Monday Catch Up and Menus

What a whirlwind of a week, with late nights a plenty and long days to boot.  Our School's parent association met on Thursday night for dinner and our half-yearly meeting.  The next night my book club met.  This is a six-weekly event for me, and one that I cherish so deeply.  After most of the other ladies have left for the evening, the final four that are left are women whom I have known for over two decades.  These are the women who have known me through thick and thin.  We only get to see each other at book club now, for the most part, so our catching up is a high priority for all of us.  Then, on Saturday, I did a Bread Basics workshop with a local artisan baker.  I discovered that bread baking is both simpler and more complex than I ever thought it could be!  It is highly scientific and mathematical, and yet the process is really more about the resting than the kneading.  At the end of it all I came home with a hand-mixed loaf, baguettes, ciabattas and focaccia.  My freezer is full!

A slow cooker update:  My experiments were worthwhile.  I finally caved in and bought a timer switch and this was the pivotal thing.  Cooking meat for only the time specified and not cooking it all day long is life-changing.  You can't cook much at all for 11 or more hours!  But 6-8 is not uncommon.  So, I need to get digging and find all those recipes that looked good, but I never tried.  Incidentally, the chicken enchilada recipe I posted about last week was a huge hit.  It was declared the best enchiladas ever made in this house.  The booklet gave a recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup, which I tweaked to make with fresh milk instead of powdered.  Oh my goodness - it was perfect.  Not the scary stuff that comes in a can.  So that will go on our menu plan again in the not too distant future.

This week however, this is our plan:
Monday:  Jacket potatoes with leftover Texas Pulled Pork, from Saturday
Tuesday:  I'm home alone...maybe baked salmon with green beans & tomatoes, a la Jamie Oliver
Wednesday: Veggie Plate
Thursday:  Pasta with veggie sauce
Friday:  Fend for Yourself
Weekend:  I'm going to go slow cooker hunting and see what I can come up with here.  Or it might be homemade pizza, using fresh pizza bases from Aldi - they are delicious.

Monday and Menu planning

I didn't know this was a thing, until YouTube told me...October is "Crocktober"  A month where the challenge is to use your slow cooker for all your weekday dinners.  In my head I love this idea.  How amazing to come home to dinner having been cooked!  Indeed, in my house the expectation of dinner being cooked, and that expectation being dashed by the younger generation in the house, has led to tears on my part.  So I love the idea.

My problem is, I don't love my slow cooker.  I rarely end up with a meal that is cooked perfectly and tastes exactly how I expected.  I've had way overcooked meat, I've had one where the meat was tough little rocks and some of the veggies were cooked, others not enough.  So we've yet to win on anything other than a vegetable soup.  I'm not yet willing to concede defeat though, and to that end I have a plan:

1. Buy a timer switch thingy so my slow cooker will turn on at the right time.  This means the food is in that pot for the required "6-8 hours" instead of however long I'm not home (which on a normal day is 10-11 hours).
2. Use tried and true recipes, like from the Passionate Penny Pincher, who I think started the whole Crocktober idea. 
3. If all else fails, replace my "vintage" slow cooker for a more modern one, so the recipes match the new and improved timings.

Something else I discovered this week: some newer slow cookers offer a "saute" function, so you can brown your meat in the pot, rather than having to do that in a separate pan.  Winner, in my opinion!  They also have a "keep warm" function, so that's helpful for days when dinner is done but your people are in and out all over the place at weird evening hours.

OK, plan in place, here's our menu for the week:

Monday:  Slow cooker chicken enchiladas (Miss Sunshine will be so excited; she loves Mexican)

Tuesday:  Crustless Quiche & veggies (Miss Sunshine to cook, as I'm out)

Wednesday:  Veggie Plate

Thursday:  The kids will have leftovers, while hubby and I are at our school associations EGM, for dinner

Friday:  Fend for yourself Friday

Saturday:  Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork, coleslaw

Sunday:  Zucchini soup and bread rolls

The link to the Passionate Penny Pincher will enable you to receive the free PDF version of the Crocktober cookbook, with 20 recipes + some fancy extras, like a recipe for taco seasoning mix (I already have one I use instead of a packet), and ranch dressing mix...something I've been wishing for.  After you receive this year's and last year's Crocktober PDF recipe book you'll probably want to unsubscribe, because other you'll get daily emails with great penny pinching ideas, that are only useful if you live in the US.  Totally unhelpful for this Aussie gal.  But the book looks really worth that little hurdle.

