Meal Planning Monday: the warm and toasty edition

I write this cwtched up on the sofa, watching the snow fall outside. I'm hopeful we'll go out sledging again later but for now I'm enjoying the warm, the endless supply of tea and the guilt free time to catch up on blogging, reading and generally some quiet time.

Next week is a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment, the snow is falling heavily (and according to the Met Office, for 12 hours today) and neither M nor I are sure if we'll be able to make it to our respective offices this week. So this is all a moveable feast.

Breakfasts - definitely porridge

Lunches - soup for both of us. We've got the last of the Sweet potato and ginger soup to finish up today/ tomorrow, and I'm going to make a quick and easy vegetable soup later today.

Dinners - we're having a roast chicken tonight, so this week is a One chicken many ways affair. I'll strip the carcass on Tuesday, make stock and some soup with the leftover meat.

Monday - Leftover roast chicken with baked potatoes, braised red cabbage and carrots

Tuesday - Chicken and mushroom risotto (I've got some runner beans in the freezer so I think I'll add some of those for added green)

Wednesday - leftover risotto

Thursday - Sausage pasta bake

Friday - leftover pasta bake

Saturday - Weather permitting M may be popping off to see his parents. I've got a Guide holiday to frantically prep for so I don't think I'll be joining him. This may mean I treat myself to the delish prawn biryani  and muttar paneer from our local Indian takeaway. In which case I'll have leftovers on Sunday.

Sunday - I'm not sure. Depends if M is here or not, and how organised or otherwise we are. At the moment I am devoid of inspiration. Which is sad.

So another week, another meal plan. The only shopping from this list is potatoes, basics mozarella, and red wine for the pasta bake (although to be honest I could use white or vermouth without much in the way of a noticeable taste change). This week is one of those when I'm grateful for maintaining a well stocked freezer as much of this is already in there in one way, shape or form.

Be sure to pop over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to - it was a busy week last week, so lets hope there's a good lot of us again.

Meal Planning Monday: for when your get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went

The last couple of week's meal plans have been deliberately quick and easy. January being what January is, I was keen to keep it simple in the hope that straightforward eating would help manage those January blues. 

Sadly my January blues have hit full on this week. I was 'off plan' by Tuesday, it took me three days to eat a curry, I've not had a proper night's sleep all week, and my mood has dropped slowly but steadily. Today, I'm in my pyjamas watching Sunday brunch wondering just what I can cook this week to help with that. Or alternatively if I can cocoon myself in my duvet and stay there all week. 

I have a few tricks in my arsenal to manage these feelings - high doses of a Vitamin D supplement, lots of fruit and veg, and a determined approach to my running.  No one of these will make a difference, but all of them keep me distracted and enable me to keep on keeping on. 

So, this week - again, deliberately simple, healthy and hopefully enough to keep me going on. 

Breakfasts: Porridge, I've discovered a new fruity topping, which I think is going to make it into this month's favourites. 

Lunches: I'm actually out for much of the week, but am going to make a batch of Lifechanging soup today, portion it off and pop it in the freezer. I've got a pretty rubbish flask that I'm going to test out tomorrow and see if it will keep my soup hot till lunchtime. My ongoing search for a half decent flask seems never ending. Quite honestly if anyone knows of one that works would like to tell me, I'd be grateful!

Dinners: 

Monday: Sausages with mashed or baked potatoes (depending on when I get back from Birmingham) and braised red cabbage

Tuesday: I'm working away on Tuesday so am being rescued from the perils of the Beefeater by dinner with a friend.

Wednesday: M and I are ships in the night, so he's working away. I think I'll defrost some soup and possibly make some soda bread to go with

Thursday: Brownies, so more soup I think

Friday: we're going to see M's parents this weekend, so sadly no cooking next weekend. 

Reading this, I'm pretty sure you can tell how disinterested I am in all things culinary. I'm pretty sure I'll have shrugged it off soon enough - so hopefully normal service will resume shortly. 

