Just before sitting down this evening I finished making my stuffing and it's in the fridge ready to go in the oven on Christmas day. For the last few years I have made the same stuffing for each year - chestnut and cranberry roll - which was published in the December 2007 Goodfood magazine. If you haven't decided what stuffing to make this year, do yourself a favour and make this. Take it from me, it looks impressive, but it is fairly simple and straight forward to make.
Showing posts with label time saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time saving. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Stuffing ready to go!
Last year on Christmas Eve I spent my evening stressing out wrapping presents and getting the stuffing made and ready to go in the oven the next day. I didn't enjoy my Christmas Eve and went to bed tired and stressed out instead of relaxed and anticipating the kids opening their presents the next day. I promised myself that this year would be different. So, here I sit on Christmas Eve eve (see what I did there!) with a Bulmers (or Magners if you aren't from Ireland) in hand congratulating myself on how much better prepared I am this year. Well done me!
Just before sitting down this evening I finished making my stuffing and it's in the fridge ready to go in the oven on Christmas day. For the last few years I have made the same stuffing for each year - chestnut and cranberry roll - which was published in the December 2007 Goodfood magazine. If you haven't decided what stuffing to make this year, do yourself a favour and make this. Take it from me, it looks impressive, but it is fairly simple and straight forward to make.
Just before sitting down this evening I finished making my stuffing and it's in the fridge ready to go in the oven on Christmas day. For the last few years I have made the same stuffing for each year - chestnut and cranberry roll - which was published in the December 2007 Goodfood magazine. If you haven't decided what stuffing to make this year, do yourself a favour and make this. Take it from me, it looks impressive, but it is fairly simple and straight forward to make. 
Monday, 17 December 2012
Menu plan 16th December 2012 - 21st December 2012
As I get older I frequently find myself wondering where the time has gone. It's not different today when I look at my last post - where has the time gone? I am sure that, like me, all of you are up to your eyes in Christmas preparations. I decided to take a break from the wrapping and writing cards to type up my menu plan for this week.
So, my menu plan from the 16th December to the 21st December 2012 is as follows
So, my menu plan from the 16th December to the 21st December 2012 is as follows
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
For dinner this evening we had Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel from the September 2012 issue of the GoodFood magazine. We will be having leftovers for dinner tomorrow night, so this recipe will feed the 4 of us for 2 nights. The recipe states that it serves 6, and so we are able to get two nights dinners out of this quite easily.
Alterations
My husband and children don't like eggs, so I omitted these from the recipe when I made it. Though I did brush the pastry with whisked egg, as per the recipe, as I figured they couldn't object to something they didn't realise they were eating!! I also left out the capers as no one in my family really likes them.
The hot-smoked salmon fillets that I used had cracked black pepper on them. I used the same salmon the first time I made this recipe and it tasted lovely so I decided to stick with it.
Top tips - lemon basmati rice
The first time I made this recipe (about a month and half ago) I couldn't find the lemon basmati rice the recipe needs when I was doing my grocery shopping. I did however find Martha Stewart's recipe for making lemon basmati rice on her website, and as I had all the ingredients in I decided to make my own.
After making the lemon rice, I had a lot more rice than the pastry parcel recipe called for, so I once again took to the Internet to check to see if it was possible to freeze cooked rice. The short answer is - you can, but you need to cool it quickly. For more information on how to freeze and defrost rice click on the link.
This morning I lifted my puff pastry and rice from the freezer to allow them to defrost for use in the dinner later in the day. It is possible to re-heat the rice from frozen in the microwave, but I decided to not to do this so that I didn't have to wait for the rice to cool before I mixed it with the other ingredients. The rice tasted fine when defrosted and reheated.
After seeing how straight forward it was to freeze, defrost and re-heat the rice I think I might double up on portions of rice that I am boiling in the future in order to freeze half of it.
Alterations
My husband and children don't like eggs, so I omitted these from the recipe when I made it. Though I did brush the pastry with whisked egg, as per the recipe, as I figured they couldn't object to something they didn't realise they were eating!! I also left out the capers as no one in my family really likes them.
The hot-smoked salmon fillets that I used had cracked black pepper on them. I used the same salmon the first time I made this recipe and it tasted lovely so I decided to stick with it.
Top tips - lemon basmati rice
The first time I made this recipe (about a month and half ago) I couldn't find the lemon basmati rice the recipe needs when I was doing my grocery shopping. I did however find Martha Stewart's recipe for making lemon basmati rice on her website, and as I had all the ingredients in I decided to make my own.
After making the lemon rice, I had a lot more rice than the pastry parcel recipe called for, so I once again took to the Internet to check to see if it was possible to freeze cooked rice. The short answer is - you can, but you need to cool it quickly. For more information on how to freeze and defrost rice click on the link.
This morning I lifted my puff pastry and rice from the freezer to allow them to defrost for use in the dinner later in the day. It is possible to re-heat the rice from frozen in the microwave, but I decided to not to do this so that I didn't have to wait for the rice to cool before I mixed it with the other ingredients. The rice tasted fine when defrosted and reheated.
After seeing how straight forward it was to freeze, defrost and re-heat the rice I think I might double up on portions of rice that I am boiling in the future in order to freeze half of it.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Menu plan 17/11/2012 to 23/11/2012
Once again I've managed to not find the time to post my menu plan for the last few weeks. I figured while I had the computer on, checking the ingredients I need for my shopping list, I would make a quick update.
Anyway, my menu plan for the 17th November to the 23rd November is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Mince and onions (from the freezer), potatoes and baked beans
Sunday dinner - Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Monday dinner - leftover salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Tuesday dinner - Chilli
Wednesday dinner - Chicken with creamy bacon penne
Thursday dinner - Fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn
Friday dinner - Roast ham, potatoes and veg
For lunches this week we will have sandwiches, leftover chilli and salads.