If I get myself into gear, the other recipe I'd like to try out is Pumpkin Bars, which I saw being made by Jennifer at Glitter and Jams, on YouTube.  We, of course, don't get our mashed pumpkin from a can because Aussie's are apparently not quite as pumpkin obsessed as our US friends, but that recipe looked awesome!  I think this recipe looks pretty much like the one Jennifer made.

What are you eating for dinner this week?  And how do you go with your slow cooker?

What's for dinner, Mum? Menu Plans for the School Holidays

In my head I think school holidays is for cooking slow food.  You know, a slow roasted lamb shoulder, homemade pasta, lasagna.  All the things that take time, that I don't have through the school term.  The reality is never anywhere close to what it is in my head.  In reality, I may have the time, but I am so whacked and the thought of cooking just further tires me out, even though I haven't necessarily done anything.  One example of this happened on Saturday.  Hubby and I went out for breakfast and did one other errand.  I came home and slept for three hours.  I literally crawled to the end of the term with my eyes hanging out of my head!  So my menu plans look more like school-term plans, but the kids will be happy because apparently when Mum is home, Mum cooks. 🙄

Monday:  Potato & leek soup, bread rolls
Tuesday:  Meatloaf, veggies (I use 1/2 kg mince & add a grated carrot to this meatloaf recipe - the best!)
Wednesday:  Jacket potatoes with coleslaw
Thursday:  Risotto
Friday:  Mediterranean vegetables (this is a tray of things like, potato cubes, zucchini, mushrooms, green beans and red capsicum cut into large cubes and baked in lemon juice, olive oil and Italian herbs)
Saturday & Sunday:  We have a couple of events so we'll be hither and yon.

For the record, I am a very lazy risotto maker and all the Italians of the entire world be horrified.  When I have followed all the "correct" steps, my rice never feels cooked, but still a bit hard.  I don't like it like that.  So I follow the steps up until you're adding stock a little at a time.  When that starts happening, I dump in all the stock and put the lid on.  I stir every now and then and 10 minutes or so later the rice is usually cooked perfectly.  Then I finish off with butter and parmesan.  I usually cook the other ingredients separately and add them at the end too.

There you have it.  A school term recovery menu.  What does your family like to eat during school holidays?

Monday Menu Plan for the Last Week of Term 3

I'm rather inclined to insomniac behaviour.  I don't seem to need a ton of sleep hours each night (six is a good night) and I generally wake between 5-6am.  Miss Mischief, therefore, has declared me a morning person.  I'm not really.  I don't like to be near other people in the morning.  I want silence and solitude and I get grumpy when others are around and requiring things from me.  I hate listening to other people chew loudly in the morning.  See...not so much a morning person.  If I'm left alone I'm quite the happy camper.  My very dear blogging friend, Frances, posted once, about introverts, that said something along the lines of "Hell is people for breakfast".  Amen and amen.  Morning is most introverted moment of the day.

I know the end of the school term is nigh, because I am sleeping.  A lot.  This past week I've racked up a 10 hour night, an 8 hour night (albeit with a 2 hour break in the middle!) and I had a lovely long nap this afternoon.  I'm tired, you guys.  Bone weary, falling-over-the-line tired.  I am just hanging on to reach the finish line on Friday, when Term 3 ends in Victoria and I get to work in my PJ's and sit in bed with my computer, instead of racing out the door by 7.15am.  I have to be very deliberate about the time I spend working and the time I spend resting during school holidays.  I need to rest.  I am compelled to work, because a whole bunch of term planning needs to be completed before I head back to school in Term 4.

My menu plan for this week probably reflects my exhaustion.  I'm really hoping the kids will step up and step into the kitchen so we make to the end!

