Meal Planning Monday: 13th June 2016

No meal plan from us last week - shocking, I know! And it definitely showed in my haphazard approach to the week. We ended up with fish and chips one night, and a pizza night too. Onwards and upwards this week, once Harry wakes up we're off to Aldi to do what will hopefully not be an expensive shop.

I'm doing some baking this week - jam tarts as prep for Brownie holiday which is heading fast towards us. We're Alice in Wonderland themed, and it's just so long since I made jam tarts that I thought I'd better have a trial run. Allergies mean they'll be raspberry jam and dairy free.

My slow cooker is out at the moment for a big batch of my Chorizo and butternut squash chilli - I've not used it for a couple of weeks and have definitely missed the ease of big batch cooks, I think it'll be out three times this week!

Breakfasts: oddly for me I've been really enjoying eggs for breakfast: soft boiled, mashed onto a slice of wholemeal toast with some salt and pepper. I have to eat it stood up in the kitchen so it's not around Harry, but that's what Bing bunny is for, yes?

Lunches: this week is Aldi smoked salmon with salad. And possibly some couscous.

Suppers:

Monday - Chorizo and butternut squash chilli (I'll be having with cauliflower rice)

Tuesday - leftover chilli

Wednesday - Tomato, veg and lentil pasta (I'll be having with courgetti)

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Slow cooked beef brisket (unseasonal I know, but beef is on special at Aldi this week)

So that's our week, wonderful slow cooker to the rescue!

An InLinkz Link-up

Chicken and butternut squash stew: a dairy free recipe

This stew is such a lovely autumnal dish, full of warming flavours, sweet root veggies, and enough chicken that you know it's there - but that doesn't cost a fortune. In fact, it's only got chicken in it because I defrosted some to make a casserole on Sunday, and then dropped the pot of cumin onto the slow cooker and smashed it. Go me! Or something. I wanted something that was suitable for us all, and a replacement for the casserole I had in mind.

This was inspired by a Squash, chicken and couscous recipe at BBC Good Food - but, then heavily adapted as I could see that the squash was never going to cook, and I wanted to use some different ingredients as that was what we had. 

M said that he'd like this with pasta - so that's how he's having it tonight, I preferred it over a portion of curly kale. There's something about the pairing of a rich tomato based sauce with the iron-yness (it's a word) of dark green veggies. 

Chicken and butternut squash stew

Dairy free

Serves 5

Fry light spray (you could use olive oil - about a tablespoon)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 red chilli (or appropriate amount of lazy chills)

2 red onions, peeled and diced

2 tbsp harrisa paste

1 tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

2 chicken breasts, diced

2-3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 butternut squash, roasted in advance

140g of quinoa, washed in advance

1 punnet (or thereabouts) of cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 litre passata

Fresh coriander to serve (lots if you're me, none if you're M)

Salt and pepper 

Spray a large pan with the Fry light, and add the garlic, and chilli, gently frying until you can smell them

Add the onions and spices and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes - you want the onions completely soft, but not caramelised

Add the chicken and brown off - about 8 minutes

Add the veggies, soaked quinoa, cherry tomatoes and passata

Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the veggies are soft, and the quinoa cooked through. It took about half an hour

Serve as you like - either as it is, or with green veggies, or pasta and a liberal sprinkling of that coriander. 

This is today's Blog Every Day November post - on the prompt Food Glorious Food. 

Butternut squash & tomato pasta: A dairy free, soya free CMPA weaning recipe

Butternut squash & tomato is a lovely combination for weaning, sweet and flavourful and one of Harry's favourites. I make this in batches, usually while he naps, and freeze it in portion pots for quick and easy lunches along the line.

This is also the sauce I use on his 'cheesy' polenta chips, and I also use it with chicken meatballs I make him. Harry seems to prefer his food to be a bit wet so this is a great moist-maker (to quote Ross Geller) 

I also make an adult version of this with salt, pepper, a pinch of chilli and lots of crispy bacon: Dairy free Butternut squash and bacon pasta

Butternut squash & tomato pasta

Dairy free, soya free - suitable for CMPA

Weaning recipe
Makes 20 baby portions

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 red onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic diced or crushed

1/2 tsp dried thyme 

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into a 2cm or so dice

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 carton passata

1tsp tomato puree

Oatly cream

Violife cheese - I use 2 slices of the Mozzarella style, finely chopped

In a large pan, warm the oil and add the onion, garlic, butternut squash and dried thyme - cook gently over a medium heat for 10 minutes, until the onion starts to go translucent

Add the tin of tomatoes, pasta and tomato puree. Fill the tomato tin half full of water and add that to the pan too

Bring to a gentle simmer, pop a lid on the pan and cook for 30 minutes

Remove from the heat - and add 2 tablespoons of Oatly cream and stir through the sauce

Add the Violife cheese and stir through.

If you are doing purees as your weaning method, then let this cool down before blitzing. If you're doing baby led weaning then you can serve it as is.

I make up a batch of this, leave it to cool, portion it off and then freeze so it's ready to go for a quick lunch or supper. I use this from Nuby as initially one, now 2 of these is a perfect Harry sized portion.

