Showing posts with label This Week's Meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label This Week's Meals. Show all posts

03 March 2014

This Week's Meals #9

I'm not having much time to post other than the weekly meal plan. Our little person has gone from just sitting up to crawling all over the place and attempting to climb on top of anything he can get his hands on. I know everyone says they grow up so quickly but the speed at which he is learning, developing his skills and growing is scary. He'll be a little toddler soon!

This week's meal plan is based on using up what we have in the freezer and fridge, although I will need to stock up on fresh vegetables. Since moving to LCHF we don't tend to eat from the 'store cupboard', so most of our food is whatever needs the fridge or freezer. This point makes me feel good for some reason, I think its because if it can go off it is good for you and hasn't been fiddled with!

On the subject of LCHF and my diet, after 4 weeks of struggling to stick to calories and no weight loss the scales are now moving again and I have lost another 2lbs this week! The thing is, in that 4 week period I didn't gain any weight either, at all. If I was eating like I was before and not decreased my carb intake I'm positive I would have gained weight by not sticking to a calorie allowance in that 4 week period (I ate more calories I need to maintain to my weight too). So, this week I've concentrated a little more on the calories and its started coming off again.

The other thing that has helped is that I have made more of an effort to walk everywhere with little person in his pram. He loves being outside so its good for him too. We did 15 miles last week, which is not bad for someone who hasn't exercised in years. I don't believe exercise is strictly necessary for weight loss but it does earn you extra calories if you are trying to lose weight. It also makes you feel good, plain and simple! I've loved being out in the chilly sunshine, its interesting the things you notice when you are walking that you would never notice driving. So I've set myself a target of 100 miles in 8 weeks to keep me motivated to carry on! Mapmywalk is my new favourite website!

Here is this week's plan;

Monday - Steak Salad, straight forward steak fried over a nice big salad 

Tuesday  - Jamaican Beef Curry (in slow cooker) with cauliflower rice. The recipe is for goat but I don't have goat in the freezer! I've made this with lamb and it's oh so good!

Wednesday - Courgette Lasagne (this is what was missed off of last week's menu as I had 8 meals planned)

Thursday - Sausages, broccoli, carrots and gravy

Friday - Eating out with the big man


Saturday - Fish Pie with cauliflower mash topping  I love the recipe on the blog (see link) because it has a few options for the topping to choose from.

Sunday - Poussin and roasted vegetables (likely to be peppers and red onions). Don't normally have poussin lying around in the freezer but it was reduced because of its sell by date, so had to try it.

Have a good week everyone!



Meal Planning Monday
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24 February 2014

This Week's Meals #8

I have 8 meals on my plan this week because I couldn't decide between them. So it will be a matter of cooking whatever we fancy on the day and carrying one over to next week.

Last week's meals were all really good, the Pakistani Beef Curry was amazing. Would highly recommend them all. 

Asian Seabass and pak choi 
Beef Bourguignon and celeriac mash
Taco Lettuce Wraps (without the beans)

Chicken Vindaye (a Pondicherrian curry, the link is a YouTube clip from a Rick Stein programme. In it he says this curry is in his top 10 favourite things eat. You can't get better endorsement than that!)
Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup - I love this soup!!
Salmon Tikka with cucumber raita and coriander salad (without the wraps)

Meal Planning Monday
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17 February 2014

This Week's Meals #7

Back to meal planning. It is so much easier to eat well and save money when you meal plan. And it doesn't have to be time consuming, I save recipes using Pinterest so I always have lots to choose from. There's no harm in rotating recipes each week if that's your thing. Here's our plan for this week in no particular order

Mozzarella Stuffed, bacon Wrapped Chicken Thigh Caesar Salad with home made dressing

'Taze Fasulye' or Turkish Green Beans in tomato sauce with lamb (will add recipe in the week) 

Slow Cooker Pakistani Beef Curry and Cauliflower Rice





Chilli Paneer and Cauliflower Rice 

Peppered Grill steaks and Salad 



Meal Planning Monday
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24 March 2013

This Week's Meals #5

Monday: Nigel Slater's Hot Chicken Cakes. On their own these are not substantial enough for Mr A, so I'm going to shape them like little patties and have them in whole wheat burger buns.


Tuesday: Dinner at Mum's

Wednesday: Prawn and Chorizo Gumbo


Thursday: Sausages and Cauliflower Mash 


Friday: Nigella's Spaghetti Puttanesca

Saturday: Middle Eastern Lamb Koftes with yoghurt, salad and pittas (or may even make my own hummus!)