Monday: quick quiche, veggies (someone?  anyone?)
Tuesday: oven fried chicken, veggies (Miss Mischief could handle this one)
Wednesday: minestrone & bread rolls (I'm home and finished study, so this one is mine)
Thursday: tuna and rice (Miss Sunshine will be the hero of the dinner table)
Friday:  fend for yourself Friday
Saturday: mushroom risotto (I use any recipe that looks good, but I dump in all the liquid at once and put the lid on, after that sautéing of the rice step - it's lazy, but it works)
Sunday: sweet & sour chicken meatballs (I make mini chicken meatballs using my wonton recipe, and then do a ton of stir fried veggies with a sweet and sour sauce (p190) from my iconic "Cookery the Australian Way" book.

How are you going with the end of the term looming?

End of Term Monday Menu Planning

The end of Term 3 is just barely around the corner, and around here we are tired.  This week I've tried to include some "cook smarter" meals, where we cook extra and plan for leftovers to be another whole meal.  Hopefully it works - it means making sure everyone knows what not to eat during the day!

The plan for this week...
Monday:  Thai chicken curry (Mr Busy has been instructed to cook extra)
Tuesday:  Chicken Kiev's, frozen veggies, potato wedges
Wednesday:  leftover curry & leftover casserole from Sunday
Thursday:  Veggie Plate
Friday:  Fend for Yourself
Saturday:  Chicken wonton soup
Sunday:  Minestrone & bread rolls

As I type this I realise I will be out of home for dinner three nights in a row.  Dh & I have an event to attend, and then I have parent-teacher meetings at the end of the week.  I feel a bit sad about that.  Towards the end of the term, and the tireder I become the more I hibernate as much as possible.

How is the end of your term progressing?  Or, if you live somewhere where school has just begun, how is the transition to routines going for you?

Monday's Menu Plan

I am taking a study day, today.  I have this killer assignment that will most certainly be the death of me, and I am determined that after today I will be done with it.  Over the course of this year I have come to the conclusion that I am no theological academic.  I get it, in my head, but writing Masters-level essays on theology stuff is just not my jam.  Also this week, I'm at school for dinner one night, when our Primary families will be coming back to school for a Maths Games Night.  And this is my second challenge for the week.  It's meant to be a sports themed night.  My issues with this are two-fold.  Firstly, I am not a sporty kind of gal, and secondly I am not a dress-up kind of gal.  Because I'm not sporty, and don't enjoy dressing up I have very little in the way of sports clothes.  How am I going to solve this problem?  I have no idea.

I have, however, solved the problem of what to eat for the week.  Now there's a challenge I can overcome with my eyes closed.

Monday:  Chicken parmigiana & veggies (using the tenderloins I crumbed & froze last week - yay me).
Tuesday: Pasta Bolognese (Mr Busy cooking)
Wednesday: Chinese simmering chicken, rice, veggies (again, prepared & frozen, ready to cook, last week)
Thursday:  Veggie plate (Miss Sunshine cooking - roast potatoes, cauli/brocc au gratin, carrots, corn on the cob)
Friday:  Fend for Yourself
Saturday: Chicken casserole with leftover roast from the weekend
Sunday:  Minestrone & bread rolls

By the time I get to Wednesday I might actually get a real day off.  One of the ones where you actually do no work, for which you have obligations to your employer.

Bring it on!

Monday Is Menu Day

It's Monday again.  I tell you, this term is positively flying!  Which is good.  And bad.  I've still got so much to get organised before Parent-Teacher meetings that happen in just three weeks!  Then again, I know we're deep into the term, because the food thing is falling apart over here.  We all want to eat healthy, delicious dinners, but none of us have the mental wherewithal to actually cook.

I did some self-protective work this weekend.  I have got four meals prepared and ready for cooking sitting in my freezer.  It feels like the best compromise for preparing ahead, that I can manage.  Cooking whole meals is too much work to be reasonable (I have five adult people here), and I'm still not totally in love with the crock pot idea.  I'm just not enjoying the dry-ish, stringy way the meat turns out each time I try it out.  But the minestrone soup I did a week or two ago did work, so maybe that's my ticket there.

