Meal Planning Monday - the breathing space edition!

Lord, it's been a month. (Nearly). Don't ask. Too much to do, too little time. From today, life gets a little easier for a while. Well, maybe. At least I have time to blog my meal plan.

Of course, an easier week doesn't mean we're doing nothing. Oh no! Parents' evening tomorrow, although I am going early afternoon. The children have stuff every evening except Tuesday (when I take them to the gym anyway) and Friday, when we do homework. Saturday, I've got cake club but determined not to get cakeache. Just no meetings in the evenings. No trips to London. No do three things in a day, going from one to another and just making it.

So this is what our week looks like.

Monday - Chicken chow mein
Tuesday - Kale hash
Wednesday - Curried pumpkin soup
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Cottage pie
Saturday - Baked potatoes with some kind of random filling
Sunday - Roast dinner

Don't forget that Mrs M has the Meal Planning Monday linky going on here. Join in and get inspiration from others!

Meal Planning Monday - the ever so slightly too busy school holiday edition!

I didn't post last week (or the week before - oops!) but I can assure you I meal planned as I cannot live without it. This is probably the midpoint of the holidays and it will be the second week that the children have gone to a great summer camp during the day which is near husband's work. They went for the first full week of the holidays and it really helped me get some work done; I'd like not to work in these holidays but a quarterly deadline hits and I really can't leave it until September. They had a ball last time so I'm not too worried about them going - they get to play and do loads of things I can't necessarily do with them. And it gives us all space - I find that even if husband is home, they ask me for EVERYTHING!

So, this week, I'm planning on powering through with some work and getting ahead of myself for the following two weeks of the holidays. We're also having a new boiler fitted, already postponed from last week when I took Monkey to Old Trafford.

We had roast beef on Sunday so the first two days are based on leftovers.

Monday - Sloppy Joes (made with leftover roast instead of mince)
Tuesday - Beef hash
Wednesday - Cheesy lentils
Thursday - Savoury bread and butter pudding
Friday - Chicken pasta bake
Saturday - Fish in lemon and herb sauce, mash and peas
Sunday - Roast chicken et al.

Having shared my week with you, may I remind you to visit Mrs M's for more lovely MPM posts.

See you (hopefully) next week!

Meal Planning Monday - the real Easter holidays edition!

I know, I know.  I didn't post last week. No idea why - just insanely busy. I did a meal plan though and we ate well. Nothing special - toad in the hole was the children's highlight of the week.

I have cobbled something together for this second week of the holidays. And we are all off. Husband is off work, I'm off work and the children off school. They spent 4 days of last week back at school at a holiday club, whilst I got through a week of year end. They had a ball but it did make them very tired as they played about 4 different sports every day. It was like a week full of PE lessons! This week is going to be quiet, home time and down time.

The plan is writ and the food is all bought, courtesy of a trip to the supermarket with Missy Woo on Sunday afternoon.

Monday - Boerenkool Stamppot
Tuesday - Chicken pasta bake
Wednesday - Beef enchiladas
Thursday - Sweet potato and ginger soup
Friday - Slow cooker bacon joint, probably with egg and chips
Saturday - Keeping free (also known as making it up)
Sunday - Roast dinner

Don't forget there are more meal plans over at Mrs M's which you can discover by clicking on the badge top right.

Meal Planning Monday - the very late March edition!

Yes, yes, I'm late. No excuse. Let's get on with it, shall we? We've already had a family favourite, lamb, coconut and mango pilau done slow cooker stylee today (and very nice it was too!)

Tuesday - Sausage meat plait
Wednesday - Honey mustard pork
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Beef and bean hotpot
Saturday - Sweet potato and mushroom quesadillas
Sunday - Maybe a freezer dive due to a snowboarding lesson and a party at Blackpool Zoo!

More meal planners, hopefully not as late as this, over at Mrs M's. Click badge for details.

Meal Planning Monday - the spring is sprung edition!

Now Monkey's birthday stuff is all over and done with, we're well into March and the weather is beginning to feel springlike. The nights are lighter (which the children love as they can play out after school with friends) and everything just feels better.

I don't know if my meal plan reflects this change in weather but the children have been involved in this week's plan as I asked them what they wanted to eat. "Chicken kievs" came the reply. Great! The one thing I don't make from scratch too.

