Meal Planning Monday: 25th October 2016

Another week - another meal plan, and this time I'm feeling a bit on the ball for once!

Half term means the opposite for those of us with babies and toddlers to those of you with school age children. All our activities stop and we find ourselves drumming our fingers before capitulating to another trip to the choo-choo park. That said, it will only be a little while before half-term is a wonderful respite from the rigours of school so I can't and shan't complain too much.

The trees here are already dropping these leaves that a mere week or two ago were glorious reds and burnished orange. The air has a distinct chill, and we bought Harry a bobble hat at the weekend - and I'm working on bribes to get him to keep it on his head.

Breakfasts: Baked porridge this week - using this favourite recipe with the apple and cinnamon variation.

Lunches: I've just made a massive pan of Butternut squash and kale curry, which I'll blog as soon as I can get some pictures. I'll be having it with brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli.

Suppers:

Monday: Butternut squash and Kale curry for me. M's at yoga so he's got freezer surprise chilli and rice.

Tuesday: Stuffed pumpkin - normally I'd do it with butternut squash, but picked up some mini pumpkins for 89p each in Aldi and thought this would be al lovely idea

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Tomato pasta bake with dairy free garlic flatbread

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: I'm out at a Guides event till late so M will be having a pizza night. This means it'll feature pizza with pineapple as I find pineapple on pizza more than a bit peculiar.

Sunday: Chorizo and butternut squash chilli But I'll pop it in the slow cooker before church as we're turfing the back garden and have bouncy church (best invention EVER) in the afternoon.

As always, don't forget the link up:

An InLinkz Link-up

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

Meal planning Monday: Week 1, 2016

Happy new year! I've had a lovely break over Christmas and the New Year - we had M at home and a lovely family time, with my sister as well as both sets of parents. It's back to business as usual today with weigh in at Slimming World for me and a bundled up trip to the swings for Harry.

I think it's safe to say I fell off the Slimming World wagon over Christmas - my mother-in-law is wonderful for finding allergy friendly treats for me, and she even went to the trouble to make me dairy free brandy butter which was amazing. It would have been rude not to heavily sample everything! This does mean a 2lb gain last week and so I'm back with my Food optimising as of this morning.

Breakfasts: I've been reading Oh She glows and am going to try being a bit more inventive with my porridge from now on. This morning we had her apple pie oatmeal which was lovely, although Harry reacted to something in it and Piriton has had to be located and administered. He's had nearly all the component parts before so I'm thinking it's either the chia seeds or a bigger amount of cinnamon. Truth be told I'm not sure. The irony being of course that he adored it.

Lunches: In a shocking turn of events, I've not made any soup this week. so that will need to happen. I think I'll do a carrot, chilli and red lentil concoction. Syn free with lots of goodness in there, and the lentils will make it lovely and filling.

Suppers:

Monday: Tomato, veg and red lentil pasta. It's a pack holiday favourite - I make it in massive quantities and our Brownies go loopy for it (heavily doused in cheese). I just really fancied it so will knock that up while Harry's napping this afternoon.

Tuesday: Leftover pasta

Wednesday: Chilli con carne with rice and kale for me. Just rice for M

Thursday: Leftovers in a burrito for M, with rice for me

Friday: Schnitzel, Slimming world chips and veggies

Saturday: Casserole of some description. Possibly beef

Sunday: Leftovers with baked potatoes and green veggies

That's our week - we'll use the slow cooker for the chilli, and casserole to make life easier. And there should be lots of leftovers to stock up the freezer with some quick and easy suppers.

Right, bubba is up from his nap and we need to get off to this weigh in. Wish me luck and enjoy your weeks.

Meal Planning Monday

I'm skating in by the skin of my teeth today - only writing our meal plan, after our weekly Aldi trip at half eight at night. This weekend was our annual Brownie holiday and my first time as QM for the Brownies. Harry and I returned home late yesterday afternoon - my two sole requests being that I didn't cook and that we didn't eat sausages, but let's not dwell on that. Today's been a bit of a slow one as I've tried to locate my get up and go... it does seem to have been left in the Brownie holiday house.

As it's half term - Harry and I are a bit up in the air, lost of our baby groups are on half-term break so we're going to be hoping for some sunny days where we can wrap up and go to the park.

Breakfasts: I've been a bit porridge-d out this last week so have bought some puffed wheat cereal to try with almond milk and chopped bananas.

