Menu Week 04/07/11

MONDAY - Cold chicken, salad, homemade coleslaw, pesto pasta, new potatoes and garlic bread

TUESDAY - Spaghetti bolognese and homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY -Egg, chips and beans

THURSDAY - Chicken and bacon pie,vegetables and boiled potatoes

FRIDAY - Fish in parsley sauce, mash, carrots and peas

SATURDAY - Beef burgers/ veggie burgers, wedges, corn on the cob and vegetable kebabs

SUNDAY - casseroled chicken drummers, Yorkshire puddings, sage & onion stuffing, potatoes and vegetables


Hi all who dropped in for a read today. I've had 78 views so far today and the days not over yet. It would be nice if you left a comment to say hello or became a follower. It's nice to have a new blogger drop by, I like to drop by their blog too to see who they are. So don't be shy, come on over and have a chat.

Menu Week 27/06/11

We ended up having a BBQ yesterday instead of the planned roast dinner. The weather was so hot a BBQ was more fitting so the pork shall be eaten today. We made a cheesecake for after our meal yesterday which was lovely.

 
Very rich and indulgent. I made a raspberry coulis which I poured on top of the strawberries. Delish!

MONDAY - Roast pork loin, mashed potatoes, yorkshire puddings, sage & onion stuffing and vegetables

TUESDAY - Savoury Tomatoes served on oven baked potato cakes with mushroom & thyme

WEDNESDAY - Beef & Ale casserole with mashed potatoes and greens

THURSDAY - Mushroom Tofu loaf served with tomatoey beans & mushrooms and greens

FRIDAY - Turkey nuggets, mash and beans

SATURDAY -Homemade pizza, wedges and homemade coleslaw

SUNDAY - Roast chicken, jacket potatoes, corn on the cob and coleslaw

Our first meal this week, roast pork loin dinner. We ate this outside on a very hot and humid evening.

Menu Week 20/06/11

MONDAY - Chicken, lemon & courgette pasta with homemade garlic bread

TUESDAY - Mince & onion pie, roast potatoes and vegetables

WEDNESDAY - Sausage, egg, chips and beans

THURSDAY - Creamy pesto chicken, peas, roasted tomatoes & potatoes

FRIDAY - Creamy tuna mascarpone pasta with homemade garlic bread

SATURDAY - Chicken/tofu fajitas

SUNDAY - Roast dinner

Gosh, feel drained. What have I been doing you may ask. Searching out new car insurance! I used a comparison site who brought up plenty of quotes but then when you choose one and delve deeper, more questions to answer and the quote changes.What a chore this is. I got some quotes and went to my current insurer and told them I would be leaving them if they could not better their quote. They couldn't better it so I'm leaving them.

Anyway, I have now found another company to insure with and have saved myself £135.83. It's a pain changing insurances but it's worth it when you end up saving cash. So that's that done for another year. Think I need to walk the dog now to clear the head. Back later.

Menu Week 13/06/11

MONDAY - Starter-Wensleydale mushrooms. Omelet, jacket potatoes & beans
ME - No starter. Same meal

TUESDAY -Meatballs and spaghetti with homemade garlic bread
ME -Tuna tomato sauce & spaghetti

WEDNESDAY - Salmon en croute, New potatoes, peas & carrots
ME - Same

THURSDAY - Sausage, mash, vegetables and onion gravy
 ME - Veggies sausages, boiled potatoes, vegetables and onion gravy

FRIDAY - Leftover chicken & bacon in a sauce over vegetable rice
ME - Lentil & vegetable curry with rice

SATURDAY - Chicken curry and rice with naan bread
ME - lentil & vegetable curry and rice

SUNDAY - Roast Dinner

 Today I made a large bowl of pasta salad to have for my lunches through the week and for anyone else who fancies some.