They did come up with one or two other things which I've added. I've also been going back through my mealplans and picking out things we like so that I can quickly pick them out instead of having brain freeze when faced with a blank sheet of paper. I came up with 100 different things (and some of them have variations!) so I think I should be OK for a while.

This is our week then.

Monday - Mexican lasagne
Tuesday - Pizza baked potatoes
Wednesday - Kedgeree with poached egg
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Chicken kievs
Saturday - Prawn and coconut curry
Sunday - Roast dinner

Mrs M has all the Meal Planning Monday posts. Click the badge top right to discover what everyone else is eating.

Meal Planning Monday - the why is not half term yet edition!

Even going back to school later has made no difference, and we're all feeling a bit tired today. Maybe it's the 400 mile round trip to Buckinghamshire for a party this weekend that is at fault, but I'm thoroughly looking forward to the children not having anything to go to for a week (although we do, just not school stuff).

This plan was kind of cobbled together (as it always is, it gets rejigged so many times!) before and after my weekend. I expect it to fail! Eyes down, look in, here we go. 

Monday - Thai chicken and sweet potato soup

Tuesday - Beef and mushroom meat loaf

Wednesday - Sausage and bean crumble

Thursday - Butties

Friday - Spiced rice and lentils with cauliflower

Saturday - Prawn and coconut curry

Sunday - Roast pork

So, that's me for the week. Can I sleep now? 

Meal Planning Monday - the leftover leftovers edition!

Yes, it's that kind of week. Stuff leftover here and there - stuff I didn't make last week, stuff leftover from Sunday dinner, stuff hidden in the freezer. It should mean it's a cheap week but I've said that before!

We have nothing special planned this week. I actually quite like that after the madness of the last few months! We're into a groove now with school work and stuff, the routine is generally worked out so we know what we're doing and it's generally ticking along.

This, then, is our week.

Monday - Beef stroganoff and rice (leftover roast beef)
Tuesday - Leftover something from the freezer (it's some kind of potato topped pie)
Wednesday - Chicken and mushroom pasta bake
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Italian chickpea burgers (carried over from last week)
Saturday - Beef keema with carrots and potatoes
Sunday - Roast chicken

Yes, that's it. Short and sweet from me today. Don't forget to visit Mrs M's. Click on badge above for more meal planning mayhem. Or something.

Meal Planning Monday - the quiet mid-Summer week edition!

So, I'm writing this after a weekend where my feet barely touched the ground. We went to a family wedding on Saturday, which was fabulous, and on Sunday, they held a day after party at their house. No time for anything and in the build up, I baked a cake which I decorated on Sunday lunchtime before taking over to Blackpool.

Back to normal this week. Nothing particularly unusual is happening, and I am very glad of that. We do, however, still have children doing five different after school activities between them, three of which are on the same day! They are finishing football this week though so as of next week, we'll  be down to four. Hurrah. My meal plan in response to this comprise a few easy peasy meals, and I've picked a couple of things to use up things in my freezer.

This is what we're having.

Monday- Sausages, sweet potato mash and onion relish (with broccoli not courgette)
Tuesday - Sloppy Joe bake
Wednesday - Warm smoked mackerel and new potato salad
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Baked aubergines with cannellini beans
Saturday - Pea and spring onion tart
Sunday - Roast beef with salads

Don't forget if you need more of a meal planning fix, there are more entries to be found at Mrs M's, which you can find by clicking the badge above.

Meal Planning Monday - the trying to eat more veg edition!

It seems like the only time I come here at the moment is to do my meal plans. I know, I know but really, I've been busy. Monkey had a birthday on Saturday and preparing for it whilst juggling work seemed to take it out of me - I was in bed early (for me) on Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday, I got in bed shortly after 11pm - unheard of for me - and slept like a log until nearly 9.

I have to admit, I've been feeling a bit sluggish lately and even Monkey got sent home from school on Friday with a tummyache. This turned into nothing, thank God, but it made me reflect on the fact that we don't seem to have had much in the way of veg these last few weeks. So, this week, there are more in the plan. And no, I still haven't got around to doing that pea soup. It WILL happen this week. It WILL. Looking at the plan, it seems to be a lot of beans and pulses actually but onions and tomatoes are featuring too.

The children seem to have signed themselves up for every after school activity going lately. One or both of them have something on 3 days of the week, we go to the gym on Wednesdays, leaving only Fridays for down time. Not ideal, but some of the activities are only for a few weeks and it is entirely their choice so I don't feel so bad. Monday is going to be good because they are both at school until 4.30! Then, at the weekend, both the children are coming to Clandestine Cake Club with me then Monkey is going to stay at the grandparents for his birthday treat (a trip to see Horrible Histories!).