Lunches: I'm going to make a root veg soup tomorrow - possibly in the slow cooker so I can have something hot.

Suppers:

Monday - Gammon, chips, peas and sweetcorn (a quick and easy tea for our post shop evening)

Tuesday - Butternut squash and bacon pasta

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Chilli con carne - which I'll be doing with cauliflower rice

Friday - Leftover chilli as a burrito for M, and with a baked potato for me

Saturday - Sausage hotpot

Sunday - Leftover sausage hotpot

That's our week - lots of winter warmers, easy nights with leftovers and things that can go in the slow cooker. Winners all around.

As Saturday is Halloween - we'll be making sure we're prepared with our Teal Pumpkin, and some non foodie treats for any trick or treaters with allergies. Will you be joining me? Why not have a look at some of the details of the Teal Pumpkin Project here.

Baking this week is taking a back seat after making a ridiculous amount of sugar cookies, fairy cakes, and flapjacks with the Brownies I'm all baked out!

I'm popping off over to At Home with Mrs M, and I'm an Organising Junkie to link up with their Meal Planning Mondays. Why don't you head that way too to see what everyone else is up to.

Dairy free baking - Chocolate & chilli olive oil cake

It's safe to say that between Slimming World and being dairy free I miss cake. I mentioned on Twitter last weekend that I fancied chocolate cake and lovely Jules of Butcher Baker suggested Nigella's chocolate olive oil cake. And what a good suggestion it was. Rich, yet light with a massive chocolate kick - you only needed a small slice (which is a godsend for the diet) to really feel like you'd had a good pudding. Sadly I had to foist a fair amount off on M's parents as otherwise in all likelihood I'd have been found face down in it at some point during the week.

Of course I made some changes to Nigella's recipe, because... well I'm a foodie.

Chocolate olive oil cake - serves 12

150ml olive oil - not extra virgin as the taste would be too strong
50grams cocoa powder
125ml recently boiled water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of chilli flakes, crushed with a pestle and mortar
100g plain flour
25g custard powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and line the base of a 20cm cake tin - I used one with a loose bottom
In a jug mix up the water, vanilla and cocoa powder until you get a runny paste - pop to one side for now
 Beat the sugar, olive oil and eggs until foamy - I did this for about 5 minutes on a low speed (the baby was asleep and the higher speeds seem to register with him and wake him up)
Turn the speed right down, and beat in the cocoa paste, and then the flour, custard powder, bicarb, crushed chilli flakes and salt
Pour the cake batter into the tin, and bake for 35 minutes - until a skewer comes out clean
Leave to cool, and when popped out of the tin, serve as a pudding (I had it with raspberries - and I bet Oatly creamy oat would be fabulous), or with tea for a fancy threesies. 

Meal Planning Monday: where is the Spring?

The sunshine this week had me fooled here and there - I expected it to be warmer, but no - Harry and I are as wrapped up as ever! We're in need of a change in the weather, I need it to be warmer. It's all systems go this week in the Pantry, as well as our normal baby groups, job hunting and Brownies, we've finally got Harry's allergy and dietician appointment and I'm hopeful for and looking forward to getting some support with his milk allergy.

 

Breakfasts - as always, porridge and fruit for me, and a selection from this post for Harry.

Lunches - in the absence of having any fresh soup made up, there's some split pea in the freezer which I'll pop out and retrieve tomorrow. Hopefully enough for a couple of days lunches at least and then the plan is to make a ham and pea soup with some of the leftovers from Tuesday night's supper.

Dinners -

Monday - I made a vegan vegetable lasagne - using the Deliciously Ella suggestion of pureed butternut squash instead of cheese. That worked beautifully, but her suggestion for the ragu seemed a little flat so I made my usual bolognaise, just with lots of lovely veggies instead of mince. We have the last portion for supper tomorrow.

Tuesday - Sainsburys have their ham joints on special so we're going to have roast gammon, roast potatoes and veggies

Wednesday - leftover ham, with eggs, baked potatoes and peas

Thursday - Ham and mushroom omlettes

Friday - Tomato pasta (I made double last week and have frozen the leftovers)

Saturday - I've got some chilli in the freezer so think I'm going to defrost and bake that in a butternut squash - much like this recipe.

