As you can see I've been absent for a while. There has been a bit of a
change in circumstances here in the Craftcook household. Since Easter I have been unemployed and have
become a stay at home mum. Previously I had always been of the opinion that I
HAD to work even when I became a parent, but I have to say that over the past
few weeks I’ve begun to wonder why I had ever felt that way! I thoroughly enjoy being at home with the
kids. It also means I can spend more
time preparing dinner if I choose to, though if I am honest I prefer spending time
with the kids.
We’ve also had another change in our household. The week that I finished work, my husband
received news that he was to be promoted at work. He is now working in his new job. The upshot of this is that we haven’t had to
change our grocery budget of €100 a week.
Due to all this change I’ve been a bit haphazard when it comes to preparing
a weekly menu plan, but that’s about to change.
Yesterday I once again started making a note of our menu for the week
and creating a shopping list. Our menu
plan for the week is:
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Menu plan from 10th to 15th February 2013
I've not been very well for the past week, so haven't been eating much never mind cooking! We didn't have much of a menu plan to work from, so my husband just whipped up something from whatever was in the house for himself and the kids each evening. Thankfully I am feeling a lot better today and am looking forward to getting back behind the cooker!
So, my menu plan for the rest of this week is as follows
So, my menu plan for the rest of this week is as follows
Saturday, 5 January 2013
Menu plan 4th January 2013 to 11th January 2013
So here it is - a post containing details of my first menu plan for 2013! My menu plan for Saturday the 4th January until Friday the 11th January is as follows
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
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!
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