At the moment I am trying to run down my freezer again before Christmas as I'll probably have a lot of leftovers to freeze (my husband insists on getting a big turkey and freezing what we don't eat as we only ever have turkey once a year). This week, all the meat I will be using is from the freezer, except for the salmon for tomorrow's dinner which is in the fridge. This will allow me to gain a lot of space in the freezer, as well as saving a bit of money as I will not have to buy any meat.
My husband has classes on Tuesday evenings, so I will make the chilli ahead on Monday evening so that he can take some to work to eat before he heads to class. Having the chilli ready ahead of time will also help save some time in the evening when I get home which will be handy as I will be trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible as well as trying to entertain the kids.
When I make chilli there is usually leftovers, but rather than put them in the freezer, like I would normally do, I will use any leftovers for lunches. There is nothing quite like a nice warm filling lunch at this time of year. Unfortunately I am still trying to lose weight so I'll be having salads!
Anyway, my menu plan for the 17th November to the 23rd November is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Mince and onions (from the freezer), potatoes and baked beans
Sunday dinner - Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Monday dinner - leftover salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Tuesday dinner - Chilli
Wednesday dinner - Chicken with creamy bacon penne
Thursday dinner - Fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn
Friday dinner - Roast ham, potatoes and veg
For lunches this week we will have sandwiches, leftover chilli and salads.
At the moment I am trying to run down my freezer again before Christmas as I'll probably have a lot of leftovers to freeze (my husband insists on getting a big turkey and freezing what we don't eat as we only ever have turkey once a year). This week, all the meat I will be using is from the freezer, except for the salmon for tomorrow's dinner which is in the fridge. This will allow me to gain a lot of space in the freezer, as well as saving a bit of money as I will not have to buy any meat.
My husband has classes on Tuesday evenings, so I will make the chilli ahead on Monday evening so that he can take some to work to eat before he heads to class. Having the chilli ready ahead of time will also help save some time in the evening when I get home which will be handy as I will be trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible as well as trying to entertain the kids.
When I make chilli there is usually leftovers, but rather than put them in the freezer, like I would normally do, I will use any leftovers for lunches. There is nothing quite like a nice warm filling lunch at this time of year. Unfortunately I am still trying to lose weight so I'll be having salads!
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle
On Sunday evening I made the roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle from the September 2009 issue of Olive magazine. It was really straightforward to make and tasted delicious (I think I need to find another adjective or two to describe recipes that turn out to be extremely tasty!!).
I found the recipe after doing a search for 'basil' and 'chicken' as I had both ingredients in the house. The basil was purchased for summer chicken and basil stew that I made for dinner on Thursday night last week. I had some leftover and didn't want to throw it out. Obviously as I had made the summer chicken and basil stew the week before, I was keen to find something that would taste quite different from the stew as we'd had it two nights in a row and I didn't want to bore my family. So, after looking through the search results I picked the roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle and I have to say - I'm glad I did!
All the family enjoyed this meal and my son devoured it. As the alcohol in the wine evaporates when cooking, it was fine to serve this to him as well as to the rest of the family. He really enjoyed picking up the bits of tagliatelle and feeding them to himself!
Alterations
When I said I had chicken in - I had chicken breasts in. The recipe calls for chicken thighs. So, once again I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. As well as not having to buy chicken thighs for the meal, using the chicken breasts allowed me to reduce the roasting time as they didn't take as long to roast as the chicken thighs would have.
As I was only making this recipe for 2 adults and 2 kids, I only used 2 chicken breasts to keep the costs down a bit. I stuck to the recipe with regards to the rest of the ingredients though as I fancied a lot of flavour and a bit more juices to tip into my tagliatelle than I would have had if I had halved all the other ingredients.
Cost
The chicken breasts cost €2, the basil was 50 cent, the lemons were 50 cent, the tagliatelle was around 80 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the garlic and olive oil. The wine I had in the house was bought on my last trip to my mothers house in Asda. It was on offer 3 bottles for £10. As the recipe only uses one glass I estimate that the wine cost around 80 cent. This makes the total cost of the recipe €4.90.
I found the recipe after doing a search for 'basil' and 'chicken' as I had both ingredients in the house. The basil was purchased for summer chicken and basil stew that I made for dinner on Thursday night last week. I had some leftover and didn't want to throw it out. Obviously as I had made the summer chicken and basil stew the week before, I was keen to find something that would taste quite different from the stew as we'd had it two nights in a row and I didn't want to bore my family. So, after looking through the search results I picked the roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle and I have to say - I'm glad I did!
All the family enjoyed this meal and my son devoured it. As the alcohol in the wine evaporates when cooking, it was fine to serve this to him as well as to the rest of the family. He really enjoyed picking up the bits of tagliatelle and feeding them to himself!
Alterations
When I said I had chicken in - I had chicken breasts in. The recipe calls for chicken thighs. So, once again I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. As well as not having to buy chicken thighs for the meal, using the chicken breasts allowed me to reduce the roasting time as they didn't take as long to roast as the chicken thighs would have.
As I was only making this recipe for 2 adults and 2 kids, I only used 2 chicken breasts to keep the costs down a bit. I stuck to the recipe with regards to the rest of the ingredients though as I fancied a lot of flavour and a bit more juices to tip into my tagliatelle than I would have had if I had halved all the other ingredients.
Cost
The chicken breasts cost €2, the basil was 50 cent, the lemons were 50 cent, the tagliatelle was around 80 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the garlic and olive oil. The wine I had in the house was bought on my last trip to my mothers house in Asda. It was on offer 3 bottles for £10. As the recipe only uses one glass I estimate that the wine cost around 80 cent. This makes the total cost of the recipe €4.90.
 |
| Took this photo with my phone so it doesn't look great - sorry! |
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce
Last night I made turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce for dinner and we had the leftovers for dinner tonight. The recipe appeared in the March 2010 issue of Good Food magazine. I decided to make it when I realised that I had all the ingredients in that were required
As with a lot of the Good Food recipes I have used recently, this was really quick and easy to make. My husband, daughter and son loved it - my daughter informed us that she wanted a second bowl of it after her first forkful! I liked it to, but I think the next time I make it I'll add something to the meatballs to give them a bit more flavour. They definitely need some seasoning at the very least.