So here's the menu for this week:

Monday:  Chinese simmering chicken, rice, veggies (+ another in the freezer)
Tuesday: Veggie Plate (a plate of roasted & steamed veggies)
Wednesday:  Crumbed chicken with orange and cranberry sauce, veggies (+ another in the freezer)
Thursday:  Beef Burgers and wedges
Friday:  Fend for Yourself Friday / leftovers
Saturday:  Chicken & corn soup, prawn gyozas
Sunday:  Maybe a roast chicken?  I've run out of ideas!

What's on your table this week?

Monday Menu Planning

Do you ever get to the end the day and wonder where it went?  I certainly felt like that at the end of recess and lunch time.  Where did that break go?  I haven't finished my tea yet.  And I need to finish my tea.  I don't drink coffee and days with no release time are full on.  Tea is essential!  And sugar of some description.

The good thing is that I managed to get my menu plan and grocery shopping done.  On Sunday.  Sadness.  I so enjoyed not having to do that last Sunday, but you can't be at work all afternoon on Saturday and expect to get the grocery shopping done, now can you?

In any case, we have a menu, and one meal has been prepared, consumed and cleaned up.
Monday: Thai chicken curry, rice, roti bread
Tuesday: Chicken Kiev (pre-prepared from Aldi), vegetables
Wednesday:  Oven Friend Chicken, vegetables
Thursday:  Mum & Dad are bringing dinner with them (Hallelujah!)
Friday:  Fend for Yourself Friday
Saturday:  Homemade pizza (using Aldi pizza bases from the bread section)
Sunday:  Veggie Plate (a plate filled with roasted & steamed veggies)

We're exactly half way through Term 3, and you can tell that things are starting to slide, in the food department.  Pre-prepared, pretend chicken is evidence.  You know what?  I don't have the wherewithal to care that much.  And yet I do, but other things seem to get in the way of the time it takes to prepare the kind of dinner I really yearn to eat.

Monday's Weekly Menu Post

A miracle happened on Saturday - I managed to get my grocery shopping done instead of doing it on Sunday.  It's been something on my mental list of things I wanted to change, because I really don't enjoy shopping (you already knew that, if you've read here long enough) and doing it on Sunday just always felt like a double whammy of unenjoyable.

Somewhere along the line, I feel like I'm winning at a bunch of organisation things.  Especially at work....I don't know how it happens, but my weekly planning is zooming along so well.  So is my menu planning at home.  Don't you love it when things seem to come together, almost despite yourself.  I enjoy those moments because inevitably something will come along and bite me in the butt at some point!

In any case, this week's menu plan, all planned up and shopped for on Saturday.  Oh glory be!

Sunday:  Homemade burgers
Monday:  Lasange (homemade from the freezer)
Tuesday:  Veggie plate (a plate full of all kinds of steamed and roasted veggies)
Wednesday: Rosemary balsamic chicken (I'm gonna try the crockpot...wish my luck)
Thursday:  Freezer meal = Meat/Chicken pies, frozen veggies, jacket potato
Friday:  Fend for yourself Friday

There's the week's meals planned.  Now to get myself sorted for my final assignment for the  year.  I am so looking forward to having an actual day off, rather than unpaid days where I still fulfil my contractual obligations.
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Monday means menus

What a day!  It began with a stereotypical Melbourne wintry morning.  Rain.  Grey, dark clouds.  Cold.  I had four students away and the rest were, shall we say, quiet and rather still.  Except for the two boys who decided to make some not-so-great behavioural decisions.  Sigh.

After hibernating all of Saturday, I managed to plan menus for the week, put together a grocery list and shop.  I also remembered to buy prizes for the room that went to sleep first, and the tidiest room, from camp.  And you can bet the kids were asking about those prizes....but I need to coordinate with the class next door and that just didn't go smoothly today with staff dropping like flies all over the place.

My successful menu plan is currently looking like this:
Monday:  Pasta bolognaise
Tuesday:  Thai chicken curry, rice, roti bread (Mr Busy cooking)
Wednesday: Mum's Minestrone (a bean free version) (me cooking)
Thursday: Honey soy chicken, veggies, rice (Miss Sunshine or me cooking)
Friday:  Fend for Yourself Friday
Saturday:  Burgers and wedges

Bonus for me, Mr Busy made the pasta to freeze and take on his snow camp last week.  It remained frozen and returned home, so that was dinner tonight.  We're all very happy not to be cooking!