Don't forget to pop on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to this week (I'm sure other meal plans will be more exciting than mine. Let's face it, it's not hard) 

Meal Planning Monday: the 15 sleeps to go edition

I've missed Meal Planning Monday the last few weeks, workload, the ability to fall downstairs (yes, really) and having no time to do a foodshop have impacted on the time I've had for blogging. That said, I'm at my laptop now, and am hoping to catch up this week. 

In our family (as in many I now realise, but for a long time I did think it was just us) it's traditional to count down to an event in terms of the number of sleeps left. Preparations for Christmas are well under way. I have a list of wines from Asda to search out, the Christmas cake(s) are made, the pudding ready, there are mince pies in the freezer, and aside from a much needed trip to Aldi for German foodstuffs we're pretty much organised. *touch wood* Presents wise I'm not doing so well, but am kidding myself that I'm nearly there!

So, meal planning... where am I? 

Breakfasts - vanilla porridge with blackberry and apple compote. 

Lunches - soup, Lifechanging with any luck - luck being the impetus to get up and make it. 

Dinners -

Monday: Beef and barley casserole that I made in the slow cooker today

Tuesday: I'm at Guides, but M can have the casserole

Wednesday: I've promised M carbonara using some lovely jamon we picked up in Barcelona

Thursday: It's the Brownies Christmas party so maybe soup and a sandwich afterwards.

Friday: Is our festive evening, so we've decided on Bratwurst, rosti, Liebkuchen with Gluwhein and amaretto - and LOTS of Christmas decorations

Saturday: I'm expecting that we'll be running around finishing off any necessary and last minute Christmas bits, so possibly a pizza or similar

Sunday: My sister, her husband and my nephew are coming over for slow roast shoulder of pork with all the trimmings. Yum. 

So that's it, be sure to pop over to At Home with Mrs M and link up with everyone else. 

Meal Planning Monday: limping along

Well hello, and apologies for the hiatus in posting this last week. It's that time of year when, as the nights start to draw in, I start to battle overtiredness and colds and fitting everything in just starts to become a bit more tricky.

That said, this week in the Pantry should be a nice one. M and I are both at home, after a lovely weekend, and looking forward to some time together.

Baking wise, I've got a pumpkin and apple traybake to bake and have promised M a batch of my Practically Perfect Parkin.

Breakfasts: I think this will be my last packet of granola, after this I'll be heading steadily into porridge. But until this is finished, granola with chopped bananas and some extra sultanas is the meal of choice.

Lunchtimes: Because we've been away this weekend I've not had time to make any soup, but am hoping to knock up a batch one evening this week. So soup it is - Maybe of the Lifechanging variety.

Dinners:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday: Turkey, barley and pumpkin casserole

Thursday: I'm at Brownies, so leftovers afterwards.

Friday:  Italian sausage and pasta bake - see post later in the week for details.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better? Lifechanging soup. Changed up

I have oft waxed lyrical of the power of Skye Gyngell's Lifechanging soup - also known by the author herself as Sweet potato and ginger soup. From my much loved (read sticky) copy of her book A year in my kitchen it was the first recipe of hers I tried and it was a resounding success.

Of late, I'm not sure if it is to do with the migraine medication or *gasp* my tastebuds finally maturing, but I don't crave sweetness anymore. Saturday was the first chocolate I have eaten in ages and that was Green and Blacks 70%. For some reason that sugary hit is no longer what I fancy (food that crunches however? Bring. It. On.) As such, looking at Lifechanging soup this morning didn't really ring my bells. So I changed it up. A bit. And here it is.

Lifechanging soup. Changed.

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 red onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 red chilli or, 1 tsp lazy red chilli
1.5 tablespoons of fresh root ginger grated
1.5 litres of chicken/ veg stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1 lime, juiced

Melt the butter in a large pan and sweat the onions off until they're starting to soften.
Add the ginger, tamarind and chilli and cook off until you can smell the aromatics
Add the potato and stir until slightly shiny from the butter and spices
Add the stock (I used chicken as that's what I had in the freezer)
Cook for half an hour or until you can smush the potatoes easily against the side of the pan
Blitz in the pan using a hand held blender, until you get a nice smooth consistency
Taste, and add seasoning to taste
Bring back to the boil and serve with sourdough bread and butter

I'm having this for lunch at the moment, on these chilly, sunny spring days it's lightness of flavour yet oomph from the spicing is just what's needed to power me through the afternoon. Yum.