With regards to the leftovers, instead of heating up the whole dish, I had prepared all the meatballs on the first night, leaving half in the fridge for dinner tonight. I cooked them while the pasta was boiling and then added them to the sauce that I had made the night before and reheated. It worked out really well and dinner was on the table in the length of time it took for the spaghetti to be ready.
Alterations
When I was preparing the ingredients for the sauce I added two onions instead of one as the onions I had in were quite small. I also added three carrots as my carrots were quite small as well. I omitted the tomato puree simply because I forgot to add it! Other than that I stuck to the recipe.
I think it would be easy to add additional veg to the sauce without altering the taste too much. As the sauce is blended, it is a handy way of getting veg into kids without them realising it which can be helpful if you have fussy eaters.
Tip
To save time on a busy weeknight, you could prepare the meatballs the night before and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them the next night. In fact, you could even make the meatballs before freezing them so that all you had to do is lift them out of the freezer to defrost when you want to have them for dinner. You could also make the sauce ahead of time and reheat it after the meatballs have been cooked while the pasta is boiling, saving more time.
Cost
This is another one that is difficult for me to work out the cost of as I got the turkey mince up north in Asda a while back and had it in my freezer. The turkey mince was £1.98. The can of chopped tomatoes cost 66 cent, the onions cost about 25 cent, the carrots were around 30 cent, the spaghetti that I served it with was about 80 cent (allowing for two nights) and I have allowed another 40 cent for the fennel seeds, breadcrumbs, oil and garlic. In total I reckon that this dish cost me about €5 to make. Considering that this did us for dinner for two nights that makes it about €2.50 per night to feed two adults, a four year old and an 11 month old baby.
As with a lot of the Good Food recipes I have used recently, this was really quick and easy to make. My husband, daughter and son loved it - my daughter informed us that she wanted a second bowl of it after her first forkful! I liked it to, but I think the next time I make it I'll add something to the meatballs to give them a bit more flavour. They definitely need some seasoning at the very least.
With regards to the leftovers, instead of heating up the whole dish, I had prepared all the meatballs on the first night, leaving half in the fridge for dinner tonight. I cooked them while the pasta was boiling and then added them to the sauce that I had made the night before and reheated. It worked out really well and dinner was on the table in the length of time it took for the spaghetti to be ready.
Alterations
When I was preparing the ingredients for the sauce I added two onions instead of one as the onions I had in were quite small. I also added three carrots as my carrots were quite small as well. I omitted the tomato puree simply because I forgot to add it! Other than that I stuck to the recipe.
I think it would be easy to add additional veg to the sauce without altering the taste too much. As the sauce is blended, it is a handy way of getting veg into kids without them realising it which can be helpful if you have fussy eaters.
Tip
To save time on a busy weeknight, you could prepare the meatballs the night before and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them the next night. In fact, you could even make the meatballs before freezing them so that all you had to do is lift them out of the freezer to defrost when you want to have them for dinner. You could also make the sauce ahead of time and reheat it after the meatballs have been cooked while the pasta is boiling, saving more time.
Cost
This is another one that is difficult for me to work out the cost of as I got the turkey mince up north in Asda a while back and had it in my freezer. The turkey mince was £1.98. The can of chopped tomatoes cost 66 cent, the onions cost about 25 cent, the carrots were around 30 cent, the spaghetti that I served it with was about 80 cent (allowing for two nights) and I have allowed another 40 cent for the fennel seeds, breadcrumbs, oil and garlic. In total I reckon that this dish cost me about €5 to make. Considering that this did us for dinner for two nights that makes it about €2.50 per night to feed two adults, a four year old and an 11 month old baby.
Friday, 29 June 2012
July challenge starts now - the first menu plan of the month!
So, this week will be the first week of my July challenge where I aim to limit my grocery spend to €50 per week. I hate to admit it but I am actually quite excited by my July challenge. I know, I know - this makes me sound extremely sad, but I think it will force me to exercise a bit of creativity to stay below the €50 each week.
Now, to be clear, this €50 will probably only be food shopping with the odd toiletery, pack of nappies or tub of formula thrown in. I have quite a large stockpile of toileteries, nappies and formula built up at the moment from buying when they were on offer or from using my Boots Advantage card to buy them. If I was to buy formula and nappies each week as well as the groceries, I think I would need to increase my shopping budget to €75 to accomodate this. So if you have decided to give yourself a July challenge, remember to allow yourself some extra money to allow for expensives items like this or you will be setting yourself up for a fall!
This weekend I am up visiting my parents as it is my dads 50th birthday, so I won't need to worry about grocery shopping for dinner on Saturday or Sunday evening. So, for this week my menu plan only needs to cover Monday to Friday.
So, my menu plan for the 2th July 2012 to 6th July 2012 is as follows:-
Monday dinner - Turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce
Tuesday dinner - Leftovers
Wednesday dinner - Mushroom and rice one-pot
Thursday dinner - Better than baked beans and wedges
Friday dinner - Leftovers
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, leftover mushroom and rice one-pot and tuna salad.
Now, to be clear, this €50 will probably only be food shopping with the odd toiletery, pack of nappies or tub of formula thrown in. I have quite a large stockpile of toileteries, nappies and formula built up at the moment from buying when they were on offer or from using my Boots Advantage card to buy them. If I was to buy formula and nappies each week as well as the groceries, I think I would need to increase my shopping budget to €75 to accomodate this. So if you have decided to give yourself a July challenge, remember to allow yourself some extra money to allow for expensives items like this or you will be setting yourself up for a fall!
This weekend I am up visiting my parents as it is my dads 50th birthday, so I won't need to worry about grocery shopping for dinner on Saturday or Sunday evening. So, for this week my menu plan only needs to cover Monday to Friday.
So, my menu plan for the 2th July 2012 to 6th July 2012 is as follows:-
Monday dinner - Turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce
Tuesday dinner - Leftovers
Wednesday dinner - Mushroom and rice one-pot
Thursday dinner - Better than baked beans and wedges
Friday dinner - Leftovers
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, leftover mushroom and rice one-pot and tuna salad.
