Tag Archives: meals

Dinner – Fried Rice

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Last Sunday I posted the menu for the week here.  Tonight was Spicy Mexican Quinoa, however, this evening I realised that I had forgotten to soak and cook the black beans.  There was no meat thawed, no pre-made pizza bases and not even any refried beans for nachos.  I remembered that I had some cooked rice in the refrigerator so I decided on fried rice.  I have never used a recipe as such for this and it is based on how my mother made it.

This is what I used (quantities made 2 generous serves):

1/2 onion, diced
2 rashers of bacon, diced
1/4 capsicum, diced
1 egg
1/2 can corn kernels
1/2 cup frozen peas
2-3 cups of cooked rice
Tamari

Saute the onion, bacon and capsicum, push to one side of the pan.  Fry the egg, flip and cook both sides then cut into strips.  Add corn and peas and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the rice, stir to combine all ingredients and heat through.  Add a splash of tamari or soy sauce.

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The photo is before I added the tamari.  There is nothing terribly fancy about this but it is a quick and easy standby meal.

Dinner – Tumeric Chicken

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This was on the menu plan for last week but got bumped as I did not have time to marinate the chicken.

The original recipe is for chicken skewers cooked on a barbecue.  Here is the recipe.

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As with most recipes, I have adapted this to suit our own requirements.  Since I am cooking 1 chicken breast fillet to serve 2 of us this is what I do.

I make up a bulk amount of the spice mixture (dry ingredients) using the proportions in the original recipe.  I use considerably more of this mixture than the recipe as I found it very light on flavour if you use the quantity stated for 2.5kg of chicken.

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In my version there are 4 ingredients.

20ml olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 chicken breast fillet (diced)
1 and 1/2  tablespoons of pre-made spice mix

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

You can use lemon juice but lime is better.

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Fry in a pan with a little oil until cooked.

I serve mine with brown rice, vegetables and fresh cherry tomatoes.

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Dinner – Thai Beef Salad

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I stuck to my menu plan even though it would have been easy to capitulate and opt for takeaway.

Thai beef salad was on the plan for tonight before I realised we were going to a free screening of Casablanca.  The scheduled time was 7pm for a 7.15pm start and we normally don’t arrive home until close to 7.30pm so clearly we had to make some adjustments.  I caught a train which had me arriving home about 5.30pm and GMan came in at about 6.40pm.

I sliced the beef and marinated it last night.  I used a splash of olive oil, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of ginger and tiny red chilli (very hot) finely chopped.  Here is the mixture this afternoon before I cooked it.

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I prepared the remaining ingredients for the salad – lettuce, carrot, cucumber and cherry tomatoes.

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The carrot and cucumber were cut using a spiral cutter.

Due to the time constraints we had decided to pack our dinner as a picnic to eat when we got to the hall for the movie screening.

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I fried the meat in a tiny bit of coconut oil.  To add some extra flavour I mixed up a sauce and added that to the pan at the end.  I used a tablespoon of lemon juice, a teaspoon of red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of crunchy peanut paste and a pinch each of ginger and chilli powder.  I stirred the sauce through the meat and cooked for a further minute.

The meat was added to the salad and we were ready to go – complete with cutlery and serviettes.

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This was really delicious and I think the improvised sauce really added a nice finish to the meat.

Dinner – Tuna Patties

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For anyone following along with my menu plan for this week, here is the next instalment.

In the simplest form, tuna patties are a 425g can of tuna, drained and flaked mixed with mashed potato and lightly fried.  Beyond that it is entirely a matter of choice.

I chose to use sweet potato tonight so the very first thing I did was to peel the sweet potato, chop them roughly and cooked them in the microwave.

Meanwhile, I prepared the other ingredients.

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The tuna is flaked in the bowl and I will add some freshly ground black pepper and a cube of frozen lemon juice as well as about a tablespoon of some gourmet mustard.

You can use whatever herbs, spices or flavouring you choose.  I decided on the mustard as it was given to me and I thought it would work nicely in the patties.