If you find prepping butternut squash a faff - you have a couple of options. Tesco and Waitrose/ Ocado both sell it frozen. Or, have a look at this post for my super easy way to prep it. 

Butternut Squash & Bacon pasta - dairy free, syn free

 

Butternut squash and bacon pasta is a current favourite pasta sauce - dairy free, and low syn or even syn free. I often have it on brocolli instead of pasta if I'm feeling in need of a lighter supper, or on pasta it's great comfort food. I vary it for Harry too, and will pop that down below.

First off butternut squash is an evil vegetable - I used to but the prepared, frozen one from Tesco or Waitrose, but now we shop at Aldi I've found a way to prepare it avoiding the dreaded chopping and peeling.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees 
Cut your squash in half, and put it cut side down on a baking sheet
Roast in the oven for 45 minutes
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes
The skin should peel straight off - with very little effort on your part

If you're worried about the squash sticking to your baking sheet then I use non-stick Bacofoil and a little Fry light on the cut side of the squash

Butternut Squash and Bacon pasta - serves 4

1 Butternut squash (about 500g) prepped as above
1 red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
200g smoked bacon lardons or 200g lean bacon - grilled until slightly crispy
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 carton (500g) passata
Large splodge tomato puree
1 tsp dried thyme (1 tablespoon of fresh)
Spray Fry light or olive oil
Pepper

Spray your pan with Fry light, and cook the onion, garlic, and thyme for 5 minutes until slightly softened
Add the tomatoes, passata and tomato puree and bring to a gentle boil
Stir in the butternut squash and bacon
Cook down for 15 minutes or until a thick, pulpy sauce
Taste and season with pepper - I don't add salt as the bacon is salty

 Serve either with pasta, or a bowlful of steamed brocolli

Slimming world maths - if you're using lean back bacon it's syn free. This does 4 generous portions - which works out at 4 syns per portion. 

If I'm making this for Harry, I use olive oil, omit the bacon and add Violife cheese and Oatly cream. The butternut squash is soft enough cooked this way for it to be easy for him to eat.

I'm entering this into Pasta please, which is Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes challenge, being hosted by Jen's Food this month

Stuffed butternut squash - a Slimming World recipe

I'm not doing too badly at Slimming World - steadily losing a pound or so a week. I struggle with snacks, as there's only so much fruit that is appealing and in season at this time of year and as I can't have dairy products, lots of the suggested snacky bits are off the table for me.

I'm finding lots of inspiration for recipes on line, and either adapting things like paella, or using other people's slimming world recipes as a starting point for my own tastes. I've set up a Pinterest board for recipes that already are suitable, or I think could be adapted... it's here, and if you'd like to be added to submit either things you've tried or dishes you've found online then drop me a line in the comments, or via email.

This is one of those recipes - adapted from here. I ended up making a few changes, based mainly on the fact that I tend not to shop specifically for a recipe any longer - see this post for why. I actually really enjoyed it and would definitely make it again. I would also say that for us, this easily did 4 portions, plus loads of the topping for the freezer.

If you're doing SP (which I haven't yet) I think this would work as there's no carbs in there. If you know SP well, and could comment below, that'd be terrific. 

Stuffed Butternut squash

1 butternut squash, halved lengthways
300g chicken breast (it was one of that week's Special buys at Aldi, otherwise I'd have used thighs)
1 red onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 sticks of celery finely diced
1 large (or 2 small) carrots, finely diced
1 red & 1 yellow pepper, finely diced
250g (or so) mushrooms, quartered
Big splodge tomato puree
1/2 head cauliflower, whizzed up to rice in the food processor
3/4 pint veg stock (I use the low salt bouillon from Marigold)
2 tsp paprika - I think the sweet smoked paprika would taste fantastic, but I don't have any in
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt & Pepper
Fry light
If you have it, then cheese from your HEA - we used a little pecorino as it's sheeps cheese and Harry seems to be able to tolerate this.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees
Halve the butternut squash, scoop out and discard the seeds* and then scoop out some of the flesh to make a nice sized hollow for the filling. Dice this and put it to one side for the filling
Season the 2 halves of squash, spray with fry light and put, skin-side down on a baking sheet - bake for 20 minutes or so

Your veg and chicken all want to be diced about the same size. Spray a large pan with fry light, and soften the onion, garlic, celery and carrot for about 10 minutes. If it starts to stick add a splash of water
Add the chicken and cook until it's lightly browned
Add the rest of the veggies - peppers, mushrooms and butternut squash
Pop in the tomato puree, spices and chicken stock
Add the cauliflower, give everything a good stir, turn the heat down and let it simmer uncovered.

Now I should say this made bucketloads - enough to freeze at least half for another day. Which is great as we enjoyed it. It'd also be lovely with a baked potato, and if you had a HEA (and aren't dairy free) then some feta or halloumi would be amazing. 

Fill the butternut squash halves with the chicken mixture, top with the cheese if you're using it. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty/ browned.

Serve with steamed greens - I had kale and brocolli.

Meal Planning Monday - a person can develop a bad, bad cold...