What's on your dinner plates this week?

Monday Means Menus!

I had such grand plans for today.  Plans to clear out a cupboard that has been hoarding who-knows-what for about 10 or 11 years.  What I know about that cupboard is that I haven't actually touched anything on most of the top shelf, except the disposable places & cutlery, and picnic stuff.  So I was all excited about the idea of dealing with it.

But then I just slept instead.

In my defence, today is the first day I haven't worked since the school holidays began, and I need a break.  Apparently.  My body has decided it has no energy, so at 11am, when I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore I just wriggled down on the couch, pulled up my blankie (because there is nothing better than being all cosy when you're watching TV!), and slept for two hours.  It feels pitiful, but that's what this poor old body needed.  The sad thing is I slept so well last night.  My Dad sent me home with a clock radio that has red numbers.  What I now know, after a few clocks, is that red numbers don't glow like the sun at night.  Red numbers just keep the time in the clock, not all over the room.  Every time I woke, briefly, I looked over at the time and drifted back to sleep.  No green glow emanating from the clock.  YES!

The only productive thing I needed to do today was grocery shopping.  Which means list making, which means menu planning.  It was so nice to be the one asking "What's for dinner, Mum?" instead of having to find the answer!

So our Picket Fence Plan for the week is as follows:
Monday: Sloppy Joe's and potato wedges
Tuesday: Chinese simmering chicken, rice, stir fried veggies
Wednesday: Veggie plate (a plate full of roasted/steamed veggies)
Thursday:  Oven fried chicken, vegies
Friday:  Sheet pan tacos
Saturday: Chicken & corn soup
Sunday:  Maybe lasagne so I can make a double batch for the freezer?

Monday & Friday nights are new recipes for us from The Family Fudge.  This is on my list of Favourite YouTuber's, so if you have time take a look around.  Jennifer's recipes always look so delicious, so I'm willing to have a go.  The sheet pan taco things looks like a really good idea for putting it together.

What are you eating this week?
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Weekly Menus

We made it.  We fell over the Term 2 finish line and crashed.  Almost.  I crashed.   And then had to pick myself up to welcome about 30 family and friends for Miss Sunshine's 21st birthday party.  A party that is two months late, because we were just not in a place to do it at the time.

Term 2 has been long.  Eleven weeks just feels exhausting!  I ended my term with reports being completed, portfolios being compiled, an assignment being written and my classroom being emptied out.  The past two weeks have definitely been a sprint.  It was a delight to see my students' faces when they looked through their portfolios.  Then they worked so hard to help move everything to the room where our classroom things are being stored for the holiday break.  I commandeered Mr Busy for move some bigger things with the trolley (he had study lesson), and Miss Sunshine came in to direct traffic and supervise the kids when they were taking things to the storage space.  I was so grateful.  My building, plus my previous building (4 classrooms altogether), are both being refurbished with lockers and cupboards being ripped out, carpet being replaced and walls being repainted.  Next term I will have moveable storage instead of lockers and cupboards, and my data projector will be changed over to an interactive projector.  My classroom will be reoriented so that the "front" of the room will be on a different wall.  It will be SO GOOD!  Right now, however, my hip is not happy due to all the bending - an old injury that flares in these types of circumstances.

So while my classroom is being tended to, I am rehoming resources into tubs that will then need to be labelled.  I will also need to do some planning.  Otherwise, lots of sleeping and reading and YouTube watching is my plan for now.  I'm very excited about the idea of the forecast rain and me being tucked up at home with a book.

Our menu for the week.... (sans Miss Mischief, who will be in Sydney this week)
Monday: Pasta Bolognese
Tuesday: Honey Soy Chicken, Vegies, Rice
Wednesday: Tuna & Rice
Thursday: Vegie Plate
Friday: liaise with Mum about the weekend

How has your Term 2 been?  What are you looking forward to for the holidays?

Menu Plan Monday

This is the last week of our girlies being away housesitting.  I go back and forth between missing being part of their every day, and not missing the bickering that is natural between siblings.  The house has been quiet and peaceful, and my days off have been delightful silent and uninterrupted.  Mr Busy is easy to have about and doesn't fuss if he's asked to do something.  Unlike the girls, who make grand declarations about the fairness, or lack thereof, about who does what dishes job.

