Meal Plan Monday

This week we were on a bit of a budget, having had a little shopping spree in the city last Friday. So I had a scratch around in the pantry, fridge & freezer and this is what I came up with.

Monday

{recipe & image credit}

Nigella Salmon Fish Cakes & Simple Salad
Great way to use up the leftover mashed potato from last Thursday night's steak & mash.

Tuesday

Quick Pasta Bake

A snatch & grab because I forgot to take the pasta dough & chicken out of the freezer for chicken fettuccine *gasps in horror!* So this was a mix of spring onion, bacon, mushroom, char-grilled peppers, tomato paste, pizza cheese and some dried pasta from the pantry. Not particularly glamorous, but it filled the tummies :)

Wednesday

Spice Journey

I know, I know, I said we were on a budget, but for around $35 this feeds our family of four for dinner and provides one adult with lunch the next day. This fabulous local Indian takeaway is mobile. They are located quite conveniently for us after piano lessons on a Wednesday night. I am trying really hard to not visit EVERY week, but it is just so dang authentic and delicious!

Thursday

Bangers Pepporanata

Friday

Night out with friends

Saturday

SBS Food Safari Jambalaya

Take my advice here and HALVE the quantities of this recipe (unless, of course, you intend to feed 12 people). I would also halve the cayenne pepper again to 1/4 of a teaspoon as this was a little hot for our kids. This is what I chose to do with the chicken I forgot to take out of the freezer on Tuesday. I just topped up with a couple of fresh ingredients from the supermarket.

 Sunday

Slow cooked Beef Stroganoff with Creamy Mashed Potato

Slow cooking is a great way to save money, as cheaper cuts of meat require a longer cooking time, but produce so much flavour.

Lunchbox

{recipe & image credit} 
Donna Hay Raspberry & White Chocolate Muffins

This is a great standby recipe as all the ingredients are generally on hand in a keen baker's pantry. Frozen berries are great to keep in the freezer too for just such an emergency bake. I just used regular muffin cases and white choc chips rather than chopped white chocolate, as this is what I already had in the pantry.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Recipe By: Pippa
Serving Size: 6

Summary:
My twist on an old favourite

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. butter
1 onion, sliced into thin wedges
2 rashers bacon, thickly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500 g chuck steak, cut into 1cm slices
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 pot beef stock concentrate
1 tbsp. cornflour
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper
250 g mushrooms, thickly sliced
1/2 cup sour cream
fresh chopped parsley to garnish

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a frypan over a medium high heat. Add onion and bacon and sauté until soft and lightly golden. Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds until fragrant but be careful not to burn the garlic. With a slotted spoon, remove the mixture to the bowl of the slow cooker.

2. Turn the heat up under the pan to high and brown the steak in batches. Season each batch with a little salt and pepper. We are not looking to cook it through at this stage, only to give it good colour on both sides. Remove to the bowl of the slow cooker.

3. Add the wine to the hot frypan to "deglaze" (get all the brown bits up off the bottom. These will add great flavour to the finished dish). In a jug, combine the tomato paste, stock concentrate, cornflour, dijon, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and cayenne pepper and mix well. Add to the bowl of the slow cooker.

4. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or until meat is meltingly tender. Add mushrooms about 1 hour before serving. Stir in Sour cream just before serving. Serve topped with chopped parsley, creamy mashed potato and steamed greens.

Bangers Pepperonata

Recipe By: Australian Good Taste Magazine
Serving Size: 4

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely LOVE sausages. This bright, colourful dish is a kiddie favourite.


Ingredients:
2 tbsp. Welly Boot Extra Virgin Olive Oil
500 g chipolata sausages
1 red onion, halved, thinly sliced
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. capers, drained
4 rosemary sprigs, halved
125 ml beef stock, salt reduced
250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
11/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
crusty bread, to serve

Directions:
1. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the chipolatas for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Cook the onion for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the combined capsicum, garlic, capers, rosemary and remaining oil. Cook stirring for 10 minutes or until capsicum is soft.

3. Increase heat to high. Stir in stock, tomato, vinegar and sugar for 2 minutes or until the tomato is soft. Add chipolatas and cook for 1-2 minutes or until heated through. Season to taste.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday

Chicken Parmegana, Welly Boot Home Fries & Simple Salad

Tuesday

Nachos Supreme

Wednesday

Junior Masterchef Yakitori Chicken & Vegetables

Thursday

Steak Bearnaise, creamy mashed potato and steamed vegetables

Friday

Football

Saturday

Takeaway Night

Takeaway nights don't happen that often these days (most of the time I would prefer beans on toast than the mass produced, preservative filled offerings around us), but we were making Dukka all day for our family's Olive Grove, so we grabbed a pizza from our local.