This weeks learning about being a parent - baby groups = lots of germs. Germs = a poorly baby. Poorly baby that sneezes in your face = a poorly mummy and daddy. So from the 'unclean' house here's our, very gently, hopefully healing meal plan for the week. One where the baby will eat best!

We're on week 2 of our switch to Aldi, and it's still going well. The only dud product thus far is the own brand weetabix which apparently tastes like cardboard. The (much contended on facebook) meat is all really good quality, and the fruit and veg are lovely. All good thus far.

Harry's doing really well in terms of his weight and we've added in a proper supper. I knew he was poorly this week when he was off his food and then wanted to be spoon fed. He's never let me feed him porridge, and the poor love just couldn't cope with doing it himself. Hugs all around.

Breakfasts - as always are porridge and fruit for me. I'm going to do a post on Harry's breakfasts as the mix of pancakes, mini omlettes, and porridge fingers seems to be a sure fire hit.

Lunches - I've made a yummy batch of syn free minestrone soup for my lunches which I'm really looking forward to feeling well enough to eat. Harry has the usual fishcakes, veggies, and some leftover chicken casserole.

Suppers 

Monday - I've got a little turkey breast to roast (ostensibly so that Harry can have some pieces of meat with his lunches) and we'll probably have that with some plain baked potatoes and lots of veggies to up our vitamin C to fight of these lurgies.

Tuesday - leftover turkey, pretty much the same again. The nice thing about these dinners is we eat with Harry (depending on M being home) as this way he's eating the same as us. The grin on his face if you're eating what he is, is one of the simple ways that Baby led weaning is a winner for me.

Wednesay - oddly I stocked up the freezer with some butternut squash pasta for Harry (it's always really useful to have some emergency meals for when dinner for us needs to be later) and I think I'm going to remake it for us, with (at the suggestion of Dawn and Mandy on the facebook page) some lardons added for the benefit of the resident carnivore.

Thursday - hopefully leftovers

Friday - Veggie lasagne was supposed to be made this weekend, using a butternut squash puree to replace the cheese sauce, so I think we'll give that a go then. Hopefully there'll be freezable (it's a word) leftovers

Saturday - Gammon steaks, roasties and veg (I'm also having that pineapple)

Sunday - Tomato pasta I think - maybe there'll be some lardons left

That's our week, what are your choices when you're all under the weather? And do you have to placate a resident carnivore in your meal plans too? All suggestions welcomed.

As always, don't forget to pop on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to. I'm off to mainline some vitamin C and feel sorry for myself over Call the Midwife.

Souper soup on Saturdays

This week's soup was a revelation - and that's not entirely an understatement. Faced with either leek and potato or a combination of sweet potato and butternut squash, I keenly went for the latter. Leek and potato just never excites me, it's not something I'd choose or buy and may be something I need to get my head around. Especially while leeks are cheap.

I had a squiz around those interwebs for a recipe for sweet potato and butternut squash as all my ideas involved a heavy kick of chilli and ginger and this was to be in part for M's parents who aren't really chilli fans. One recipe stood out as either going to be a raging success or an utter diaster and clearly beset by the type of confidence that I can't normally muster up I went for it. Helped in part by the fact that the original recipe didn't require the butternut squash to be peeled.

We have one of those internets that works perfectly in 90% of the house, but blankly refuses to in the kitchen, as such - this was my take on the recipe I found.

Sweet potato and butternut squash soup

Half a butternut squash, chopped up into chunks about 2 - 3 inches square (or as square as a butternut squash will allow)
 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped up into biggish peices
Half teaspoon cinammon
Half teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 litre of veg stock (I used a cube)
Half a cup of marsala wine

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Prep your veggies - and the best news - don't peel the squash (at this point I did do a little dance as I hate peeling butternut squash with a passion). Toss in the olive oil, cinammon and nutmeg. Roast in the hot oven until they've soft enough to squash easily
Pop the now soft veggies in a big saucepan, and add half the stock. Blitz with a hand blender until you get a nice thick puree. Add the rest of the stock, bring to a gentle boil and add the marsala
Allow to simmer gently for a few minutes, then serve with wholemeal bread and butter.

Meal Planning Monday: the cold snap edition

It's a week at home *does a little dance* I tell you, in my mind there could be little worse than being away from home when the weather's like this and all you want to do is cwtch up in cosy clothes, with cups of tea and chunks of parkin. So, today finds me baking said parkin (recipe up tomorrow) and roasting a joint of pork. 

It's half term this week, a week later than usual which threw us all Brownies and Guides wise, but, nonetheless planning meetings have been put in the diary - this time we're combining the Guides one with a curry and the Brownies one with pots of tea. No flaws in either of those plans! 

Breakfasts: By rights I should be on porridge, but a BOGOF meant that I still have yoghurts to eat, so I'll be on the yoghurt, fruit and a sprinkle of granola bandwagon. 

Lunches: I've got the definitive One Chicken many ways post coming up later this week (Wednesday I think) and when I made the soup from the stock and last couple of portions of shredded chicken I froze half, so I'll be having that to keep me warm. As it's got barley in it there's no need for bread. 