As I mentioned when I talked about the upsides of having a smaller households the cooking has been delightful.  This week is no different.  I'm planning for cooking once and eating twice while I can.  And then a nice family roast for the night that we're all home to eat dinner together properly (with plans to use the leftovers in another meal).

Here we go:
Sunday: Chicken noodle soup
Monday:  Lasagne and salad
Tuesday: Pasta with tomato & bacon sauce
Wednesday: Leftover chicken noodle soup
Thursday: Leftover lasagne and salad
Friday: Leftover pasta
Saturday: Roast chicken & veggies (maybe even dessert!)

Menu Plan Monday

It's Monday.  Of a long weekend.

That means lots of extra time.  Time to menu plan.  Time to grocery shop.  Time to plan for the week ahead so I can get some running records done in my lesson planning time tomorrow.  Time to nap.  Time to get the house picked up a bit and flat surfaces decluttered.  Oh yes, I love a good long weekend at home.

Yesterday we took Mr Busy down near the bay and had lunch at a little cafe in McCrae.  Then we did something I think I haven't done since I was a teen!  We drove up to Arthur's Seat.  Oh my it was so full of people.  But Mr Busy found a geocache there and the view was magnificent against a backdrop of sunny blue skies.  Not warm, but sunny, because you know...winter.

This morning I planned my menu and I have a shopping list ready to go.

Monday:  Potato, cauliflower & leek soup (with Costco dinner rolls - so dying YUM!!)
Tuesday: Leftover soup & rolls
Wednesday: Honey soy chicken, stir fried veggies & rice
Thursday: Chicken tenders (from freezer, thank you Costco) & veggies
Friday:  Fend for yourself (Mr Busy will be at church before I get home from work)
Saturday:  Leftover chicken, veg & rice

What are you eating this week?  Please share!

A Menu Plan....

It has been a long time since I've posted a menu plan.  Not because I haven't been doing them.  A list-writing type of person is never far from a list of some sort, and this type of list saves my sanity more often than I'd care to admit.  I stopped posting them because they weren't terribly popular posts, and many of my meals are repeated often.  It seemed like having a collection of menu plans over a long period of time and stored in one place was probably enough to wander through.

This week, however, I seem to have found some enthusiasm for my plan.  Enthusiasm seems to wane as I get busy, so working full time is quite the antidote to any kind of kitchen excitement.  I even have ideas for lunches that make me quite happy.  Here we go -- a summer menu plan for us Picket Fencer's:

Monday:  Pasta Bolognese (I'll be out with friends and I'm quite happy to miss out on this meal)
Tuesday: Crunchy Chicken Cutlets (from Simply Nigella)
Wednesday: Roasted Vegetable Platter
Thursday: Vegetable Curry & Rice
Friday: Summer Margherita Pasta
Saturday: Chicken Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries
Sunday: Jacket Potatoes with Coleslaw

My Summer Margherita Pasta is the newest addition to our repertoire.  I'll try to remember to take a photo, but it is a bowlful of summer-i-ness that we all loved.  Even the non-herb lovers of the family (that would be all the younger ones).  I'll post a recipe when I take the photo.

For lunches I'm dreaming of things like sushi rolls, hot dogs, and I found some marked-down smoked salmon which needs to be eaten in the next couple of days.  Perhaps I need to find some really good robust, chewy bread and eat it with some cream cheese.

Best Uni Assignment Ever

Miss Sunshine was recently invited to accept an Early Entry into her target degree from the Associate Degree she began in February.  After a flurry of early-semester withdrawals and re-enrollments she's now all settled into the big-girl version of University study and is well on her way to becoming a Prep-Year 10 teacher.  This is the result of complete indecision on her part.  Rather than choosing now, whether she wants to teach in Primary or Secondary, she's studying to be qualified in both.  She can choose where she ends up later.  I was never so uncertain.  The younger the better!