I boiled some pasta and added half a packet of green beans. When cooked I added a drained tin of tuna, olives, cherry tomatoes, red onion and some peppers and marrow I roasted earlier. This was all combined with some dried oregano and a good drizzle of fat free dressing and then finished with quartered boiled eggs. It was a nice change from sandwiches for my lunch. The cost was £2.38 for the whole bowl full so I think that's very cheap because I will get about 5-6 servings from this bowl full.   


I used up some more leftovers from the freezer today to make a starter my lot love, Wensleydale mushrooms.

To make these I used some bacon bits I had already in the freezer and I used the Wensleydale cheese that was leftover from the party at the beginning of May. The family always enjoy these little pots of cheesy mushrooms.The recipe was from this site http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/wensleydalemushrooms_83714

Menu Week 06/06/11

MONDAY - Fragrant pork & rice one-pot with freshly made bread
ME - Same but made with veggie sausages

TUESDAY - Roasted vegetable frittata, salad and wedges
ME - Same

WEDNESDAY - Prawn stir fry and noodles
ME - Same

THURSDAY - Spaghetti bolognese & homemade garlic bread
ME - Not home, helping at a fashion show, most probably a sandwich

FRIDAY - Italian meatloaf, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy
ME - Bean loaf and same as above

SATURDAY -Homemade pizzas, homemade coleslaw & wedges
ME - Same

SUNDAY - BBQ (if weathers good) and salad

Spent some time this morning checking prices of everything I need on my shopping list on mysupermarket comparison site. Aldi did not have their super 6 on the web page when I was looking this morning so had to wait until I arrived there to see what was on offer this week. Did well with my shop this week, keeping in budget again. Got some peppers reduced which I wanted for tomorrows frittata and Wednesdays stir fry. I got 2 x bags (4 in a bag) for 85p a bag.

Menu Week 30/05/11

MONDAY - Homemade salmon fishcakes, wedges & peas
ME - Same 

TUESDAY - Sausages, potato cakes, eggs, baked beans, grilled tomatoes & mushrooms
ME - Same with veggie sausages

WEDNESDAY - Fish in butter sauce, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots & broccoli
ME - Same with boiled potatoes

THURSDAY - Homemade roasted vegetables & cottage cheese Ravioli with a tomato sauce
ME - Same

FRIDAY - Breaded cod, chips & mushy peas
ME - Same

SATURDAY - Homemade lamb burgers, wedges & homemade coleslaw
ME - Same with Spicy bean burgers

SUNDAY - Toad in the hole, vegetables, roast potatoes & onion gravy
ME - Same with veggie sausages

Well, what a truly miserable day! It's pouring it down and silly me forgot to bring in all my washing hanging on the line last night and now it's all soaking wet. No plans for this Bank Holiday Monday. Hubby will continue to fit the new kitchen and I shall tackle a pile of ironing and may do some baking.

On the weight loss - 2lb lost this week. Could have been better. I succumbed to the tuck shop at work and had a packet of crisps and a small chocolate bar. I also nibbled some extra bits this weekend, slap my wrist. So I could have had a better loss but 2lb is better than nothing. Back on track today.

I made this lunch time River Cottage Lemon curd marble muffins http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/lemon-curd-marble-muffins/

I didn't have any yogurt so I replaced it with extra milk and it seemed to work. They came out well but I did have a disaster with some of the muffins. I ran out of muffin cases so had to use bun cases which were rather small and the mixture overflowed  so these looked a bit of a mess and were excluded from the picture. I used my own homemade lemon curd in the recipe. I've resisted the urge to eat any and shall quickly get them in the freezer out of temptations way because they are for packups when the girls are back at school/college.



Are you up to anything exciting  on this Bank Holiday?