Dinners:

Monday: well we'll have leftover roast pork, so that with baked potatoes, runner beans and possibly corn on the cob as there is a couple of sorry cobs in the salad tray of the fridge.

Tuesday: I'm at the Guide meeting and will be having curry, but I thought I'd do a variation on this recipe, that I caught the end of on the telly this morning with the leftover shredded pork - I'll be changing it up significantly so will pop it up here. 

Wednesday: Well hopefully leftover pork and bean 'thing'

Thursday: I froze some of our favourite chorizo, butternut squash and cannelini bean chilli last time I made it, so I think we'll have that.

Friday: I think we'll see what Friday brings, both weather wise, time wise, work wise and energy wise. 

So that's my Meal Plan for this week, quite a lot of comfort food on there, and a fair amount of leftovers. Don't forget to hop on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is making. 

Pumpkin soup? No, pumpkin and apple traybake

It's definitely that time of year again - there's a distinct chill in the air, it's getting dark earlier and the shops are filled with oranges, greens and blacks - offering you your opportunity to dress as a witch, wizard or goblin.

I love that pumpkins make much more of an appearance in the shops now, a short time spent in America as a child mean I have memories of those very traditional Halloween celebrations. There are photos of me and my sister, hand in hand in our nurse and cookie monster costumes. And no, you don't get to see them.

I've not tried my hand at pumpkin carving - I'm not entirely sure my knife skills are anywhere near good enough to create the kind of result that I want in my head. So, I'm going to stick with baking. I'd bought a pumpkin to roast and use for this recipe that I've been thinking bout for a while. My plan was to split and roast it, then scoop out the warm insides - but then... I found pumpkin puree in Waitrose! Hurrah! Quick and easy and now I can add pumpkin and ginger soup to next weekends cooking.

I'd a pumpkin traybakes with a cream cheese frosting on Pinterest. I wanted to make it slightly more British so decided to use an idea from an old Delia book and layer the sponge with raw, finely sliced Bramley apples. In the Delia book it's plums layered in flapjack mix but I wanted to try it with the pumpkin sponge. I was worried it would be too wet, so cooked it for an extra 10 minutes from what I thought, and then left it to cool in the hot tin.

Spiced apple and pumpkin tray bake

1 tin pumpkin puree - or 400g of cooked and blitzed pumpkin/ butternut squash
350g of Bramley apples (that's when weighed whole, before you skin and slice them)
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
275g caster sugar (if you wanted a more toffee-ish flavour, then use soft brown sugar)
4 eggs
350g self raising flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Grease and line a small roasting tin (I used the same one as in the Snickerdoodle blondies)
Roast the pumpkin for about 45 minutes in the oven, until its soft enough to spoon out - blitz this in a food processor if you have one, if not then mash it with a potato masher
Peel, core and finely slice the apples - if you want to do this ahead of time, toss them in some lemon juice to stop them from browning

Using a mixer - or strong arms, beat the butter and sugar together
Add in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of the flour each time
Add in the flour, ginger and baking powder
Beat in the pumpkin puree (this makes the mixture a beautiful colour, a soft orangey pink)
Spread half the batter into the tin, and cover with half the apple slices
Add the rest of the cake batter, smooth the top and then sprinkle the rest of the apple over
Sprinkle your sugar over the top and then put in the oven for 45 minutes

This is a beautifully soft sponge, the tartness of the apples cutting through the sweet, slightly moist cake. The top has a little crunch from the sugar - I might switch this out for a more granulated brown sugar to add some flavour as well as texture.

I've cut this into slices rather than squares, and that gives you 16, but you could easily make it into squares and double that.

Meal Planning Monday: April showers got me down

Well I think we can all agree that it's wet, windy and miserable out there. Anyone who has good weather? If you could please just not mention it, that would be great. 

So another week of work, blogging, baking, guiding, sleeping... and so it goes on. I feel a bit like I usually do in November; slightly devoid of any inspiration. This week will be a challenge on the meal planning front, I'm sure. 

You'll be pleased to hear that baby sourdough is proving ever so slowly in the kitchen at the moment. Not quite doubled in size, but hopefully the warmth of the kitchen will keep her going. 

The other baking I've done this evening (that I will blog this week) are some granola/ energy bars for M. He runs around like nobody's business on building sites and burns up more energy daily than I'm sure I do in a week. Hopefully these should give him some oomph at 3pm when he needs that kick to get through the rest of the afternoon. They're loosely based around something I saw on River Cottage the other week, and the flapjacks I used to back as a child. 

So, this week:

Breakfasts: Cereal and Toast for M. Fruit for me, hopefully moving to sourdough (if it ever proves that is) 

Lunch: I think I'll be making soup this week - the weather is just too foul to try and manage on salad or veg sticks. 

Dinners:

Monday: Fortunately we had roast chicken tonight so tomorrow will be leftover chicken, stuffing with veggies and a baked potato. 

Tuesday: Chicken and mushroom risotto (mental note to self: get chicken stock out of freezer) and then I'll make stock from this chicken

Wednesday: Possibly a butternut squash soup using the soup, and with the sourdough and some cheese. 