The original recipe calls for maple syrup and cream instead of the palm sugar, and doesn't use chilli but I like the fresher, zingier flavour at this time of year. The original has it's place and is equally as life changing.

Meal Planning Monday: another freezer based week

Will it surprise you, dear reader, if I tell you that last week didn't clear down the freezer? I didn't think so. So, another week of clearing down the freezers. Not thrilling I'm afraid.

But there is good news. I am without plastercast. After five months of incapacitation, my wrist is healed. Sadly I have the early stages of a pressure sore which was what alerted me to the need for the cast to come off last week. An acute sense of burning in a place about the size of a 50 pence peice. Alarming, but I have to say Barnet really did step up. Although they frustrate me at times, they did step up. Physio starts in a fortnight or so, and in the meantime in case I started to miss them I have another set of nerve blocker injections in the back of my head on Monday. Hurrah!

Initially I thought this weekend would involve much rolling out, kneading, and general kitchen activities that involve an unplastered wrist. And then it struck me just how much pain an unplastered, newly healed wrist can cause. So, in place of that I sat. Watched trashy telly. Slept. Generally broke the mould and gave my mind and body some extra time and space in which to heal. Which meant that this morning I practically bounced from my bed, wished M a good morning and promptly started work. At half past 7. I know.

The blue skies (albeit freezing outside) are trying to convince me that a run is imminent, and depending on how my nerve blockers go, I may try one later. At present I'm sorting out Diplomas and drinking coffee.

So, this week - M's mum (she of the WI and marmalade & jam coaching) has sent us back half a sultana and cherry cake which is my favourite, and some welshcakes. Which is a bonus as it relieves me of baking duties for the time being. That said, following the purchase and demolition of an epic sourdough from Barnet farmers market I think I'm going to kick start myself a sourdough starter this week.

Breakfast wise, I thought I'd try the Sainsbury's frozen fruit bags, they're 3 for £5 and I got peaches, blueberries and mixed summer fruits. I'm a big fan of a lot of Sainsburys basics range and although a bit more pricey than I would have liked I thought I'd try making these into smoothies with my 0% fat greek yoghurt. I've got some sachets of ground linseed etc that I think would make good additions as well. Any suggestions for other things to add to a breakfast smoothie?

Lunches: well the early morning has given me a kick in the right direction and I've got a pan of Lifechanging soup (TM), that is to say Skye Gyngell's Sweet Potato and ginger which I haven't made for far too long. I've got a little sourdough left to have with, and may make up some soda bread in rolls for the rest of the week.

Dinner: Largely freezer roulette again...

Monday: Bolognaise sauce, with grated cheese and pasta for Mark, just with steamed veggies for me.

Tuesday: Minced beef hash, with a poached egg on top

Wednesday: I'm out Leith's cookery school for the evening, so will be leaving M lentil ragu with chorizo I thing

Thursday: M is at Welsh, so probably his leftover lentil ragu for me

Friday: As yet I'm undecided, we're both in and the freezer will be mainly empty by then.... I've got some chicken and leeks in the freezer so I might make up some more of the butternut squash, chicken and leek casserole I've made previously. It's a simple really warming dish and the addition of barley makes it stretch further quite cheaply.

I do have some unearmarked courgettes in the fridge from last week's veg box, and I'm torn between courgetti spaghetti, and doing something different with them... Any suggestions?

Do be sure to pop over and see what everyone else is up to At home with Mrs M

(It's the) Hard Knock Life

Well it is if you’re my laptop. The hard drive had died. Again. And on the new one. To say I am annoyed is possibly the understatement of the century. I’ve lost a ridiculous amount of work, photos and a whole year’s Guide accounts. Much swearing has been heard around the house this week, along with the occasional tearful exclamation about unbacked up work.