Menu Week 16/05/11

 

MONDAY - Savoury mince cobbler, steamed vegetables

TUESDAY - Salmon and pesto pasta bake & homemade garlic bread (using up leftover salmon from party & a jar of green pesto from hamper I got at christmas)

WEDNESDAY - Fish pie, peas and carrots (using more leftover salmon and some frozen fish from freezer)

THURSDAY - Casseroled chicken drummers, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes and yorkshire   puddings (using drummers leftover from party)

FRIDAY - Egg, chips and beans with bread & butter

SATURDAY - At my parent-in-laws Golden Wedding Anniversary party

SUNDAY - not sure yet

Been in Leeds all day on a course so I put the slow cooker to work this morning  to do its stuff. Before I left I threw in the slow cooker 2 chopped onions, a few mushrooms I found in the freezer, 500g minced beef, a tin of tomatoes, a handful of red lentils and a beef stock cube dissolved in 500mls of hot water and a good grinding of black pepper and a dash of wostershire sauce. This was left all day on low and was just thickened with a few gravy granules and I threw in some sweetcorn when I returned home. Before I thickened the mince I removed a bowlful of the mince and saved this for making another meal.

Cheese scones were made and I cut these with a small cutter to place a layer on the mince which I had transfered to a suitable dish to go in the oven. After 20 minutes the mince cobbler was ready to serve with steamed broccoli and spring cabbage. I had the same but made mine with soya mince.

 Nipped to the shop this morning on the way to my course to get some broccoli, tinned tuna and a loaf. Living out of the freezer and fridge and cupboards this week to save money and use stuff up. Freezers emptying nicely and the fridge is starting to look a bit bare now. I'm going to make some ratatouille tomorrow which will use up a couple of courgettes and a couple of peppers I have. Not sure when to eat this so that can go in the freezer and I might make stuffed pancakes with it Sunday or Monday next week. If I do this I can use some more of the cheese in the freezer to make a cheese sauce to pour on the pancakes then bake them in the oven. 

Have you had a good Monday?

Menu Week 09/05/11

MONDAY - Salmon, prawn & rice cakes, peas and roasted new baby spuds

TUESDAY - Pork, mashed potatoes, vegetables and yorkshire puddings

WEDNESDAY - Ardennes Tourte, salad and new baby potatoes

THURSDAY - Prawn Chow Mein

FRIDAY - Tuna tomato sauce, pasta, cheese and home made garlic bread

SATURDAY - Pizza (bought for party but not used, in freezer) Wedges and home made coleslaw

SUNDAY - Chicken & ham in sauce over vegetable rice

Menu Week 02/05/11

Meal planning is up in the air this week. Been so busy with DIY and sorting things for the party I have not had a chance to menu plan. I nipped into Aldi yesterday and bought a chicken so I will start the plan with a couple of chicken dishes.

MONDAY - Roast chicken, wedges, homemade coleslaw & salad

TUESDAY -  Omelet, chips & beans

WEDNESDAY - Leftover roast chicken in sauce on vegetable rice

THURSDAY -Leftover lasagne, salad & wedges

FRIDAY -

SATURDAY - wedding party!

SUNDAY -

So today I shall be busy cleaning the living room carpet. I shall dig the carpet cleaner out of the back of the garage and get this job done first. It's supposed to be a lovely day again so the sunshine shining through the living room window will dry the carpets quickly.

I may clean the dog too. Not with the carpet cleaner I might add! I shall give him a shower because he's a bit whiffy at the moment and he can lay in the sunshine and dry off.

I've a few bits of DIY I want to finish then I shall tackle a mound of ironing  this afternoon. What an exciting way to spend the bank holiday! Again!

Hope you all have a great bank holiday doing nice things.

Menu Week 25/04/11

MONDAY - Leftover chicken and bacon pie, roast potatoes and vegetables

TUESDAY - Pasta bolognese, cheese and homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Sausage, egg, chips and beans

THURSDAY - Creamy pesto chicken, new potatoes, peas and roasted tomatoes

FRIDAY - At a friends BBQ

SATURDAY - Chicken/tofu fajitas

SUNDAY - Lasagne, salad, homemade garlic bread

Yesterday I got ready to to make tea. I got the onions sliced and put them in the frying pan to saute for my chicken and bacon pie. Disaster! the camping gas was empty (no hob at the moment due to having kitchen done) It was 4.30pm on a bank holiday Monday and no way of getting a refill. I had to make do with cooking our meal in a microwave and the oven.