Sunday: Turkey Roulade - I'm going to make this up as I go along but it will be turkey breasts stuffed with sage and onion stuffing, wrapped in bacon

We probably won't get through all 6 meals, as its Easter weekend I'm hoping we'll be out and about. If that happens the meals will just roll over to next week, because I'm good at that!

With baby on the way I've been thinking about how much we currently spend on food and what we can save. We try to be 'careful' but don't really budget. I'll always make sure I plan meals ahead, cook from what we already have and only shop for what we need but I still think we spend too much for just 2 people. What would you say is a reasonable budget for 2 people for a week?

Meal Planning Monday
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Turkish Pasta Bake - 'Firinda Makarna'

'Firinda Makarna' is translated as 'pasta in the oven' and is a really easy, tasty alternative to a usual pasta bake

Ingredients:
1 packet of pasta - you can find 'makarna' in Turkish / Greeks and looks just like spaghetti just thicker. If you can't get your hands on makarna I'm sure this would work with any sort of pasta
500g beef mince
1 onion, finely chopped
Dried mint
Parsley - handful, finely chopped
salt and pepper

For Cheese sauce topping:
1 pint milk (I used half full fat, half semi skimmed)
1 packet of halloumi cheese, grated
1 cup grated cheddar
1 egg
1 tsp mustard powder (optional)
3 tbsp plain flour/sauce flour

  • Preheat oven to 200C.
  • Get the pasta cooking according to packet instructions, I break them in half
  • Whilst the pasta is cooking fry the onion until soft and add the mince, salt and pepper and sprinkle of dried mint. Once fried well throw in the parsley and stir.
  • Drain pasta and create layers, starting with the pasta and then the mince mixture. You should get about two layers of each.
  • To make the cheese sauce,, pour milk into a saucepan and before the heat goes on whisk in the egg. Put the heat on low and keep whisking gently. As the milk warms up - before boiling add the halloumi and half of the cheddar in handfuls at a time and keep whisking, don't allow to boil too much. Turn the heat up to medium and add the mustard powder and flour spoonful at a time, whisking in between. Keep stirring well with a whisk until the sauce is very thick and paste like.
  • Once its very, thick take off the heat and pour all over the pasta and smooth over on top. Sprinkle with a bit of cheddar and put in the oven until browned on top, about 30-45 minutes
  • Once its out allow to cool a bit then cut into squares.




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17 March 2013

This Week's Meals #4

I know what you're thinking, what is that ravioli still doing on the menu!? No, we're not eating it for the third week running but I was either too lazy to cook that night or it wasn't what I fancied (or both). But I'm definitely making it tomorrow!

Monday:  Caprese Ravioli with Roasted Tomato Pesto Sauce from 'Proud Italian Cook'

Tuesday: Dinner at mums

Wednesday: Malvani Prawn Curry from 'Enjoy Indian Food' with brown rice

Thursday: Meeting my friend Dea for dinner after work

Friday: Come Dine with Me number 3 at my friend Helen's!

Saturday: Szechaun Hot and Sour Soup from Allrecipes

Source: Allrecipes

Sunday: Turkish Pasta Bake, 'Fırında Makarna.' Recipe and photo's to follow!

Meal Planning Monday
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14 March 2013

Dolma: Turkish Stuffed Peppers, Artichokes, Onions and Cabbage Leaves

This was the first meal on our plan this week. Dolma literally means "to stuff" in Turkish. The most common version of dolma is stuffed vine leaves.

A few weekends ago my mum came round with some artichokes that someone had sent her from Cyprus so I decided to make dolma with them and other veg we had. Artichokes are notoriously difficult to prep and also start to go brown if you don't rub them with lemon juice after you've prepared them. My mum is a bit of an expert at preparing artichokes, I never really appreciate how good a cook she was until I got in to cooking myself. Anyway, I found this helpful guide on how to prepare artichokes for stuffing.

The stuffing:
250g beef mince*
Handful chopped parsley
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped or grated
2 tbsp uncooked rice
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato or pepper paste
Juice of 1 lemon
1tsp cumin
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together. *For a vegetarian version just leave out the mince and add more rice, or use cous cous or bulgar wheat.

Preparing vegetables for stuffing;
Peppers - just cut the tops off and remove flesh and seeds
Cabbage leaves - add leaves to boiling water until soft, about 3-4 minutes
Artichokes - once prepared the artichokes need to be cooked in boiling water for a few minutes before stuffing
Onion - cook in boiling water until layers come away easily without breaking

Once the vegetables are prepared all you need to do is fill them with the stuffing mixture and place them in a pot. I then made up 250ml of vegetable stock, to which I added 1 more tablespoon of pepper paste (could use tomato paste too) and poured this around the stuffed vegetables. Make sure the stock doesn't go over the top of peppers or artichokes, so full just half way. Cover and cook for approx. 30-40 minutes.

