Menu Planning Monday.

 

A short week this week;

Monday - crispy bacon, chicory and watercress salad with a creamy dressing

Tuesday - my turn to cook so something out of the freezer; either leftover of last week's beef and barley stew or mother-in-law's lasagne

Wednesday - prawn Pad Thai

Thursday - mustardy sausages in hot ciabatta

Friday we are off to stay with family, then taking the kids to London for a few days over half-term! We are all mega excited, the kids want to see Hamleys and the London Eye, we are more interested in taking them to Chinatown and Wagamama's! 

When we're back I promise myself to make more of an effort to actually write in my blog, rather than just talk about recipes. Still haven't done a catch-up of our summer holiday, am seriously slacking...

Now pop over to Mrs M's to see what's cooking there!

Menu Planning Monday.

Guten abend alles! Here is the plan from the kitchen this week...

Monday - bangers, sweet potato mash and roast chinese cabbage

Tuesday - fish in a dry masala marinade with tomato chutney

Wednesday - beef and barley stew

Thursday - the Husband is out *rollseyes* so prawns in a peri-peri sauce for me (although I do pinch some of his kebab when he rolls home!)

Friday - chilli con carne

Saturday - pork and leek burgers with something

Sunday - depends on whether mother-in-law comes to stay!

We were pretty good with the budget last week, went £15 over but that was fish'n'chips and ice-cream on the beach yesterday - we were watching beach motocross in the sun and couldn't be bothered to go home just for a sandwich!

Hop over to MrsM's to see what's happening there now!

Hoovering the Fridge.

Sticking to the budget well this week, managed to spend just 25p on tonight's dinner and then use what was left in the fridge! 3 eggs, half a packet of mange toute, handful of lettuce leaves, couple of chillies and a ball of mozzarella...tasty as you like!

Menu Planning Monday.

Ola people!

Monday - Korean keema, with lettuce instead of rice (been too indulgent recently so have a few lbs to shift)

Tuesday - Chicken noodle soup

Wednesday - Ham, egg and sweet potato wedges

Thursday - on my lonesome for the evening so probably something quick with prawns or eggs; there are some mushrooms and ricotta cheese in the fridge so may recreate Saturday's dish

Friday - ditto yesterday, although have just added rocket and spring onions to this weeks shopping list to ring the changes

Saturday - Indian! Meeting friends and their kids at our local, armed with money-off vouchers and our own booze as they aren't licensed - makes for a cheaper evening!

Sunday - No idea.

We're trying a different way of grocery shopping budgeting at the moment, in the expectation that we'll be seriously skint if we buy this house. Trying to avoid the common pitfall of popping out for a pint of milk and coming home with twenty quid's worth of unnecessary items (several times a week!), so we are putting cash into a pot to cover everything - and when it's gone, it's gone. Didn't quite stick to it last week, always an excuse, but am sure we spent less than we would have done without the plan. 

Off you go to see what Mrs M has planned this week!  

Good weekend.

A pretty good weekend is just coming to an end. Nothing particularly spectacular, but a combination of family time + friends time = lovely!

Mr Moo had a friend over for a sleepover on Friday, and he's one of those kids who is an absolutle pleasure to be around. They entertained each other nicely, managed to let Little Legs play along with them without tears, and ate huge portions of toad-in-the-hole despite it turning out flat and under-cooked. They were quite excited as school had taken them to a book signing by Julia Donaldson that day, and what kid doesn't love meeting their literary hero! We indulged in some wine in the evening and let all the kids stay up late - and not a single complaint when they were eventually told to go to bed.

Saturday was a mix of grocery shopping, cooking, kid's party at softplay and a spot of shopping. Fish finger sarnies for lunch were just the job, and then knackered kids went to bed early while we had friends over for dinner. For once, we got every single dish perfect! The starter/nibbles were baked mushrooms stuffed with ricotta and chilli, beetroot and walnut humous, garlic bread, salami and olives; main was spaghetti carbonara made with Italian fennel and chilli sausages turned into meatballs, and dessert was Nigella's no-churn coffee ice-cream served with shop-bought madelaines - and you all must try the ice-cream, it's to die for!

Then today was a lazy mooching day, complete with a honey-roast ham for lunch, F1 and the X Factor on the tellybox, and normal stuff like kid's homework. It was a bonus to wake up this morning without a hangover, unlike most evenings when good friends come for dinner the night before! We've also spent some time this weekend sorting the house out as the estate agent is coming to take photos tomorrow - yikes, we're going on the market!

Oh, and the weather was nice enough to get the washing dried outside - this is October, isn't it meant to be raining? My chilli plants are having a late surge outside although this year's crop has been bitterly disappointing, so much so that I've had to buy some fresh ones. Oh well, getting both kids to voluntarily try them this summer made up for it!

Recipe time - Feijoada.

This is the national dish of Brasil, one that every household has their own recipe for. Some add bacon or chicken, others include various parts of a pig such as offal or hocks, and it can also be made as a vegetarian or side dish by totally leaving out the meat. It takes a long time to cook, so much so that many restaurants will only serve it one day a week so they can prepare it properly - kind of the equivalent of our Sunday roast! This is roughly how I do it, although it changes every time.

Soak some black beans in plenty of water overnight, then rinse and bring to the boil in fresh water. They need 10 minutes on a fast boil and then 50 minutes simmering.

Meanwhile brown some stewing steak (you should know by now that I don't specify amounts, just use as much as you would use in a casserole etc for the number of people you need to serve!) in oil or butter in a large oven and hob proof pan. Add a sliced onion, garlic to taste, couple of bay leaves, a few chopped tomatoes (tinned will do), fresh ground black pepper and the drained beans. Top up with enough stock to just cover the meat and chuck in a low-ish oven (a slow cooker would probably work as well, although I don't have one so can't confirm) for at least 3 hours.

Half way through add a Mattesons garlic sausage cut into chunks, but any spicy or highly flavoured raw or cooked sausage also works. Check the moisture levels and stir every hour or so. Season with salt at the end, and I add the inevitable chillies then too.

Traditionally this is served with rice, sauteed spinach or spring greens, fresh parsley, slices of orange and a manioc side dish called "farofa". Wash down with plenty of cold lager (Brahma is an excellent Brasilian one that you can get over here) and don't forget to make a double portion to freeze!