Yes, I know it's not the right day for new resolutions, but I figure it's better late than never.
My new resolution is to knuckle down to telling you all about what's on the menu plan for the coming week, on a Tuesday - the beginning of that week. Now obviously, it's not going to happen that way every week, because my life just doesn't allow things to be that organised. However, the intention is there - and it's a good place to start.
So, here's what's on the list :
Tues : Pizza (spot the cop-out!)
Weds : Bramley apple, black pudding & bacon risotto
Thurs : Turkey & chorizo meatballs with pesto spaghetti
Fri : Minced beef, mashed potato & vegetables
Sat : Spicy chicken wraps, mexican hash browns & coleslaw
Sun : Toad in the hole with vegetables
Mon : Chilli-con-healthy with soda bread rolls.
Yes, tonight's dinner of Pizza is a total cop-out - but sometimes you just want to have a break from all the preparation and the washing up. As much as I enjoy creating dishes, cooking them and most importantly, eating them, sometimes you just have to have a day off.
We're back in harness again on Wednesday, or more to the point, hubby is back in harness. He's cooking a new risotto, one which we dreamt up in honour of Bramley Apple Week. We devised the ingredients and contemplated the cooking method and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, came up with this recipe for Bramley apple, black pudding & bacon risotto. I think it sounds completely delicious, but you'll just have to wait for the blog post to find out whether it was or not!
Thursday is another of our dreamt up recipes, which evolved from wondering what to do with two chicken breasts - and wound up with turkey mince and two chorizo sausages that are lurking in the fridge. The obvious answer was to make them into meatballs and serve them with pesto coated spaghetti. Simple - except we've still got the two chicken breasts hiding out in the freezer.
Now I do try to schedule in at least a couple of meals that son & heir is guaranteed to like, per week. Poor soul, as a bit of a picky teenager (one of the worst times for food likes & dislikes, I think), he is often faced with his worst nightmare where food is concerned but will generally give it a go. This is why I try to schedule in a couple of his favourites. This week, the first of these is good old minced beef, mashed potato and vegetables. He would, of course, prefer to abandon the vegetables part of the meal altogether, but my insistence on his not being 99% carnivorous, 1% mashed potato-ist, ensures that at least a few veggies disappear down his gullet occasionally.
The next son & heir friendly meal is the Spicy Chicken Wraps. These consist of shop-bought chicken in a spicy coating which is oven baked then sliced and put in a wrap along with some lettuce, salsa and sour cream. Hubby has had an idea where the current favourite of hash browns are concerned and is intending on Mexican-ing them up with the addition of a sprinkling of chilli powder, cumin and salt. I shall be abstaining from this delicacy and going for the coleslaw option.
Sunday, believe it or not, is Yorkshire Pudding Day. Now I'm not guaranteeing that we stay with this plan, but currently we're intending on having a Toad in the Hole, which hubby has agreed to make as his Yorkshire is a whole lot more reliable than ever mine has been. There is an outside possibility that we might flip this to one side in favour of a different incarnation of Yorkshire Pudding meal, but at the moment, the Toad is a goer.
Monday brings the re-submission of the Chilli con healthy from last week. Because of a sudden yearning for a Doner Kebab, this got bumped from last week's menu list - but not before I'd bought all the ingredients for it. I'm looking forward to it, as although it has an anxiety inducing name, the method is exactly how we'd produce a chilli - except the spicing is slightly different. Should not only be interesting, but nice!
I've a number of extra cooking projects in mind, too. Because of Bramley Apple Week, I'm intending on making an apple cake - maybe the Dorset Apple Slab, which I've been intending to make ever since we arrived in Dorset and found out about it! I've also got a recipe for Maple Apple Muffins formulating in the back of my head. We'll see whether it makes it to daylight or not!
National Dairy Week is supposed to kick off on the 3rd February (Friday). Currently, I can't see that anyone (the Dairy Council, National Cheese Board - always makes me smile, that one) is doing very much in relation to that, but I've got ideas for a Greek Yoghurt and Passion Fruit dessert, plus some yummy Cheese Scones, at the very least!
Oh - and don't forget, Valentine's Day is trotting into view! I've got some recipes up my sleeve with this in mind, but maybe it's too early to reveal, just yet.
I just have to share something, before I go, which is that Sainsbury's (following on from their featuring Rhubarb & Ginger on their Family Finance Blog) have invited me to be a member of the Sainsbury’s Finance Family Blogger Network!
The network is an informal network of family friendly bloggers that they think share Sainsbury’s values. Apparently, this will mean I'll have an entry to their Best Family Blog Award and an opportunity to guest blog on their Finance blog, Money Matters.
I'm currently quite ridiculously excited by this - and am very much looking forward to finding out more!
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