Sunday - Leftovers

Nothing madly exciting this week - but lots of warming, keeping you going type dinners. As always, be sure to pop on over to At Home with Mrs M and join up with all the other planners to see what everyone else is up to.

Cornbread - with some cheeky chilli

Going without dairy is actually relatively adaptable in most of my cooking - while I miss the flavour of butter, cheese and chocolate I can replace the cows milk products with rice, coconut, or sheeps milk products. Except in tea. Nothing works in tea. Excuse me while I have a little weep.

To this end I adapted my cornbread recipe to become cows milk free so that we could have it with a chilli, and a barbecue bean casserole for my lunches last week.  I see it as an alternative to rice, M likes it as well as.

Despite the adaptation it remained a lovely light bread with no flavour of the coconut milk and the only tangible difference for me was that it was slightly drier than usual. I've also taken to adding chilli to everything lately (I have no idea why, but no, I'm not pregnant) and this was no exception.

Chilli cornbread - cows milk free

175g cornmeal
125g plain flour
45g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
250ml coconut milk
1 egg
45g Pure (dairy free spread)
1 cup of frozen sweetcorn, cooked briefly in the microwave and drained
2 teaspoons of lazy chilli

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.

2. Grease your tin - I used my brownie tin

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. Add the sweetcorn and chilli at the end

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

6. Resist the urge to eat it all whilst warm. 

Meal Planning Monday: the dairy free edition

So far since June, our meal plans have focussed on foods that increase your breastmilk, food that should be gentle to digest, weaning, and now... now we're dairy free. It seems that the paediatrician suspects that Harry doesn't have reflux per se, but is in fact allergic to Cow's milk - probably the protein. As I'm keen to breastfeed him for as long as possible this has meant cutting dairy out of my diet. Which despite having done it in the dim and distant past is harder than I remember.

When I'm not bemoaning the loss of tea, going dairy free actually isn't too hard, I just need to be organised, which I wasn't last week so it was all a bit haphazard. M is out at a curry night tonight and the baby is asleep (for now *touch wood) so I'm doing our meal plan and online shop before turning in for an early night myself. My temptations are chocolate, tea or coffee with milk and cheese. I can do without all of them, if I have alternatives. Annoyingly from what I've been reading today, it looks as though soya could be linked as an allergen but I'm going to give dairy until the end of the month, and then if things haven't improved will take out soya too.

Breakfasts - I can have porridge made with water, or sourdough toast with peanut butter that's just peanuts and a banana.

Lunches - I've made some of Jamie Oliver's barbecue beans which I've been having either on toast or just as they come in a bowl. They would be amazing with cheese. Just saying.

Suppers -

Monday - Leftover chorizo and butternut squash chilli with rice/ or in burritos

Tuesday - Pasta and meatballs

Wednesday - Freezer surprise

Thursday - Pulled pork with baked sweet potatoes

Friday - Leftover pulled pork

Saturday - Baked potatoes with the aforementioned beans

Sunday - Slow roast brisket (and not just because of the leftovers. Ahem)

If anyone reading has any experinece of breastfeeding a baby with cows milk allergy, please do let me know what's been useful to you...

Meal Planning Monday: a change in the weather

 

Well I don't know about where you are, but here it feels like autumn blew in over the weekend and all at once the temperature dropped, the leaves changed and with them my appetite. My obsession with cherry tomatoes is abating, I had porridge for breakfast, thought about soup at lunchtime and have a casserole on the meal plan. Defnitely autumn. 

Harry is starting - as per the paediatrician's instructions - baby rice this week. I have my fingers firmly crossed it'll help the reflux as the acid and vomiting were really distressing him this weekend. 

Breakfasts for me will be porridge - I've got some frozen berries that I'm planning to defrost and stew with a little sugar as a topping. 

Lunches - I'm planning to move away from pate and houmous on ryvita to soups. Tomato soup to be precise. 

Dinners - 

Monday: Chilli and rice

Tuesday: Chilli burritos with wedges

Wednesday: Slow cooker chicken & butternut squash casserole

Thursday: Leftover casserole with baked potatoes

Friday: Pizza 

Saturday: Toad in the hole with veggies & onion gravy

Sunday:  Courgetti spaghetti (freezer)

A first outing for the slow cooker for a while, and some nice easy suppers from the freezer. Hopefully a relatively straightforward week to help me with the baby/ weaning/ reflux...

Meal Planning Monday: not just the grown ups?!