So how to saute onions without a hob. I put the onions in a cake tin with the oil and butter and popped them in the oven. I kept giving them a stir and then I threw in some chopped bits of bacon and it all softened really well. Could not par-boil the potatoes for roasting so they went straight in the oven with a tray of carrots to roast. I made my sauce for the pie in the microwave which worked well. Now I have never cooked veg in the microwave so was not looking forward to broccoli cooked this way. I had visions of it being tough or rubbery but in fact it came out lovely and tender with a lovely bright green colour. I threw some frozen peas in with the broccoli near the end of cooking and was very pleased with the result. Pie was cooked in the oven and we ended up with a good meal.

Been this morning to get a refilled one of these. Managed without yesterday but don't want to do it again.

Menu Week 18/04/11

MONDAY - Chicken/prawn risotto, tomato gratin and roasted garlic mushrooms

TUESDAY - Lasagne, salad and homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - don't know yet

THURSDAY - Italian meatloaf, jacket potatoes, vegetables and gravy

FRIDAY - At parents for tea

SATURDAY -Homemade burgers, wedges, homemade coleslaw and homemade onion rings

SUNDAY - Homemade chicken & ham pie, roast potatoes, vegetables

I'm trying to use up a few things in the freezer to make room for food I make for the party I'm having soon. So tonight's tea will use up some chicken stock, cooked chicken and some prawns from the freezer and a lot of tomatoes from the fridge. Tomorrows meal of lasagne will use up a lot of small batches of bolognese and a small tub of chopped tomatoes and a baguette.

I made a trip to a larger Tesco today because my hubby saw an advert on the TV for whole salmons on offer. My local Tesco is only small and does not have a fish counter. When I arrived there were no salmons to be seen on the fish counter and I thought I was going to be disappointed. I asked the lady behind the fish counter if she had anymore whole salmons  and she told me she had, but had not gotten around to filling the counter with then yet. So I returned at the end of my shop and purchased this beauty

 
So I now have my gammon and a salmon for the party. They were both on offer because it's Easter. The salmon was down to £5.00 per Kg  and the salmon I bought cost £16.40. I got it cheaper though because I paid for it with some Tesco vouchers I got this weekend . I had vouchers to the value of £8.00 so the salmon cost me £8.40, bargain!

Had a nice lunch today using up some cottage cheese that had been sat in the fridge for a couple of weeks, oops. It smelt fine and I take no notice of dates on most food stuff. If it smells good, eat it. I have never poisoned myself or anyone else in the family with this way of checking food.

This was my lunch, cottage cheese on rice cakes with some Tesco value smoked salmon(87p for 120g) and cucumber and a cup of tea (trying to loose some weight, can you tell?). It was extra lovely because it was eaten in the garden in the lovely sunshine.

Our tea today was very tasty.

Got carried away with the breadcrumbs and ended up putting them on my garlic mushroom too just to use them up. They had chicken risotto and I made myself a prawn & pea risotto which was very tasty even if I do say so myself.

Menu Week 11/04/11

MONDAY - Omelet, Jacket potato, salad and bread rolls. Semolina pudding with jam

TUESDAY - Spaghetti bolognese and home made garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Roast chicken, home made coleslaw, Jacket spuds & salad

THURSDAY - Home made salmon fishcakes, wedges, peas or beans

FRIDAY - Chicken in sauce over vegetable rice

SATURDAY - Home made pizza, wedges and home made coleslaw

SUNDAY - BBQ  salad & breads


To use up the items in my challenge over the week I am going to make -

Chestnut puree - USED, made the chocolate & chestnut Torte

Couscous - Making couscous patties to have with salad for lunches

Semolina - having semolina milk pudding with homemade jam for after tea tonight

Ground rice - using some in a shortbread recipe I found

Yellow split peas - making this http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2011/01/basic-yellow-split-pea-dal-recipe.html  which I can freeze and have for lunch.