Mash the cooked potato but do not add any milk or butter as it needs to be fairly dry for the patties.

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I also added 1/2 cup of grated cheese and a tablespoon of besan (chickpea) flour which helps to bind the mixture together.

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Rather than using a frying pan, I cook these patties on the sandwich maker with not additional oil and the lid down so that they brown on both sides.  The cooking is simply to heat them through and brown the outside as there no raw ingredients to be cooked as such.

We ate them with a salad lettuce, capsicum, cucumber and cherry tomatoes and a dollop of sweet chilli sauce.

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The mixture made a total of 9 patties so the others will be used for lunches.

As always, if you have any questions about the recipe please ask.

Tomorrow is bean tacos so I have taken a pack of refried beans out of the freezer tonight in readiness.

I am already starting to form ideas for the menu for next week.  I am pretty sure it will include pizza as I have these semi-dried cherry tomatoes in oil with garlic and herbs.  I dehydrated the tomatoes and packed them in oil on the weekend.  We have such an abundance of cherry tomatoes that I am always looking for new ways to use, store and preserve them.

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Dinner – Stuffed Mushrooms

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Another day, another recipe.  We are having stuffed mushrooms for dinner tonight so I took some time this afternoon to prepare them making sure I measured the ingredients and took a few photographs.

This is my recipe but please make sure you read right to the end for ideas, substitutions and variations.

I bought 3 large mushrooms for this recipe as GMan and I have 1.5 each.  The best ones are open but not too flat so that the stuffing is somewhat confined by the edges.

Here are the ingredients I chose before I started.

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Using the point of a sharp knife remove the stalks of the mushrooms.  Chop the stalks as finely as possible

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When I am making something like this, the first thing I do is to look carefully at the finished volume that I am aiming for.  Based on my best guess I used the following quantities:

Chopped mushroom stalks
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 heaped tablespoon of besan (chickpea) flour
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 teaspoon powdered onion
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered celery
1/2 teaspoon of homemade ‘tabasco’ sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the above ingredients then add 3/4 cup grated cheese, 10 cherry tomatoes (chopped) and a small piece of capsicum (finely chopped).

The consistency of the mixture should now be crumbly but hold when squashed together.

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Press the mixture into the mushrooms.

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I will cook these in the microwave for about 8 minutes then top with a little extra flaxseed meal and grated cheese and finish under the griller.  They will be served with lettuce cucumber and grated carrot on the side.

Now for the really interesting part – what you can change!  Just about everything!

If we strip this recipe right back you will discover that it consists of a container – the mushroom, in this instance, and the filling which can be split further into the bulk and the flavour.

The container – I use mushrooms because we love them and they are nutritous.  They are relatively expensive and if you are on a really tight budget I would not necessarily recommend them.  Capsicums are another option – especially if you can pick up a bagful at a reasonable price.  Although most recipes for stuffed capsicums show them upright with a ‘lid’ at the stalk end I find it easier to cut them lengthwise and serve them filled and open.  You could also use a large zucchini/marrow split lengthwise with the seeds scraped out.  It would need to be partially pre-cooked before stuffing.  Half a butternut pumpkin is another possibility.  The pumpkin or large marrow could be cut into wedges to serve rather the individual serves as with mushrooms or capsicums.

The bulk – I choose to use almond meal and flaxseed meal due to the fact that they are gluten-free, we like the flavour and texture and they provide a range of nutrients.  They can also be expensive.  Other options include quinoa, rice and soft breadcrumbs or any combination you choose that suits your family’s tastes and your budget.  If you are using rice, a short grain rice that will stick together would be a good choice.

The flavour – sky is the limit here and you can let your imagination run wild.  The main thing is to remember to keep any pieces fairly small so that the mixture will stick together.  In addition to the things I used you might like bacon (although smoky paprika is an excellent substitute), chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley or other fresh herbs.

I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to try stuffed vegetables as an addition to your menu plan.

Please let me know what you think.

 

Dinner – Sweet & Sour Meatballs

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I have listed my menu plan for the week a couple of times recently on online forums and have had an overwhelming amount of interest and numerous people asking for the recipes.

