Meal Plan _ Nov 18

Another week organised. It sounds a bit over the top but having the meals planned really makes me feel happy, like i have already accomplished one thing.


Monday
Cream cheese Beef rolls

 This is a dish that just needs to be tried to see how yummy it is.

Tuesday

Speedy Fried Rice


Fried rice is a great, filling mid week meal. The rice can be cooked in the morning in between harassing the kids to get ready for school and then its just a matter of throwing the rest together when you get home. For us Tuesday involves a dentist visit for one of the boys followed by footy practice so a speedy meal is ideal.


Wednesday

One-pan chicken with honeyed root vegetables and stuffing
I found this recipe on a free e-book. I can't pin it and i hope the link works as it wasn't very co-operative. One pan meals are also great mid week options


Thursday


Sweet caramelised pork and coleslaw
This is a new one. I'm going to cheat with regards to the coleslaw and just buy "dry slaw" (rather than grate all the vege's myself). I am thinking the addition of brown sugar to the pork rub and sauce will be a winner with the family.

Friday

Spinach and Feta turnovers


These are a firm favourite with son number 1. (Jury is still out as far as son number 2 is concerned). I always add some extra tasty cheese, paprika and nutmeg to the mix just for extra flavour. No set amounts of each, just whatever i feel is right.

Meal Plan - Nov 4

Organised for food for the week. YES!


Monday

 



(Herb crumbed) baked salmon
I cheat and use pre-packaged bread crumbs and I normally add more/different herbs than just basil - parsley and chives work well. A few comments suggest adding lemon rind which I have done when I have a lemon in the fridge and it makes a nice flavour addition. One of the comments said that they add pinenuts to the crust mix which sounds delicious so I will try that this week.
I'm going to pair it with cheesy zucchini rice which is a new one for me but sounds delicious.


Tuesday


Homemade baked beans with Eggs and Chorizo
I've made a recipe similar to this one in the past without the chorizo but I like to try variations of recipes and this one sounded good. The vegetarian version is pinned onto my board this week (find it here)

Wednesday

Phad Thai (Chicken)
As with Tuesdays meal, I've mad Phad Thai quite a few times and each time i try a new recipe - Mainly because I don't think ive ever truly nailed it so I keep searching for that fail safe recipe. (I don't think there is one for Phad thai though - I think it has more to do with a very hot wok and getting the noodles just right)

Thursday

Maple pork and Maple apples
Mmm, maple sweetness. Should hook the boys in, especially the youngest one. Teamed with roast veg I am hoping this one is a winner


Friday

Chicken, Pumpkin and Leek parcels


These have been on my 'to try' list for a while and this is their week. The boys play touch footy on Friday nights so my plan is to have these all ready and just have to cook them when I get home while the boys shower. I do have one non-pumpkin lover in the house so I might consider other veg in a couple of them

Meal Plan - Oct 7

Yesterday I got my longest run (16.97km) done since completing the Brisbane half 2 months ago. It was hot but it felt good. Not my fastest time but I am truly just happy to be out there and hopefully inspiring a couple of other friends to keep going. I do have to be mindful of the wildlife though - at one stage a quite large brown snake was inhabiting the same path as I was running along. I chose to let him have the path and ran along the road instead.

On a food note, another week of meal planning is done after a couple of slack weeks. It really helps to not only save money and time but also means that we eat healthier as I don't end up buying impulse items at the supermarket every afternoon.


Monday

 Tandoori Chicken
For some unknown reason I've been craving this one lately but never got around to making it until now. Simple to prep and quick to cook. It's great done on the BBQ too.

Tuesday

Steak and roast potatoes
It's great BBQ weather here at the moment. Warm but not too hot and no mozzies, yet. My boys ask for these potatoes nearly every week when I ask for their input on the week's meal plan. What i love about the site where I got the recipe (Natasha's Kitchen link here) is that she posts the how to photos for each recipe. Personally, it makes it so much easier to decide if I'm going to like a recipe.


Wednesday

Slow cooker Chicken and Chorizo pilaf
Quick and easy. Perfect for mid week.