To that end she is taking up Health as one of her Secondary methods and the timing of it all is just completely brilliant.  Her semester-long assignment requires her to identify a habit that could be healthier and enacting a plan to change the habit for the better.  She decided on eating healthier.  So she has to plan our menu, help me shop (that's my two cents worth!) and then sort out who's doing what on which nights.  I just show up at the supermarket with the money and she makes the rest of it all happen.  She planned on fruit salad for some of her breakfasts, so I suggested she just make a huge container to keep in the fridge - everyone got to sneak a bit here and there through the week.  She had also planned on a roasted vegetable salad for some of her lunches - again, she made more than enough so we shared that too.

You know what?  I can't go ahead and plan or shop for this week till she's available.  Am I sad about this?  Nooooo.  Someone else planning something for me?  Yes please!

Now, if I could get her interested in sourcing some more healthy baking recipes Mr Busy would be all set and we could enjoy something sweet without adding to our winter insulation!!

A Menu Plan for Winter

It's a very long time since I've posted a menu plan.  Partly because I didn't feel like they were particularly popular posts.  More recently because my plans have been embarrassingly underwhelming and were filled with pretend food and take away.  Not my finest plans.

This week's however, has begun well and I have no reason to imagine we won't finish strong.  Confidence and enthusiasm are wonderful ingredients when it comes to implementing a plan that feels good!  Here we go.

Monday:  Slow roasted lamb and salad
Tuesday:  Vegetable curry and rice
Wednesday: Jamaican-spiced chicken thighs, veggies
Thursday:  Veggie Noodle Stir Fry
Friday: Lamb Souvlakis
Saturday:  Homemade pasta (lasagna - freeze half)
Sunday:  Chicken noodle soup

We had the slow-roasted lamb tonight and it was absolutely and completely perfect.  I prepared the glaze and had it sitting in its baking dish around lunch time.  I turned the oven on to 140C as I walked out the door at 2pm.  When I arrived home at 5.45pm it was done.  It was tender and moist and oh-my-goodness.  There are no words.  Except next time I need to do a bigger one than the 1.5kg boneless roast I did tonight.

I will be spending Wednesday and Thursday in my new classroom getting to know my students and the routines and procedures that are already in place there.  I think Tuesday afternoon might require some planning.  Getting home at 5.30pm is not conducive to implementing even the best of plans!

I believe some serious OAMC will be a school holiday job.  Otherwise we might never eat real food again once I start work next term.  This is my biggest fear about working full time!

Shopping the pantry/refrigerator for a frugal menu

I am in a rut.  It's not a pleasant rut and I wish I could wriggle and inspire myself out of it, but it doesn't seem to be happening.  What I have learnt in the last few years is that when I am busy and my mind is completely focused in other areas, cooking a meal at the end of the day is this hugely stressful mountain to climb.  Which is silly.  I can cook a meal almost with my eyes closed, I've been doing it so long.  I think it is more that it's another thing I need to get done in the day.

This past weekend I just could not get to the supermarket.  At. All.  I worked really hard on Friday night to get some assignment work done.  I was out all day Saturday, home long enough to cook a dessert and then out for dinner.  Slept all afternoon on Sunday to recover.  But no shopping.  And no desire to shop.  But I have some stuff floating about in the places I keep food so I've cobbled together a menu that requires no shopping beyond some butter, bread and fruit.  Here we go:

Monday:  Meatloaf, vegies (last of my Costco mince)
Tuesday:  Pasta with bacon & tomato sauce (another of my meals made with Costco staples)
Wednesday:  Beef casserole (bought the meat last week and didn't end up making that meal)
Thursday:  Freezer meal (because whatever...I just can't do it every night!!  and thank you Costco)
Friday:  Tuna and rice (Dh brought home an abundance of milk...tuna always in the cupboard)

As of Friday there will officially be 3 lamb chops and about half a kilo of chicken thigh fillets.  I really will need to shop next weekend, but for now I'm pretending supermarkets don't exist.

Foray into Fasting (Daniel Fast Menu Plan)

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We've been going for nearly a week.  We're still alive and beginning to say things like "I really miss having a cup of tea"...or my more emphatic "I just want a cracker with butter on it!".  And what I wouldn't give to use eggs in my cooking...

We have been surprised at the things we miss most and the things we couldn't care less about.