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Salmon with basil veg
Last week I made a version of the spring salmon with minty veg recipe from the Goodfood website for dinner one of the nights. Mine was more like spring salmon with basil veg though as I had leftover basil in the fridge and decided to use it, as per the suggestion at the bottom of the recipe.
With regards to the veg, I used a mix of fresh and frozen veg. I used broccoli, green beans and frozen peas. This meant that I had a little bit of prep to do for the broccoli, but I was able to do this while the potatoes were boiling so it didn't really take any extra time.
Cooking the salmon in the microwave worked really well. I have used the microwave to cook fish before and I've found that you have to be very careful when doing it as it is easy to overcook it and make it rubbery. However, with this recipe the salmon stayed really moist owing to the that it was covered with the dressing. I stopped the microwave after 3 and a half minutes to check it and then gave it another 15 seconds and it was done. If you've not used a microwave before to cook fish then it might be a good idea to check the salmon periodically while it is cooking to make sure it doesn't overcook.
Tip
I made extra salmon, potatoes and veg and chopped it up and froze it in portions for the baby for during the week. He devoured his portion and ate some green beans as finger food as well. If I am doing a dinner that is suitable for him I have started making extra to freeze for him rather than making food specially for him now. When I defrost a portion and heat it up for him I will add a bit of boiled water to it as it can be quite dry when it comes out of the freezer. I find this is a handy way of getting water into him as well as he can be a bit reluctant to drink it some days.
Cost
The salmon was €6 for three fillets (I used Donegal catch frozen fillets which are skinned), the basil was 40 cent, the lemon was 25 cent, the frozen peas were 30 cent, the broccoli was 40 cent, the green beans were €1.50 and the potatoes I used were 99 cent. This means the total cost of the meal that I made was €9.84. For this I feed two adults, two kids and got 8 portions for the freezer for the baby.
This is one of the more expensive meals that I have made, but given that I got so many portions of dinner for the baby out of it as well I think it works out as quite good value when you consider the cost of jars of baby food. If I had used all frozen veg then the cost could have been lowered a bit. Also, when my potatoes and green beans are eventually ready in the garden, and if I planted some herbs, I could lower the cost further.
With regards to the veg, I used a mix of fresh and frozen veg. I used broccoli, green beans and frozen peas. This meant that I had a little bit of prep to do for the broccoli, but I was able to do this while the potatoes were boiling so it didn't really take any extra time.
Cooking the salmon in the microwave worked really well. I have used the microwave to cook fish before and I've found that you have to be very careful when doing it as it is easy to overcook it and make it rubbery. However, with this recipe the salmon stayed really moist owing to the that it was covered with the dressing. I stopped the microwave after 3 and a half minutes to check it and then gave it another 15 seconds and it was done. If you've not used a microwave before to cook fish then it might be a good idea to check the salmon periodically while it is cooking to make sure it doesn't overcook.
Tip
I made extra salmon, potatoes and veg and chopped it up and froze it in portions for the baby for during the week. He devoured his portion and ate some green beans as finger food as well. If I am doing a dinner that is suitable for him I have started making extra to freeze for him rather than making food specially for him now. When I defrost a portion and heat it up for him I will add a bit of boiled water to it as it can be quite dry when it comes out of the freezer. I find this is a handy way of getting water into him as well as he can be a bit reluctant to drink it some days.
Cost
The salmon was €6 for three fillets (I used Donegal catch frozen fillets which are skinned), the basil was 40 cent, the lemon was 25 cent, the frozen peas were 30 cent, the broccoli was 40 cent, the green beans were €1.50 and the potatoes I used were 99 cent. This means the total cost of the meal that I made was €9.84. For this I feed two adults, two kids and got 8 portions for the freezer for the baby.
This is one of the more expensive meals that I have made, but given that I got so many portions of dinner for the baby out of it as well I think it works out as quite good value when you consider the cost of jars of baby food. If I had used all frozen veg then the cost could have been lowered a bit. Also, when my potatoes and green beans are eventually ready in the garden, and if I planted some herbs, I could lower the cost further.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Parsnip soup
As my menu planner for the week shows, on Sunday I intended to make soup for my family, but the type of soup would depend on what vegetables were on offer in Dunnes when I got there. Parsnips were on offer for 49 cent for a tray of 500g. I bought two trays (98 cent) knowing that I would be able to find some sort of parsnip soup on the GoodFood website that I could make. After doing a search on 'parsnip soup' and sifting through the results I decided on the parsnip soup with parsley cream, minus the parsley cream as I didn't have all the ingredients for it.
I only completed step one of the recipe. After an incident (the soup boiled over when I went upstairs to see what my daughter was up to) there wasn't much liquid left in the soup, so I didn't bother with the removing of the liquid to blend the parsnip. As it was, once I finished blending I had to add a bit of liquid to the soup as it was very thick.
The end result was pretty tasty and it is definitely one I would make again. Removing a chunk of the steps and cutting the parsnips finer than the chunks the recipe calls for meant that it was ready in about 30 minutes. Leftovers were used for lunch on Monday.
Not adding the parsley cream lowered the calories and fat content of the soup considerably. I used slimline milk to help lower the fat content as well.
Cost
The cost was pretty reasonable. As I already noted the parsnips cost me 98 cent. I have allowed another €1 for the onion, stock, milk and bay leaves - I think this is quite generous. This means that the total cost of the soup was €1.98. Another bargain soup for lunch!!
Next time I make the soup I'd really like to make the parsley cream as well. I know that this will add to the cost of it, but given how cheap it is in the first place I don't mind. As I've mentioned before - parsley is one of my favourite ingredients and I'd try the soup with the parsley cream in it to see how it adds to the taste.
I only completed step one of the recipe. After an incident (the soup boiled over when I went upstairs to see what my daughter was up to) there wasn't much liquid left in the soup, so I didn't bother with the removing of the liquid to blend the parsnip. As it was, once I finished blending I had to add a bit of liquid to the soup as it was very thick.