Shall now go to Aldi and buy what I can there whilst daughter No2 goes for an interview in the shop next door. Then home, dog walking then out again to the White Rose Shopping Centre to get the girls some essential items of clothing and footwear for school.   Not looking forward to visiting the shopping centre because it is the school holidays and it will be VERY busy because of this. So my plan is to be as quick as possible in the place, the girls may have other plans though! They could spend all day walking round these centres.

Menu Week 04/04/11

MONDAY - Fish fingers, wedges, peas or beans

TUESDAY - Tuna & mascarpone sauce on pasta with homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Pork in a sauce over rice

THURSDAY - Creamy Pesto Chicken, potatoes, roasted tomatoes and peas

FRIDAY - At parents for tea

SATURDAY - Chicken/Tofu Fajitas

SUNDAY - Toad in the hole, Roast potatoes, vegetables and onion gravy

                                           Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there.

Not posted for a few days. Been very busy with having the grandchildren staying this weekend. It is the first time we have had both stay and it has been lovely but hard work. My daughter No1  is sleep deprived and was shattered as the 8 month old baby is terrible at sleeping. So I suffered a sleepless night, along with everyone else in the house except hubby who retreated to the downstairs computer room at the far end of the house. He's not daft is he? Daughter No1 rang today saying she slept solidly for 14 hours and felt a lot better for it. The things we go through for our kids.

So I have not had a relaxing Mother's Day, quite the opposite but an enjoyable one. Daughter No3 has been very helpful all day asking all the time if there is any thing she can do for me. Daughter No2 has done my hair for me (she's training to be a hairdresser) because she knows I hate doing my own hair and I find it really relaxing when she does it for me. I find it so relaxing I always start to nod off. Hope you all had an enjoyable day too. Until tomorrow, Bye.

Menu Week 28/03/11

MONDAY - Roast chicken, jacket potatoes, homemade coleslaw, salad and homemade bread

TUESDAY - Spaghetti bolognese and homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Greek stifado & Greek potatoes

THURSDAY - Pork steaks, vegetables, mash, yorkshire puddings and apple sauce

FRIDAY - Mince & onion pie with potatoes and veg

SATURDAY - Chorizo Hash & fried egg

SUNDAY - Leftover chicken in a sauce, Roast potatoes, stuffing balls and vegetables


Well you will have noticed the lack of meals filled in on my menu plan. Not been very organised this week so will hopefully have the rest of my meals sorted tomorrow. I went shopping Saturday because the plasterer will be here Monday which is my normal shopping day. I normally menu plan on Sunday but was out a lot of the day at our granddaughter's 3rd birthday party so no menu plan got done. So, I'm sat here too tired to think about menu planning and just want to go to bed.

All restored back to normal now, menu plan completed.

Got a pan of "bottom of the fridge" soup made this afternoon. Made some rough puff pastry and used this to make a batch of cheese, onion & potato pasties for the girls lunches.

Two are in containers for lunch tomorrow and the rest are going in the freezer.

Menu Week 21/03/11

MONDAY - Sausage, mash and beans

TUESDAY - Chicken and bacon in sauce over vegetable rice

WEDNESDAY -Chicken stir fry & noodles

THURSDAY - Quiche, Jacket potatoes,salad and home made coleslaw

FRIDAY - At parents

SATURDAY -Curry, rice & naan bread

SUNDAY - Out - grandaughters birthday party

Menu Week 14/03/11

MONDAY - Omelet, salad and jacket potatoes

TUESDAY - Spaghetti bolognese and home made garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Fish pie, peas, green beans and carrots

THURSDAY - Turkey Jambalaya

FRIDAY - Salmon fishcakes, wedges, peas or salad

SATURDAY - Chicken/ Tofu fajitas

SUNDAY - Roast chicken, potatoes, yorkshire puddings, stuffing and vegetables


 We've had a busy day stripping out the kitchen completely and removing all the tiles.