Thursday: Butternut squash, chorizo and cannellini bean chilli

Friday: Leftovers of the chilli - with cornbread (don't tell M but I'm going to introduce him to the wonders of Nigella's cornbread)

Now we've got no plans next weekend, except my Mum is coming to visit, so I think I'm going to do slow roast pork, but also a bit of batch cooking, maybe a lasagne, chilli and cottage pie (we just cleared M's freezer out, there was a lot of mince). Hopefully I'll have a better handle on the sourdough so will be able to bake for Saturday morning, which will mean we can have poached eggs on toast. 

Not a terribly exciting week I'm afraid, but it's just that kind of weather really - I feel like I should be in summer skirts skipping around, but I'm wrapped up in woolies and wellies. Sad times. 

However, make sure you pop over to At Home with Mrs M and see what everyone else is up to this week. 

Meal Planning Monday: Another four day week?!

Hello there! Well this post is late, as it's Easter Monday and I kind of forgot to plan yesterday. Oops!

Another week in the pantry and it's veg box week so we're looking forward to new supplies. Owing to an earlier migraine M is in charge of shopping, and I'm sat here under dimmed lights typing slowly with one eye shut. It's an attractive look I'm sure you'll agree.

Fortunately it's another four day week, and I'm based in the office this week so hopefully it'll be fairly straightforward.

M's mum sent us home with several margarine tubs, one of Easter cake, one of millionaire's shortbread, and one of macaroon slices (note: macaroon NOT macaron). So there's no need to bake this week.

I watched a River Cottage programme on breakfasts last night, and was shamed by M into admitting my tendency to choose an extra half hour in bed over my planned yoghurt and fruit. As I'm trying to be more healthy generally (adding exercise: swimming, walking and running last week)I thought that I should probably address this. The River Cottage programme made lots of suggestions - this week I'm going to try porridge and see how that goes. I would really like a Bircher muesli recipe, but I have a long history of utter failure with that so porridge is more likely to be successful.

Lunches will be houmous and vegetable sticks for me.

Monday:  Spaghetti carbonara

Tuesday: I'm as yet undecided - possibly Butternut squash soup, with soda bread

Wednesday: Purple sprouting broccoli, chorizo and chicken pasta (this is a Riverford recipe that I've adapted slightly so I'll blog at some point if I remember to take piccies)

Thursday: Leftovers, either soup or pasta as I'm in Swindon all day so will be tired.

Friday: I've been turning over a pasta recipe with turkey/ chicken, feta, tomatoes and parsley in my head. I'm not sure what to call it or if it'll even work, but it's there, germinating as ideas go. I'll be sure to update if it's a success, and never mention it again if it's not.

I'm hoping to spend my Saturday with my very pregnant sister - not least as she's promised to let me play with her KitchenAid! Hurrah! M thinks he will take the opportunity to go back to his parents again, so I think I might just hoick something out of the freezer.

Sunday - for once we have no plans so I'd quite like to hibernate, but I'm sure that won't be on the cards. Maybe roast chicken on the food front though so that we can have a nice, easy leftovers week next week.

So that's this week in the Pantry - posts to come on slutty brownies, and individual (if late) simnel cakes - well you can always bookmark them for next year!

Be sure to head over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to.

Meal planning Monday: would anyone else like to do this for me?

Now, don't get me wrong, I love to cook. I write a food blog, that much is obvious. I am the woman who, 5 weeks in to a chronic migraine thought making 17 jars of marmalade was a good move. Today, this week, I just can't be bothered. Quite frankly my student diet of pasta/ marmite on toast for the whole week would be fine. If I weren't trying to be healthy. It seems even having a reason to be healthy isn't motivation enough to want to cook when you're flat out exhausted. It's obviously because I'm back at work and what's left of the gray matter is working again. But still, cooking? Eating? Meh! Not so much.

I think in part it comes down to that time of year as well, the fresh colours of daffodils, and crocuses aren't out yet, the days are getting interminably slowly longer, it's too cold, too grey, and I just feel bleurgh. Interestingly since leaving hospital I've been taking supplements and I'm hoping that they're going to start taking effect, but as anyone knows they need to be backed up by a nutritious diet. So, incredibly slowly and with much prevarication, here is this week's meal plan (deliberately styled to restock my freezer with easy midweek meals):

Monday: Spaghetti bolognaise, with cabbage instead of pasta for me

Tuesday: Chicken, leek, butternut squash and barley casserole

Wednesday: Butternut squash, chorizo and cannelini bean chilli

Thursday: Leftovers from one of the above

Friday: As M will be at his parents, probably steamed fish and greens

I'm seeing a friend who's a pescatarian at the weekend, so I'm not sure what I'm cooking. Or even if I'm cooking! I have promised M's parents a roast at mine (probably that pork shoulder again) on Sunday as they're helping to ready his house to go on the market.

