Meal Planning Monday - the end of school year edition!

And it can't come soon enough. Just so many things have been going on - last week felt like a omplete whirl of events and commitments. Now, we're just down to the last 3 days of school. No school commitments other than getting them to school and back, no more dancing lessons - only swimming lessons for one more week and cricket throughout the summer. Hurrah!

My week kind of looks like end of year, in a kind of stumbling over the line way too.

Monday - Cheesy lentils
Tuesday  - Slow cooker lamb and mango pilau
Wednesday - Sweetcorn and ham salad
Thursday - Smoked cheese, onion and mushroom quiche
Friday - Cheesy beans and bacon quesadillas
Saturday - Chicken wings, sweet potato and coleslaw
Sunday - Roast pork

Happy holidays everyone! Don't forget Mrs M has the MPM linky.

Meal Planning Monday - on Tuesday!

Yes, yes, yes. I know. Don't ask.

I didn't make last week at all as we were out one night and on Thursday, we went to Wimbledon which was uh-mazing.

I have a plan for this week but just not got round to it due to some stuff I need to sort out this week. This week is Missy Woo's 8th birthday. Oh my God! We're also planning to go to see the Tour de France although Monkey currently wants to play cricket on Sunday. Oh and it could be Sports Day on Friday but rain is forecast.

So, that's two days sorted!

Here we go.

Monday - Tangy Asian meatballs (these were fab, try them!)
Tuesday - Warm new potato and smoked mackerel salad
Wednesday - Ham with maple mustard slaw
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Slow cooker barbeque drumsticks
Saturday - out for tea
Sunday - out

Don't forget Mrs M's blog is now here

Meal Planning Monday - the regrouping and hopefully calm edition!

I was very organised last week but not organised enough to link up to Mrs M again. Gah. But I had a busy week, preparing for a weekend away in Coventry at work's national conference. I got home at 7.30 on Saturday evening and by 9.30, I was in bed. Shortly after, I was asleep and the next thing I knew it was 4.40am and after a couple of brief awakenings, it was 8.30. And on Sunday, after Missy's swimming lesson, we headed off to Skipton to meet my sister, her husband and their dogs as they are on holiday in North Yorkshire to have lunch with them. Luckily, I kind of had the basis of a meal plan made from last week so I've just juggled it to fit our week. Monkey is going out to tea tonight so Missy has chosen tea. They're starting choir on Tuesday so I don't have to pick them up til 4.30.

Husband starts his new job properly today, as in he now gets to go to his workplace (which he still hasn't seen!) so we will now be working out how the family day fits together. This probably means my meal plan won't work!

Anyway, I'm rambling. This is what I have planned for us.

Monday - Fish goujons, mushy peas and mash
Tuesday  - Keema with naan
Wednesday - Pumpkin and lentil soup
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Slow cooker ham and beans
Saturday - Leek and tomato eggy bread bake
Sunday - Butter pie, apples and cheese

As ever, click the badge to visit Mrs M's and you will find lots more meal planning fun.

Meal Planning Monday - the very late but only half a week edition!

Yes, it's late. I know. I spent most of Sunday chasing children around, making cakes for teachers (despatched to school today), and watching cricket, golf and cycling. I started a plan but it's a bit of a half plan this week, for we are away this weekend. We are off to the Anniversary Games in London and we can't wait!

Thus, I only need four meals so I haven't planned loads. In fact, the supermarket shop was more snack foods for long journeys than it was about meals as most of the ingredients were already to hand and I'm not buying lots of fresh stuff. There is one carry over from last week which didn't happen when Monkey went off to a party, husband was at work and a small child called Missy Woo pleaded with me to take her to Burger King. It was hot, I relented.

This is really three and a half meals because although I have a plan, tonight is not yet set in stone. Husband is going over to Pennington Flash to do an open water swim and has asked if we'd like to go. If we do, then they have a barbeque there but I can't decide if I want to go or not so I'm going to leave it up to the children to decide. If they want to stay home, I'll just do them some pasta.

So, eyes down, look in.

Monday - Barbeque or pasta, pesto and meatballs
Tuesday - Roast chicken (yes, I am bonkers)
Wednesday - Ham, feta, olive and rocket platter with crostini
Thursday - Sausages in buns or a freezer dive
Friday - not cooking
Saturday - not cooking
Sunday - not cooking

More - and better - meal plans can be found by clicking on the badge above and visiting Mrs M's place.

Meal Planning Monday - the lacking inspiration summer no-cook edition!