This week our meal plan is fairly simple, our budget and belt are a bit tighter than previously owing to the wildly generous* SMP payments from the government. No, really. The other reason for this simplicity is my new reading matter which all centres around weaning. For lots of reasons - post to follow - we're going to be weaning Harry early and I'm at once wildly terrified and excited. How on earth can a baby born six weeks early be ready for actual food seventeen weeks later?

Anyway, nerves and learning about Baby led versus purees aside here's this weeks meal plan

Breakfasts - I'm having grape nuts and banana for me, along with tea and a slice of toast that M brings me while I'm doing my first feed of the day (usually around 5.30)

Lunches - either pate and ryvita or houmous and ryvita with cherry tomatoes - that craving from pregnancy has not gone away.

Dinners - I roasted a chicken yesterday so that kicks the week off for me both easily and thriftily

Monday: Leftover roast chicken with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, peas and carrots

Tuesday: Chicken, mushroom and pea risotto

Wednesday: Leftover risotto

Thursday: Chilli and rice bowls (chilli and rice in a bowl with avocado, cheese and natural yoghurt)

Friday: We're out for the day for M's birthday treat from a good friend, so leftover chilli in burritos with sweet potato wedges.

We've got a wedding to attend next weekend, so I'm leaving meals fairly free and easy for then and then the big weaning experiment begins. Stay tuned...

Meal Planning Monday: where are the weeks going?

Another week and meal plan already, where does the time go?! The warm weather has floored us slightly over the past few days - my headaches have got considerably worse and I'm drinking gallons of water as it seems that's the only way to offset the pain without resorting to meds. This, combined with looking after Harry has meant that poor M has been subjected to last minute dinners of pizza and takeaway. I may not have finished stocking up the freezer before the baby was born, but at least I started!

The hot weather and humidity seems set to continue for the next few days so we're still looking at quick and easy dinners.

Breakfasts: still oat based granola with yoghurt and some fruit - online supermarkets seem unable to deliver non mouldy overripe soft fruits so I'm on sultanas as opposed to the planned strawberries and raspberries.

Lunches: I've been having trouble getting around to eating lunches so have made up a batch of vegetable couscous, with a chilli & lemon dressing. I can either have that as it is, or with houmous, avocado or halloumi depending on what I have time to grab out of the fridge.

Dinners:

Monday - Quiche, salad, and potato wedges

Tuesday - Pasta and meatballs

Wednesday - Chilli nachos

Thursday - Leftover chilli in burritos

Friday - Pizza and salad

Saturday & Sunday - no real idea at the moment, I've got some chorizo esque sausages that I might bake up with veggies and sweet potatoes but otherwise I am without inspiration.

That's us - late and not wildly interesting but a plan nonetheless.

Meal Planning Monday: written through bleary eyes

Last week we 'discovered' cluster feeding - meal plans, meal times and at some points eating went royally out of the window in favour of Wimbledon on the telly and vast quantities of water. Being an eternal optimist (or something) I'm thrilled that this resulted in another 100g weight gain, and trying to avoid looking at my dark circles, or the bottom shaped dent in the sofa.

With M being back at work, Harry and I are learning together how our days go, we have no routine as such, but feed when he's hungry, try to get out for a walk every day, and try not to let the house descend too far into chaos. Too far. I'd like to say I know where the time goes, but life with a newborn seems to absorb the hours and I honestly don't know where they go.

This week is M's birthday - and I think for the first time ever I'm going to buy him a cake. Baking one isn't too taxing in itself - I just am entirely sure that my ability to balance doing that with feeding and entertaining Harry may not work. So no judging please, unless you want to send me one.

Breakfasts: I'm keeping up with the oat based breakfasts to supplement my milk - porridge, granola and oatibix (a new discovery on M's part - the man is a genius) with fruit.

Lunches: Halloumi salad for a couple of days, fishfinger sandwiches (so sue me) or leftovers - pretty much anything that can be eaten with one hand in case Harry's feeding. Lots of fruit through the day as well.

Dinners:

Monday: I made a chilli con carne today so we'll have that with either wraps as burritos, or tortilla chips as nachos.

Tuesday: Chicken-y burger things in buns with salad and potato wedges. I'm going to try making them based on an Annabel Karmel recipe I've seen online and adult-ify them as I go. If they work I'll blog them.