Baking wise, I've got a salted caramel and chocolate brownie recipe to try out to take to a team meeting on Friday as a thank you for my colleagues who have picked up my classes while Mr migraine has left me indisposed. I also really fancy some dark chocolate so am going to make some triple chocolate cookies from a scribbled recipe I got at a Guiders weekend some years back. Far too good for Guides though! Although I suspect they would be an actual cure for any camp injury/ homesickness!

I'm also going to restart my starter. Mabel is sadly no longer with us, and in lieu of anyone having a starter that has a baby I could pinch, I shall start my own. Or something *vague*

Lunch wise, I really fancy a good soup but Riverford are sending me salady veg this week so it'll be homemade aubergine houmous and crudites.

Breakfast is still porridge, I am loving it and I think it's helping my calcium levels too as I have upped it from water to half and half water and milk. With a big dollop of unsweetened, stewed apples, a pinch of cinnamon and a sprinkle of dark brown soft sugar. I'm a happy bunny till lunchtime.

Well, I'd better do the online shop to get this lot started I suppose. D'you think M will do the ironing if I bribe him with a triple chocolate cookie?

Now, be sure to pop over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to

Baby it's cold outside: Butternut Squash, chicken and barley casserole

It's snowed. Hurrah. I am over the prettiness in record time this year (without nary a snowball fight nor even a snoman) owing to this stupid *insert swearing here* migraine which is now on its sixth week of hanging around. However, the fact that I would miserably cocoon myself in my duvet and hibernate until spring arrives doesn't help M, who needs to eat. As I *suppose* do I. This means that I got up on my steps (yes, I'm that short) and got the slow cooker out of the top of the cupboard. Casserole it is.

I like casserole done in the slow cooker for lots of reasons. You can chuck stuff in, first thing in the morning and when you get home, shazam! Dinner is ready. Pretty much infallible, you can chuck most inseason ingredients in the dish, add some stock and then there you are, casserole. Increase your veggies, to make it healthier, to up the comfort factor add some philly cheese, double cream, or even Greek yoghurt towards the end of cooking.

This is a favourite recipe of mine, based on a long lost recipe card from a supermarket. In fact I have to tell you that I have no idea if it resembles the original any longer. There is plenty you could do differently, and if you don't have a slow cooker it transfers beautifully to a hob on a low heat or an oven. If I wanted to be fancy (as in serve it up to anyone other than myself and M) I'd flour and brown the chicken off in a frying pan first. I always serve this with greens, steamed lightly. This recipe easily serves 6 and it freezes beautifully.

Pantry casserole

350g chicken thigh fillets, chopped into bite size pieces and either, floured and browned off in a pan, or thrown, sleepily into the slow cooker
1 Butternut squash, peeled and diced (although that said, as my wrist - yes, still broken - wouldn't let me get a knife through it I chopped it up into siz pieces and put those through the food processor)
4 big leeks, sliced into pound coin thicknesses
750ml(ish) chicken stock - either from a leftover roast, or a stock cube. Just watch your salt if it's a cube
Half a mug (about 100g) of barley
150g boursin garlic and herb soft cheese
Salt and pepper

Prep your veggies, and chicken and put these in the slow cooker.
Cover with the stock
Add the barley and season with salt and pepper
Cook on high for about 4 hours, then add the cheese, and stir in, and cook for another 2 hours on low

This results in soft, yielding meat, sweet vegetables and a slightly creamy gravy. The perfect dinner for when it's cold outside *belts*

Meal Planning Monday: a somewhat truncated week in the pantry

Hello. I've had a couple of weeks off meal planning as life has just been too hectic here at Pantry HQ. That's not to say that meal planning hasn't been taking place - it has to, in order for me to budget and shop, but it's had to be flexible as I'm still in the completely exhausted camp. Any suggestions for overcoming permanent and overwhelming tiredness are incredibly welcome.

This week and next week are somewhat short weeks in the Pantry due to my work schedule, once again I'll be at the mercy of Premier Inn and their fantastic breakfasts, yet somewhat dubious and bland dinner menus. That said, the steak was lovely last time but I'll start mooing if I eat steak every night!

Monday: Chorizo, Butternut Squash and Cannelini bean chilli (possibly with cornbread depending on when I get in tomorrow)

Tuesday: Probably leftovers, although if not it'll be freezer surprise.

Wednesday - Thursday I'll be working away

Friday: I have a packet of lovely local bacon to use, so possibly Nigella's carbonara

Saturday: I'm not sure what we have planned this weekend so possibly a casserole of some description and on Sunday I've promised Mark the roast he missed out on tonight.

So that's us, hopefully the freezer surprise, and using up what's in the fridge and pantry will keep costs down, as well as make life a bit easier for me. Be sure to head on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what she and everyone else is up to.

Salad Days: Beetroot, green bean and feta salad

The eagle (owl) eyed amongst you will notice that there is, no photo of this meal. That is because this is quite possible the least photogenic thing I have ever made. Literally. I always thought that casseroles with their brown colours and squishy ingredients were unattractive, but that was before I made this salad. To read the ingredients you would think (as did I) that it had the potential to be stunning, that the verdant greens of the leaves and beans would contrast stunningly with the white goat's cheese and ruby beetroot, all annointed by the faint pink blush of the dressing.

