Meal Planning Monday

Well last week's plan did not happen at all either on paper or the blog, following a loosely followed one made on the 12th October, I have been subject to an evil flare of acid reflux, which I don't talk much about on the blog (though there was a fair bit of twitter ranting) but it affects me hugely as when it visits it also likes to encourage the old IBS to be a menace too... am back on the med's awaiting a visit to a new gastro doctor...we shall see! It really drives me insane and spoiled lots of recent plans, I am back to making a simple meal plan but having to try and avoid all the things I love I.e. chorizo and anything that is rich and lovely! Am on half portions at the best of times too just to avoid over loading and I've had no wine for over two weeks. My poor liver must be in shock! Not that I drink much but I do miss a glass of red on a Friday night!

This week has started okay... so far... had an appetite so have made myself make a meal plan up! The naughty reflux only woke me at 5am, which whilst unpleasant at least wasn't 2am thanks to starting a new bedtime medicine on top of the morning one!

I had been pretty good lately running off cupboards and freezer but I went a bit mad on Saturday and have re-stocked oops! Though in my defense we were clean out of pesto stocks, which of course is an essential cupboard item!! Not that its on this plan but ya know it might be needed.... 

Am looking forward mostly to tomorrows leftover stew risotto - its a great way of bulking out leftovers and the stew I made yesterday in a rare moment of domestication will be even more lovely to eat, having settled into its flavourings! I'd added a splash of some Fig Vincotto which was a recent gift, and it seemed to work well fortunately! I even made my own soda bread, which was still edible today as well so yay!

Crispy turkey steaks, broccoli and new potatoes 

Leftover beef stew risotto 

Cheesy Bacon and Leek pasta bake 

Fish fingers, cauliflower cheese 

Tuna pizza baguettes 

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Banana Caramel Loaf Cake

A few weeks back, on holiday and staying with lovely family I'd had a rather lovely day out at River Cottage and despite being slightly tired from the driving, I spotted some ripe bananas in the fruit bowl and decided to do some experimental baking! To be honest most of my baking falls in the experimental category and with this I didn't look at any recipes, just used some loose baking knowledge and hoped for the best!! 

After a rummage through the cupboards (always a fun mystery and delight to use other people's kitchens and dishwashers!) I ended up making a rather delicious cake, which I am glad I vaguely scribbled down as the one slice that made it back to my home disappeared in about 30 seconds! Its sweet, lovely cinnamon smell whilst baking will make a tummy rumble and the cake fills that rumble very well! It was also very tasty cold sliced up!

Now I debated naming this cake recipe with the word Caramel in, because it doesn't... but I when you make up the cake batter its rather caramel like and if Dan Lepard can call his amazing muffins 'Chocolate custard muffins' without being chocolate custard then I decided I can too be loose with the terminology....!

See its caramel right?!

Makes 1 x 2lb loaf tin (I guess, its not my tin!)

Ingredients

100g salted butter
15g golden syrup
120g light soft brown sugar
1 large banana, sliced at a diagonal
2 large free range eggs
120g self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp demerara sugar

Greasing spray or tin liner to prepare tin


Method:

Pre-heat oven to 160 fan/ 180 regular oven

In a saucepan, melt the butter, golden syrup and brown sugar until the sugar has melted and its slightly syrupy - about 6-7 minutes, put to one side

Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder together. Beat in the eggs then fold into the caramel mixture.

Pour half the mixture into the tin, place half the banana slices into a layer, pour over the remaining cake batter, then add the remaining banana slices as a layer, sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes away clean.

Eat with lashings of custard.

Linky to Sneaky Veg

Meal Planning Monday

So Monday we meet again! Why do you come around here so often I wonder?! Just about finish last weeks meal plan and boom off we go again! I actually wrote this weeks in the phone yesterday, whilst we were driving (not me I might add!) to go a randomly collect a pouffe halfway around the M25... it was after about 4 hours sleep post a night of late night playing a revolting and vile but also rather hilarious game of Cards Against Humanity and I was trying to recall what was at home to eat!

Last week we stayed fairly on plan, in fact only Friday night changed as we had a fridge full of leftovers and I refused to cook anything more! Wednesday nights Pastitsio was amazing if I do say so myself, I must remember to cook it more often! Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures last week as mystupid phone keeps trying to tell me it has run out of storage, maybe if Apple stop sending me huge updates I can perhaps photograph my dinner again! Answers on a postcard anyone?!