Long title but it sums it up. It's looking like this warm weather is hanging around and whilst it doesn't seem as if it is going to be quite as hot, it looked like it was going to be cooler last week and then it got hotter. I'm still trying to leave turning the oven on until evenings after the children have gone to bed so it's easy cook stuff. Then of course, when you decide that, everything you want to cook needs an oven, doesn't it?

This week is showing signs of getting no easier. Tomorrow is celebration evening at school and I'm out for lunch. Missy Woo goes on a school trip on Thursday although thankfully, her dance lessons have finished now so I'm taking the children straight to swimming after school and getting tea there. Monkey is at a party on Saturday and husband is working the weekend.

Children have pitched in with one or two ideas but it took me most of the evening to figure it all out.

Monday - Sweet potato and chorizo quesadillas (sweet potatoes going to be "baked" in slow cooker)
Tuesday - Pasta, red pesto and meatballs
Wednesday - Warm new potato and smoked mackerel salad 
Thursday - Tea out
Friday - Sandwiches
Saturday - Serrano ham, feta, olive and rocket platter with crostini
Sunday - Indian chicken salad

Have a great week! The children don't finish school until next week so this is the last week of normality for a while as they finish next Tuesday.

Meal Planning Monday - the salad edition!

I'm not ACTUALLY going to say it's too hot but yes, it's a bit warm, isn't it? I have no inclination to turn on ovens and I'm having a bit of a reaction to a busy weekend of Missy Woo's birthday followed by the Wimbledon final, which felt interminable to me, so heavens only knows how it felt to the players!

As a result, I'm going to attempt to make most of the weather and just do as many salads and grilled food as possible. Some are our favourites, some are new ones.

Here goes. I am literally planning this as I type this post so it really is hot off the press.

Monday - Bean, ham and egg salad
Tuesday - Sausages in buns or wraps with corn relish
Wednesday - Spicy salmon tabbouleh
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Loaded mushroom burgers
Saturday - Omelette wedges
Sunday - keeping free for cake club!

Err, that's it. Click badge above etc.

Meal Planning Monday - the Monkey chooses edition!

So this week, I let Monkey choose most of our meals as Missy Woo went to play at a friend's (and forgot to come home for tea, had to send Monkey to get her!) so we were home alone when I was planning meals. His first thought was "spaghetti" so I'm introducing them to carbonara as it's a damn sight easier than bolognese. He helped me choose the rest of the week although I inserted something I wanted to cook from my trawl of the other MPM entries last week. And then I ended up doing a sort out of my recipe file, which threw out a recipe I wanted to make about a year ago that I never quite got round to (no idea why!) which has gone on a menu. Expect many more of those in coming weeks as I have a list of everything I have and some are asterisked to cook soon.

So, the menu according to Monkey is

Monday - Curry lentil stew with tomatoes
Tuesday - Spaghetti carbonara
Wednesday - Sausage, bean and cheese pasties
Thursday - Cauliflower cheese soup
Friday - Cherry tomato and ham bread and butter bake
Saturday - Cowboy corned beef and beans pie
Sunday - Roast chicken (expect leftover chicken recipes next week)

I think it's obvious which ones I chose there! He is definitely a meat and two veg child, happiest with meat, pies, gravy and more meat.

So this is us. Let me know what you're having, I always like to know. And more MPM entries can be discovered at Mrs M's by clicking the badge above. Have a good week.

Meal Planning Monday - the Christmas 2012 edition!

It's here at last. Hopefully, you're not too stressed by it all. I have everything I need foodwise, the presents are bought and wrapped, and we're all on holiday (although husband worked over the weekend!) 

I've spent so much time planning Christmas Day that the rest of the week is pretty vague, but we will cope. It will mostly be leftovers and I'm not doing a major shop again until later in the week. I'll be near a shop tomorrow afternoon so might wander in to see if there are any bargains. 

We don't cook on Christmas Eve (apart from perhaps some minimal prep or make ahead things for Christmas Day) so we're going out for a curry! In previous years, we've bought Chinese take-away but we end up buying too much which fills the fridge unnecessarily with leftovers. We decided to go for the curry and then discovered our local Chinese is closed over Christmas anyway, so it was obviously meant to be. The later part of the week, husband will be back at work so it will feel like normal days for us, although we might pop out and visit family so this is all rather provisional and subject to change. The only things set in stone is Christmas dinner really. 

