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Meat-free March – it’s the final week!

March 26th, 2010

We’re in week 5 of our ‘Meat-free March’….and I know there aren’t 5 weeks in a month, but it falls over 5 shopping weeks if you know what I mean.

Week 4 was probably the most balanced week’s menu – it wasn’t overly focused on one food group so it worked really well. We started last Friday night with big, juicy, mushroom baguettes. Fabulous, breakfast mushrooms slathered with garlic butter and fresh, crispy french bread. Perfect Friday evening food which has to be easy to make, easy to clear up and suitable for drinking with red wine!

Saturday we had falafel burgers. These were OK. Good texture but a little bit lacking in flavour. I’ve tried to make these before and I’ve never succeeded in making them well, so if anyone has any tips for me, please feel free to share.

Sunday we worked up an appetite with a trip to Bodiam Castle and then had this lovely Veggie Shepherds Pie. It was GREAT! Although the tin of lentils which has been lurking at the back for my cupboard for (cough) 4 years turned out to be french cassoulet – sort of beans and sausages. So it wasn’t exactly completely vegetarian, but was darn tasty anyway.

Monday night a friend came round to share this wonderful Greek Pie. It was really simple to prepare and coating the filo pastry with the oil from the sundried tomatoes made it really savoury. Will definitely be doing this one again.

Our Thai Noodle soup on Tuesday was great too. Again, quick to prepare, with clean, refreshing flavours. My eldest son loved this, although I made his without the chilli.

Wednesday’s Puttanesca sauce was lovely and a winner with all the children also. The lovely sweet-sour taste of capers, olives and tomatoes makes such a fantastic supper and it’s a great left-over packed lunch the next day.

We rounded off the week with a larder feast of bulghar wheat and sardines. This is a quick and easy meal and my sister in law who had never tried bulghar wheat before really enjoyed it.

So now on to our final week:

Friday – veggie pizzausing the pizza bases I froze a couple of weeks ago
Saturday – we’re out for dinner, so just fish fingers and chips for the kids!
Sunday – Butter Bean & Broccoli Salad This recipe is similar, but my recipe contains broccoli rather than olives, which soaks up all the lovely lemony dressing
Monday – Tuna Empanada
Tuesday – Salmon & Miso Noodle Soup
Wednesday – Pasta with tapenade and goats cheese – similar recipe here
Thursday – Freezer Surprise, probably Thai Fishcakes again!

I’ll post next week with a review of this week – but I have to say at this point I’m looking forward to a nice juicy steak!

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Posted in Green Cleaning, Recipes | No Comments »

Meat-free March Week 3 Review, week 4 Menu

March 19th, 2010

Last weeks menu was generally very successful, although it changed a little because we had unplanned visitors. Yes, I know with 3 kids it’s hard to be spontaneous, but we managed it.

We started last Friday with our veggie Pizzas. Following a fun playdate I invited a friend and her 3 kids back for tea. I made the Pizza Dough using a different recipe from last time and it was fantastic. I think it was the added olive oil, but the bases were lovely and thin, but cooked really well. The kids ate 3 (almost 4) Pizza’s between 6 of them and we polished off another 2, leaving two to go in the freezer for a quick mid-week supper. Toppings were homemade Pizza sauce (passata and herbs, seasoning, garlic), mozzarella, chillies (for the adults), goats cheese, pineapple and any combination of those.

We had such fun that I invited my friend and husband back for dinner on Saturday. So the falafel burgers went out the window (making a reappearance on this weeks menu). Instead we had anti-pasti (inspired by the trip to Jamie’s Italy in Brighton), with Butternut squash risotto. It was lovely, unctuous and filling but very tasty.

Sunday was rice again (poor planning on my part) but Paella this time. The Paella was really easy to cook, taking less than 30 mins start to finish. I included jumbo prawns rather than any other shellfish and amazingly everyone, kids included just loved it. I added a good squeeze of lemon and my OH added some extra cayenne pepper but this was a definite winner and something I’ll make again for sure.

Monday I tried Couscous with Pomegranate Molasses (similar recipe here). This was another easy to prepare meal, taking just 30 mins start to finish, so again perfect for a mid-week supper. I loved the sour tang of the pomegranate molasses and could have added more to give a real kick but unfortunately the kids weren’t keen on it. It has made a fantastic packed lunch for my OH though, so never mind!