The end result was pretty tasty and it is definitely one I would make again. Removing a chunk of the steps and cutting the parsnips finer than the chunks the recipe calls for meant that it was ready in about 30 minutes. Leftovers were used for lunch on Monday.
Not adding the parsley cream lowered the calories and fat content of the soup considerably. I used slimline milk to help lower the fat content as well.
Cost
The cost was pretty reasonable. As I already noted the parsnips cost me 98 cent. I have allowed another €1 for the onion, stock, milk and bay leaves - I think this is quite generous. This means that the total cost of the soup was €1.98. Another bargain soup for lunch!!
Next time I make the soup I'd really like to make the parsley cream as well. I know that this will add to the cost of it, but given how cheap it is in the first place I don't mind. As I've mentioned before - parsley is one of my favourite ingredients and I'd try the soup with the parsley cream in it to see how it adds to the taste.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Menu planner for 19/5/2012 to 25/5/2012
This week will be a busy week for us as we get ready for our daughters birthday party on Saturday. To make sure we have plenty of time to get ready on Friday night I have opted to have leftovers from Thursday nights chilli.
My menu plan for the 19 May to the 25 May is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Spiced salmon with lentils
Sunday lunch - soup (depending on what veg is on offer)
Sunday dinner - Ham, vegetables and Boulangère potatoes
Monday dinner - Leftovers from Sunday lunch
Tuesday dinner - Pizza
Wednesday dinner - Maple and pepper glazed chicken with roasted carrots and mash
Thursday dinner - Quick chilli (special request by my daughter for her birthday!)
Friday dinner - Leftover chilli
For lunches I will be making baked feta and tomato, scrambled eggs, tuna, red onion and white bean salad and sandwiches.
Several of the recipes I have picked this week are low GI recipes. Food that has a low GI helps to keep your blood sugar level steady as the foods take longer to digest. This helps make you feel fuller for longer. I will be trying to incorporate more low GI foods into our diet over the next few weeks, paying special attention to lunches.
Tip - My shopping bill for this week will probably be slightly higher than previous weeks as I will be adding some items to it for my daughters birthday. Next weekend we are planning on having a BBQ at our house, so rather than buy everything in one trip to the supermarket next week, I am hoping to pick up some things this weekend in order to spread the cost slightly. Our butcher has offers on this weekend on pork loins which are lovely cooked on the BBQ, so I will pick up a few of these, marinade them and then freeze them so that they are ready to simply lift out of the freezer and cook next Saturday. Doing this will save me time as well as money.
My menu plan for the 19 May to the 25 May is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Spiced salmon with lentils
Sunday lunch - soup (depending on what veg is on offer)
Sunday dinner - Ham, vegetables and Boulangère potatoes
Monday dinner - Leftovers from Sunday lunch
Tuesday dinner - Pizza
Wednesday dinner - Maple and pepper glazed chicken with roasted carrots and mash
Thursday dinner - Quick chilli (special request by my daughter for her birthday!)
Friday dinner - Leftover chilli
For lunches I will be making baked feta and tomato, scrambled eggs, tuna, red onion and white bean salad and sandwiches.
Several of the recipes I have picked this week are low GI recipes. Food that has a low GI helps to keep your blood sugar level steady as the foods take longer to digest. This helps make you feel fuller for longer. I will be trying to incorporate more low GI foods into our diet over the next few weeks, paying special attention to lunches.
Tip - My shopping bill for this week will probably be slightly higher than previous weeks as I will be adding some items to it for my daughters birthday. Next weekend we are planning on having a BBQ at our house, so rather than buy everything in one trip to the supermarket next week, I am hoping to pick up some things this weekend in order to spread the cost slightly. Our butcher has offers on this weekend on pork loins which are lovely cooked on the BBQ, so I will pick up a few of these, marinade them and then freeze them so that they are ready to simply lift out of the freezer and cook next Saturday. Doing this will save me time as well as money.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Orange, carrot and mint soup
For lunch this weekend I wanted to make some sort of a carrot soup that I had never tried before. I didn't want anything with coriander in it or red lentils, so I did a search on the GoodFood website and found this recipe for orange, carrot and mint soup. All the ingredients were in my cupboards and I as interested to try the combination of orange, carrot and mint. It was lovely!
Now, I have to confess that when it came to making the soup I wasn't too pushed about step 3 - it seemed like it would take a lot of time to me. Plus it would result in extra dishes to wash which would use up even more time!! Instead I used my hand blender to blend the soup in the pot. It was still really smooth and velvety.
Alterations
I didn't really make any alterations to this recipe. I had no large onion so I used 2 small onions instead, but I don't really think this could be called an alteration as this ingredient was listed already. To lower the fat I didn't bother using the cream. If I was to make it again I might use fry lite to further lower the fat content.
I didn't add any salt to the soup and it tasted fine without it. I never add salt to any of my cooking as I think it's best to leave it for people to add their own salt.
Cost
The recipe was quite cheap to make. The carrots cost 70 cent, the onions were 10 cent (bought when they were 29 cent for a kg), the orange that I juiced was 80 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the mint and the vegetable stock cube. This means that the recipe costs €1.70 in total. There is enough to do lunch for my family today and tomorrow.
Now, I have to confess that when it came to making the soup I wasn't too pushed about step 3 - it seemed like it would take a lot of time to me. Plus it would result in extra dishes to wash which would use up even more time!! Instead I used my hand blender to blend the soup in the pot. It was still really smooth and velvety.
Alterations
I didn't really make any alterations to this recipe. I had no large onion so I used 2 small onions instead, but I don't really think this could be called an alteration as this ingredient was listed already. To lower the fat I didn't bother using the cream. If I was to make it again I might use fry lite to further lower the fat content.
I didn't add any salt to the soup and it tasted fine without it. I never add salt to any of my cooking as I think it's best to leave it for people to add their own salt.