Monday (Christmas Eve) - Not cooking

Tuesday (Christmas Day!) - Poached and smoked salmon pate (already made), Four bird roast (in freezer) with pigs in blankets, stuffing balls (in freezer), bread (out of a packet) and cranberry  (made) sauces, roast spuds and roast parsnips (both veg prepped in freezer), broccoli (just needs chopping up today and bagging) and carrots (prepped, blanched and frozen), gravy (already made), followed by chocolate coconut banoffee tart (the main part of making this is today's job)

Wednesday (Boxing Day) - Ham cooked in cola with a maple mustard glaze, with jacket potatoes and salad

Thursday - Turkey/Poultry leftovers (sandwiches or chilli)

Friday - Turkey and ham pie, mash

Saturday - Turkey fajitas (or possibly coronation turkey)

Sunday - Keeping free

As you can see, there is a repeating theme to the week! 

By the way, every year, I try to get people to tweet pix of their Christmas dinner with the hashtag #allthetwimmings Feel free to join in *cough* hint *cough* - it can be photos of your table, any of your courses or preparation. I'm just nosey. I'll try and retweet any that I see. 

And don't forget to tell me what you're having. And if it's there, Mrs M will have the linky for the other Meal Planning Monday entries. 

Happy Christmas! 

Meal Planning Monday - the back-to-school Paralympic edition!

Yes, this week was meant to be a quiet one, with the children back in school on Wednesday. That was until we managed to get tickets for the Paralympics on Saturday, morning and afternoon and a pass to the park on Sunday. This means we will be away Friday night, Saturday night and late back Sunday, so in terms of meal planning, they are out of the window.

 Then, on top of that, I realised that my sister was coming up to North Yorkshire this fortnight for a holiday. Talking to her last week, we worked out that Tuesday would be the best day to meet up as the children are still off school and husband is off too. So that probably throws Tuesday out of the window too.

This week is becoming a bit of a write off really, isn't it? Anyway, I still have a plan. And oh yes, one of them was from last week. (You hate me, don't you?)

Don't get excited then - this is our week.

Monday - Pesto crusted fish
Tuesday - keeping free
Wednesday - Jacket potatoes with ham and honey-mustard slaw
Thursday - Slow cooker lasagne
Friday - away
Saturday - away
Sunday - away

I'm sure you're all making plans to get back to normal this week, so head on over to Mrs M's to see what others with fuller meal plans than this are doing.

Meal Planning Monday - the My Family Club edition

This is a sponsored post. 


This week, I am doing something different again. I was approached to talk about a brand and I said yes because I took a look and liked what I saw. My Family Club is a website that wants to help parents save money and time, and from today, is starting an ad campaign coming to a TV near you.

When I first looked at the site, I noticed that it had a kitchen section. There are meal plans and a wealth of recipes that are easy to make and on your pocket. So, as I've done this sort of thing before, I decided to plan a week of meals from the site to test them out. None of the meal plans were completely right for me, so I picked out my favourites from their recipe section and made my own plan.

Here, then, is our week in meals. Two things I noticed when doing my plan - one was that the recipe section wasn't easily searchable nor the recipes grouped logically so you had to click through all the recipes to find your favourites. The other was that the butternut squash, bacon and mushroom lasagne recipe says that it is a "vegetarian" alternative, which made me laugh. Surely not?

Monday - Sesame chicken with rice
Tuesday - Butternut squash, bacon and mushroom lasagne
Wednesday - Bean burgers and paprika chips
Thursday - Sandwiches as usual
Friday - Shepherd's pie with a twist
Saturday - keeping free, although it's likely to be tapas.
Sunday -  Cheese and ham pancakes

If proof were needed that these are easy on the pocket, I bought all the ingredients in an online shop last night and I struggled to get my bill over £40, even with me stocking up the house after the school holidays, and trust me, I have run out of  most staples.  Admittedly, I do seem to be very well stocked in my store cupboard at the moment and have some chicken in the freezer. I bought some extra treats to take it over the minimum order value.

How about you take a look at My Family Club yourself? If you join as a member (which is free), you can get access to special offers and participate in the community section, asking and answering questions. There is also currently a competition to win an iPad and iPod bundle on there to enter when you give them your best money saving tip.

And of course, this is still a Meal Planning Monday post, so don't forget to tell me what you are eating this week, and to visit Mrs M who hosts the Meal Planning Monday linky.