Anyway, so this post is not only brought to you courtesy of Annie and the orphans but also a spare laptop from work. Apologies for the lack of pictures, but up and downloading are barred – with any luck this post will be amended next week sometime. Moving on swiftly before I start explaining about the time I was in Annie – of which, thankfully no photographic evidence remains.

Truly, it has been a bit of a hard knock life of late. Computer woes aside, I’ve been exceptionally busy with work and Guiding, and have taken to skipping meals and eating Prêt a manger sarnies for lunch as they seem to see me through. Actually, as someone who doesn’t really ‘do’ bought sandwiches unless I can see them made in front of me, Prêt is the exception to my rule, their ethos is to limit the number of ingredients in their products, have no additives or preservatives and they are freshly made daily (with any leftovers being given to charity). However, calorie content is immense, and whilst not someone who worries about that kind of thing unduly, I do notice that if I eat one for lunch, I can easily not be hungry of an evening. Anyway, before I realise that this post should have been at the very least sponsored by Prêt, I shall move on to...

Life Changing soup™ (link to recipe) As I am sure many of you will recall, this Skye Gyngell recipe has kept me full and happy for nearly a couple of years now. This is the first batch of the autumn, and whilst I was hoping to be able to pair it with some home made bread, I can say with every faith that it was gorgeous. The lengthy ingredient lists have put me off experimenting much further with Ms Gyngell’s recipes but this weekend the call of Batch cooking has been heard and so I will be trying a couple of others of hers.

I would also like to introduce you to Mabel. Mabel is my sourdough starter, a gift from my friend Lucy’s husband Matt. And a daughter/ granddaughter/ second cousin twice removed (you’ll have to decide, genealogy defeats me) of http://doughblogs.com/. Happily residing in my fridge, Mabel is awaiting her first outing this weekend, in the form of a basic sourdough loaf.

I blame the change in seasons, it’s made me want to be all homely, in a kind of ‘wear a pinny and clasp a steaming mug of tea about my person’ way. So hopefully this weekend’s batch cooking will involve: Lentil Ragu from Dinner Diary, Jamie O’s Chilli con carne, a Victoria Sandwich (with Kavey’s Nectarine and Amaretto jam inside) the Sourdough loaf and something that requires roast potatoes – which are my current craving. I will take photos of that lovely lot, but sadly they won’t be seen until Dell manages to collect my laptop (which was supposed to happen yesterday. Grrr. Argh.)

You've been Galindafied...

Elphaba: [downstage centre, practicing alone] Toss Toss [flicks hair] Toss Toss
Fiyero: [slightly upstage watching her. Moves downstage, grinning] You've been Galindafied! [...A beat... He mimics Galinda] Toss Toss! [Another beat. Sincerely] You really don't have to do that you know.

OK, so out of context it doesn't quite work - but if you know your musical theatre in general, and Wicked to be specific you'll know what I'm on about. If you don't. Go. Now. If you're in London to the Apollo Victoria, if you're elsewhere - investigate it! This weeked I did some Galindafying of my own. To pasta, not a person. And it didn't involve tossing. I'm not explaining this well am I? Galindafying, means to pretty something up, normally to make it popular, pink and sparkly. The end result being that one can hang with the right cohorts, be good at sports, and know all one needs to know to be popular a la Helen Dallimore or even Kristen Chenoweth (look them up if you don't know, you will be tested later)True story! Only I did it to pasta, just the prettying up however, I don't imagine that the ravioli is flirting with the fennel it's next to in the freezer.

Following the epic trip to Borough, we had decided that after a suitable rest and pot (or two) of tea, we would cook up a storm. One of us being somewhat cheffily disposed, the other more of a chuck it all in and hope for the best (that's me by the way, in case you were wondering) we figured that between the two of us we should be able to invent something without the aid of recipe books and merely with the ingredients we had purchased that very morning - there was method in some of the madness of our Borough shopping.

