Meal planning

Meal planning is a great way to feel organised (I love lists of all kinds) and can help with budgeting (my other new big thing!!).

I tend to collect recipes from all kinds of places - online, magazines, supermarkets etc and have sort of a filing system to keep them altogether. Next on my list is to make a pretty recipe binder link the one on this fab blog.

But for now heres what's on my meal planner this week (with the emphasis being on cheap but healthy!):

Monday: chickpea curry with pittas

Tuesday: roast veggie moussaka with feta

Wednesday: grilled fish with wedges & veg

Thursday: pancakes filled with cheesy veg

Friday: chicken & mushroom pie

Saturday: lamb koftas in tomato sauce with rice

Sunday: lentil spaghetti bolognese

Veggie moussaka

The roast veggie moussaka with feta recipe is from the BBC Good Food magazine May 2008:

Serves 4

Prep: 10 mins; Cook 45 mins

Per serving: 223 kcals

2 yellow peppers, cut into chunks

2 red onions, cut into wedges

2 medium courgettes, cut into chunks

1 large aubergine, cut into chunks

1 tbsp olive oil

85g/3oz feta

1 egg

200ml tub Greek yogurt

700g bottle passata

2 tsp dried oregano

1. Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6. Scatter the vegetables into a large roasting tin. Toss with oil, season, then roast for 25 mins until softened.

2. Break up the feta with a fork, then mix well with the egg, yogurt and seasoning. When the veggies are ready, tip them into an ovenproof dish, then stir in the passata & oregano. Spoon over the creamy topping, turn the oven up to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7, then bake for 20-25 mins until the filling is hot and the topping is beginning to brown & bubble.

Enjoy!

P.S. You might notice I swapped out some of the veg...you can basically use whatever is in your fridge!

Yummy tomatoes

My son (5yrs) is of the eat anything & everything type....he's always hungry and will happily munch anything offered. You can really tell when he starts to get hungry as he starts to wilt and needs an energy boost of food to get him going again!

My daughter (3yrs) on the other hand is a lot more fussy. She's the classic toddler that will one day love something and the next day hate it! Most annoying when you've specifically gone to the shops to replenish an absolute favourite only for it to be snubbed.

Tomatoes fall into this category....the other day she was into them and on one of our regular jaunts to Costa she enjoyed a babycino and a selection of tomatoes. The perfect combo.....although perhaps not what I'd choose ;-)!

Easy bread sticks

I met with a friend for coffee yesterday and she mentioned she'd been baking the big, fat salted bread sticks by Lorraine Pascale. I've seen various previews and clips about her TV programme but for some reason have never managed to catch it.

So, never one to pass up a foodie recommendation I thought I'd check them out for myself!

And my friend was right, they're really simple to make & taste great! They'd also be a good one for the kids to help make.

Budget recipe week - chickpea curry

We had a great weekend celebrating my husband's 40th birthday. It involved a night out in Covent Garden eating at Tamarai restaurant (would highly recommend as the food was delicious) and then Pizza Express with the kids on Sunday.

So this week is detox week in lots of ways.....it's time to give the liver & the wallet a rest :-)

So for dinner today, we're going to be having cheap & cheerful chickpea curry.

3 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 inch garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp black pepper
2 tins chickpeas
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 tin tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree

Rather than chopping, I bunged the garlic, onion & garlic in my mini-chopper & whizzed them up.

Add them to a pan with a dash of oil with the cumin, tumeric & black pepper and saute for 5 mins.

Add the chickpeas & carrots and stir to coat in the spices. Cook for a few minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes and the puree.

Cook for an hour, adding water when necessary to ensure it doesn't dry out

Easy meatballs

My kids love meatballs and I tend to base them on Jamie Oliver's meatball recipe with a few added extras!

My daughter can often turn up her nose at veggies so this time I've added in a whole courgette grated. Once cooked, the kids don't notice yet it all adds up towards their 5-a-day.

Sizzling in the pan - yum!

Spicy bean stew

Like lots of people, we're trying to have a cheap January....so out come the beans!!

Beans are a great way of cooking up tasty, yet cheap, meals.

Today for dinner we're having spicy bean stew - I simply looked through my cupboards and used what tins I had....in this case green lentils & black beans.

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tin green lentils
• 1 tin black beans
• 1 tin tomatoes
• handful fresh parsley

I put a glug of oil in a pan on a low heat then whizzed up the onions, garlic & ginger in my mini chopper. I added them to the pan and let them cook for a couple of minutes. I then added the cumin seeds and turmeric and allowed to simmer for a while longer.

I then added the lentils, beans and tomatoes and a bit of water and allowed it all to cook for about an hour. To serve, sprinkle of some fresh parsley.

Serve with rice or bread.

Homemade chicken nuggets

Made some delicious lemon and black pepper chicken nuggets...def not
just for the kids!!