Monthly Archives: January 2011

Simple Meal Plan 29 Jan 2011 Plus Some Great Reading

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As usual on a Saturday I post my Simple Meal Plan for the upcoming week.

I plan for 6 days of meals, with Friday as my free day where I take part in The Frugal Girls Food Waste Friday and my very own No Waste Tastes Great Challenge.

Because I’m a simple gal, I order my groceries on-line for the week ahead and they are delivered. This also means I do not have to step into a supermarket – hurrah! No impulse purchases and queuing for me!

I budget up to £100 per week to cover everything… and pretty much I keep to it apart from holidays and when I am doing extra catering.

Breakfasts consist of, cereal, toast, pancakes, bran loaf.

I usually list all the pudding daily, but this week I am going extra simple on those (and I am skipping them altogether in a bit of a push to lose my Mum Tum). Puddings/Desserts this week will consist of yoghurt, fruit, cake and custard, ice-cream and mousse.

(You may also notice the menu does have a slight slant to it… Generally I believe normal balanced family meals are healthy and always advocate a sensible attitude to food – not cutting out food groups or restricting calories significantly. However once in a while I do plan for lower fat, calorie, carb meals when I personally have a bit of a push.  The family will have the puddings, yorkies, bread etc… but I am going to be extra vigilant. My date with that bikini is beckoning, and the Mum Tum’s not going down! No snacking or large portions for me this week… also the energy levels have dropped since Christmas – this should be the kick-start I need to get in the exercise groove)

Saturday

I’m having a day off from cooking – well almost a day off – half a day? I did make ham rolls and salad for lunch, but for dinner we are frequenting the local village pub. I have some vouchers – so extra bonus! :-)

Sunday

Monday (Meat-Free)

  • Lunch – Home-made Potato and Leek Soup (Courtesy of Big Sis!)
  • Dinner - Super Healthy Veggie Balti (I have ‘borrowed’ this recipe from Jules and Jono who I believe may have ‘borrowed’ it from BBC Good Food. This is proof that photographing food makes all the difference – I saw this and could not resist trying it out. I will be slow-cooking it – so that’s my slant on the recipe)

Tuesday

Wednesday

  • Lunch – Tinned Mackerel on Wholemeal Toast
  • Dinner - Slow Cooked Chicken Casserole with Yorkshire Puddings (no Yorkies for me!)

Thursday

  • Lunch – Light Lunch out as Playday! (Protein meal-bar for me)
  • Dinner - Pan Fried Salmon with Stir Fried Mediterranean Vegetables

Friday

Free Day – But more importantly the Hubby’s Birthday! I am committed to using up all the food before Friday so that I can take the Hubster out for a *Balti guilt-free (knowing there isn’t anything wasting away in the fridge). The Kids will have a Fun Kiddy Tea – I may even buy some frozen fish fingers (which hardly ever happens!)

* Have put a link in to Wiki – for anyone unsure what a Balti is ;-)

This week my recommended reading is food related, as I am on a bit of a push…

Firstly I virtually became acquainted with Marnie The Unblogger this week, and checked out her blog – it’s a great read!

Her post You Are  What You Drink caught my eye as I am looking to increase my hydration levels this week. Inspired by this post I’ll be drinking just water and also green tea (which I love!) Sunday-Thursday.

No can do Friday – Have to have Beer with a Balti…

Another great read is Tammy Strobel’s No-Refrigerator Challenge over at Rowdy Kittens. I have a small fridge and freezer, and I manage with it for a family of four. However I don’t think I could go without one entirely (even living in the UK where it is cold almost all year round – I have chilblains to prove it at the moment).

I’ll be following this closely to see how Tammy gets on – I am intrigued!

And please do not forget to check out The Suburban Minimalist’s book plans and finally congrats to Rachel aka Minimalist Mom who is on TV tomorrow – I am so excited for her I could wee myself.


No Waste Tastes Great – 28 Jan 2011

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It’s Friday Guys! Time to take part in The Frugal Girl’s Food Waste Friday and my very own No Waste Tastes Great Challenge.

Each Friday I follow my Routine, which means that by the time I type this post I will have stripped my fridge/perishables cupboard down, cleaned it , noted down any food stuffs required, popped a few things back in, and left on the counter the foodstuffs that could potentially go to waste.

Then it’s time to get the culinary thinking cap on, and conjure up some recipes…

On my counter this week I have (to be used up):

4 x Chicken Breasts (Free Range)

2 x Green Peppers

10 x Cherry Tomatoes

2 x Onions

4 x Celery Stalks

2 x Parsnips

750g of Carrots

Some Fresh Root Ginger

1 x Large Pot of Fresh Custard (use by date 28 Jan)

6 x Dessert Apples

Handful of Grapes

Whoa – quite a lot by my standards! Explained mainly by one of the meals planned this week being missed.  This is why I only plan for 6 days of meals, since doing No Waste Tastes Great, there has not been a Friday yet where I have not had food to use up. Life has a habit of throwing us a curve-ball – I seem to get one weekly.  I can plan meals but I can’t plan for life, so the free day builds in some contingency.

So what do I plan on cooking up today? Well two slow-cookers are already loaded, and nicely doing their stuff – and this is what with;

Slow Cooked Chicken Rogan Josh – For the Hubby and I to sit and eat with a bottle of wine, whilst chatting about how our week has gone.

This has used up;

2 x Chicken Breasts

1 x Onion

2 x Green Peppers

10 x Cherry Tomatoes – I have used these instead of tinned tomatoes and added some extra tomato puree – This is where the recipe linked to above differs. Not sure how it will turn out – but that’s the fun!