This is what I have planned.

Monday - Roast beef hash (adapted slightly)
Tuesday - Chicken with spices and cream (aka Nigel Slater's chicken curry)
Wednesday - Chipotle bean chilli with baked eggs
Thursday - Minty pea and potato soup (don't laugh)
Friday - Mushroom risotto
Saturday  - keeping free, I will have cakeache
Sunday - Sticky roasted sausages with lentils

This is us for the potentially cold week ahead. What about you? When you've told me, mosey on over to Mrs M's for more Meal Planning Monday (non) mayhem.

Meal Planning Monday - the 5th of November edition

Corny but true;  I can't believe how fast this year is going, particularly so since September. Half term has been and gone, although the children have an extra day off today and go back tomorrow so we have one more day free of routine then it's back to normal. Well, kind of. Husband has the evening off tomorrow as he's got a meeting, the children and I are going to see the Cbeebies pantomime being filmed on Wednesday after school and Missy Woo has a friend coming for tea on Friday. Consequently, she has chosen tea - and reminded me that she's been asking me for chicken nuggets for a few weeks and I've not been able to fit them into the plan so this is being rectified this week. I've chosen the rest.

Talking of which...

Monday - Sandwiches (no, we are not going out to see fireworks. Tried that Saturday and Missy Woo didn't like the noise!)
Tuesday - Sausages in onion gravy, yorkshires, mash and broccoli
Wednesday - Sandwiches again (I'll be on a train, OK??!)
Thursday - Minced beef and sweet potato stew
Friday - Chicken nuggets, chips, carrot and cucumber sticks, tomatoes
Saturday - Roast cauliflower and hazelnut pilaf
Sunday - keeping free (though roast pork is a possibility)

That is our week, full of warming hearty food again. What are you having? Why don't you tell me, then head over to Mrs M's where the rest of the week's meal plans can be found.

Meal Planning Monday - a late-night, cobbled together edition

So it's 13 minutes to midnight on Sunday and I still don't have a meal plan together yet. For that, you can blame my mad weekend during which I met both Myleene Klass and Judy Murray, then spent today catching up. This evening, instead of meal planning, I followed the Ryder Cup, first on Twitter then on television for the last hour or so. Now I'm in a state of mild panic as this is not like me.

Cobbling away merrily, here is my meal plan. By the way, from this week, my husband is working evenings Monday to Thursday so won't be around for teatime, so everything is going to be reheatable for him to eat the next day.

Monday - Cauliflower cheese soup
Tuesday - Cheese whirls (a request by Monkey)
Wednesday - Curry in a hurry
Thursday - Minced beef cobbler
Friday - Mauritian Pork Satay
Saturday - keeping free
Sunday - I might just get that flipping chicken in my freezer roasted!

What's on your menu this week? And do you have any suggestions of meals that reheat well for future weeks? Let me know... then pop on over to Mrs M's for some more Meal Planning Monday action.

(Edit - this apparently is my 600th post on this blog... go me!!)

Meal Planning Monday - the is it really June edition!

Well, is it? The weather has been very strange of late. Our holiday was interrupted by a few days of terrible rain and the same has been happening since we returned. One day, it might be nice and then it's awful. Saturday was one of those days so it was a good job we were planning to spend most of it inside, what with Missy Woo's dance show.

So, I'm planning for another week and I'm not entirely sure what to expect. Normally, I'd be cracking out the salads and stuff, but I am really not sure what is going to happen so I'm still planning to cook. Apart from that, I don't think we have much on this week, apart from Saturday when husband and I both have separate commitments in opposite directions at roughly the same time so the children are going to Granny's until I get home, so no cooking will be planned.

Here's our week anyway. Monkey has requested honey and mustard pork for today but I've decided to try something new to go with it.

Monday - Honey and mustard pork, slow cooker garlic mash, broccoli
Tuesday - Smoked haddock and leek baked risotto
Wednesday - Goat's cheese polenta with mushrooms
Thursday - Sandwiches (yawn.... )
Friday - Sloppy Joe bake
Saturday - free
Sunday - One-pot chicken and chickpea pilau

So that's our week. How is your week shaping up? Do tell me, and then head over to Mrs M's to find the other MPM entries this week. May the rain on you be brief and the sun be warm and plentiful.