Cost
The recipe was quite cheap to make. The carrots cost 70 cent, the onions were 10 cent (bought when they were 29 cent for a kg), the orange that I juiced was 80 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the mint and the vegetable stock cube. This means that the recipe costs €1.70 in total. There is enough to do lunch for my family today and tomorrow.
 |
| My effort in a bowl! |
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Quick chilli
For the first time, I have been so tempted by a chilli recipe that I have decided to try it. Usually, I look at recipes for chilli and decide to stick with my own after reminding myself of the saying 'if it's not broke, don't fix it'!
The reason behind my decision to try a new chilli recipe? Simple - this recipe includes chorizo which is one of my favourite ingredients!
The recipe I am using is Nigella Lawson's Quick chilli from her book Nigella Express cookbook. I have typed it out as Nigella has written it below. After the method I have included some alterations that I made to the recipe in order to make sure that it is suitable for the baby to eat.
The recipe is as follows:-
Ingredients
150g chorizo sausage (not the salami sort), halved length ways and cut into 5mm half moons
500g minced beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cardamon pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar good-quality tomato and chunky vegetable sauce for pasta
1 x 390g mixed spicy beans
60ml sweet chilli sauce
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional, or if your beans are not spicy)
Method
Alterations
I made a few swaps when making my Quick Chilli to make sure that it was suitable for feeding to my baby. To lower the salt in the recipe I opted to use a 800g can of chopped tomatoes instead of the pasta sauce. I also used non-spicy beans and added the chilli flakes that were suggested by Nigella. I was concerned that the sauce in the spicy beans may have salt and sugar added to it. Plus, I already had non-spicy beans in my cupboard, so I didn't need to buy them.
I had two forced alterations - my cardamon pods had gone off and I have run out of ground coriander so I couldn't add either of these ingredients. Having never tasted the chilli before I didn't miss them, however the next time I make it I might add them to see how they alter the taste of the dish.
As I wasn't adding a pasta sauce with vegetables added to it I decided to add a finely chopped two small onions and a grated carrot large to the chilli in order to make sure that some vegetables other than the chopped tomatoes were included.
To make the meal stretch further additional vegetables could be added to the recipe. If I was to make it again I think that I would add some mushrooms and grated courgette to bulk it up and increase my family's intake of vegetables.
Tip
Although this recipe is quick to make, if I was making it again I would make it the night before and re-heat for dinner when I get home from work. Doing this would mean that it would only take as long as it takes to prepare the rice to have the dinner ready.
Cost
I used a pound of mince in this recipe - I know it says 500g, but I still buy it in pounds and have no idea how many grams is in a pound. Anyway, the pound of mince I used came from my butchers and cost €3. The chorizo I used were cooking chorizo that I bought in Marks and Spencer's on offer - 2 packs of 6 chorizo sausages for €7. I used 3 sausages in my chilli, so that is a cost of €1.75. The chopped tomatoes were €1. The can of mix beans I used was bought in Aldi a while ago and I can not remember the cost of it, so have estimated it at €1. For the remaining ingredients - spices, onions and carrot - I am allowing 50 cent. The total cost for my version of the recipe is €5.50.
Using my version of the recipe I made enough chilli to feed my family of 4 (2 adults, a pre-schooler and a baby) two nights. The portions were generous and I served them with rice. I think that including the cost of the rice, the meal cost €3 for each night.
The reason behind my decision to try a new chilli recipe? Simple - this recipe includes chorizo which is one of my favourite ingredients!
The recipe I am using is Nigella Lawson's Quick chilli from her book Nigella Express cookbook. I have typed it out as Nigella has written it below. After the method I have included some alterations that I made to the recipe in order to make sure that it is suitable for the baby to eat.
The recipe is as follows:-
Ingredients
150g chorizo sausage (not the salami sort), halved length ways and cut into 5mm half moons
500g minced beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cardamon pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar good-quality tomato and chunky vegetable sauce for pasta
1 x 390g mixed spicy beans
60ml sweet chilli sauce
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional, or if your beans are not spicy)
Method
- Put the sliced chorizo into a hot, heavy-based pan and cook over a medium heat until the sausage crisps a little and gives up its orange-red oil.
- Add the mince and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden fork to help it brown.
- Stir in the spices and then add the tomato-vegetable pasta sauces, spicy beans and chilli sauce. Also add the chilli flakes if you need more heat or if you've managed only to find some regular canned beans.
- Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- You can eat this with rice or just as it is. If you're not adding any rice, you might consider dolloping with a blob of sour cream and sprinkling some grated cheese and chopped coriander. I can't think of a way of eating this that isn't good.
Alterations
I made a few swaps when making my Quick Chilli to make sure that it was suitable for feeding to my baby. To lower the salt in the recipe I opted to use a 800g can of chopped tomatoes instead of the pasta sauce. I also used non-spicy beans and added the chilli flakes that were suggested by Nigella. I was concerned that the sauce in the spicy beans may have salt and sugar added to it. Plus, I already had non-spicy beans in my cupboard, so I didn't need to buy them.
I had two forced alterations - my cardamon pods had gone off and I have run out of ground coriander so I couldn't add either of these ingredients. Having never tasted the chilli before I didn't miss them, however the next time I make it I might add them to see how they alter the taste of the dish.
As I wasn't adding a pasta sauce with vegetables added to it I decided to add a finely chopped two small onions and a grated carrot large to the chilli in order to make sure that some vegetables other than the chopped tomatoes were included.
To make the meal stretch further additional vegetables could be added to the recipe. If I was to make it again I think that I would add some mushrooms and grated courgette to bulk it up and increase my family's intake of vegetables.
Tip
Although this recipe is quick to make, if I was making it again I would make it the night before and re-heat for dinner when I get home from work. Doing this would mean that it would only take as long as it takes to prepare the rice to have the dinner ready.