However what I ended up was a tasty mush of goats cheese squished over the beans and leaves, with the beetroot that bloody red that's almost black. The Chanel Rouge Noir of vegetables. I would absolutely recommend you make and try this salad as it is gorgeously tasty, but photograph the ingredients beforehand - do some tasteful arranging on a wooden chopping board, or worktop.

This recipe is a Riverford veg one. I came to it following the second delivery this season of beetroot. I cooked the first batch and left it in the oven to cool, wrapped in foil. At which point I promptly forgot about it for the best part of the rest of the week. Yes, my name is Penelope and I have scatty, slatternish tendencies. What a waste! I was so cross with myself as I love beetroot - there's something about the earthiness of the flavour that seems such a contrast to it's sweetness - which is why I've often used it in cakes, in a similar way to the courgette brownies I made here - which, oddly was also a Riverford recipe.

On a side note, what's quite nice about going back to that post is that my photography skills are actually beginning to improve - at least slightly!

So today Penelope's Pantry brings you... the world's least attractive salad:

Summer salad with beetroot, goat’s cheese + Frenchbeans

Roast or boil the beetroot - to do that, wash and trim them (keep the leaves for the salad) then place in a dish in a preheated oven (200 degreesish) for about 45 minutes. Riverford suggest adding water to the dish and covering with foil - but in the Pantry we fly by the seat of our pants and just wallop them in and take them out when they're softened. This will take about 45-60 mins, depending on size Oh and if you don't want to go out looking like you've committed murder, then wear clean marigolds, or latex gloves. Scrubbing with salt and lemon juice works if you ignore this advice. Said as one who knows!

Ingredients

300g mixed summer salad leaves

150g French beans, trimmed

200g cooked beetroot, cut into 2cm cubes

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp good-quality red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

Salt + pepper

100g soft goat’s cheese, crumbled

Salad leaves - I used the beetroot tops and some bagged salad that had come in my Riverford box last week.

Method

1. Wash the salad leaves and dry well. Cook the beans in boiling salted water for 3–4 mins, until just tender, then drain, refresh in cold water and drain again.

2. Put them in a large bowl with the salad leaves and beetroot.

3. Whisk the olive oil, vinegar and some seasoning together to make a dressing.

4. Toss with the salad then sprinkle with goat’s cheese.

Step 4 is where I came unstuck. My goat's cheese didn't exactly sprinkle per se. More squished. Maybe you have a more gentle touch than me. Here's hoping yours doesn't turn out mushy as it's lovely, really fantastic contrasting tastes and textuertures.

I used the beetroot while still warm, partly due to time pressures, partly because that was what I fancied. As the other ingredients were fridge cold or room temperature this again made for a nice contrast.

The Riverford recipe suggests that this serves 4 as an accompaniment to lamb - but I had it as a standalone dish, but this meant it did 2 portions instead of the 4.

Other suggestions are to swap out the beetroot when it's not in season for butternut squash and I'll definitely be trying that, although I'll have to ask a beauty blogger for some help with nail polish names to match that!

Next up - some jams and excitingly my first jellies; plum, and crabapple and mint.  

Those you've known, and lost still walk behind you

A post brought to you by sadness I'm afraid. But I guess it's better than no post at all which is all I've managed of late. Sorry about that. Shocking I know. But life, well just gets in the way sometimes.

So, last weekend I lost my Grandpa, which was a bit of a shock to the system, not least as it went hand-in-hand with a rejection for a job that I'm more than qualified to do (and that internal politics seemed to have more than a slight hand in the outcome of) Despite being knocked sideways by the joint devastation, over the week I've tried (and just about managed) to pull myself together, or at least together enough so that no one notices the cracks.

Anyway, some cathartic batch cooking was in order, as for some reason, bread products and chicken stock seem to make up most of my freezer at the moment, and I seem to be largely surviving on hot cross buns (Morrison's own brand, not so hot - to0 little spicing, and no sweetness despite a lot of fruit, and believe me if I want hot cross buns without sugar, I can make my own!)

The first dish to be tackled is Waitrose's Chorizo, Bean, Pepper and Butternut squash chilli. Catchy title Waitrose. It's easy enough to make, a one pot meal, and freezes up beautifully.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
225g Spanish chorizo (from the deli counter), peeled and diced
1 large red chilli, chopped
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp dark brown muscovado sugar
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 butternut squash or pumpkin, about 500g peeled weight, deseeded and cut into 3-4cm dice
410g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
20g pack fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method
1.Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the chorizo and red chilli, and cook for a further minute until the chorizo releases its red juices.
2.Add the tomatoes, sugar, pepper and 150ml cold water. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
3.Stir in the squash, cover and simmer for a further 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender. Finally, add the cannellini beans, simmer for 5 minutes and stir in the parsley. Serve immediately

My notes:

I omit the sugar, and have no parsley today. The dish is plenty sweet enough from the squash, tomatoes and pepper and won't suffer from the lack of parsley.

I find the chorizo and chilli give it a good heat, so serve with yoghurt, soured cream or cheese to mellow that out.

Don't forget to peel the chorizo.