Meal Planning Monday - the getting back to normal edition!

Right, I'm back to it today. You remember me, don't you? What do you mean, no? Hmph!

The blogging (rightly) took a bit of a back seat on my holidays - yes I managed the grand total of one post, done on my iPad, whilst I was holidaying. Maybe I'll do another post about it, but we had a very mixed week of weather with more rain than not. Two days were completely awful weatherwise, three were OK, one started badly but improved drastically but none were completely gorgeous days from start to finish. Still, we had a lovely time and I ate way, way too much. I will have to watch what I am eating very very carefully over the next few weeks.

So, today we're back to normal. Not totally, as the children don't go back to school until Tuesday but as good as. We seem to have quite a few things on this week, what with it being Father's Day on Sunday, and Missy Woo is in her annual dance show. It's a lot earlier this year because they couldn't get the hall they wanted on their preferred dates so they have had much less time to rehearse, and it comes straight after half term - plus Missy Woo was sick on the day of the last rehearsal before holiday. I'm sure she'll be fine though - she received her costumes on the day she was ill which cheered her up immensely. We're going to see her dance on Sunday afternoon but I have to spend Saturday afternoon watching her final rehearsal so food over the weekend has to be quick and simple to do, which means beef twice in a row.

So, here's our week in meals. What's yours?

Monday - Sticky sausages with potato and sweetcorn salad
Tuesday - Sweet potatoes with mushrooms and rosemary
Wednesday - Fried fish and tomato curry
Thursday - the usual exciting sandwiches!
Friday - Sticky chicken drumsticks with coleslaw
Saturday - Burgers and salad
Sunday - Slow cooker chilli with tortilla chips

Meal Planning Monday - the post-Easter edition!

Hope you had a lovely Easter and aren't too sick from chocolate overload. We've had a quiet one thanks to work (husband's not mine!) but we've another week of school holidays to go. This week is a mix of things I wanted to try making or am trying to perfect - you might have seen the Thai fish pie a few weeks back; well, I'm trying out my own version of it that is a) cheaper b) healthier and c) more family friendly - ie not as hot and more acceptable to children's palates. When I get it right, I'll blog the recipe

Here's our week.

Monday -  Garlic mushroom and turkey bake
Tuesday - Mushroom stroganoff
Wednesday - Bolognese bake
Thursday - Vegetarian sausage, butternut squash and pepper stew
Friday - Thai fish pie
Saturday - Lemon spiced chicken with chickpeas
Sunday - keeping free

And don't forget that you can find more Meal Planning Monday entries at Mrs M's place but before you go, take a few minutes to tell me what you're having this week.

Meal Planning Monday - the finally Spring edition

Yes! It's finally Spring this week, whatever the Met Office says. We don't have a particularly busy week, apart from Parents Evening. At the weekend, we are going out on Saturday- I'm not going to tell you where, as I will be blogging about it later, so that's staying free. This week's menu is a mix - some things that we like (Monkey insisted we have the honey mustard pork this week, it's a favourite of his), me trying to perfect slow cooker risotto so that is back this week, plus there are a few new recipes I fancied trying. You'll notice the Thai spiced fish pie from last week - well, it got postponed to Saturday, then husband decided he was going to part cook Sunday tea on Saturday but it got so late, we decided to eat it there and then! Then, he was going to make the fish pie but on a whim, we ended up out for tea and I cooked the fish pie last night ready for tonight. So I did kind of end up cooking on Mothering Sunday, but I don't mind.

So here we go.

Monday - Thai spiced fish pie (see last week)
Tuesday - Honey mustard pork, mash and sweetcorn
Wednesday - Veggie shepherd's pie with sweet potato mash
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Gnocchi bolognese with spinach
Saturday - Stay free
Sunday - Slow cooker leek and bacon risotto

That's our menu - how about you? What's on your menu this week? Don't forget to visit Mrs M to read more entries in Meal Planning Monday.