Cost
I used a pound of mince in this recipe - I know it says 500g, but I still buy it in pounds and have no idea how many grams is in a pound. Anyway, the pound of mince I used came from my butchers and cost €3. The chorizo I used were cooking chorizo that I bought in Marks and Spencer's on offer - 2 packs of 6 chorizo sausages for €7. I used 3 sausages in my chilli, so that is a cost of €1.75. The chopped tomatoes were €1. The can of mix beans I used was bought in Aldi a while ago and I can not remember the cost of it, so have estimated it at €1. For the remaining ingredients - spices, onions and carrot - I am allowing 50 cent. The total cost for my version of the recipe is €5.50.
Using my version of the recipe I made enough chilli to feed my family of 4 (2 adults, a pre-schooler and a baby) two nights. The portions were generous and I served them with rice. I think that including the cost of the rice, the meal cost €3 for each night.
Friday, 4 May 2012
Sticky pan-roasted sausages
Tonight I was back on track with the menu plan and made the sticky pan-roasted sausages as planned. This recipe was in the October 2008 issue of GoodFood magazine. The picture below is from the GoodFood website.
I've added fruit to my dinner before - apricots and lamb, apple and pork, apple and parsnip - but I have never tried grapes in a main meal before so I was looking forward to seeing what they tasted like. When I think about it I don't think I've ever had them hot either. The whole meal turned out really nice and the grapes, especially the red onions, were lovely.
I had one slight alteration to the recipe tonight - I had no red wine vinegar in so I ended up using sherry vinegar instead. The recipe turned out really well and tasted lovely. The smell of the fennel while it was cooking smelled lovely and I was dying to try it by the time it was ready.
The recipe states that it takes 10 minutes to prepare the meal and 25 minutes to cook it, giving a total of 35 minutes. However, I found that it was a bit quicker than this. I put on my sausages and did the prep (cleaning the grapes and slicing the onions) during the first ten minutes while they were cooking, so that saved a bit of time. I reckon it takes 25 minutes in total if you do this.
We had it with leftover mash from last night which my husband heated up in the microwave. I confess that the first time it was suggested by my husband that we should heat up mash in the microwave it did not appeal to me at all. However, I don't notice any difference to the taste and from a practical point of view it works really well when you are trying to get dinner on the table in a hurry.
If I was to make this again I would use red onion as I think it would taste quite nice with grapes and red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar if I still do not have any red wine vinegar!).
 |
| My sticky pan-roasted sausages didn't turn out too badly! |
Cost - My sausages came from my local butchers and are their 'jumbo' sausages. They cost €4.20. I've estimated the cost of the mash, grapes, onions, fennel, garlic and sherry vinegar at €2.00. This makes the total cost €6.20 for the meal that I made.
The same as with the gammon steaks, I reckon that you could make this dinner for a lot less depending on the sausages you use. I know if I had used our butchers normal sized sausages that it would have been cheaper, however, I felt that the jumbo sausages would be better for the recipe given the length of time they are in the pan.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Very quick chicken stew
Dinner tonight was very quick chicken stew from Olive magazine's December 2006 issue. I don't buy Olive magazine but the GoodFood website has some recipes from the magazine on it. I found this recipe when I was looking for a low GI chicken meal on the website.
The stew serves two. As I wanted to have it for dinner on Tuesday night as well I doubled the ingredients. While saving time on preparing dinner tomorrow night, it did take slightly longer than the 30 mins stated to make as there was a lot more in the pot.
I made a few alterations to the recipe. I had chicken breasts in the freezer, so I used four of them instead of the chicken thighs listed in the recipe ingredients. Also, I had now fresh tarragon in. I do have dried tarragon in my cupboard, but rather than use it, I decided to use some parsley as I had bought some for the quinoa (bulghar wheat) tabbouleh and had some leftover.
As I want to have give some of the chicken stew to my baby for dinner tomorrow night, I left the chicken stock cube out of the recipe, just adding boiled water instead. As the chicken and vegetables were going to be cooking in the water I figured that they would flavour it. To be sure that the stew had plenty of flavour without the stock cube, I threw a couple of bay leaves into the pot and seasoned with pepper to add a bit more flavour to the stew. You can buy low salt stock cubes suitable for giving to babies, but I do not have any of these in the house. While the stew tasted ok - it was much better the second night, I think it would have tasted better if I had used chicken or vegetable stock in it. Next time I make it I will use some chicken or vegetable stock that I make myself in advance.
TIP - Anytime I have a roast chicken for dinner, I always boil the bones after the stripping all the meat from it to make stock. I throw in a carrot, celery and an onion (skin on) if I have them in the house. I then pour the stock into some 'Pour and store' bags and put in the freezer for when I need it. Unfortunately I didn't have any in the freezer for this recipe, otherwise I would have used some.
Cost - The chicken breasts were bought at the butchers when it was 12 chicken breasts for €10. I used four chicken breasts in this recipe, so the cost was €3.33. The potatoes were 99 cent, the shallots were 49 cent, the carrots were 50 cent and the peas were 50 cent (another estimate). I have allowed 20 cent for the parsley, bay leaves and pepper. The total cost is €6.01, making the cost per meal 0.005 cent over €3! Not too bad.
The stew serves two. As I wanted to have it for dinner on Tuesday night as well I doubled the ingredients. While saving time on preparing dinner tomorrow night, it did take slightly longer than the 30 mins stated to make as there was a lot more in the pot.
I made a few alterations to the recipe. I had chicken breasts in the freezer, so I used four of them instead of the chicken thighs listed in the recipe ingredients. Also, I had now fresh tarragon in. I do have dried tarragon in my cupboard, but rather than use it, I decided to use some parsley as I had bought some for the quinoa (bulghar wheat) tabbouleh and had some leftover.
As I want to have give some of the chicken stew to my baby for dinner tomorrow night, I left the chicken stock cube out of the recipe, just adding boiled water instead. As the chicken and vegetables were going to be cooking in the water I figured that they would flavour it. To be sure that the stew had plenty of flavour without the stock cube, I threw a couple of bay leaves into the pot and seasoned with pepper to add a bit more flavour to the stew. You can buy low salt stock cubes suitable for giving to babies, but I do not have any of these in the house. While the stew tasted ok - it was much better the second night, I think it would have tasted better if I had used chicken or vegetable stock in it. Next time I make it I will use some chicken or vegetable stock that I make myself in advance.