Wednesday: Chicken kiev, chips and peas/ sweetcorn

Thursday: Chicken curry - frozen pre Harry (thank goodness for my brief moments of organisation before the baby came)

Friday: Pasta carbonara (M's choice as it's his birthday)

Saturday: We've actually got no plans next weekend so I think just something quick and easy out of the freezer on Saturday - pizza maybe.

Sunday: I'll try and do something similar to the chilli that I made this week - maybe a casserole or similar as the easy suppers for a couple of days are a new mama win as far as I'm concerned.

So that's us - don't forget to pop on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what the other meal planners are up to. Have a good week.

Chilli con carne - slow cooker or oven

Another recipe that's ideal for leftover roast beef, just call me the leftovers Queen. Or something. You know I'm not fussy.

Chilli con carne is something I never used to really think about making - if I wanted something of that ilk I'd make my chorizo, pepper & cannelini bean chilli. However, something I've come to realise over the last 4-5 months is that iron is important, and no matter how much kale and other leafy green veg I eat, I do sometimes need the oomph of beef.

This is a fantastic recipe - pretty failsafe, as I've made it in both the slow cooker and the oven. For ease I generally wallop everything in the slow cooker and head off, paintbrush in hand, ready to tackle skirting boards, but if I want to knock it up a bit faster, then the oven is just as good.

In the past I've used ancho chillies - dried, smoky, yet slightly sweet chillis that I leave whole and let the cooking process impart their flavour, but today for ease I used the Gran Luchito chilli paste I've oft raved about of late. 

You could easily switch out the cooked beef for mince, or even for stewing steak. And I'm (unsurprisingly) not averse to bulking it out with carrots and celery grated or finely chopped to make it go further. Also, see lentils or oats.

Slow cooker chilli con carne

2 red onions very finely chopped
2 sticks of celery very finely chopped
2 large(ish) carrots very finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 ancho chilli/ heaped tsp of Gran Luchito chilli paste
1/2 tsp lazy chillis (or similar)
1 tsp ground cumin
Cinammon stick
500g beef (or reduce this down and up the veggies)
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 jar of sundried tomatoes, drained of oil and whizzed up in the processor to make a thick paste
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tins kidney beans, drained

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C
I pop the garlic, celery, carrots and onions in the food processor and blitz until finely chopped (mainly because I'm lazy - a knife would do just as well)
In an ovenproof pan, sweat off your veg and chilli in a little oil until the onions begin to go translucent, then add your cumin and continue to cook off.
Add the beef - if you're using leftover cooked beef that you've whizzed up, if it's mince, then add it in and brown it first.
Add the mushrooms, and whizzed up sundried tomatoes, stir again
Add in both tins of tomatoes - when emptied, fill one up with water and add that too (if you're doing this in the slow cooker you don't need the extra water)
Pop the cinammon stick in
Add both tins of drained kidney beans

Cook in the oven for an hour and a half.

If you're doing this in the slow cooker - I know I should brown the beef first if I'm using mince, but normally I add in all in fairly bleary eyed, before I go out to work and leave it on low until I get back.

This is a fairly low chilli version - but if you like heat then add more to your taste. 

We have it with steamed brown rice, grated cheese, avocado and greek yoghurt if I have some around. If I'm doing it for guests then I make flatbreads so that people can either dip or scoop up the chilli as they go.

This is amazing as leftovers - M particularly likes it, stuffed into tortillas with a handful of cheese and baked off in a low oven, a sort of naked enchilada if you will. Personally, there's a lot to be said for a big bowl of steamed greens with this lollopped on top on my knees whilst watching Revenge.

Meal planning Monday

How does it get round to being Monday again so quickly? I'm writing this on Sunday evening, surrounded by chaos and the smell of wet paint as we prepare to head back to work after a weekend of trying to set the house to rights.

We're busy again this week (when aren't we?) Although M is quite gleeful about the fact that he forgot that this week existed so everything he thought he was doing this week is next week instead. Confused? You should try being me.

Breakfasts: In an epic fail in meal planning terms I forgot to buy myself any cereal or any almond milk so cereals and smoothies are off the menu. In their stead will doubtlessly be porridge - I had it this morning with pools of dark brown sugar melting into little treacley puddles. And enjoyed every mouthful

Lunches: I blame my mother for this. Entirely. She introduced me to Seriously strong smoked cheese spread *ahem* applied liberally to toasted crumpets. I suspect this will now take up pride of place as it's own food group for the forseeable future.

