Monday Meal Plan

Well a miracle has happened, after over 3 years of asking my dearest what he would like to eat as I was 'doing the meal plan' I finally got an answer that was not the generic 'noodles' - if anything its a bit less exotic - its my corned beef hash! However, it is rather tasty so I can see why he wants it for dinner! At least that was one night crossed off the plan for the week! I am still on the initial stage of the FODMAP diet - I was busy with work and forgot to book in to see my Dietitian before her holiday - I've misbehaved a little with the odd naughty fruit cider so another week or so on elimination is probably my penance! Overall most of my meals are entirely FODMAP, eating out still remains a nightmare but I just try and choose the lesser of the evils and hope for the best!

Last week was as I thought it might be was a bit hit and miss! In between the mini heatwave that's reddened my skin somewhat and not overly wanting to be stuck in a hot kitchen the plan went a bit AWOL! Oh and the power cut really didn't help things either on Monday night as we ended up with a takeaway! I think we only actually managed two of the five planned dinners though! The gammon buckwheat-otto was lovely, even if after finishing off the dish with some kale, to then find out mum didn't like it was a bit of a backfire and the miso aubergine fell a bit short, having had the oven turn itself off halfway through cooking it never achieved that nice soft yet slightly smoky taste! I am normally quite proud of little food to no waste but one of the leftover aubergine portions with rice did get thrown as I didn't realise B hadn't taken it to work and was well over its keep date by the time I found out!

Anyway, this week hopefully will be a bit cooler and we can stay fairly on track! Over the weekend I tried a few new dishes too - fish cooked en papilotte in the microwave following watching last weeks 'Live well for less' was a real hit and I can see it featuring in our future a lot! After a day out in London I was knackered but my version with salmon and courgette was cooked in 6 minutes, a real win! Also another Halloumi salad proved a winner too, definitely hooked on my two slices allowed on FODMAP!

This weeks plan;

Corned beef hash

(is already in the oven, with a layer of sautéed courgette inside!)

Mixed meat pilaff with buttered kale

(Made before from a Nigella recipe, was planning on having more leftover meat for this but we ate most of it, will be a fridge surprise!)

Slow cooked bbq pork steaks with mash

(Keep forgetting bought some lovely giant pork steaks, going to make them FODMAP suitable)

Basa parcels, sweet potato, green beans

(cooked in the microwave as mentioned before!)

Pork pad thai-rice noodles

(should of been last week but forgot to thaw the meat!)

An InLinkz Link-up

Bacon, Halloumi and Baby Roast Potato Salad

Ah, at long last. My food mojo is back. The mojo where I dream up random combinations and they make it into reality. I kind of dreamt this one up very vaguely based on the idea of a delicious Halloumi and steak salad we had back at our South African themed Christmas meal (my other half is from SA) and several times since too. I've taken the basics from it and changed it up a little - and made a heavenly salad in the process! This got a big thumbs up from my man (even though it was salad haha! and its low in FODMAP's and gluten free without any compromise on flavour!

The potatoes make this an easily gluten free meal - though you could swap out for another carby item or leave out altogether. Lemon and maple syrup may seem a bit of an odd combo in a salad but the lemon cuts through the sweetness and the slight smoke of the bacon complements the sweetness of the maple so well together - I've used this in a few other salads and it works a treat. And I am fully signed up to the capers club now - only took 34 years!! Plus I am definitely liking Halloumi now, its a bit like aubergine - cook it well its heaven - cook it bad, ah well yeah that will be hell then!!

Serves 2

120g Halloumi, 1cm dice

3 tsp garlic infused oil

3 unsmoked bacon rashers, diced

1 large tomato, diced

1 tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp. cornflour

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. maple syrup

50g baby spinach

8 new potatoes
Black pepper
4-5 Basil leaves to garnish

Start by pre-heating the oven to about 200o. Coat the potatoes in a little of the oil, place in a shallow baking dish and roast for 45 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, coat the halloumi cubes in cornflour.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan, cook the bacon until crispy and lift out onto paper. In the same pan, add the capers and tomatoes, fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring often over a moderate heat until the tomatoes are starting to soften.

Push the tomatoes and capers to the side of the pan and add the prepared halloumi, fry without turning for 3 minutes or until golden and turn over and fry until golden all over. Stir in the lemon juice and maple syrup, coat everything well. Season with black pepper.

Place the spinach in a large serving bowl or plate. Halve the potatoes and place on top of the spinach, spoon over the bacon & halloumi. Scatter over the basil.

This is definitely a summer keeper! I love the salty little fried cubes of tasty cheese and they are weirdly addictive! Your salad may lack some depending how ahead you are with timing!!

Monday Meal Plan

This week I tried to get ahead by planning on Sunday but really struggled to get a plan together. We have a fridge and freezer full and yet I still couldn't decide what to cook or what I wanted to eat! I think it was being distracted by catching up with TV from the week - I did manage to pour some red wine into my water glass which was somewhat amusing and probably would of done better doing the plan with the radio on instead perhaps!

Some of the evenings are not finalised, towards the end of the week am catching up with a friend I met through night school a few years back - one drink may well turn into dinner! Also me and my boyfriend have not spent much time together with erratic work hours, so may also have a date night to the cinema. Perhaps that's why I am a bit reluctant to meal plan in full?

Last week was mostly on plan, not that I had blogged it but we had some highlights - a risotto of sorts made with buckwheat on Thursday was really good - so much its made it on to this weeks plan! It was packed with veg and tasted so good and fresh! The FODMAP is still mostly on plan - I did have a bit of an IBS flare earlier in the week which I think was a combination of eating out and a busy schedule! I'm due to see the dietitian again soon to discuss re-introduction..should be interesting!