Sunday

Slow Cooked Madras Curry Lamb

Lunchbox

{image & recipe credit}
"Glad" Zucchini Slice

Junior Masterchef Chicken Enchiladas

 {image from Junior Masterchef Series 2 Cookbook}

Recipe By: Junior Masterchef
Serving Size: 4
Yield: 8 Enchiladas

Summary:

Seriously delicious! I am not buying those enchilada kits from the supermarket ever again.

Ingredients:
Chicken
500 g chicken breast
1 onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sprigs flat leaf parsley
1 red capsicum, quartered
200 g feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
8 corn tortillas, 15cm
8 toothpicks
60 g cheddar cheese, shredded
coriander, leaves, to serve
Roasted Tomato Sauce
1 long red chilli
1 kg vine ripened tomatoes
1 tablespoon Welly Boot Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, small, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Directions:
1. Place chicken, onion, garlic and parsley in a saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover chicken. Bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1o minutes. Remove pan from heat and stand for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from stock and reserve. Cool chicken for 10 minutes then roughly chop and place in a bowl.

2. To make the sauce, heat a barbecue or char grill pan to a high heat. Pierce chilli with a knife to prevent it bursting. Chargrill whole tomatoes and chilli, turning frequently, or until skins are charred. Transfer to a chopping board and cool for 5 minutes. When cool, peel skins from tomatoes and chilli. Discard stem from chilli, cut in half lengthways and remove seeds. Process chilli and tomatoes in a blender or food processor to a puree.

3. Heat oil in a large frying pan over a low-medium heat add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add tomato mixture and 180ml (¾ cup) of reserved chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened.

4. Meanwhile, preheat a grill to high. Place capsicum, skin side up, on a foil lined tray and grill for 8 minutes or until skin blackens. Wrap in foil and stand for 10 minutes. Peel and roughly chop. Add to chicken with 125g feta and cumin. Season and toss to combine

5. Preheat oven to 180℃. Dip a tortilla in sauce, tun over and dip other side. Place on a clean work surface an place ⅓ cup chicken mixture along centre of tortilla. Roll up tortilla and secure with a toothpick. Place, seam side up, in a shallow, 3 litre (12 cup) capacity ovenproof dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas, sauce and chicken mixture. Spoon remaining sauce over tortillas and sprinkle with remaining feta and grated cheddar. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbling.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday

Curry Night

One of my favourite ways to share food with friends. Everyone brings a dish to share. On the menu tonight:

• Lamb Samosas
• Yoghurt & Mint Raita
• Cashew Butter Chicken
• Paul's Lamb Kofta in Spicy Tomato Sauce
• Simple Pilau Rice
• Gulab Jamon

Tuesday

 

 Perfect Pasta

Wednesday

Breadmaker Pizza

Thursday

Junior Masterchef Chicken Enchiladas

Friday

{image & recipe credit}

Coconut Curry Fish with Steamed Jasmine Rice

Saturday

Casual (store bought!) Hamburgers on the BBQ

Sunday

Garlic Roast Lamb with mixed roast vegetables
This recipe is from the Donna Hay Autumn 2013 Magazine

Lunchbox

Mini Easter Egg Blondies

Get Ahead Sunday

1.  Lunchbox baking. Allow to cool, cut into individual servings and freeze in a large airtight container.
2. Make the tomato sauce for the Chicken enchiladas on Sunday. When cooled, store in an artight plastic container (or even a large zip-lock bag!). Store for 2-3 days in the fridge or, if you need longer, freeze. Just don't forget to take it out of the freezer the morning you want to have it for dinner!
3. If you want to make your own pasta, do this on Sunday too. Pasta dough does not keep very well though (the fresh eggs start to turn green! Eeewww!). So allow your noodles to dry a little then freeze in a zip-lock bag or airtight container.

Breadmaker Pizza Bases

By far the easiest way to make pizza bases (if you are into making your own). Literally set and forget. Use a little olive oil and a dusting of flour on the pizza tray to give the base a nice crispy finish.

Recipe By: Sunbeam
Serving Size: 6-8
Yield: 2 Pizzas

Ingredients:
290 milliliters water
3 tablespoons Welly Boot Extra Virgin Olive Oil, (60ml)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
500 grams baker’s flour, 3 1/4 cups)
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

Directions:
1. Pour water and oil into bread pan. Add sugar, salt and flour. Make a small pocket in the top and place the yeast in the pocket. Wipe any spills from around the outside of the pan.

2. Place the bread pan into the bread maker and close the lid. Set to "dough" program and press start. Dough will be kneaded in the time as indicated on the breadmaker.

3. Remove the completed dough from the bread pan. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to fit two pizza trays. Spread with favourite toppings and bake for 20 minutes at 180℃ or until cooked.

{Working Mum's Time Saver Tip}

I have prepared this pizza dough up to step 2 in the time between getting home from school pick up and racing out again to sports, piano lessons etc. When I get home, all I need to do is divide, roll and top. If I am running late from whatever commitment I have dashed off to, it doesn't matter if the dough is left in the breadmaker a little after the dough setting has completed.