Menu Planning Monday.

Fairly pathetic effort this week.

Monday; roasted aubergine and red onion with chicken strips (leftover from the chicken and bacon caesar salad that we were too drunk to eat at last weeks BBQ)

Tuesday; Greek salad with bacon (leftover from the other half of the above-mentioned dish plus the salad that didn't even make it out of the fridge that night)

Wednesday; kids are at grandparents for the night so we're hitting the high life - curry and beer for a tenner at our local pub

Thursday; kids still away so are planning a nicer night out, hopefully the tapas place in town

Friday; dunno yet

Weekend; we have a loose plan to go camping with friends but it's all down to the weather. There's also a chilli festival not too far away so the ideal would be to combine the two.

I'll leave you with a video of the chilli-eating competition that I will not be entering. No siree. Not in a million years, even if I'm dared to under the affluence of incohol...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHGRsmG18yw

How's MrsM's week been?

Menu Planning Monday.

Sorry I missed last week, combination of various members of the family being absent on certain days, losing my mojo temporarily, and sheer laziness. I ended up eating a lot of salad, the kids had a lot of sausages, and we all ate and drank far too much on Friday night at a friends BBQ - essentially meant to be an end-of-term party but which turned into a marathon eating and drinking session with loads of drunken ramblings and the kids being largely neglected. Oh well, they enjoyed the ultra-late night hanging out with their friends too!

This week is not dissimilar though, ooops! Today we had pork belly on the BBQ (accompanied by peppers stuffed with red onion, chilli and ginger), the Husband is out for the next 2 nights so I'll have prawns or eggs with salad, and Thursday is turkey steak  with butternut squash.

Friday is the big event for this week - my birthday! We are having some friends round for a BBQ and the weather is meant to be stonking. No doubt it will be the same as last Friday in that the kids will run riot and the adults will drink far too much and talk drunken bollox. We'll end the evening by watching the firework display on Weymouth beach for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Just as well that we can see that from our garden, as the logistics of moving 10 adults and 12 kids a mile down the road in the state we're likely to be in by 10pm is daunting!

The plan as it stands is this;

Crisps/olives/twiglets/bread sticks - with various shop-bought dips

Lemon, herb and garlic marinaded pork steaks

Italian fennel and chilli sausages with lentils and salsa rossa

Chicken and bacon Caesar salad

All these to be served in soft pittas - saves on cutlery and therefore washing up

Pasta salad

Greek salad

Kids are having burgers, minted lamb kebabs and sausages, with rolls/baps and a huge bowl of carrot sticks, peppers and cucumber

Pudding is ice-cream with sprinkles, waffles and strawberry sauce for the kids, meringues with frozen berries for the adults, and a lemon meringue pie instead of a birthday cake (I don't like cake!). All washed down with gallons of wine, beer and limoncello.

And alka seltzer for brekkie no doubt;)

Let's see if Mrs M is planning such a feast...

Tune for today...

Schools out for summer!


Hurray, the summer holidays are here! Well, for the kids anyway as they get 6.5 weeks of lie-ins, no lessons and carefree days playing. The Husband will just work his minimum contracted hours for the duration, lucky git only has 9 hours a week to do. And the weather appears to be improving after about 3 months of solid rain. Happy days!

But little old me will still be at work as usual. Working from home has certain advantages but I suspect that listening to the kids playing in the garden while I'm stuck inside isn't one of them. Oh well, we're off to Greece for the last week of the holidays so daydreaming about the sun, beach and tavernas will keep me going until then.

What does everyone have planned for the next few weeks then? My 2 are going to be picnicing on the beach, going to the Sealife Centre, practicing riding their bikes, hanging out in the garden with friends and no doubt eating a lot of ice-cream. I'm tasking the Husband with having them out of the house as much as possible otherwise I know they'll just whinge to watch the gogglebox or play on the computer, so this week they are including a train ride to Dorchester where there is an awesome playground/waterpark. Grandmothers are doing their bit too by having them for a week each, and there are always indoor options like the Tank Museum and home-cinema (cheap and easy - shut the curtains and make some popcorn!) for rainy days. Happy holidays folks!