Unfortunately, many of the meals I make have been made so many times that they tend to be created without regard for a recipe.  I substitute ingredients without thinking about it so the same meal may not ever be the same on more than one occasion.

However, I have committed myself to writing the recipes down as best I can – the quantities may be a bit variable – and photographing the steps involved to give you a clear idea of what I do.  I hope this is of some help and look forward to your feedback.

While there may be a greater emphasis on cooking meals and recipes at the moment, there will still be plenty of posts on gardening, simplicity, decluttering and sewing.  I trust that there will be something for everyone.

A couple of points to remember – I am serving 2 adults, although many of the meals I make serve more than that so I either portion them up for lunches on the following days or freeze for another meals in a week or so.  Also, we eat a gluten-free diet but the meals are eminently suitable for anyone.  Anything with an * beside it will have more explanation at the end of the recipe.

Here is the first recipe which was our dinner tonight – Sweet & Sour Meatballs.

250g lean beef mince
1 tablespoon of tamari*

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Combine ingredients and form into small balls.  Fry in a pan with a little coconut oil.

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Set the cooked meatballs aside and prepare the vegetables.  I use zucchini, carrot, capsicum and pineapple.

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I used one small zucchini and carrot, about 1/4 of this large capsicum and two slices of pineapple.

Cut the vegetables fairly finely so that they need very little cooking*.

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The prepared vegetables are in the dish at the back of the photo and the container at the front is the base of the sweet and sour sauce which had been frozen from the last time I made this dish.  I tipped the sauce into a saucepan and heated it but I will explain the process for making it.

The ingredients for the sauce are:

200ml water
60ml pineapple juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato sauce (ketchup)

These are rough start up quantities but essentially you just need to add more or less to suit the tastes of your family.  It should be as the title says – sweet and sour.

Once you are happy with the flavour, thicken the sauce using cornflour or arrowroot blended in a little cold water.

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Add the pineapple pieces, vegetables to the sauce and finally the meatballs.

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This can be prepared ahead of time and then simply heated in a saucepan or microwave according to your preference.

Serve with rice*.

*NOTES:

Tamari is a (generally) wheat-free soy sauce.

When making the meatballs you can add other ingredients to bulk them out if you wish.  The cereal crumbs from the bottom of the packet are great to use them up if gluten-free is not an issue for you.

You can used tinned or fresh pineapple.  When using fresh pineapple I juice some to have on hand for making this recipe.

I usually par cook the vegetables before adding to the sauce – about 1:30 in the microwave leaves them tender but not soggy.

I use home-made tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce.  You can click on the hyperlinks for the recipes.

You can add shredded chicken instead of meatballs for a variation.

The 250g of mince made 15 meatballs which is 3 serves for us.  I used two serves tonight and the other one will be lunch for GMan on Monday.

We use brown rice but white rice or even noodles or fettucine would work with this recipe.

 

 

Flexibility is the Key

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Menu planning, like any other plan, has to have a degree of flexibility built into it otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure.

In this post I listed my menu plan for the week up until last Friday.  Everything was going well until midweek when I found that I needed to attend a funeral on Friday, therefore, I would not be home at 3pm to put the potatoes in the slow cooker.  I also knew that we had a relatively small window of time for dinner as we were going to the movies that evening.

Since the weather was hot, I decided that an antipasto platter would do nicely so this is what I put together when I arrived home.

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There is a selection of fruit, vegetables and cheeses.  Dried apricots and raisins, fresh pineapple, walnuts, olives, carrots sticks, strips of capsicum, cherry tomatoes as well as goats’ cheese and cheddar.

I also made some gluten free mini pancakes rather than opening a packet of rice crackers.

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We did not eat all of the pancakes so I had some for my lunch the next day.

The great thing about this kind of meal is that you do not need a lot of anything so it is perfect for using up little bits and pieces.

The baked potatoes is back on the menu for tomorrow night.