Meal Planning Monday - the nearly March edition

You may remember last week, I tried out the BBC Good Food weekly meal plan for £22. Quite frankly, I was rubbish at remembering to take photos of everything. In fact, I remembered a sum total of once. And that was the recipe on the first day when I managed to do everything wrong, including opening a tin of cannellini beans instead of chickpeas so ended up with both in it, burned flaked almonds whilst toasting them once and coming close a second time, then dolloping yogurt on the top which turned out to be mouldy. Luckily, it made industrial quantities, so I could start again with fresh yogurt and the children loved their new meals. Husband was not so keen on that one but he loved the onion and tomato bake, which I must admit was easy and tasty. We also loved the potato, pepper and chorizo stew with fried eggs. The soup was OK but turned out a bit salty for me, and the jerk beefburgers were good but the relish was too much really. It was quite nice but honestly? I could have done without it and just put cheese on top instead. But overall, for a week's worth of meals, they were pretty good. Five inexpensive meals from fresh ingredients is pretty good going. 

A special week this week as we have a whole extra day to enjoy! And of course, the start of March, which in this house, will mean one thing. Monkey's birthday. But more of that next week. 

The meals this week again come from Good Food - as I was looking through, I spotted several recipes I wanted to try and as I was doing an Ocado order last week which had to be a larger minimum spend, I added in extra items so most of it was bought and frozen then. I did a quickish shop yesterday to pick up the fresh stuff I needed so I'm completely organised and and ready to start my week. Today's was going to be herby lamb burgers but Monkey has been asking to have the lamb pilau again, so I'm going to do it using lamb mince. 

Here are the meals, with links

Monday - Lamb, coconut and mango pilau (possibly done slow cooker style)

Tuesday - Springtime spaghetti and meatballs

Wednesday - Leek, cheese and potato pasties

Thursday - sandwiches again

Friday - Better than baked beans with spicy wedges

Saturday - Crispy topped Cumberland pie

Sunday - keeping free

That's our menu this week, what is yours? And don't forget, Mrs M hosts the linky on her blog, so do take a look at all the other meal planning entries. 

Meal Planning Monday - the OMG it's still January edition

God, yes, is it still only 23rd January? I could have sworn it was February this week. Christmas feels like an age ago, although admittedly, other times it seems like yesterday. Make it finish soon. I'm still on a BBC Good Food tip this week - particularly as I love that it adds nutritional information so I can make sure I'm not overdoing it. I'm still being good, and trying to keep up our veg intake. Here are this week's delights.

Monday - Italian style beef stew (adapted for the slow cooker)
Tuesday - Chicken, leek and parsley pie
Wednesday - White fish with spicy beans and chorizo
Thursday - Sweet potato and coconut soup with bread
Friday - Lazy cheesy veg hotpot
Saturday - leaving free
Sunday - Honey and mustard pork with broccoli and mash

Don't forget that Mrs M host the linky every week. Why not pop over to check the other entries? And don't forget to tell me what meals you have planned for this week?

Meal Planning Monday

Time to plan those meals again! We're just recovering from half term; in fact, the children don't actually go back to school until tomorrow, but I'm planning a quiet day as we've had a busy week and we could do with some down time.

No special theme for the week; just a few things we like with the odd twist on old favourites. A few are from the Netmums "Feeding kids" book which I've had for a few years and find really useful for family meals, especially in the colder parts of the year. Honey and mustard pork rears its head again, because Monkey insists on having it every few weeks as he absolutely loves it. Seriously!

Meal Planning Monday - the half term version

Yes, it's half term but you already knew that, didn't you? The children are off school and off on adventures. We've already had one or two and we have a few more lined up for them. One of them is the children are going to Blackpool tonight to stay with their grandparents so they can go see the illuminations. We're off to London on Friday too. I'm trying to ensure we eat well but some of the time, cooking might not be top priority. I've been asked to provide carbs as my husband is in his final stages of preparing for a 3 day run along the Ridgeway in November and is doing some long runs. It's also high time I started breaking out the slow cooker a lot more so a couple of slow cooker dishes make it in this week.

Here's this week's meals anyway.

Monday - Salmon pesto pasta
Tuesday - Lightly spiced slow cooker beef with mash
Wednesday - Mexican Ranch style eggs
Thursday - Slow cooker lamb curry with naan
Friday - Leaving free
Saturday - Bacon and pepper frittata
Sunday - Roast chicken

Now all you have to do is tell me what you're having this week, then pop over to Mrs M's blog to check out the other entries in this week's Meal Planning Monday.

And happy half term!

Meal Planning Monday

Time to get back on the meal planning wagon! Everything went well last week - I've now made that Italian Meatloaf twice and still not actually eaten it as it's good for making ahead and leaving for the rest of the family to eat later. One day.