Also, I find that these easily stretches to 6 servings without stinting.

It freezes up beautifully aswell, I just take it out either the night before or the morning I want it for dinner, leave it on the side and it's easy enough to heat it through on the hob.

Next to be tackled is an Atul Kochher Malay lamb curry from Saturday Kitchen (yes, I still nurse a prolific crush on James Martin. Still being since University when he lived down the road from me.)

The title of this post is brought to you courtesy of Spring Awakening. Well I'm feeling sad, what else am I going to be listening to? And which was also what I quoted when I wrote to my Grandpa after my Nanny died. I guess I know that they have found each other now.

Chorizo, Bean, Butternut Squash and Pepper chilli

Now I know that this isn’t particularly festive and for that I apologise. I know that I owe you pictures of iced Christmas cakes, and truly meant to photograph my Christmas dinner for you, but couldn’t let you see the extent of my gluttony on that day. The shame just overtook me. I couldn’t even manage pudding! I know, I nearly died of shock myself. I have just made Nigella’s Christmas Morning Muffins, albeit a few days late as I had some cranberries and orange knocking around having failed to make her Cornbread stuffing from Feast before going home for Christmas. I got as far as making the cornbread, but just ended up eating it out of the baking tray. I know, I’m never going to stay in these jeans if I’m not careful. I think the cold means I’m burning off more calories though – if that’s not the case, just let me delude myself, at least until my favourite denim won’t do up.

Anyhow, I noticed that this has been on my ‘To cook’ list for ages now, which is a bit of a fib as I’ve been cooking and eating it regularly for the last couple of months.

It’s a Waitrose.com recipe and without wishing to be sycophantic, I have to say that the recipes on their website seem to be largely infallible. Their chicken, butternut squash and barley casserole is a favourite of mine, as are their banana and chocolate muffins and each time I try something new I seem to like it. Clearly I am a Waitrose girl at heart (albeit on an Asda salary!)

Much like the Lentil ragu of recent months this is one of those recipes that another foodie tried and recommended and as such it’s going great guns around the net. I have to say it’s shockingly easy, a complete one-pot dish and a great midweek dinner. Despite being a chilli, made as described it’s not at all hot. In fact each time I make it I actually think I should add more chilli, but haven’t remembered to as yet. I also haven’t served it with rice as I tend to find it has enough carby-ness (it’s a word) without any addition, although I did serve it with cornbread that I made up with every intention of making into a Nigella stuffing, but just necver got around to! I’m going to try a different version of cornbread tonight, one with a bit more kick as the plain Nigella version is at once salty and sweet and as such doesn’t quite sit right with me. I also omit the sugar as I find butternut squash plenty sweet by itself. Yes I know I routinely add maple syrup to soup, but it’s my blog, I’m allowed to be difficult. Anyway, that’s enough rambling, here’s the link to the recipe on the Waitrose site, and my annotated version below.

Chorizo, Bean, Pepper and Butternut Squash Chilli (with my annotations in italics)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
225g Spanish chorizo (from the deli counter), peeled and diced
1 large red chilli, chopped – I use one hotter chilli, de-seeded, but will up this to 2 next time.
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 butternut squash or pumpkin, about 500g peeled weight, deseeded and cut into 3-4cm dice – this works out at about half an average butternut squash, so I peeled and chopped the whole thing and froze one half for the next month.
410g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed – now for some unknown reason Asda only sell tinned beans in 300g tins so after much deliberating I just added 600g. Contrary to what I expected it didn’t taste unnecessarily ‘bulked out’ with beans, in the way I remember eating casseroles as a child so don’t worry about that.
20g pack fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped – Have I mentioned that I just buy those huge bunches of parsley, coriander and mint from the ‘ethnic veg’ section of the supermarket and freeze them so that I can just add fresh herbs when I need them. In the winter there’s nothing in the garden and to buy those little plastic packs of them is ridiculously expensive. Frozen taste just fine.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the chorizo and red chilli, and cook for a further minute until the chorizo releases its red juices.

2. Add the tomatoes, sugar, pepper and 150ml cold water. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the squash, cover and simmer for a further 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender. Finally, add the cannellini beans, simmer for 5 minutes and stir in the parsley. Serve immediately

I mentioned that I served it with cornbread, I also imagine it would be nice with tortillas, soured cream and lots of grated cheese. The recipe I used for the cornbread is below, next time I’m going to google for one that’s a bit more sure of itself in the savoury department

Cornbread (known as polenta in posh supermarkets)

175g cornmeal (polenta)
125g plain flour
45g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
250ml full fat milk
1 egg
45g butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.

2. Grease your tin - I used a shallow pyrex dish, but think it would be nicer in one of my loaf tins.
3. Melt the butter and then add the milk and eggs, beat together.

4. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until combined(ish) - this is a bit like making muffins, it's never going to be perfect and that's fine.

5. Pour and scrape into your tin and bake, for 20 minutes.

As I said, I found this too boderline between salty and sweet (not that it stopped me eating it) and having googled a bit, it seems lots of recipes add chilli, creamed sweetcorn and cheese to make it more savoury, so consider this a work in progress.