Tuesday, 17 April 2012
TWD Lemon Loaf
Easy to make but...... Just not worth it. Far better cakes out there which are just as easy to make. None of it was eaten so it has been wrapped in foil and put in the freezer for an emergency which requires a lot of underwhelming cake.
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
April Meal Planning
The draft meal plan for April.
Not all lunches planned for first week due to Easter holidays and being at home - we often have a substantial brunch of eggs and porridge. Some cooking and shopping will be necessary - not necessarily in the last week of the month - more likely this week whilst on holiday. Only a little milk, vegetable and salad shopping needed so £100 ($160) looks like a manageable target.
Not all lunches planned for first week due to Easter holidays and being at home - we often have a substantial brunch of eggs and porridge. Some cooking and shopping will be necessary - not necessarily in the last week of the month - more likely this week whilst on holiday. Only a little milk, vegetable and salad shopping needed so £100 ($160) looks like a manageable target.
April
|
Week 1
Wed April 4
|
Week 2
Wed April 11
|
Week 3
Wed April 18
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Week 4
Wed 25
|
Lunch
|
|
1 Salmon
2 Shami kebab rice and dal
3 Jacket potato/beans
4
5
|
1Beef Stew
2 Salmon
3 Chicken stew
4 Mince pot
5
| |
Dinner
|
1 2 Shami kebabs, rice, 2 dal
2 Jacket potato and mince pot
3 Salmon, new potatoes, veg
4 2 Lasagne
5 Soup with ravioli and bread
|
1 Jacket potato and mince pot with salad
2 2 Lasagne
3 2 Dal and chapatti
4 Salmon pasta
5 Kitcheree pot
6 Chicken stew
|
1 Salmon and veg
2 Beef stew
3 2 Shami kebabs, rice, big dal pot
4 Big mince, potatoes, spinach/ peas with rice
5 Big dal/ rice
6 Jacket potato/beans
|
1 Salmon/veg
2 2 Mince pots with veg and chapatti
3 Big dal and rice, 2 kebabs
4 Jacket potato and beans
5 Chicken stew
6 Miso soup and dumplings
|
Shopping
|
Eggs
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Salad
Stew vegetables
|
Baking potatoes
salmon veg
|
Vegetables for:
Salmon
Mince
Stew
Soup
|
4 s dal
4 b dal
4 samosas
9 shami kebabs
7 pots mince
1 big mince
5 portions lasagne
12 portions salmon
12 drumsticks
2 tubs chicken
0.4 kg stewing beef
Cheese
Dumplings
Croutons
Ravioli for soup
4 ruglach rolls, 1 chocolate pastry dough
Curry leaves, Chilli, Lemongrass, Thyme
Peas Spinach
Want to see inside our fridges?
In late January of this year I decided to do a fridge and freezer inventory which then led to a February meal plan - a whole month meal plan. I was quite pleased with myself: it emptied the freezer, we knew what we were eating everyday, there was less washing up. The worst part? Using Mysuperrmarket.com I worked out that we had over £300 worth of food in stock, but it felt like we had nothing to eat. The best part, however, was a food bill of £97.13 compared to a January spend of £222.99 and March spending of £133.94. The aim for April is to spend £100 on food.
Shall we have a look at what's inside the fridges?
Fridge 1 Vegetables, fruit and nuts
Cheese, milk, butter, ghee, eggs
Fridge 2 Sauces and condiments
The mouldy lurkers: parsnips, ginger, spouting garlic, and a squidgy potato.
Ants on a log.... otherwise known as fresh turmeric on a dudhi.
In the cupboards
3kg basmati rice
6kg Atta flour
6kg strong bread flour (not shown)
Pasta (spaghetti, spirals, orzo, lasagne)
9kg of pulses (toor, chickpeas, mung, masoor)
Panko breadcrumbs
The freezer
Shall we have a look at what's inside the fridges?
Fridge 1 Vegetables, fruit and nuts
Cheese, milk, butter, ghee, eggs
Fridge 2 Sauces and condiments
The mouldy lurkers: parsnips, ginger, spouting garlic, and a squidgy potato.
Ants on a log.... otherwise known as fresh turmeric on a dudhi.
In the cupboards
3kg basmati rice
6kg Atta flour
6kg strong bread flour (not shown)
Pasta (spaghetti, spirals, orzo, lasagne)
9kg of pulses (toor, chickpeas, mung, masoor)
Panko breadcrumbs
Tea..720 bags plus green tea, 6 cans of tomato soup, 4 cans of chopped tomatoes, 3 pots of baked beans, 3 cans of sweetcorn, 2 cans of mackerel
The freezer
 |
| Mystery Pots |
4 small pots of dal
4 big pots of dal
4 samosas
9 shami kebabs
7 pots mince
1 big pot of mince
5 portions lasagne
12 portions salmon
12 drumsticks
2 tubs chicken
0.4 kg stewing beef
Cheese
Dumplings
Croutons
Ravioli for soup
4 ruglach rolls (Tuesdays with Dorie)
1 chocolate pastry dough (Tuesdays with Dorie)
1 Portion Pizza Rustica (Tuesdays with Dorie)
Curry leaves
Chilli
Lemongrass
Peas
Spinach
Thyme
Now all I have to do is turn it into a meal plan
Here is February's meal plan. I began by crossing off items on the computer version but eventually stuck it on the fridge with a magnet and used a pencil! The idea was that we'd stick to the allocated meals for the week as much as possible, but were free to choose from another column if we wanted. It worked well but the breakfast row will be left out next time. For obvious reasons. Lunch is leftovers from the previous day apart from at the weekend when we tend to cook more. For example, a "mystery pot" is an unlabelled pot of food from the freezer, probably, but not always curry or dal. But "dal and rice" means that the dal and rice will have to be cooked from scratch.
Week 1
Wed Feb 1st
|
Week 2
Wed Feb 8th
|
Week 3
Wed Feb 15th
Half Term
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Week 4
Wed Feb 22nd
| |
Breakfast
|
|
|
|
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Lunch
|
|
|
|
|
Dinner
|
|
|
|
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Monday, 2 April 2012
TWD Pizza Rustica
Our version of this quiche-with-attitude is with smoked salmon. Everything about this worked well: the pastry came together well in the food processor and had a little rest whilst we mixed the filling in a bowl. It smelled lovely whilst baking and we managed to let it cool completely before slicing off a chunk....and reheating it!
Crispy pastry, firm filling, clean slices. Perfect.
Crispy pastry, firm filling, clean slices. Perfect.
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