Weekly Meal Plan - 6th May 2013

Another week gone and another week closer to the first half of the year being gone!  It must be me getting older but I definitely think time is going quicker!

The first half of the week for me was a wipe out, unfortunately I woke up on Monday with a bug but thankfully by Wednesday it had packed it's bags and vacating the building.  I was even more thankful that no one else in the house, especially little JD got it.

We managed to still have all our meals on the meal plan, bar Saturday when we were out and decided to ditch the sweet and sour and get a yummy chicken fillet burger from the chippy instead. (Oh well, can't be good all the time!)

So on to this weeks plan!

As you can see the sweet and sour has made it on to this weeks meal plan as I'd bought all the ingredients in the online shop last week.  Speaking of online shops, I don't know how but every time I shop online and get vegetables I always end up with far more than I wanted.  The first time I did an online shop with Asda I wanted one onion and ended up with a kilo, yes 1 kilo!! of onions.  I had them coming out of my ears!  This time I wanted a small knob of fresh ginger for the sweet and sour, well you can imagine it already.  I've ended up with a couple of huge bits that I have no idea what I'm going to do with!  So any suggestions on what to do with it will be greatly appreciated!!

The baked pasta dish is a tasty little recipe that I found online.  It's great as it makes 5 portions of the sauce which is a handy wee quick dinner when you've it in the freezer, cook up the pasta, top with cheese and pop in the oven - done!

The spicy tuna fish cakes were a real hit the last time I made them and so are featuring again to give us a break from our poultry heavy meals.

The Cajun Chicken Pasta and Chicken & Chorizo Stew are both new recipes so will look forward to trying them out for something different.

I'm linking up with Mrs M for the #Mealplanningmonday so why not head on over and have a jook at what everyone else is having this week!

Have a great week! :)

Spicy Sausage Cassoulet Recipe

This is another recipe my mum used to make us but it is a firm favourite with hubby - he loves it. It's one of those recipes that maybe doesn't look great on a plate or in a bowl but is just so tasty and the leftovers are always great for a lunch or even another dinner.  

The recipe says it serves two but we normally get at least two good dinners out of it and enough for maybe another dinner or a lunch.  I do have a tendency to add a few extra peppers into it but you could do so to taste and if trying to bulk it out add more veg or sausages.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1 Red pepper, chopped
2 Sticks celery, chopped
200g Chopped tomatoes
125ml Chicken stock
2 Tsp Dark soy sauce
2 Tsp Mustard
400g Black eyed beans (I always used baked beans - it tastes yummy)
125g Pork Sausages cooked and chopped into small pieces
2oz Breadcrumbs
1oz Grated Cheese
2 Tbsp Parsley chopped

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a large saucepan/wok.  Ensure the pan you use can be put under the grill and won't melt!

Cook sausages on grill, frying pan, actifry - however you like to cook them.

Add onion, garlic, pepper & celery to the pan and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add tomatoes, stock and soy sauce.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins or until sauce begins to thicken.

Chop sausages into small pieces. Add mustard, beans and sausages and cook for further 10 minutes.

Before sauce has thickened

When the sauce had thickened

Mix breadcrumbs, cheese and parsley together and sprinkle over sausage mixture.

Place pan under hot grill for 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

All ready to dig in!

Serve with salad/crusty bread.

Tuna Flan Recipe

This is a dish we would often have at home when I lived with my mum and dad.  It's simple and easy and I love it.  Not being a great fan of fish (only eating tuna or salmon out of a tin) this recipe is great for getting some fishiness into you.

Tuna Flan (Partially eaten - whoops, forgot to take photo before dinner!)

The recipe for the pastry is to the tea as its from my mum.  The filling however will be a little haphazard as it's from me and I've a tendency to add a little here and put a little dash here but if you'd like to try making it here we go....

To make the pastry

125g/4oz Stork Margarine

175g/6oz Plain Flour

1 Tbsp Cold Water

Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the margarine until it looks like breadcrumbs, then add the water.  Blend together.  You can add a little more water if needed but don't make it too sticky (strict instructions from my mum!).

Flour surface and roll the pastry out.  Greases the dish you are using with a little butter.  Place the pastry over the dish and pat into dish to fit.  Trim off edges if necessary.  Once the pastry is in position prick it a few times with a knife to ensure it does not bubble.

Place the pastry in the oven 200oC/400oF/Gas Mark 6 for approximately 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

To make the filling

1 Tin Tuna Chunks

Milk

2 Eggs

Frozen Peas

Cheese for topping

Put tuna in bowl and mash with fork until the chunks are broken up.  Add the two eggs and mix.  Add a handful or more of frozen peas (really add as many as you like and as many as you need depending on how big your dish is).  Add a little milk, until it raised by an inch or two.  Mix until peas are separated and everything is combined.  Pour the mixture on to your pastry base.  Top with grated cheese and cook for approximately 20/30 minutes at 200oC until the cheese is golden brown.