Thursday

 Teriyaki Pork meatballs
I 'd feel weird if I didn't have a recipe from Budget Bytes (link here) in my meal plan. Beths site is one that i regularly check for new recipes. The last time that I made this one both of my boys had given it a 10/10 before I even had a chance to sit down and start eating myself.


Friday

(Herb crumbed) baked salmon
I cheat and use pre-packaged bread crumbs and I normally add more/different herbs than just basil - parsley and chives work well. A few comments suggest adding lemon rind which I have done when I have a lemon in the fridge and it makes a nice flavour addition. One of the comments said that they add pinenuts to the crust mix which sounds delicious so I will try that this week.
I'm going to make home made baked chips to go with this one rather than a salad

Recipe - Healthy muesli bars

Healthy muesli bars

Ingredients

2 bananas

2 cups quick oats (also called minute oats) Regular oats will also do i just like the fineness of quick ones

1 tbs LSA mix

1/4 cup cashews and almonds  - chopped. You can chop them as finely or coarsely as you like. You could even leave them whole but as I was making this for kids I needed them to be chopped. You can also use any nuts you like - I simply had almonds and cashews in my cupboard today

1/4  cup choc chips - Optional. If you'd prefer to leave out the chocolate simply add more nuts to make up to half a cup in total

1 tsp vanilla ess - Optional
Honey

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (approx 355 F) and line a rectangular pan with baking paper.
2. Mash the banana

3. Add the oats, LSA, nuts, choc chips (if using) and vanilla (if using)

4. Mix until combined

5. This is where the honey comes in. If you feel that the mix is a bit dry simply add some honey. I sometimes only add 1 tbs just to help with the binding. The mix can be dry if you've used regular oats or if the bananas were on the smaller side. If you don't feel that you need it simply leave it out.

5. Press the mix into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for approx 20-25 minutes. Cool and then chop into muesli bar slices.

Great for school lunches and I find mine will keep for a few days wrapped in baking paper and in a tupperware type container

 

Recipes - Choc Orange Brownies

Choc Orange Brownies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/3    cup   cocoa

1        tsp    Bi-Carb/baking soda

1/2    tsp salt

1/2    cup sugar (Can be brown sugar or caster sugar. Either is fine. Brown sugar will give you a more caramelly flavour in my opinion)

1 tsp  Vanilla ess

1/4  cup vegetable oi;

Juice and zest of 1 orange (You can actually increase this to 2 if you really want/like the orange flavour)

1 cup Milk or Buttermilk. (You can even substitute for warm water if you want this to be dairy free)

Optional: Choc chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C degrees (355 F)

2. Grease or line a baking pan. (If you want thicker brownies go for a smaller pan, thin brownies go for a bigger pan. I tend to just get out whichever I find first)

3. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl

4. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the sifted dry ingredients.

5. Mix until all combined. Add choc chips if using

6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-40 minutes (depending on thickness). Cool (or not!) and eat. Yummy

 

 

While I have no idea of the actual nutritional stats these are what I consider to be on the healthier side of baking as there is no butter, no eggs and only 1/2 cup sugar.

A great way to use the mountains of oranges growing on my tree.

 

 

Meal Plan Sept 16

I had my 20 year high school reunion this past weekend. Leading up to it, I was excited and nervous all in one, but I ended up having a great time. Facebook took a lot of the guess work out of knowing who was who but I still found myself looking at a couple of people for a few minutes while the old brain clicked over.
In all I think everyone looked great - we must've been a good looking year to have aged so well! ha ha.

Looking towards this week, I've settled into my new job but realise that I need to be careful with what I plan for meals at the beginning of the week when I am doing 9-5. Thankfully my husband is a great help and so I can tell him what needs cutting up and what he can do and that saves me time when I get home, otherwise we aren't eating until 7-ish and it simply allows too much snacking time (mainly by me! the kids are fine).

So this is what we'll be eating:


Monday

 Mexican Chicken & Bean bowls
As I do with all my mince meals, I'll grate carrot and zucchini into the mince mixture. I serve this one like Nachos but  not all cooked together - I serve the mince mixture in bowls and then add a little bit of grated cheese and a handful of corn chips - The kids still feel like they are getting nachos but its a healthier way to serve it up. Win win. If I was really good I could toast some tortillas and that could cut down on the salt from the corn chips...but after working all day that may cut into the 5 minutes I get to relax!