Dinners:

Monday - Slow cooker chilli con carne with brown rice, avocado and grated cheese (post to follow on Tuesday)

Tuesday - Leftover slow cooker chilli con carne before Guides for me

Wednesday - excitingly I've been nominated for a Jack Petchey for my work as a Guide leader so we'll be at the presentation on Wednesday night. I will retrieve a couple of tupperwares for a freezer surprise dinner in advance.

Thursday - I'm at Brownies, but I think we've got a pizza in the freezer

Friday - Now I know it's St Valentine's, but it's my birthday on Saturday which far eclipses that. Plus we celebrated on St Dwynwen's back at the end of January, well we swapped gifts as we were up to our eyes in lining paper that weekend. I quite fancy curry at the moment so I might make a chicken and spinach curry and have that with some naan bread and dhaal. Curry was the first thing I ever made M.

Saturday - as it's my birthday we're going out for a family lunch at the potential venue for the wedding reception to sample the menu. I've also kindly been sent a bottle of non-alcoholic fizz to celebrate with.

Sunday - I have a small brisket stashed in the freezer, so I might treat us to roast beef again. So soon!

That's us. Busy again, but getting through the week in a haze of freezer surprise, and peanut butter kitkats (just me?)

Meal planning Monday: New year new meal plan

Well, I'm sure the meal plan won't be that new, but it scanned nicely.

We're back in that period of the year that can only herald a frenzy of good intentions - no resolutions here but a commitment to being healthy.

Breakfasts - I keep telling myself I'll eat porridge, but I'd really gone off it of late - I have found a vanilla porridge recipe that seems to be working for me now though. I have a vague memory of a Jamie Oliver recipe that came out of a Sainsbury's magazine for some spiced stewed that I'm going to try to recreate too. I also have some apple butter that I think will work well too.

Lunches - we're on a bit (understatment) of an economy drive at the moment so I'm mainly eating leftovers and the rice bowls I made up and froze towards the end of last year.

Snacks - Russett apples and mini Babybels have got me through many a day of late and will continue to do so. I'm guessing it's the balance of protein and carbs that help me not get hungry, but they're definitely my snack of choice

Suppers - always the interesting bit...

Monday: M is away with his parents so I'm going to make muttar paneer and relish every pea.

Tuesday: Chorizo, bean and butternut squash chilli (I'll pop it in the slow cooker)

Wednesday: Leftover chilli

Thursday: Fish and greens with brown basmati rice, cooked in soy, chilli and ginger for me. The same for M but with chicken.

Friday: I'll have been in Leicester, so something quick and easy - maybe my not-so-secret love for chicken kiev with homemade sweet potato chips (the easiest things to make ever)

Saturday: I'll probably pop something in the slow cooker, either a brisket or a casserole to have with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. That way we can have leftovers on Sunday.

Sunday: Leftovers.

What's on your menu this week?

Fabulously easy flatbread

Flatbread isn't something I've made before. Well, unless ciabatta from one of those bags of bread mix. It was over 10 years ago - give me this one! It's this month's Fresh from the Oven challenge, which isn't something I've joined in with before now but I decided I would give it a go. 

It's January and I'm trying to reduce shopping bills, so having had a look in the cupboard at my many bags of flour, and having a pot of buttermilk that should have gone into soda bread last week but didn't was pretty much decided at that point. 

There's something innately satisfying about being able to make a quick bread to go with a dinner when I realise that something is just missing. Much like my loved and easy soda bread. I nearly always have yoghurt in the fridge so even without the buttermilk would be able to make these. 

So, I went back to a scribbled recipe from a friend I used to work with. It's possibly the easiest recipe I've ever posted on here, so really anyone can try it. I made a few additions to the recipe as I am always on the quest to add flavour. 

Fabulously easy flatbread

Ingredients 

A pot of buttermilk or Greek yoghurt
Bag of flour - I used wholewheat

Equipment

Mixing bowl
Non stick frying pan
Rolling pin

Empty your buttermilk/ yoghurt from the pot into the mixing bowl. Really scrape it out
Take that pot to the sink, rinse it out with water, then use a tea towel or kitchen towel to dry it out
Fill the pot up with flour, empty into the mixing bowl
Using your hands, bring the mix together to form a ball of dough

I used a 250g pot of buttermilk and that made 10 flatbreads

And that's it! Really! Well, Ok you need to cook it. 