Tuesday night we tried stuffed peppers with rice and goats cheese. These were fine (although eldest son point blank refused to eat them) but I slightly overcooked them. They were OK, nothing to write home about.

Wednesday evening saw another popular meal for the kids (3 out of 5 isn’t bad?) with a fresh tomato, olive, rocket and parmesan sauce. It’s from Jamie Olivers 2nd book and is delicious, easy to prepare and has that lovely savoury taste from the parmesan and olives, offset by the sweetness of the tomatoes. Another winner, which will be added to my ‘cook more regularly’ pile.

Thursday we’re having freezer surprise and the surprise is that it’s vegetable tagine rather than Thai Fishcakes!

All in all, this week has been my favourite week to date with all the fresh mediterranean flavours…let’s see if next week can beat it.

  • Friday: Simple, Meaty Garlic Mushroom Baguette (Yum) similar recipe here
  • Saturday: Falafel Burgers
  • Sunday: Veggie Shepherds Pie
  • Monday: Greek Pie
  • Tuesday: Thai Prawn Noodle Soup
  • Wednesday: Spaghetti Puttanesca
  • Thursday: Freezer Surprise (Thai Fishcakes)

    • As always if you’ve tried any of the recipes or if you’ve got any you’d like to share, please let me know!

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    Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

    Meat-Free March – week 1 update, week 2 mealplan

    March 5th, 2010

    Week 1 Review
    Well last Sunday saw the start of my ‘Meat-free March’ with the delicious Lemon Butternut Lasagne. The adults and the baby loved this, but 2 middle boys were extremely undecided. Too bad, it made an extra one which is now in the freezer and will be produced later this month!

    Monday night I made Thai Fishcakes which were gorgeous. I’ve got a mental cooking block when it comes to standard potato based fishcakes which I’ve never managed to make successfully. In fact the last lot were so horrid I threw them out before my husband got home and he had cereal for tea! These were YUMMY. Easy to make with a gorgeous slightly sweet / sour dipping sauce that I could have eaten on it’s own. Because my eldest got fed on a playdate, I’ve got a meals worth of these in the freezer to look forward to also.

    Tuesday was a storecupboard special for the adults as little ones had been fed at nursery -Grown up beans on toast. These garlicky, salty beans were just yummy on toasted baguette and Mr CW got to take some to work on Wednesday too.

    Purple Spouting Broccoli, Anchovy & PastaThis was the meal that I was unsure about for two reasons. One, I didn’t know how tasty it would be and two, would my littlu’ns balk at just pasta with broccoli? I was worrying unnecessarily. They LOVED it with eldest son having thirds and the baby gobbling it up too. A definite winner.
    Thursday was Bulgar Wheat & Sardines. I’ve made this one before but I’m always amazed at how tasty it is. I have to say I’m a little squeamish about the bones, but a good dollop of pesto really makes this a flavoursome meal – cheap as chips too.

    Tonight (Friday) was planned to be veggie Pizza, but I’d forgotten we’re out for dinner tonight with friends as a joint birthday treat to Newick Park which I’m really looking forward to.Β  So the veggie Pizza is relegated and we’ll have it tomorrow night instead.

    Budget: Last weeks grocery shopping came to about Β£110, but it was my week to do a big shop for cat food, there were a couple of bottles of wine and washing up liquid and washing powder bulk buys too.

    Week 2 Meal Plan

    4 of the recipes from this week are taken from the April Week 3. Our Sunday lunch forms the basis for our meals on Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday evening, meaning less cooking for me on those evenings (yippee!)Β  And I know that there’s bacon in a couple of the recipes, but as I said last week as long asΒ meat doesn’t form the main ingredient in the dish, then that’s acceptable.

    • Saturday: Veggie Pizza
    • Sunday: Smoked Haddock, Peas, Bacon with Jacket Potatoes & Mustard Cabbage (similar recipe here)
    • Monday: Fish Pie (using leftover haddock from Sunday)
    • Tuesday: Stuffed Baked Potatoes with spinach, bacon & cheese (using leftover jacket potatoes)
    • Wednesday: Pasta with bacon, pea and parmesan (bacon and pea sauce left over from Sunday)
    • Thursday: will be ‘freezer surprise’, in this case, the Thai fishcakes from last week.

    If you’re following me, why not join in and let me know what you think?Β  Or if you’ve got any favourite meat free recipe’s you’d like to share, please feel free.

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    Posted in Green Living, Recipes | 3 Comments »
     
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