(I have been paid a fee to write this post as well as to post a small number of sponsored tweets. I was asked to include links in this post, mentioning My Family Club but all words and opinions are my own. )

Some quick ideas for using leftover turkey

Fed up of turkey sandwiches yet? We're probably coming to the limit of the time you can use leftover turkey but you're probably drowning in it, whilst not wanting to waste it. Of course, a good way to jazz up a turkey sandwich is to add some bacon, or some stuffing, or even some cheese - and toast the bread first to make it a turkey club sandwich. Yum!

Anyway, here are just a few things I make to use up what's left of the turkey. Thankfully, we don't have tons as we had a turkey crown but there is still way more meat on it than 4 people will ever eat in 10 meals, let alone one. If you are reheating the turkey in anyway, don't forget to make sure it's heated right through.

Coronation turkey - this is really quick and quite a flexible recipe. It goes really well in sandwiches but if you're bored of that, then use as a filling for jacket potatoes or just have with some green salad. Look away now if you don't like fruit with meat, this is not for you!

First, chop up some turkey meat into bite sized pieces. I don't weigh how much I've got, I just cut off enough to feed however many people are eating. Finely chop an onion and cook in 1-2tbsp oil for a couple of mins without browning it. Add some mild curry powder (about 1 tbsp) or some curry paste and cook for another minute, stirring. Then, add 1 tbsp tomato puree or ketchup, a hefty dash of lemon (or lime) juice, and about 125ml of chicken stock, from a cube or proper stock. The tomato is entirely optional, leave it out if you don't want the finished result to look quite orangey. Simmer this for about 10 mins until you have quite a thick sauce. In the meantime, chop up some dried apricots and add to the turkey. If you don't have them, use raisins or sultanas instead, or even some chopped fresh apple. Once the sauce is done, cool the sauce. If you're in a rush, run some cold water into your washing up bowl, plunge the pan into that and it will be cool in about 10 mins. Now add mayonnaise (low fat will be fine) and natural yogurt in roughly equal quantities. If you're making for 4, you'll probably need about 200-250ml of each but stir it into the cooled sauce and see if you like the consistency. Taste and season, pour over the turkey and fruit mix, stir in and serve. Add some flaked almonds if you really want and have some to hand.

Turkey tacos or fajitas - This is really quick and a nice way to serve up an informal meal with a bit of spice! First, slice up some turkey meat, some onion (red or white but red looks best), and 2-3 peppers of any sort (preferably a mixture of colours). You can also use sliced mushrooms, sliced baby sweetcorn or any leftover veg that you think might go. Heat some oil in a pan or wok and add the turkey, stirring for a few minutes, then add some chilli powder, ground coriander and ground cumin. Again, I tend to do this by eye, but usually about a teaspoon of each. Stir to cover the turkey and let the spices cook without burning, then add the veg. Cook for a few minutes until the veg are softened. Then heat tacos or some tortillas according to the instructions.  Put everything out on a table in dishes, adding some pots of other things you'd like to add - such as grated cheese, sour cream (though greek yogurt will do), perhaps some salsa or some guacamole. Everyone can help themselves and build their own fajita or taco.

Turkey and ham pie - brilliant if you have leftover gammon too but you can add any ham and again, you can adapt it to what you have left. It takes longer to make but it's quick to prepare, then you can relax whilst it bakes. Chop up as much turkey and ham leftovers as you want to use into bite sized pieces. Finely chop an onion and cook it in some butter for a few minutes, then add some sliced mushrooms and cook until  golden brown. Next, either make a white sauce (like Delia's all-in-one white sauce, which I use a lot) or if you have leftover cream, add that to the mushrooms and onions, bring to the boil and simmer gently until it thickens. Mix everything together - if you have other leftover veg, you could add that too - leeks, sweetcorn, carrots, broccoli are all good. Pour into a baking dish, and cover with pastry. If you have an oblong dish and ready rolled pastry sheets, it should be as simple as putting the pastry on top, sealing the edges and then making a small hole for the steam to escape in the middle. Brush with beaten egg then bake at 220C for about 20 minutes, then cook for a further 15-20 mins at 180C.

If you have any quick and easy yummy recipes for leftover turkey, add them in the comments below or blog about them and link away in the comments.

Either way, that turkey will be gone in no time!

Meal Planning Monday

I hope you're all back in a routine now that everyone seems to have gone back to school, preschool or work. I'm loving it - and having a meal plan is so useful. Not having had one for a couple of weeks really showed me the benefits - I was constantly trying to work out what we were going to eat and if we needed to buy anything. A little effort with the meal plan and I know what we are eating when, I can base my shopping list on it and there are fewer trips to the supermarket. I am a total convert!