Take a ball of dough about the size of a small satsuma. 
Flour your surface, and rolling pin. 
Roll out the flatbread until it's really thin - about half a cm. It's a sticky dough so you may need to re dust with flour. 

Heat up your pan (no oil) until it's hot, hot, hot. Lay the flatbread on the pan and cook until you start to see the bread bubbling. Turn it over and do the same with the other side. 

And that's it - we had them with leftover turkey chilli, grated cheese and soured cream. They're flexible enough to use as a wrap, but equally work to dunk into soup, or you could even use them as an alternative pizza base.. 

I made half a batch that were plain (ostensibly for M) and half that were heavily spiked with chilli and coriander. Given M's documented dislike of coriander I didn't subject him to those ones, but I can attest to just how good the breads are when flavoured. You could easily add other spices depending on what you were serving them with. 

The only thing I would say about these is that they don't keep. They were OK the next day for lunch with my soup, but after that a bit inedible. Definitely a recipe that's better made as you need it and happily, one that's easy enough to do just that with. 

Meal Planning Monday: the still vaguely organised edition

Last week's meal plan went well - we stayed on plan, save for Sunday when my sister, her husband and my nephew couldn't come over, so we had leftover turkey chilli with flatbreads instead. Remind me to link my flatbreads up to the Fresh From the Oven challenge. 

This week M's working away for a couple of nights and I'm at a Guiders curry - I mean planning meeting *cough* Brownies starts back too so it's not just M who's a busy bee. 

Breakfasts: Porridge with brown sugar and a banana for me

Lunches: Soup - Split pea and frankfurter and Lifechanging

Dinners: 

Monday: Leftover turkey chilli

Tuesday: Guiders curry night (prawn biryiani shall be mine!) 

Wednesday: Pantry pasta

Thursday: (freezer special) Chicken escalopes, oven chips and peas

Friday: My first foray into Jamie's 15 minute meals - Chicken Dim Sum. I'll report back

Saturday: is a blank at the moment - there will be leftover Dim sum so possibly that

Sunday: Slow roast pork (same as last week's plan) 

So that's our week in the pantry - a minimal amount of shopping and a few quick and easy dinners. Sounds good to me. 

Make sure to pop over to At home with Mrs M to see what everyone's up to on the linky 

What to do with turkey leftovers - slow cooker chilli

I've done another post rounding up all the ways I could find on the blog to use up your leftover turkey. However, if you wanted something low faff and easy. Something that you could put on while having a cup of tea on Boxing day, then why not try turkey chilli in your slow cooker. 

I deliberately picked this recipe, because it uses largely storecupboard or pantry based ingredients, things you can chuck in your trolley in advance of Christmas and not have to worry about until you need them.  They're also largely cheap ingredients, and the beans especially mean that the meal goes a lot further. I reckon what I've made will easily do 6 portions, more if you were feeding children.

 Ingredients:

1 400g tin kidney beans
2 300g tins black eyed beans
1 Green pepper
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 fresh chilli
1 dried ancho chilli (do either of these to taste) 
200g passata
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 big tin sweetcorn
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
Salt & pepper
Fresh coriander, finely chopped

Chop your onion, pepper, garlic and fresh chilli. Put these in the slow cooker
Drain the beans and sweetcorn and add to slow cooker
Add both tins of tomatoes, the passata, spices, dried chilli, salt and pepper
Cook on low for about 6 hours, high for 4

Shred your leftover turkey (1 breast provided enough meat for 6 adults) and stir into the chilli with the coriander, cook for another hour

Serve any way you like - ideas I had included:

• with cornbread to dunk - my recipe is here 
• with rice, so people can help themselves
• with warmed tortilla wraps - and avocado, soured cream, grated cheese
• in taco shells - with shredded lettuce, soured cream and cheese
• or just in big bowls, off your knees

I liked, and tried this idea because the thought of being able to abandon dinner for 6-7 hours and not worry about it really appealed to me in a Christmas leftovers recipe. Also, the fresh flavours (and spice if you're so inclined) would be a lovely contrast to the heaviness of Christmas day. 

Why not give it a try, or let me know what you're doing with your leftovers. 

