Meal Plan Monday

I'm linking up with Jo at Quirky Cooking for her weekly Thermomix menu plan. If I ever get my blogging mojo back I'll start up the Home Revolutions Meal Plan Monday linky-thingy again.

This week on our table will be:

Sunday
Sue-Ellen's Singapore Noodles (TMX)

Monday
Mushroom risotto (TMX)


Tuesday
Boys - eggs and toast
Adults - TMX Varoma demo

Wednesday
Homemade pizza on wholemeal, sourdough bases

Thursday
Pumpkin soup (TMX) with wholemeal, sourdough toast or rolls

Friday
Savoury mince (TMX)

Saturday
Pork sausages with mashed sweet potato and steamed vegies


Baking and Extras
Muffins, tortillas, bread and rolls (all sourdough and wholemeal)
plain wholemeal bread
bliss balls
yoghurt
labne
lacto-fermented tomato sauce
pickled ginger carrots

Another Short Week in the Kitchen

Yet another short week as we are travelling again, this time not to return home until the baby has been born! Woohoo!

I've been trying to stock the freezer with meals, homemade bread and baked goodies so that once the wee babe is here I can focus less on the cooking and more on the baby, big boys and of course myself, recovering from a c-section.

So this short week looks like this:

Monday:
Pumpkin soup with homemade rye bread (with extra serves to go in the freezer)

Tuesday:
Steak, steamed veg and mashed potato

Wednesday:
Easy dinner - eggs and vegies!

Extras:
bread - wholemeal and rye for the freezer, berry and yoghurt muffins, yoghurt

Meal Plan Monday and Random Recipe Review

Last week's Random Recipe was Pot-Roast Meatloaf from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food (p161). If I had been as organised as I had planned to be it would have been better, but I was having a lazy day so skipped half the recipe! I was going to make the meatloaf earlier in the day and then just pop it in the oven when dinner time rolled around but I got caught up in other things so I had to do it after I picked Elliot up from Kindy. By the time dinnertime rolled around I really could not be bothered dirtying more dishes to make the tomato and chickpea sauce that went with it so we just had it as it was. I think the sauce would have made it, without it was just another boring meatloaf. Not bad, just nothing special. As we're not big meatloaf eaters at the best of times it definitely won't be on our list of regular meals.

Pot-Roast Meatloaf

1 medium onion, chopped finely

olive oil

1tsp groun cumin

1tsp ground coriander

12 Jacob's cream crackers*

2tsp dried oregano **

2 tsp Dijon mustard

500g minced beef

1 large egg

4 rashers of bacon ***

1. Fry the onion in a little olive oil with cumin and coriander until soft and fragrant. Put in a large bowl to cool.

2. Smash up crackers until fine **** and place in bowl with cooled onion mixture.

3. Add remaining ingredients except bacon and mix with hands until thoroughly combined. Shape into a log/meatloaf shape and rub with a little olive oil.

4. Place the meatloaf in a casserole dish or baking pan and then cook in a preheated 200C oven for 30 minutes.

5. Lay bacon over the top of the meatloaf and return to the oven until crispy - this took another 15 to 20 minutes.

* I subsituted these for a good handful of breadcrumbs

** I substituted oregano with some finely chopped rosemary from the garden

*** The original recipe called for 12 rashers but 4 were enough to cover my meatloaf

**** Omit this step if using breadcrumbs

What I'd do differently:

• I'd definitely make the sauce that is in the recipe. It was a basic tomato sauce with some chilli, Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar thrown in along with a tin of chickpeas.

On to the plan for this week! We're having a short week, heading to Brisbane for a long weekend so only three nights of cooking here and then I'll plan with Mum the meals for the weekend. Also, we're trying to eat the freezer and pantry down so apart from some fruit and veg from the markets on Thursday morning I won't need to grocery shop! Hurrah!

Monday:
Sausages, mashed sweet potato and steamed veg

Tuesday:
Marinated steak, steamed veg and some sort of potato side dish

Wednesday:
Pasta with lentil sauce

Don't forget to link up if you're menu planning this week!

Meal Plan Monday

Thanks to everyone who played along last Monday, there were some great ideas for family dinners!

Don't forget to link up if you're meal planning this week, I've extended the amount of time the link is open for, I'm still trying to get used to the new technology! :)

Our plan this week looks like this:

Monday:
Random Recipe - Pot-roast Meatloaf (Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food p161) with mashed sweet potato and steamed veg

Tuesday:
Butter chicken (slow cooker) with brown rice and steamed veg

Wednesday:
Pasta Prima Vera

Thursday:
Pork sausages, mashed potato and steamed veg

Friday:
Felafel with flat bread, salad and yoghurt sauce

Saturday:
Veg and noodle stir fry with boiled eggs

Sunday:
Some sort of roast, maybe chicken or beef

Extras:
wholemeal bread
mini cheese muffins for the freezer for morning teas
zucchini slice for the freezer for lunches
muesli (this has been on my list to make for about a month and I must do it this week!)

A Big Menu Planning Post!

After having a couple of readers suggest it, I've decided to start a linky thingy so others can join in with my meal planning fun. I'm not too techy though, so I hope I've done it right! So if you're meal planning this week, link up and join in! You may find some new "blogosphere" friends and you will probably find some great meal ideas!

We're having a short, yet very busy week this week. As the first week of 'Meal Plan Monday' link up it's a pretty poor show but you get that some weeks! We're away for a long weekend this coming weekend and on Wednesday I've got a late Dr's appointment and then an early evening at a friends place babysitting all with Matt being away in Brisbane for work for the day and not expected home til quite late. Crazy days!!!

Monday:
Chicken and zucchini risotto (using up the leftover chicken from the weekend's roast)

Tuesday:
Felafel with flat bread, salad and yoghurt dressing

Wednesday:
No idea, maybe we'll have dinner at our friends, maybe we'll have something easy at home like eggs and toast after a pop home and pop out again.

Extras:
Chicken stock (from bones from weekend's roast), wholemeal bread, some sort of baking for the freezer for morning teas, choc-mint ice cream

I'm so excited to see what everyone else is planning this week!

Meal Plan Monday Link-along!!!

Just a quick post to let you know that on Monday I'll be starting a weekly link-up for all you menu planners out there. After having a couple of readers suggest it, I've decided to give it go so others can join in with my meal planning fun.

Anyway, if you're meal planning this week, link up and join in! You may find some new "blogosphere" friends and you will definitely find some great meal ideas!

See you here Monday!!!