A very messy  dusty job. The hard bits done now, next job is to get the electrician in and the plasterer. Now I have no hob for cooking on so it was out with the camping stove, gas bottle refilled and voila! my new hob.

   
I cooked a Sunday roast today in my temporary kitchen with my camping stove and I had no problems. A bit less space but managed fine. I still have my electric oven so could roast the pork and potatoes and make yorkshire puddings. Brings back memories of camping last summer using my stove.

Menu Week 07/03/11

MONDAY - Mushroom mozzarella risotto cakes and salad

TUESDAY - Veggie stuffed pancakes followed by sweet pancakes

WEDNESDAY - Portuguese braised beef, mash and greens

THURSDAY - Tuna pasta, cheese and home made garlic bread

FRIDAY - Sausages, yorkshire puddings, mash, veg and onion gravy

SATURDAY - Beef burgers, wedges, coleslaw and onion rings (all home made)

SUNDAY - Pork loin roast, apple sauce, yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and vegetables


Well the work has started on the kitchen. I spent a long time today transferring all the contents of my cupboards into my utility room. Trying to fit everything in was a squeeze and I had a good clear out. This is the old kitchen we inherited when we bought the house (snazzy tiles eh haha)

old kitchen

                                                                                                                            

Utility room

Utility room

Utility room

Got some of the units dismantled and some tiles off but broke off to go and look at a few kitchen shops. This will be a long project as hubby is doing the work himself. We need to dig our two ring camping stove out of the garage so I can cook on that when the old hob gets ripped out. The old hob is still in place to use this week and the oven will be moved on top of the washing machine in the utility.  So I'm taking up residence in my little windowless utility for the foreseeable future.

Menu Week 28/02/11

MONDAY - Italian meatloaf, roast potatoes, veg and gravy

TUESDAY - Veggie pasta bake with home made garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Carribean salmon with rice and green beans

THURSDAY - Roast chicken, jacket spuds, homemade coleslaw, salad and homemade baguette

FRIDAY - Pork & rice one pot

SATURDAY - homemade pizza & garlic bread, wedges & homemade coleslaw

SUNDAY - Chicken, bacon & leek pie, roasties, peas, carrots & broccoli. Profiteroles

Menu Week 21/02/11

MONDAY - Pasta with tuna/bacon tomato sauce, cheese and home made garlic bread

TUESDAY - Chicken & mushroom in sauce over vegetable rice (using leftover cooked chicken from freezer)

WEDNESDAY - Home made Chicken kiev, peas and wedges (chicken breasts in freezer)

THURSDAY - Leftover Mince & onion pie, roasties and vegetables (pie in freezer)

FRIDAY - Chicken casserole and mash (casserole in freezer)

SATURDAY - Chicken/tofu fajitas with cheese

SUNDAY - Roast pork loin, roasties, yorkshire puddings, roasted root vegetables and cabbage


Can you tell I'm clearing the freezer out?  

Menu Week 14/02/11

MONDAY - Omelette, wedges and salad

TUESDAY - Bolognese sauce, pasta, cheese and home made garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Roasted butternut squash, sausages, potatoes & sage with cabbage

THURSDAY - pork steaks with crushed carrots and garlic potatoes

FRIDAY - Pizza and chips

SATURDAY - Home made curry, rice, onion bhajis and naan

SUNDAY - Roast chicken, yorkshire puddings, vegetables and roast potatoes

Today we had for dinner mince & onion pie which came out quite well. I also made a chocolate orange loaf.

I used the recipe from this blog http://apotofteaandabiscuit.blogspot.com/  and the loaf came out lovely and moist. I will portion this loaf then freeze for the girls to take to school/college for lunch.