This is a sponsored post, Asda provided me with a turkey, and a gift card as recompense

Meal planning monday: the cold, stressed edition

It's cold, wet and quickly darkening outside. I'm cold, stressed and grumpy. What better situation to put together this week's meal plan? Really, no need to answer, that was rhetorical.

I don't know if it's the weather, or trying to combine keeping our home lovely, clean, calm and restful with busy lives. Who knows? What I do know is that if work continues to be busy and life continues to be chaotic I'm going to be thinking about a cleaner. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really am beginning to consider it. 

Anyway, back to usual. It's another busy week, work, training, running, Guides, Brownies and then the annual Remembrance sleepover next weekend. M and I should get to catch up on Wednesday, but otherwise it's ships that pass in the night!

Breakfasts: so, as winter has finally taken hold, it's definitely porridge. I'm going to stew some blueberries to go on top. I try to have one of the Sainsbury's bags of frozen fruit in the freezer as they make for such convenient ways to add in extra fruit

Lunches: Definitely soup. Soup all the way. Salads and sarnies are a no go from this point onwards until - let's say June?

Dinners, always the interesting bit of these posts

Monday: I was hoping to have leftover Minced beef hash, but I only had half a pack of minced beef so at the moment I don't think it'll stretch. Mind you M's at Welsh so if I get a potato to bake it may well. Watch this space. 

Tuesday: I'm at Guides, so I'm going to get out some chorizo, butternut squash and cannelini bean chilli out of the freezer for M to have with rice. 

Wednesday: Seeing as it's our only night in together this week I should make something lovely - I was thinking of putting a casserole in the slow cooker to have when we get in.

Thursday: hopefully there'll be leftover casserole! 

Friday: M's going up to his parents, and I'm going to be getting ready for the Guide sleepover. I've got some undyed smoked haddock in the freezer, and I think I'll poach that in milk with bay and peppercorns, and have it with peas and some bread and butter. 

So that's it... a quick week in the pantry - the next few weeks are going to be non stop. I'm hoping M and I will do better than one night together in seven as we go on! Be sure to pop over to At Home with Mrs M to see what all the other meal planners are up to. 

October favourites

I've mentioned before that I have a not-so-secret love for beauty blogs - I think it's mainly due to my magpie tendencies, and the fact that whilst jeans may not do up, you never have that problem with nail polish. Also, see shoes. One thing that beauty bloggers seem to do on a monthly basis is pick out what products they've really been enjoying using over the past 4 weeks. 

I thought it might be a nice idea to try that here - it may or may not work with food, but sometimes you have to think "what the heck" and give something new a go.

So what have I been loving in the Pantry this month?

Pumpkin puree. This is a recent discovery of mine from Waitrose, and when I saw it on the shelf, I swiftly (and somewhat greedily I admit) picked up three tins. I've used one already in my Pumpkin and apple traybake, a seasonal recipe if there ever was one, and have my eye on a snickerdoodle and pumkin loaf for the next. 

Which takes me onto my other new love - which isn't a product per se, but Pinterest. Yes, I know I'm mahoosively late to this bandwagon, but I love it. If M's late home, or I'm having an afternoon in I can happily while away the hours on here. What I really like is that a lot of the recipes are American and so I'm getting to try new flavours and combinations as typically I tend to use very British bakes. 

And then of course we have my K-Mix. God I love this. It was a present from M, and I have used it for everything I possibly can, it really does make baking a breeze and it looks so pretty too! 

Ingredients wise, I also picked up some new chillis from the Newbury show last month, and used one in my last batch of chorizo, butternut squash and cannelini bean chilli. The smoked flavour gave such a nice contrast to the clean hit of heat that I normally get, adding a sweetness and a smoothness to the chilli. Definitely some to add into different recipes.

Finally, and again, I'm behind the times horribly on this too. But Jamie's 30 minute meals. I got the book for Christmas and have found myself reaching for it on a number of occaisions this month. And the minced beef hash was a firm favourite with M and I - although I'd definitely recommend cooking it a day in advance to give the flavours time to develop. I know that people seems to say that the meals take nothing like half an hour, but I found it wasn't too much longer at all. Especially if you start with things like the kettle boiling etc. But that may just be me, as we know I'm somewhat haphazard when I'm cooking non baking dishes. 

So there we have it, my October favourites. What are yours? Is there anything new or old you've picked up this month and really enjoyed using or trying out?

Let me know if you're interested in this kind of post and I'll consider making it a blog hop next month.