Menu Planning

It's very rare that I don't plan meals. I think it goes back to when I was teaching and had three children at home, so I had to be organised. I've never got out of the habit but now I find it interesting to see how far we can make food stretch and how little we need to spend on it. I use all sorts of sources for meal planning - Pinterest, Good Food and my many recipe books, often going in phases with the books I use. At the moment I am using recipes from 'A girl called Jack' (you can find it here) which I borrowed from the library, having spotted it when I was there for my weekly knit and natter. You can read all about Jack on her web site and also follow her blog. I like the book because there are so many recipes that appealed to me and they were for two people, so the quantities were a good guide as I still tend to cook just that little bit too much. But enough said and here's what we have on the menu this week ( I generally work from Friday to Friday).

Friday - Fish pie - made up as I go along!

Saturday - From 'A girl called Jack'  courgette, tomato and brie gratin - I think we'll maybe have some garlic bread with it

Sunday - A Nigella recipe Spanish chicken with chorizo and potatoes with some sort of green vegetable/s

and for pudding as it's Sunday and Becky and Tom are coming to eat with us Delia's Little sticky toffee puddings

Monday - From 'A girl called Jack' Moroccan not-a-tagine. I think I'll use apricots instead of prunes as I have some in the cupboard.

Tuesday - One of our staples, Macaroni cheese. It will probably have all sorts of bits from the fridge that need using up added to it e.g. bacon or fresh tomatoes.

Wednesday - Think this might be an 'eating up the leftovers' day

Thursday - From ' A girl called Jack' Not meatballs with tagliatelle

I also have a couple of soups I want to make for our lunches, both from November's Country Living magazine. The first is 'Sweet potato and ginger' and the second is 'Butternut squash and bacon'. Both I have done before and are just the thing for this cold weather. Unfortunately I can't find you a link to a recipe for them.

I am also planning to make a lemon drizzle cake which is from Sam Stern's 'Student Cookbook'

So there you have it, our meals for the week, maybe some might appeal to you! Till the next time, keep safe and warm Anne x