This week - is:

Polish Sausage Noodles

Pasta with a chorizo and leek creamy sauce

Pork and Leek sausages with new potatoes and courgettes

Tuna fish cakes and veg

Pizza baguettes

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Though tonight's for me is looking questionable...as I type this I am waiting for my GP to phone and I don't dare go to cook but I am cutting it rather fine to eat before my pilates class... if all fails its a rather unhealthy bag of crisps and some cheese I think!!

Cauliflower Cheese and Gammon Soup

Now if I recall correctly, I once saw a recipe at some point for Cauliflower cheese soup and it slipped to the dark recesses of my mind as one of those hmm one day recipes... but when faced recently with the usual dilemma of er what to make for dinner but even more so as I was far away from home and in my aunties kitchen, and a fridge full of leftovers the filed away thought magically resurfaced with a ooh could I try it out? Would it work? Would it be weird.... 

On the Sunday prior I had made a fairly majestic mustard spiked cauliflower cheese but despite our best efforts, there was a tub leftover... that was until Wednesday, arriving home post a long drive and day to the lovely River Cottage clutching my lovingly hand made Apple, blackberry and Goats cheese soda bread and wondering what I could serve with it, the Cauliflower cheese soup idea came back to fruition and a star was born! I think in future I will have to make extra Cauliflower cheese purely to make soup with its leftovers! It tasted so good and was a perfect accompaniment to my bread! Oh and my home made butter!

Lovely leftovers!

Now I think it was gammon, it was either that or a bacon joint, either way it was another leftover that got added!

Making the finishing touches:

Serves 2

Easy

Ingredients:

400g leftover cauliflower cheese

1 clove minced garlic

400ml vegetable stock

1/2 tsp spicy Polish spicy mustard (if not a little more wholegrain-this is presuming your cauli cheese was already containing mustard too)

50g shredded cooked gammon or bacon

S&P

1 tsp oil

mint leaves to garnish

Heat the oil in a saucepan, saute the garlic until softened, add the cauliflower cheese and stock, cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the mustard, then blitz with a stick blender adding the gammon at the very end for a few seconds, season to taste

Serve, garnish with mint leaves if you have some or a similar herb.

As my recipe used up lots of lovely leftovers I am entering it into one of my favourite blog challenges - Fab Food 4 All's Credit Crunch Munch which was born from Fuss Free Flavours!

Meal Planning Monday

The past few weeks have honestly flown by! I have been meal planning sporadically, as between both of us starting new jobs, and adopting new routines, on top of a holiday its taken a while for the dust to settle! Was no point doing things by halves was there...!! My brain is being tested to its max with learning a whole new role, so most of meals have been with little effort as I had zero energy left some nights! I also recently had the best part of a week in Devon, which was lovely as always, and coincided with a fabulous trip to the magical River Cottage too! 

There's always that slight bit of emotional deflation after looking forward to something special and then <boom> nothing! However we are planning a mega ribs night with friends this weekend - I've bought four beautiful racks of pork loin ribs, just deciding what sauce to bathe them in to do them justice! In the past I have made Jamie's Epic ribs from the America book but I don't own a food processor and I don't think my liquidiser is up to the same effort. They are amazing so I will try and see if I can scale it back a bit!

This year we didn't manage a summer holiday, with job changes happening etc and now cricket season is over, me and my boyfriend are trying to explore areas within about a two hour drive, so on Saturday we had a lovely day trip to Hastings. It involved yummy scampi n chips by the sea and a lush icecream from Dom's along the seafront- I had cherry and white chocolate ripple.

I also saw my first Imax 3D film! The price was a little eye-watering but I hate to say it was almost worth it! We watched The Walk - it was amazing but a little but terrifying on a gigantic screen! Worth a watch though!

I have decided I must make a better, more focused effort at not cupboard hoarding food. One day I hope to get a place of our own and frankly, I don't want to move with our entire larder contents! (I call it larder but its known here as Narnia!!) There is all sorts of odds and ends and I have been trying to cull some of the endless jars. Though making 5 jars of green tomato chutney was possibly a step backwards this week but it did at least use up my mum's unripe tomatoes!

This weeks plan will be using a mixture of fresh and cupboard stashes - our lunches will be mostly leftovers or some of the 4kg jar of veggie couscous I picked up in Costco! Also known as the never ending jar of couscous!!  I made a giant batch of tuna meatball risotto too last night which will do a few lunches too! 

Sweet chilli Chicken wings n noodles

Jacket potato with creamy chorizo and leeks

Pasticcio

Chickepa pancakes with vegetable curry

Pizza baguettes & chips

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