Slow Cooked Chicken and Vegetables in Beer Stew – For the kids

This has used up;

2 x Chicken Breasts

1 x Onion

2 x Celery Stalks

2 x Parsnips

2 x Carrots

Now I have a story to tell – it all got rather exciting in my kitchen when prepping this! As I removed a can of Stella Artois from the cupboard I caught it on the hinge and hey presto guess who had a beer shower?

It pierced the can and the kitchen and I were covered!

Fortunately a bit of quick thinking meant I located and covered the hole, salvaged half the can, used that and topped up with hot water.  I wasn’t going to throw it away and I certainly wasn’t going to drink it at 11am in the morning… That kind of behaviour I save for holidays

:-)

This just leaves some carrots and ginger for me to make some fantastic slow cooked soup overnight from my favourite cook book Ultimate Slow Cooker. (n.b – not an affiliate link)

Celery and grapes will combine nicely with crackers and cheese for a quick lunch.

The apples will be used in a crumble I plan on cooking (in the traditional way) later today.  Topped with the fresh custard it’ll be fab!

So ‘No Waste Tastes Great’ today – or at least I hope it will…

How’s your Friday looking?

This Post Has Been Hijacked By The Suburban Minimalist!

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I had planned a food post today as I know Robert over at Untitled Minimalism is awaiting my Slow Cooked Mediterranean Lasagne recipe…

However…

This post has been hijacked! By Rayna my blogging buddy!

This is a big day for Rayna, not only has she hijacked my post and blown her own cover (love the video hun! if you are going to come out of anonymity that’s the way to do it….)  - she has also gone public with her ambition to be a published author.

Rayna has a story to tell, and rather than I ruin it with a pathetic attempt to explain what it’s all about and why you should take a look, my suggestion is to hot-foot it over to The Suburban Minimalist and let Rayna eloquently tell you herself.

Sorry Robert – perhaps I could e-mail you the recipe instead?

:-)

Out of Context Comments – Doggy Chocs plus others

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I truly love blogging. Really I do.

However if I had to choose between writing for this blog or commenting on other peoples blogs, I would choose the latter.

Commenting wins every time. For me commenting is a bit like having yourself reflected back to you. Sometimes I do not know where a comment is going until I have written it. Then I read it, and think ‘oh so that’s what I really think’.  Every time I comment (well almost every time) I learn something.

So that got me thinking, I spend more time commenting than I do blogging each week, so how about a post with little snippets of comments I have made over the last couple of weeks, but out of context…

Continue reading →

Simple Meal Plan 22 Jan 2011 and some great reading

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It’s time for you to meet simplybeingmum’s Menu Board!

Each week I plan 6 days of meals Saturday-Thursday with a Free Day on Friday. I also write it on our Menu Board we hang in the kitchen (I have a feeling I may be a frustrated chef…)

No Waste Tastes Great – 21 Jan 2011

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It’s Friday!

Time for No Waste Tastes Great

Those who follow the blog know that on Friday I follow my Friday Routine and also take part in Food Waste Friday over at The Frugal Girl.

This week what potential foodwaste delights do I have sitting on my counter in anticipation?

Continue reading →

My First Simple Meal Plan of 2011 and some great reading

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The holidays are well and truly behind us, and I am back to my usual routine of meal planning.  This weeks meal plan is designed to be:

  1. Simple (I’ve got a busy week with one thing and another)
  2. Frugal (Not cheap food – quality dishes with only the necessary ingredients  in order to keep waste at bay)
  3. Healthy (this is subjective I know – what I class as healthy others may not – what I believe to be healthy are home-cooked balanced family meals)
  4. Slow-cooked (well the evening meals anyway! When I am busy my slow cookers go into overdrive to compensate! It really is the simplest way to cook family food in my opinion) Continue reading →

No Waste Tastes Great – 14 Jan 2011

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Friday is No Waste Tastes Great over at simplybeingmum.

As part of my simple family life,  I try to ensure that there is very little, if any food waste.

I’ve always been a meal planner, even before I started on my journey toward a simpler family life (almost two years now). So when I stumbled across Food Waste Friday over at The Frugal Girl (an excellent blog written by Kristen), it added a new, measurable and fun dimension to my weekly plan.

No Waste Tastes Great was born! Continue reading →

Slow Cooked Chicken and Vegetables in Beer Stew

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In January 2004 I won an international beer drinking competition at the bottom of a beautiful mountain in Whistler BC.  I’m not sure it would be ‘the’ international beer drinking competition (speed not quantity to clarify) if there is such a thing – but I was still quite proud of my achievement. I was young – what can I say?

Miss Japan shook my hand in awe and Mr US (who also won) refused to take me on in a boys against girls finale.

It’s been almost 7 years since my 15 minutes of fame, and to mark the occasion I present an off-the-cuff slow-cooked recipe that was just waiting to be tried out in Lil’ Bill (my general use/standard slow cooker). Continue reading →

Simple Top Tip Tuesday – Ice and a Slice

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For those who like to keep things simple but still like a little ‘luxury’ :-) why not combine ‘Ice and a Slice’?

Simply slice a lemon or lime and freeze, then when the occasion arises add to your drink, be that a soft drink or your favourite tipple!

This is a great way to reduce potential food waste by using up any citrus fruits that could potentially be heading toward the compost heap (or recycling bin…)

Eliminate ice cubes – make that fruit multi-task!! Continue reading →