe he hasn't scraped this particular part of the barrel before. Here it is, for your amusement entertainment

It's even worse than his ex's effort (are they actually divorced yet)

 Hmmm... men in drag .... did they meet when he was a backing dancer for her?  

Seriously though, singing? I am sure he's as nice as the next guy but why does he insist on chasing fame with such desperation? Is there nothing he is qualified for? I admire his tenacity as far as being self employed. His life looks a lot more glamorous (and certainly involves more high heels) than my self employed effort, which mainly involves me sitting on my arse, writing for other people, and trying not to get too distracted by Pinterest and Twitter. It's fair to say that Alex Reid doesn't annoy me as much as some celebrities*, and I don't actually hate him per se (so he probably shouldn't have been my first "celebrity I love to hate". I am just not sure why he is in my peripheral vision at all. * or fame hungry tossers people who are otherwise unemployable Edited to add: sorry for the poor formatting. Blogger and I are not getting on tonight. Edited again to add cute baby photos

Silent Sunday

Random Likings

This lot truly are random

1. My new favourite time wasting site, Totally Looks Like, has gems like: 

 

2. Dotcomgiftshop - I don't normally advertise, but the Dotcomgiftshop sale is awesome

3. Kath and Kimderella - unfortunately there's no chance of this coming out in the UK, since we don't even get the series out here, but I can't wait until it is online or DVD so I can watch it

...and just for the hell of it, one of my favourite scenes from the TV show

4. Lips! Love the bottom right ones

5.I so need one of these at the moment

6. Otherwise, I need one of these 

7. New Stereophonics stuff due out in October - woohoo!

Sew Fabulous

Check me out! I got crafty and made some bunting and a taggie blanket for a friend's new baby. I have made a few taggie blankets, and will add a teething ring that can be detached so the blanket can be washed. I have never made bunting before and it was as easy as it looks. I found some sweet floral bias binding and the pink triangles have small dots. This took about 2 hours work.

 

I didn't use instructions for either of these, I just kind of winged it, but if you want some then Melissa Sews has a great tutorial for a ribbon tag blanket here, and instructions and template for bunting at SeamStar. I am sure there are also plenty on Pinterest.

The one thing I will say about the bunting is to lay the flags out from the middle. I wanted 7 flags for this, so I found the middle of one flag and the middle of the bias binding and worked my way out from there, leaving 3 inches (7.5cm) between each corner of the flags.

Meal Planning Monday - 2 Jul 2012

Well, hello! Let's not mention that it's been a while, shall we, and crack on with it?

This week's meal plan is:

 Savoury

Slow cooker gammon, roast potatoes and corn on the cob

Frittata with peppers, goats cheese, new potatoes and salad

Sausage and chutney plait with veg - courgette and carrot, maybe?

Spicy Southern Rice

Green Thai chicken curry with bamboo shoots, green beans, and basmati rice

I also have some pork mince in the freezer but am uninspired at the moment. If anyone could suggest something yummy to cook with it (other than burgers, meatballs, and meatloaf), I would be grateful.

Sweet

Cheerio crispy cakes (like rice crispie cakes but with Cheerios)

Youngest son's 5th birthday cake, but he is undecided as to what he wants. I expect it will involve Smarties.

And there we have it. Remember to check out At Home With Mrs M for more Meal Planning Monday ideas.