As I mentioned a post or two back Dh and I have chosen - well, I chose and he agreed to go along with it - the Daniel Fast for our 21-day church-wide fast.  Our church encouraged us to choose anything that was meaningful to us, but my understanding is that a fast is to do with food.  Choosing to avoid other 'things' is abstinence rather than fasting.  So I chose the Daniel Fast.  We've eaten lots of fruit, lots more vegetables and dipped our toes back into the idea of legumes - something we tend to avoid a bit around here.  With Mr Busy's negative attitude to the texture of 'evil beanies' (as he used to call them) and the unpleasant physical side effects we just don't eat them much.  Basically, the Daniel Fast is plant based foods and water - no animal products.  I found lots of helpful information here and here.

Despite being faced with many times a day when we would love to just grab whatever we feel like eating, having to be intentional and considered about the whole thing is not all that bad either.  It reminds me to be intentional and considered about the things I'm praying about.  I've discovered I'm really bad at focused prayer.  I'm really good at the quick prayers.  You know, the ones where something pops into your mind and you just have a little moment with God and keep going with what you're doing?  Yeah.  I'm good at that stuff.  I'm not good at keeping my mind on more sustained stuff.  I confessed that to God this morning and now my prayer is becoming "help me to pray".

On the food front we're eating surprisingly well.  We've both been surprised at things we've enjoyed this week.  Mr Busy was away on school camp so the girls have done a bit of their own thing.  My brother and his girls had dinner with us on Monday - my girls made dinner for all of them while I made what Dh and I ate.  They've had some of our meals with some taken out and meat thrown in and sometimes they've had to make a salad to go with something I've dug out of the freezer and thrown into the oven.  It's worked OK, but maybe Mr Busy's return will force me to be a bit more organised.  The boy is an eater!

Below is our menu for the first week.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Toast Sliced banana	Quinoa salad	Chickpea & Veg Casserole
Tuesday	Toast Sliced banana	Leftovers	Nachos Salad
Wednesday	Porridge Sliced fruit	Citrus Walnut Salad	Vegetable Curry Brown rice
Thursday	Fruit salad	Leftovers	Roast Vegetable layer bake
Friday	Porridge Sliced fruit	Leftovers	Pasta with tomato & veg sauce
Saturday	Fruit salad	Salad in pita bread	Hungarian Casserole
Sunday	Toast w. tomato, mushroom, avocado	Salad in pita bread	Coconut Pumpkin Soup
Snacks	Fruit, mixed nuts, hommus/guacamole with carrots, popcorn

 

 A note on legumes -I tried cooking chickpeas and borlotti beans according to the directions in my 'Nourishing Traditions' book.  Perfect!  No unpleasant, smelly side effects.  I didn't cook my pulses for the 6 hours they said.  I think the chickpeas went for about 3-4 hours and the beans for 2-3 hours after an all-night soak.  It was worth the time and effort rather than opening a tin.

Using it Up: Milk

I love a good kitchen challenge of the "use it up" variety.  This week's is to use up 10 litres of milk that had reached is use-by date, which Dh had brought home from work.  So, hot chocolates and baked custard appeared on the menu last night.  I think perhaps homemade mac 'n cheese should keep some children happy at lunch time tomorrow.  And I think Miss Sunshine's friend is coming for breakfast, so perhaps pancakes will fulfill the brief of yummy substantial breakfast upon which to study as well as using up some milk.

I got busy and did some menu planning for the rest of the month as you can see above.  That is quite literally a screen shot of the typed version of my menu plan.  I love that snipping tool!  So I'm all planned up and ready to go for next week when the world begins to spin a little faster.

And the septic tank man came this morning.  The pipes are back to normal!!!  Mr Busy and Dh stood out on the deck right over the tank and watched the man do his job.  They were both entertained for quite a while!  I was eating breakfast - something that should not be combined with observing the intricacies of how to empty a septic tank!  In any case the very nice man gave us a bag of septic tank-friendly goodies like bathroom cleaners and toilet paper when he was done and my kitchen sink is now running smoothly again.  And we have a sticker to tell us when it needs doing again.  The man was not so impressed that it had been left seven years!