Remember KISS

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We all know the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Sometimes I read things online or hear conversations that really leave me wondering if it is time to remind ourselves of this and, dare I say it, get back to basics.

Today I read a comment on social media from someone who wanted to know if there were any good Apps for menu planning.  I do have an iPhone and have several Apps on it but certainly do not need one to plan a menu for the week.

If you can make a decision on what to eat for dinner, make sure you have the ingredients, prepare the meal and serve it to your family then you are capable of menu planning – and it does not require an App or any other gadgetry.  A pen and back of a used envelope work quite well.

Some people plan for a month, others have a 4 week rotating menu or a set dish each week such as Monday night is pasta and so on.  Some make a fixed decision about what meal on what day or the opposite view is a list of potential meals and choose what suits each day.

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There seem to be as many ways to plan a menu as there are people but here is my take on it.

I plan meals for the coming week – 6 or 7 nights – and do it each weekend before I go shopping.  I know what staple pantry items I keep and the first step is to check for anything in the refrigerator which needs to be used up.  I also make a note of the types of meat I have in the freezer and take into account what is growing in the garden.  Basing our meals on what is seasonally available is important to me and nowhere is this more evident than what is in your own garden.  Take into account any family commitments eg: sports training, late meetings, social events.  I then make a list of meals using the ‘rules’ I have set up.  These are unique to me but I am sure you will have some of your own.  They may relate to pricing, type of food, preparation time and so on.

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My ‘rules’ are that in a 7 day period there will generally be one fish, one chicken and two red meat dishes with the remainder vegetarian which will include at least 1 egg-based meal.  Also, I try to make sure I rotate the carbs in a meal and do not have rice on consecutive nights.  Our meals are gluten-free but that is really no problem for me – it is simply how we eat.  The weekday meals must be able to be made ahead and reheated or prepared quickly due to long days at work and commuting.  I generally prepare enough of at least some meals to freeze for another week.

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Then it is simply a matter of roughing out a plan on a piece of paper.  From this you can then make a shopping list and buy only what you need for the week.  This will assist in eliminating wasted food and save you money.

I think the aspect of menu planning that people find the most daunting is actually thinking of meals to add to the list.  If you are struggling with this just start by keeping a notebook and writing down meals as you think of them and the meals you eat each night until you have at least 12 meals and use that as the basis of your plan.
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There is nothing particularly clever or high tech about menu planning.  It is simply a method of taking the angst out of deciding what to eat for dinner each night.  It removes the fallback position of “let’s grab a pizza/fish and chips/hamburger” and puts you in control.

Planning Ahead

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On Saturday or Sunday morning I generally make a menu plan of our meals for the coming week.  This based on what is in the fridge, freezer, pantry and garden and is used to create a shopping list for any additional requirements.  I try to incorporate a mix of fish, chicken, red meat and vegetarian meals.

The next couple of weeks are very unpredictable due to family issues and will mean that I am not at home some nights but potentially with very short notice.  So I used a different method today and simply made a list of 20 meals for which we have the ingredients.  We will need some additional fruit and vegetables during that time.

1  Pizza
2  Grilled salmon and vegetables
3  Tumeric chicken and rice
4  Pumpkin soup
5  Chilli con carne and rice
6  Nachos
7  Sausages and vegetables
8  Vegetable pie and salad
9  Hamburger patties and salad
10  Celery soup
11  Beef curry and rice
12  Tuna patties and vegetables
13  Shepherd’s pie and vegetables
14  Scrambled eggs with bacon and avocado
15  Chicken stir-fry and rice
16  Pizza
17  Chilli con carne and rice
18  Pumpkin soup
19  Lasagne and salad
20  Chilli chicken and corn chips

The entire plan is gluten-free.  I make my own gluten-free pizza bases and hamburger patties, buy gluten-free sausages from Aldi, buy gluten free corn chips and lasagne sheets and use gluten-free flour as required.008I intend to work roughly from the top of the list and we had home-made pizzas tonight.  This is how I make them.

Do you plan your meals?  How closely do you stick to a plan?