Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Meal planning - Aug 1st

The first week of meal planning is here. As mentioned in my previous post I am planning to follow the list of 'main ingredients' I came up with throughout the month, and then a week at a time create a meal plan to follow. The aim is to cook more often, eat healthily and waste less. However, I have decided on a few modifications. Firstly, cheese meals may be cheese and/or egg based. SEcondly I don't have to stick rigidly to the ingredients list I created. I realised that sometimes I may plan to do a large roast on a Saturday or Sunday with the aim to use the leftovers the following day. If when I create my meal plan I therefore wish to shift things around, no bother. Also as the week progresses I might change the order (provided the meat/fish etc. isn't going off in the fridge). Sometimes you just fancy something different right?

Anyway, on we go. The plan for this week is:


I've also compiled a shopping list. Now many of the ingredients I don't actually need each week (olive oil for example), but it useful to have the list of requirements to hand to quickly compile the weeks shopping list. So here we are:

Tagliatelle with fresh peas and bacon (serves 2)
  • 100g bacon
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 200g fresh tagliatelle
  • 1 cup Peas (frozen, or 210 g fresh, in pods)
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 4 tbsp yoghurt or creme fraiche
  • 1 tbsp chopped tarragon
  • 1 Little Gem lettuce, cut into wedges
  • 4 spring onions, chopped 
Thai style steamed fish (serves 2)
  • 2 trout fillets or other fish fillets, each weighing about 140g/5oz
  • a small knob of fresh root ginger
  • 1 small clove of garlic
  • 1 small red chilli 
  • 1 lime
  • 3 baby pak choi, or 1 large
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
Potato, spring onion and cheese frittata, served with summer salad – (serves 4)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 400g cooked new potatoes (can use leftovers)
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 spring onions
  • Dill
  • 25g cheddar cheese or equivalent (we use goats cheese due to allergies)
  • Salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber
Cauliflower and potato curry (serves 4)
  • 2.0 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 tsp ground ginger or large piece of ginger root
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1.0 tsp ground cumin
  • 1.0 tsp tandoori powder (you can also use curry powder)
  • 227.0g can chopped tomatoes
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 cauliflower
  • 2 potatoes
  • squeeze lemon juice
  • handful coriander
  • naan bread/chapatis/rice
  • natural yogurt
8 x Dill fish cakes, served with summer salad (serves 4)
  • 800g salmon fillets (or equivalent filleted fish)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • small bunch dill
  • 500ml milk
  • 600g potatoes
  • 1 lemon
  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 4 tbsp capers
  • a little flour
  • 1 egg
  • 100g breadcrumbs
  • 4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
  • Lemon for serving
  • Salad leaves
Macaroni cheese with salad (serves 4)
  • 275g cheese (can be a mix of cheddar, Gruyère and parmesan)
  • 50g white bread
  • 3 medium tomatoes
  • 280g macaroni
  • 700ml milk (full fat will make a richer sauce)
  • 50g butter or margarine (butter has a better flavour for the sauce)
  • 50g plain flour
  • 1 routed tsp Dijon mustard
Pork chops, with cheese and chive coleslaw (serves 4)
  • 4 pork chops, loins etc.
  • 3 slices bread
  • 2 lemons
  • 50g Parmesan (I use goats cheese)
  • 50g pine nuts
  • 2 sprigs rosemary (optional)
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • olive oil
  • 1 white cabbage
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 red onion
  • Mayonaise
  • Yoghurt
  • Dijon mustard
  • Chives
  • 100g cheddar or equivalent
So there is the (long) shopping list! Actually I only needed a few of the items, but it is nice to see it laid out so that I can nip back and double check. Finally, just a note of explanation (or two). Firstly, I'm cooking for two, but I am always adjusting quantities so I am happy to leave them as four written down and then adjust on-the-fly. Plus I presume quantities for four people are more useful for most Mums! I also sometimes make double (i.e. four) and take leftovers to work for lunch. This will happen with the fish cakes and the macaroni cheese as I have found these work quite well for lunch (we have a microwave in the coffee room for the likes of mac 'n' cheese!). Secondly, I adapt all our recipes to be free from cows milk and its products. So I change out cheese for a goats milk variety (you might notice my notes in the shopping list!), and milk becomes oat milk, rice milk or goats milk depending on the recipe. Butter is a no-go as well unfortunately, so margarine all the way!

Thanks for stopping by,
Rose
Let me know what you think... leave a comment or send an email to passthecaffeine {at} gmail {dot} com.

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