Watchya Got Cookin’

I haven’t done one of these posts for a while, but I’m particularly proud of this week’s menu plan, so here I am.

We’ve just come back from shopping (and by the way, I HATE packing groceries away!), and we spent around $130 for the fortnight, including things like gladwrap and tinfoil, plus things like garlic, jars of antipasto stuff, and a pack of puff pastry which will last well  beyond this fortnight – as well as a LOT of fruit for the fruit-bat in the family, who is also known as Mayana.

I’m trying a few different things this week, which if you’ll remember is something on my 24 by 24 list. For instance, I’m trying a couple of meals featuring lentils, because I’ve been inspired by the very inspiring Jaydee to incorporate more lentils and pulses into our diet.

So, what are we eating? Here goes…

1. Beef & tomato Rice – I’m going to try the new McCormick rice cooker meal base.
2. Tuna Mornay served with mashed potato.
3. Bolognaise with veal ravioli.
4. Lemon & herb roasted chicken served with steamed vegies and rice.
5. Big Breakfast – This has become a Friday night tradition for us. We have bacon, eggs, tomatoes, hash browns and toast.
6. Home-made pizza with home-made garlic foccacia.
7. Lentil & vegetable cottage pie.
8. Chicken green curry with coconut rice – another McCormick rice-cooker meal base. Cheating I know, but it’s handy to do something easy after a long uni day!
9. Spaghetti bolognaise.
10. Vegetable and lentil pies. Stolen directly from Jaydee’s blog.
11. Slow-cooked sausage casserole.
12. Kangaroo roast dinner. I think I’ve said this before, but you really should try kangaroo. It’s delicious, cheaper than beef, high in iron, ridiculously low in fat, and very good for you! Plus, apparently they do less damage to the environment (methane-wise) than their mooing counterparts.
13. Roasted butternut pumpkin and apple soup. I’m using this recipe also to try out the new Philadelphia cheese cream substitute.
14. One take out night. Because everyone deserves one of those a fortnight!

A lot of these meals will have enough leftovers either for lunch or to freeze for another night next fortnight. So we’re looking pretty set! 

What are you eating this week?

watchya got cookin'!?

Back again for another one of those segments. I've been slack with them because we've somehow managed to be away a fair bit lately. In fact this week's list is only good for one week instead of a fortnight, because we spent most of the fortnight on the Sunshine Coast.

So here it is:

Wed- Spaghetti Bolognaise

Thurs- Sushi (which is my darlingest husband's 'thing', and he makes the best sushi EVER, usually with chicken schnitzel, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, mayo and pickled ginger filling. Mmmm).

Fri- Fish & Chips. Well actually this week's is a slight variation. We're going to buy fresh salmon, and pan fry it in butter so that the skin is nice and crispy, but the fish is still that lovely slightly rare texture (okay so I'm drooling right now), and instead of chips I bought some "European Hashbrowns" from Aldi, because they looked really yummy. And I'm going to make a big salad, because I love them.

Sat- Slow cooked beef casserole. One of the main reasons I'm making this one is because I'm running out of dinners for Mayana. She likes beef casserole.

Sun- Lemon & Zucchini Risotto

Mon- Kangaroo Roast

Tues- Home-made pizzas. We use a lebanese-flatbread/wrap type bread for the base, and top with things like pesto, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. Yummo.

Wed- Left over / takeaway night.

So, that's what we've got cooking this week. Not my most exciting menu. Remind me to share with you a delicious recipe that I recently got for a low-fat fettucine carbonara which takes about 15 minutes to whip up. Definitely a winner.

What yummies have you got planned for this week??

Recipe Request [Lemon & Zucchini Risotto]

For Lucy :) (just a quick note Lucy, it cooks in the rice cooker not slow cooker!)

Lemon & Zucchini Risotto

* 1.25L hot vegetable or chicken stock (I often subsitute 250mls with white wine)
* splash olive oil
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 360g (1 + 2/3 cups) arborio rice
* 3 tps grated lemon rind
* 2 tbspn lemon juice
* 350g zucchini, diced
* parsley (I don't usually use this, cos I don't like it!)
* 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
* lemon zest to garnish

Turn rice cooker on, hold down bowl so that it stays on (I don't know about you, but mine doesn't stay on unless there's weight in the bowl), add the splash of olive oil and the onion (I usually also put garlic in because I put garlic in everything). Cook until soft. Add rice and stir for a few minutes. Pour in ALL the stock (and wine), put the lid on and let it cook until it automatically turns off. In my experience this has produced the perfect risotto every time..