TIP - Anytime I have a roast chicken for dinner, I always boil the bones after the stripping all the meat from it to make stock. I throw in a carrot, celery and an onion (skin on) if I have them in the house. I then pour the stock into some 'Pour and store' bags and put in the freezer for when I need it. Unfortunately I didn't have any in the freezer for this recipe, otherwise I would have used some.
Cost - The chicken breasts were bought at the butchers when it was 12 chicken breasts for €10. I used four chicken breasts in this recipe, so the cost was €3.33. The potatoes were 99 cent, the shallots were 49 cent, the carrots were 50 cent and the peas were 50 cent (another estimate). I have allowed 20 cent for the parsley, bay leaves and pepper. The total cost is €6.01, making the cost per meal 0.005 cent over €3! Not too bad.
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Marinated lamb steaks with barley salad
So, tonight after the kids went to bed I made the marinated lamb steaks with barley salad from the June 2010 issue of the GoodFood magazine. It was, quite frankly, delicious! My taste buds are still in heaven! This recipe is definitely going on the list of dinners that we will be having again (and again and again and again!!).
After trying it my husband confessed that he was a bit dubious about the barely salad but that it tasted much better than he expected. As well as making a nice change from potatoes as a side, the barley salad is has a low GI, meaning that you'll feel fuller for longer. According to the GoodFood magazine the salad gives 2 of your 5-a-day, making it a healthy choice for dinner.
I made a few alterations to the recipe as I was going along. The first change was forced upon me when I went to by the meat. My butcher didn't have any lamb steaks, but he did have some lovely looking boneless lamb chops which looked quite thick so I decided that they would do the trick. The second change was when I was making the marinade - it called for a pinch of dried chilli and I added a bit more than a pinch as we like our food spicy.
The biggest changes I made were to the barley salad. When I did the grocery shopping earlier today there were no frozen broad beans in Dunnes, so I bought soya beans and used these instead. Red onions were on my shopping list but I decided not to bother buying them as 1kg of onions was 29c in Dunnes and I didn't really fancy having a kg of red onions AND and kg of ordinary onions in the house. Although the red onions were on offer in Lidl this weekend, I decided that it was a bit excessive to buy a kg of them just for one recipe. I meant to buy a single red onion, but forgot and only realised when I started making the dinner. So instead of red onion I used two scallions (spring onions). The red onion wasn't to be cooked and I didn't think that a raw onion would taste nice in the salad, whereas I was confident that the scallions would be fine.
The recipe suggests marinating the lamb for up to two hours if you have the time. My lamb was marinated for 40 minutes and tasted fine.
TIP - If I was to decide to make this recipe mid-week I would probably buy the meat at the weekend, make up the marinade, rub into the meat and freeze. Then I would lift it out the night before making the meal and leave it to defrost and marinate in the fridge. Alternatively I would make up the marinade the night before or in the morning, but for me the first option would save the most time on meal preparation during the week.
Cost - This was a bit more expensive than some meals that I make. The lamb chops that I bought were €5. The soya beans were €1.50, the peas were 50 cent (estimate), the pearl barley was 75 cent, the mint was 50 cent, the lemon was 25 cent and I have allowed 40 cent for the scallions, dried chilli and olive oil. This makes the total €8.90 which makes this my most expensive meal to date.
I would not normally spend so much on one meal for two of us, but a lot of couples spend much more than this on a meal in the restaurant on a Saturday night, so as a one off I don't think it's that bad. In fact, we'd spend more on a takeaway if we were to get one and probably not enjoy it half as much!
After trying it my husband confessed that he was a bit dubious about the barely salad but that it tasted much better than he expected. As well as making a nice change from potatoes as a side, the barley salad is has a low GI, meaning that you'll feel fuller for longer. According to the GoodFood magazine the salad gives 2 of your 5-a-day, making it a healthy choice for dinner.I made a few alterations to the recipe as I was going along. The first change was forced upon me when I went to by the meat. My butcher didn't have any lamb steaks, but he did have some lovely looking boneless lamb chops which looked quite thick so I decided that they would do the trick. The second change was when I was making the marinade - it called for a pinch of dried chilli and I added a bit more than a pinch as we like our food spicy.
The biggest changes I made were to the barley salad. When I did the grocery shopping earlier today there were no frozen broad beans in Dunnes, so I bought soya beans and used these instead. Red onions were on my shopping list but I decided not to bother buying them as 1kg of onions was 29c in Dunnes and I didn't really fancy having a kg of red onions AND and kg of ordinary onions in the house. Although the red onions were on offer in Lidl this weekend, I decided that it was a bit excessive to buy a kg of them just for one recipe. I meant to buy a single red onion, but forgot and only realised when I started making the dinner. So instead of red onion I used two scallions (spring onions). The red onion wasn't to be cooked and I didn't think that a raw onion would taste nice in the salad, whereas I was confident that the scallions would be fine.
The recipe suggests marinating the lamb for up to two hours if you have the time. My lamb was marinated for 40 minutes and tasted fine.
TIP - If I was to decide to make this recipe mid-week I would probably buy the meat at the weekend, make up the marinade, rub into the meat and freeze. Then I would lift it out the night before making the meal and leave it to defrost and marinate in the fridge. Alternatively I would make up the marinade the night before or in the morning, but for me the first option would save the most time on meal preparation during the week.
Cost - This was a bit more expensive than some meals that I make. The lamb chops that I bought were €5. The soya beans were €1.50, the peas were 50 cent (estimate), the pearl barley was 75 cent, the mint was 50 cent, the lemon was 25 cent and I have allowed 40 cent for the scallions, dried chilli and olive oil. This makes the total €8.90 which makes this my most expensive meal to date.
I would not normally spend so much on one meal for two of us, but a lot of couples spend much more than this on a meal in the restaurant on a Saturday night, so as a one off I don't think it's that bad. In fact, we'd spend more on a takeaway if we were to get one and probably not enjoy it half as much!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)