The Olympics.

Wow, for once living in the back of beyond has paid off! Not only did we get the Olympic Flame passing about a mile away from our house today, but we also get to host one of the few events taking place outside London, the sailing!

Today was Friday 13th, surely an ominous day for some but we had a ball this morning. After several days of literally torrential rain, the clouds decided to be much lighter today and it was dry as we walked down towards the beach. Met up with various friends and neighbours along the way which was nice, and the kids crazily waved their flags and bopped away to the music coming from the sponsor's lorries. The Husband was more interested in all the bikes (push and motor) that were in the procession, but even he (who is always very bah-humbug about these sorts of things) started getting excited. The Police outriders were high-fiving us as they passed and there was such a cheerful community atmosphere.

The main event was over pretty quickly though, two minutes of frantic waving and cheering and the old man with the torch was gone. It was a bit of an anti-climax really, but fantastic to see so many people out, supporting local volunteers and enjoying the moment. I don't think we'll ever see this again in our lifetime so it was important to go, especially for the kids.

Now we're on countdown for the sporting events, although it will mean a few weeks of road closures, mental traffic and a bombardment of visitors to our town. So long as the weather carries on being as miserable as it has been recently, we'll be hibernating indoors away from the activity anyway!

Recipe time!

The Husband made this tonight and it was lush so thought I'd share! Serves 2.

Make a marinade from extra virgin olive oil, juice of a fresh lemon, teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds, handful of chopped parsley leaves, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Pour onto 2 pork shoulder steaks and leave for at least an hour - overnight if possible.

Cook the pork on a hot griddle pan for about 5 minutes each side, or til cooked. Meanwhile boil a couple of large handfuls of broad beans (frozen are great!) for a few minutes, and sprinkle over a plateful of rocket. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice over it, then top with the cooked pork.

The original recipe also called for some shaved parmesan which would have worked well, only it's a waste of calories for a serial dieter like me! A very easy and quick meal, low in calories and carbs, and packed full of flavour. And pork steak is a cheap cut which always helps!

Menu Planning Monday.

Working from the September 2010 edition of the BBC Good Food magazine this week, got a stack of old mags passed to me by a non-foodie friend and have unearthed some fab recipes!

Sweet potato and chorizo hash with a fried egg on top

Jerk chicken - probably serve this with Asian slaw rather than rice and peas

Herby lemon pork chops with a rocket, broad bean and oregano salad

Chicken, chicory and watercress salad with crispy bacon and a yogurt, tarragon and mustard dressing  

The Husband is out one night so I'll probably have a prawn salad or omelette

Saturday is going to be Mexican, courtesy of Lidl - offers aren't in there til Thursday so will send the Husband out and see what he comes back with

Sunday we have friends (and kids) coming for lunch so will be BBQ if it's nice, or more than likely we'll end up with home-made pizza as it's bound to be raining. Again.

You doing anything nice this weekend Mrs M?

Will leave you with a snap of tonight's dinner - could have eaten about 3 times the amount, was seriously tasty!

Food m'lud...

Had the great pleasure of seeing a couple of professional cookery demos this weekend. Played about with photos a little too, and loved this shot of the heads of a Masterchef winner and a Michelin starred chef.

Menu Planning Monday.

It's gonna be a challenge this week! Have decided to defrost the fridge-freezer next weekend so have to empty it - the full story is for another blog post but we don't have a frost-free one any more so have to do some work to keep it nice! So, lots of mish-mash menus and crazy combos this week!

Tonight; Italian fennel and chilli sausages with braised peas and red onion

Tuesday; Lentil and spinach curry with rice

Wednesday; Fish with a pesto crust and courgettes (what fish we have will depend on what the Husband spots on special at the supermarket tomorrow!)

Thursday; Ham hock and cauliflower soup

Friday; French pastry nibbles and snails

Saturday; probably a takeaway

Sunday; Hoping for a trip to Ikea so will be meatballs and sauce!

And yes, you did see snails creep in there. We bought some for the kids to try and keep forgetting about them - will have to report back if they actually eat 'em!

As ever, do pop over and see what MrsM has planned too.