Tuesday

Pork sausages and mash
Plain old bangers and mash - An oldie but a goodie. I do my mash as half normal potato and half sweet potato and add a dash of sour cream if I have any (which I will have leftover from Monday's dinner).


Wednesday

Fried rice
Quick and easy. Perfect for mid week. Instead of bacon I'll have vegetarian and I'll add a tin of Tuna for the boys.

Thursday

 Honey Mustard Chicken strips
I haven't made this one before but I'm thinking it sounds pretty delicious.


Friday

Bolognese Pasta Pie
I haven't made this one before either and I am hoping it's not too fiddly. I think that the boys will like it though so I am going to give it a go. There's tons of recipe variations for this one online and the one i have linked to seemed easy and gave step by step photos - I love step by step photos.

Have a great week

New shoes. Yay!!

In general, I am totally hopeless at making decisions on bigger purchases.
Having to spend our money gets me that little bit anxious - for example, it took me about 12 months to decide on a new dinner set and I was only ever looking at plain white ones. We went without a dishwasher for about 2 months before I was forced into buying one. And, as my first pair of running shoes - well that took me about 5 months to decide on. I must've tried on about 20 pairs of shoes at around 10 different shops.

I do sometimes wonder why I am like this and if I'll ever get better at spending money. I am NOT a shopper. If I ever find myself in the situation of being with girl friends at a shopping centre (which I try to avoid) you will most likely find me out on the husband seat!

I think the reasons for my anxiousness stem from the following:

      1. I worry that I will get buyers remorse and/or have picked the wrong product. When I buy something new I ask for everyones opinion. And then I ask them additional questions. I research on the Internet, for way more time than necessary. I read as many reviews as I can. I go to shops and harass the staff there with a lot of questions. And believe me, I ask a lot of questions.
     2. Spending money on myself and for things that I am going to use. Growing up I was taught to be mindful of money and, extending on from point one, I hate the idea of spending money on something that turns out to be wrong. And spending money on myself is much much harder than spending money for my boys.
     3. I think there's a part of me that likes the research side. Much like a holiday - the planning is half the fun.
     4. A fear that I will see the same thing on special somewhere after I have already purchased. I always hold out hope for some super special deal. Consequently I have missed things in the past which have simply been discontinued; which inevitably puts me back to square one.

Anyway, after 9 months and around 1000km in my running shoes I really knew that I needed a new pair. The 'bounce' was gone from my old ones and my shins were not liking the pounding on the pavement.
I had read about a shop in Brisbane and went there with a few ideas in mind of what to try.

The guy who helped me was great. He watched me run in my old shoes, listened to what I do running wise and then brought out a few pairs for me to try on. I went in with the idea that I'd try Asics Kayano (what I was currently wearing) plus, based on the info I'd gathered from other people, I would also try Altra's and the Brooks Pure range.
Well, he didn't even bring out the Altra's or Brooks Pure. So I asked why not. He was knowledgeable enough and got both pairs for me to try so i could feel why they may not suit.
I tried a few more on, and some were comfy, some were definitely not right for me and I was able to narrow it down to 2 pairs. In the end I couldn't go past what I knew and had worked so well for me for the last 9 months.
And I committed - then and there in the shop.
OK, so I did have to ask him to hold them for me while I went and had a coffee to think about it, but I went back and bought on the day. BIG deal for me.

What I really really liked about this shop, and a big reason as to why I purchased from there
is that they give a 14 day guarantee on the purchase - I can wear the shoes for 2 weeks on any terrain and if I get pain or excessive blisters or something just isn't right then they will swap them over. Perfect for someone like me who fears committing to a purchase.
(For reference this place is called Intraining - their site is: http://www.intraining.com.au/)

My new PINK Kayano's. The photo doesn't show it very well but the laces are fluro yellow too. No chance anyone will miss me coming in these!
 

I couldn't wait to try them out so I took them for a spin that afternoon around the place where I grew up. I even ran past my old primary school - the place where I ran my first school 'fun run' 28 years ago.

And the verdict - So far, so good!