In actual fact, between us we managed to knock up a veritable feast, including the Galinda pink pasta! Which was actually, beetroot and goats cheese ravioli; sweet with enough of a bite from the goats cheese to not be overpowering. We also made pappardelle with a wild mushroom sauce, along with a fennel salad, and an amahzing dish of roasted figs with heather honey and creme fraiche (guess who was responsible for that one). I say we, seeing as the figs took around 45 seconds to prepare (my sort of dish!) I sort of hung around passing things helpfully, wiping mushroom and taking a highly overkeen interest in onions. I'm sensing a future as a Commis chef *sigh* At least I got an apron though!

Succeses of the day: Your author can now make pasta (see picture above), and chop onions like a real chef! I've even taken to making things with onions in just to demonstrate to the cats how good I am. Also figs can just be thrown in the oven and left for oooh hours before they spoil. Also Ratatouille is an epic film. Watch it. Anyone can cook. Never a truer word spoken.

This week the salty green sludge has been finished (thank the Lord, and don't mention the rest that's in the freezer, I'm going to try to deny it's existence until such time as I am so hungry to not care). Bread has not been made as the local supermarkets have taken to lying about their abilities to provide yeast. I am not happy about this at all. Note to supermarket bakery departments: You CAN give out fresh yeast to customers who request it. You CANNOT sell it to them however. For the love of God please read and inwardly digest before I completely lose my rag and start writing complaint letters. Lots of them. /endrant]

However, we can confirm that the seasons have definitely changed as the first batch of lifechanging soup was made tonight (although there has been a small, cream based hiccup with that; but I blame the meds, and being overtired). Speaking of which it's time for me to sign off. There are a few more piccies to add to this post, but they're on my phone as my camera was cleverly left at home at the weekend and I've not worked out how to move them from phone to computer. Yet. I'll add them as soon as I do just so you can see the Galinda pinkness of the ravioli.

A veritable dearth of posts

Confession time: I am a shamefully bad blogger, barely able to raise myself from my shame to type these words. In the last three weeks I have *deep breath* barely cooked... I have lived on the contents of my freezer (mainly home-made soup, but still) and the occaisional bowl of fridge bottom pasta sauce. With pasta. Obviously.

To be fair to myself, I'm on a bit of an economy drive at the moment and so have been actively trying to use up what I already have as opposed to needlessly purchasing new ingredients because I fancy cooking something. Although to be entirely honest with you, I haven't actually felt like cooking much at all. I blame the weather, the dark mornings, working long hours and just generally feeling a bit *meh* (it's a medical term. Honest.) However, as always this turns into one of those viscous cycle things whereby I feel drained and lifeless because I'm not eating properly, so I start mainlining chocolate and diet coke. Yes, you read that correctly (I did warn you about the shame, but let's face it I've not sunk to tinned meat so there is hope for my redemption). The mainlining of the diet coke and chocolate means I have highs and lows all over the place and feel worse... and so it goes on.

Ladies and gentlemen. This stops. Now. No really it does. As of tomorrow I am back on my healthy eating and living bandwagon. As always the ladies at handbag have given me a kick in the right direction, and so when I'm back from work I shall be making a chicken hotpot as part of our recipe challenge. Warming winter food, ready in about an hour, that will be served with some purple sprouting broccoli. Yum.

So that should see me through to the end of the week, alongside some life-changing soup I have in the freezer. Oooh I had better make up some more bread tomorrow as well. And for the first time in about a month I have a weekend free. So I was thinking of a cooking marathon...

• Carrot and celeriac soup (seriously I have about my own bodyweight in carrots in the fridge)
• More life-changing soup
• Bread rolls
• This granola recipe from A wee bit of cooking which is a new blog that I've found and am loving a lot
• And a curry recipe from my A year in my kitchen book. Newsflash (and brace yourselves) it has aubergine in it. Yes, I'm trying it again

Looking at all of that I may need to buy some more tupperware. But I know that once accomplished I will feel worthy of my DG hat again, and mores the point I will have healthy, decent food in to eat. I'll try to ensure that I do a mammoth post to update you all on how it goes, but if you want me this weekend I will be found in my kitchen in my platypus pinny happily pottering.