Once cooked, the dolma goes really well with plain yoghurt, tzatziki or hummus (or salad, or home made chips!)

Hope you try this recipe, would love to hear from you if you do!!
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10 March 2013

This Week's Meals #3

Meal Planning Monday




I didn't get to make some of the meals from last week's plan, so the Caprese Ravioli is back on the menu this week, can't wait to try them!





Monday:  Turkish stuffed artichokes, peppers, onions and cabbage leaves from me! Made these on Sunday ready for eating after work on Monday. Recipe and post to follow later in the week.


Tuesday: At mums for dinner

Wednesday:  Faux Prawn and Chorizo Paella from  Eat, Drink Paleo


Thursday:  Caprese Ravioli with Roasted Tomato Pesto Sauce from 'Proud Italian Cook'

Friday: Szechaun Hot and Sour Soup from Allrecipes

Source: Allrecipes

Saturday: Chickpea Base Pizza's from Not Just Apples


Sunday: Cajun Chicken Kebabs with Spiced Yoghurt Dips and pitta from Lavender and Lovage 



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03 March 2013

This Week's Meals #2

Monday:  Caribbean Sweet Potato Patties with Spicy Coconut and Spinach Sauce from Cook, Eat, Live Vegetarian


Tuesday:  Eating at mums. I've just started yoga classes on Tuesdays within walking distance from my mums. My mum is a typical Turkish mum and wouldn't hear of me being that close and not popping in to eat with them, which is absolutely fine by me!

Wednesday:   On Wednesday me and my sister are taking a cookery class called 'Fire and Spice' at Morgan's Kitchen in Camden. We'll learn how to use spices and chillies and make our own mixtures to take home. I'm not that great when it comes to mixing different spices so this class is right up my street. At the end of the class we get to eat our dishes, so I'll post some pictures and hopefully a recipe!

Thursday: Turkish Stuffed Artichokes and Peppers from me! Recipe and post to follow later in the week.

Friday:  Singapore Noodles from 'Dietitian UK'

Source: Dietitian UK

Saturday:  Chilli Marrakech from BBC Good Food

Source: BBC Good Food
Sunday:  Caprese Ravioli with Roasted Tomato Pesto Sauce from 'Proud Italian Cook'


Meal Planning Monday
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02 March 2013

Falafel, Salad and Pickles

This was on this week's meal plan and I found the recipe on 'Flourishing Foodie'. I've tended not to bother making my own falafel as they always turn out too dry or too crumbly, but I really fancied falafel this week! This one was a bit crumbly but I know what to try next time to avoid that, for example using dry chickpeas like the recipe suggests rather than tinned chickpeas that I used. Next time I'll also add a bit more flour (I used gram flour instead of plain) and maybe another egg and keep them in the fridge for longer to firm up a bit more.

There is nothing else I would change as the taste was absolutely perfect!


We had them with lettuce, tomato, olives, gherkins and pink pickles that our neighbour gave us. I think they're pink because she used beetroot but can't be sure because there wasn't any pickled beetroot in the jar!? I also made a tahini sauce, with tahini paste, pinch of cumin, lemon juice and water. The idea was that we choose whatever we want from the platter and stuff them into pitta's, but I skipped the pitta's to save room for more falafel. Either way, this was a perfect Friday, night in meal.
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25 February 2013

This Week's Meals #1

Because of my recent uncontrollable hunger, unless I pre plan and prepare weekday meals I can quite easily eat whatever is easiest or closest. This usually ends up being a take away or junk food so I'm trying to make an effort to plan mid week meals that's are quick, easy and nutritious. Here are this week's meals, I'll blog about how I get on with them too! The other thing about this weeks meals is that they are all made from ingredients we already had in the house!

Monday - Turkish Pea, Chicken, Potato and Carrot Stew ('Bezelye') from my mum

Tuesday - Eating at Mums

Wednesday: Chicken Wings with cumin, lemon and garlic from BBC Good Food with side of grilled corn on the cob 

Thursday: Sweet Onions and Lentils from BBC Food

Friday: Spicy Falafels from Flourishing Foodie with salad, pickles and tahini sauce.

Saturday: Jerk Chicken with Rice n Peas from BBC Good Food

Sunday: "Tidy Friday Pan Fry" from Nigel Slater on BBC Food

I'll be entering my weekly meals in to 'Meal Planning Mondays' over at Mrs M's blog from now on!

Meal Planning Monday
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