Serve with broccoli or any vegetable, baked potato and lashings of HP sauce (OK so the last one is just a personal favourite).

Salt & Pepper Chicken (Salted Chilli Chicken)

I found this recipe online when I was looking for something different to make for dinners.  It's pretty simple to make and tasty too, it's not exactly the same as the salted chilli chicken that you'd get from the chinese but I still think it's yummy.  You could add more chilli in to taste or perhaps find a way of making it more salty to try and make it more like the chinese if you preferred.  I also cook it for longer as I don't think their timings are right as how could the chicken possibly be cooked in a few minutes. So judge it until the chicken is cooked through.

Salt & Pepper Chicken (Salted Chilli Chicken)

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 Large green pepper (I sometimes would use a red as well as I like the red flavour better)
1 Large onion
2 Garlic cloves
2 Green or red chillies (or more to taste)
3 - 4 Chicken breasts
90g Breadcrumbs
3 - 4 Pinches of salt
3 - 4 Pinches of sugar
3 Tablespoons olive oil

Method

Slice the chilli peppers, onion pepper and garlic (I crush the garlic for ease) and leave to one side.

Cut the chicken breasts into medium bite sized pieces and coat them in the breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in the frying pan or wok and add the chicken pieces. Leaves to cook for 3 - 4 minutes on a low - medium heat.

Add the onions, peppers and garlic. Mix the ingredients together and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add salt and sugar and cook until the chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs are brown.

Serve with boiled rice or as a starter with dip.

Enjoy and let me know how yours turned out.

Mum's The Word Weekly Meal Plan - 8th April

Well, how was everyone's week? Hope everyone had a good one and the Monday morning blues haven't set in.  I must admit that's one think I love about being off on maternity leave not thinking on a Sunday about work.

Anyway, I'm linking up with Mrs M again this week.  Our meals went generally to plan last week but the Smoky Philly Chicken got bumped to the side again as the little one was taking ages to get over to sleep so we ended up making burgers instead as a late dinner. I'm leaving it off this week but hopefully will have it next week as I love it and haven't had it in ages!

This weeks plan:-

Monday - Sweet Chilli Chicken Stir fry

Tuesday - Baked Pasta Dish

Wednesday - Salted Chilli Chicken

Thursday - Sausage, Vegetable and Pearl Barley Hotpot

Friday - Spicy Tuna Fish Cakes

Saturday - Chicken Fajita Lasagna

Sunday - Roast of some sort

The baked pasta dish and spicy tuna fish cakes are recipes that I found online a while ago.  The baked pasta dish is really nice and makes 5 portions so it's one which is good to put in the freezer for a later date.  I haven't tried the tuna fish cakes but they sound nice so will blog about them this week.

The sausage, vegetable and pearl barley hotpot is a recipe I'm trying from Utterly Scrummy, so looking forward to making and tasting it.

Chicken fajitas are one of my cousins favourites, his absolutely fabulous wife blogs over at You Big Eejit.  You can find the recipe here http://bigeejit.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/chicken-fajita-lasagna.html.

What are you all having this week?

Spicy Beef Recipe

This is a lovely tasty and filling meal perfect for these cold days. (So much for Spring)

A work colleague gave me this recipe, he made it for our office for lunch one day and its been a hit ever since. Its one of those dishes that is easy to make and generally when people are coming for dinner the first recipe I go for. Anyone who I've passed the recipe on to has loved it. So why not give it a go?!

Ready to go into the oven

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 1/2lb Cubed Stewing Steak
2 Cloves Garlic Crushed
1/4 Pint Beef Stock
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
3 tbsp Dark Soft Brown Sugar
Salt & Pepper
1 Chopped Onion
1/4lb Sliced Mushrooms (Optional)
8oz Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
2 tbsp Cider Vinegar
2 - 3 tsp Chilli Powder
Bay Leaf (I put two in but 1 is fine)
Chopped Coriander (Optional)
Soured Cream

Method

Brown off meat in a little oil (I toss the meat in a little plain flour before doing this), place in casserole dish.
Saute onion, add sugar and spices and cook out. Pour over the meat.
Add mushrooms (if using), tomatoes, vinegar, stock, bay leaf, garlic, salt and pepper.
Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours at 180 oC (Can cook longer at a lower heat. The longer it cooks the more tender the meat is). Garish with soured cream and chopped coriander.
Serve with rice or a baked potato. I'm quite liberal with my chilli power and cinnamon when I'm making it but the measurements here are as per the recipe. As it cooks you can always adjust either if necessary.

Enjoy! 

Ready to be eaten - yummy!

Do you have any recipes to share?