My rice cooker has a 'warm' setting, and I'm pretty sure most of them do. Leave this on, and add the zucchini, lemon rind and lemon juice. I usually end up adding more lemon juice, I like it to be quite tangy. Stir in half the parmesan, and the parsley if you're using it. Use the rest of the parsley and the lemon zest to garnish the dish!

Very easy and so yummy. Enjoy!

Whatchya Got Cookin'?

That time again. Mayana and I did the fortnightly treck to Aldi and Coles and have shopped and come in under budget. Gotta love that!

So what's on the menu this week?

Thursday: Pasta with pesto, sundried tomatoes and feta (one of our favourite quick meals)

Friday: Burritos

Saturday: Dinner out (maybe at the golf club). My mum and sis will be here so it's nice to eat a meal out together.

Sunday: Fish, Chips & Salad. I'm going to attempt a beer batter.

Monday: Sticky sausages/sausage casserole

Tuesday: Cottage pie with sweet potato top

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: Hopefully... we'll be having a date night, as it will be our fourth wedding anniversary!

Friday: Fish & Chip & DVD Night

Saturday: Quiche.. I use my Nanna's recipe but somehow it's never as good as hers.

Sunday: Lemon & Zucchini Risotto (such a yummy recipe. I do my risotto in my rice cooker, because I can't be stuffed standing over the stove stirring for an hour! It really does turn out just as good and is soooooo much quicker!).

Monday: Pear poached pork (Mayana and I love watching James Reeson's show, 'Alive & Cooking'. We get lots of ideas and yummy recipes from him)

Tuesday: Sticky Chicken Drumsticks

Wednesday: Spaghetti

watchya got cookin'!?

Grocery day again....

T. Stir-fry with mince
F. Fish & Chips (homemade) with Salad
S. LEFTOVER NIGHT (probably moved to another night when I don't feel like cooking !
S. Quiche with feta and sundried tomatoes
M. Sticky Sausages
T. Spinach & Ricotta Lasagne
W. Spaghetti
T. Kangaroo Roast Dinner
F. Roast leftovers
S. Fish & Chips with salad
S. Sushi (which means hubby makes dinner... yay!)
M. Tray baked sausages with cherry tomatoes
T. Mushroom & Parmesan risotto (might add chicken to appease the husband!)
W. Spaghetti/lasagne (depending on how much I feel like cooking!)

recipe request

Especially for Cel (Mama3) ... here is the recipe for slow cooked sticky sausages.

* 1-2kg sausages, can be frozen.
* 4 tablespoons vinegar (I often use balsamic)
* 4 tablespoons brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons soy sauce
* 4 tablespoons worsteshire sauce
* 1 jar pasta sauce

Pop it into the slow cooker and cook for 6 hours on low!

I sometimes add some vegies to the mix around an hour before serving.

Serve with rice or mashed potato.

Enjoy!

watchya got cookin'!?

It's that time again... grocery shopping today!

Our menu plan for this week:

T- Tuna Bake
F- Slow-cooked sticky sausages
S- Fish & Chips
S- left overs
M- Corned beef, mash & steamed vegies
T- Corned beef hash cakes with vegies
W- Spaghetti
T- away
F- away
S- away
S- away
M- away
T- Chicken, bean & broadbean soup
W- Lasagne

Whatchya Got Cookin’?

I’ve decided to start a new blog segment, semi-inspired by my friend Talia over at Cooking for Two.

Each fortnight, I’m going to share my menu plan with you, and if anyone is interested in any of the recipes, or even our fortnightly shopping list with the ingredients required to make all of these meals, I’ll be more than happy to share!

This fortnight is a little bit of a lazy menu plan, we’re usually a little more exciting. If you’re wondering, the reason there are less than 14 meals is because we usually have slow-cooked meals for two nights since they usually turn out to be huge.

I shop and cook on a budget, so you can be sure that all of my menu plans can be done on around $100-$120 per fortnight, and when I cook these meals for the two of us there is often enough left over for lunch the next day also.

So here we go, menu plan for this fortnight:

1.Vegetable Lasagne (layers of pasta, eggplant, capsicum, zucchini & pumpkin, with a ‘white sauce’ of cottage and ricotta cheeses). [for us this is enough for 2 nights]

2. Spaghetti Bolognaise

3. Home-made fish & chips + salad

4. Burritos

5. Chicken, green bean & broad bean soup. [enough for 2 nights]

6. Slow cooked lamb roast with roast potatoes, carrots and steamed greens. [makes enough for 2 nights]

7. Slow cooked corn beef with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and white sauce.

8. (left over) corned beef and white sauce pie, with home-made shortcrust pasty.

9. Meat Lasagne

10. Slow cooked ‘sticky sausages’