Anyway - this week potentially will be:

Miso Aubergine, sticky sesame sweet potato + basmati rice 

Gammon buckwheat-otto, courgette, pepper 

Fish pie-salmon & basa, kale

B-pork tortellini

Pork Pad Thai 

Curried Corned Beef Hash - Low #FODMAP

As part of my dabbling with the #FODMAP diet, adapting my current repertoire of recipes is proving to be a thorough mixture of highs and lows, or as the famous Foreigner song goes 'In my life there's been heartache and pain, I don't know if I can face it again, Can't stop now, I've travelled so far, to change this lonely life'. Okay, so maybe lonely life is a little extreme - but faced with hunger, 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and near to tears trying to find something to eat you really do start to think that maybe the IBS wasn't really that bad.....shall I just get a nice warm and tasty pasty?!

Fortunately its not been all bad there has been highs in the form of actual whole days without stomach pain, which after 18 odd years is a revelation - and actually its super useful in identifying triggers. That comes with sadness though too. A cheeky fruit cider on Saturday afternoon left me questioning how much I really did enjoy its beautiful chilled fruitfulness!! I am almost at the end of the elimination phase despite the cider slippages- and I look forward to reintroduction with a mixture of joy at the thought of hot buttered avocado toast and also with some trepidation..!

So as promised a few weeks back - I promised to share some tasty recipes - admittedly there has not been as many show stoppers as I would have liked, however this is the first dish I had seconds of, which is a good sign! Adapting this from my main corned beef hash took a bit of thinking. Baked beans, Worcestershire sauce, onions and the garlic in its raw form were all off the menu; so how would I make it still taste good and be low in FODMAP's?! Admittedly its not lactose free - I added quite a bit of cheese but as my booklet assures me - most cheese, especially the hard ones are low, and therefore suitable... and discovering garlic oil was allowed has been a game changer!

Ingredients

Serves 3-4

1x 340g Corned Beef

1/2 stick celery, finely chopped

1 tsp garlic oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

4 large white potatoes, diced (skin on or off as you prefer)

1/2 tsp turmeric

3tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

2 salad tomatoes

1 heaped tsp tomato puree

50g red Leicester cheese, grated

1 tsp butter

s&p to taste

Start by boiling the potatoes with the turmeric, drain well, mash well and add the butter, 1/3 of the cheese and 1 tbsp of the coriander. Season to taste and add put to one side. Pre-heat oven to 190o.

Heat the a non-stick frying pan until medium-hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and toast until they start to pop or smoke very lightly, add the oil and celery and fry for 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and fry for a further 5 minutes or until starting to go mushy, turning down the heat a notch. Add the corned beef and break down with a spatula and fry until browned lightly. Make a well in the middle and stir in the tomato puree and a splash of water to loosen and fry for a further 2-3 minutes or until well mixed, stir in the remaining coriander and season with black pepper.

Transfer into an oven proof dish, top with the prepared mash and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned nicely.

Serve with veg of your choice - we had roasted carrots with dwarf beans.

Monday Meal plan #FODMAP

So after a few interesting weeks adjusting to the first stage of the #FODMAP diet, I'm having less meltdowns, eating more delicious things and actually getting used to it! On the positive side it really has highlighted already a few foods that I probably should long term not make eye contact with- there has been admittedly a few weak moments to find that out! Financially I seemed to of spent more - one would think cutting out half the things I usually buy would mean spending less but in the interest of not entirely losing my sanity I have been trying out things instead - the amaranth porridge was definitely interesting but the cheesy baked millet was delicious and we are total converts to buckwheat mash!

We managed to stay fairly on plan last week, though the calamari was moved to Friday night and the sausages I will use another night, probably the weekend instead. Thursday was a wash out - couldn't decide what to eat and by the time I decided the tenant downstairs went into the kitchen at the exact moment and started cooking instead, so I had a FODMAP flapjack and B had a sausage from the takeaway counter! Very glam!

Eating out still is frankly a nightmare and Saturday night proved even more fun - I accepted a last minute dinner invite to a popular pizza chain and managed to find a shard of glass in my dinner which cut my lip. Last time I order a gluten free pizza base! No idea where it came from but certainly an unwanted surprise!

Two highlights from last week are:

GF Breaded mustardy Pork steaks with cheesy baked millet:

(the lemon was ginormous! Not fully FODMAP as bought the wrong GF breadcrumbs!)

The majority of my sauces are made from scratch - and previously always had garlic or onion in - so adjusting so not having them has been a challenge but the below was really good! The flavour profile is so different but in a good way! Lots of fresh coriander pimped it up perfectly, combined with a little grated carrot to start and sweeten the sauce, finished with smoked paprika and gently simmered for about 2 hours until perfect!

Smoky Tomato and fresh coriander sauce - garlic, onion free and #FODMAP friendly- so tasty!

This weeks dishes are all adapted to suit the FODMAP plan. Breakfast is the usual overnight oat's pots, I usually make up 5 on a Sunday night as part of my meal prep to make things easier! Lunches are mostly involving a combination of salad veg and suitable leftovers - this week am super busy working cross-sites so it will be a very portable feast!

Italian Baked eggs 

(a real favourite, make this one regularly but today's will be bean free to adapt!)

Corned beef hash, carrots and dwarf beans 

(Fancy some comfort food!)

Cheesy bacon GF pasta bake 

(Lots of cheese to use up!)

Smoked cod & squid Paella 

(Not had paella in ages, bought a small smoked cod fillet reduced to this will stretch it out!)

Eating out potentially!

(A nightmare on FODMAP but have chosen a pricy steak place!)