Menu Monday

It’s Menu Planning Monday again even though we plan our menu from Sunday. We are trying to clean out the freezer and the cupboards in order to prepare for the move at the end of the month so not a lot of fresh cooking going on as I use up the frozen meals I have saved.

Sunday is movie night so we have nibbles or something easy we can eat while watching the movie. This week we watched the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie while eating Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and Tortilla Chips with Salsa. To make the Buffalo Chicken I just baked some breaded chicken tenders (goujons) in the oven then put the sauce on them for the last 10 minutes or so of baking. I used Discovery brand Buffalo Wing Sauce but you can use what ever you like. I served them on hard rolls with Caesar dressing.

Monday is crock pot cooking night and this week I have made a beef and vegetable soup using up leftover bits of beef stock/au jus I had in the freezer. I added frozen mixed vegetables and some Scotch Broth soup mix (a dried mix of barley, marrowfat peas, and lentils). We are having it with French bread which I also had in the freezer.

Tuesday we are having Chilli Dogs using up leftover Chilli I have in the freezer. We top it with cheese and onions and will have chips (French Fries) on the side.

Wednesday I am making French Toast (Eggy Bread) with scrambled eggs and pineapple slices. A friend of mine and Larry’s, who recently went to visit his sister in Canada, brought us back some Maple Syrup and I have been dying to make something we can put it on.

Thursday will be Chicken and Peppers with Black Bean sauce which I made a few weeks ago and froze. I will add some more (fresh) peppers to give it crunch and serve it over rice.

Friday will be leftovers night and Saturday is date night so Larry and I will go out for dinner and the boys will eat at their Dad’s.

Monday Meal Planning

This week is going to be crazy busy. We are leaving for our summer holiday (back to the US for three weeks) on next Monday. I have to pack, which means going through everybody's clothes to see what we have and what is (still) needed, and making sure no one wears anything they want to bring after Thursday because Friday is the last laundry day before we go. I have to clean the house from top to bottom, not only because we are giving Larry's mum keys to the flat so she can keep an eye on it while we are gone and I don't want her thinking she needs to do anything, but also because we have a terrible damp/mould problem in our bathroom and the contractor is supposed to come sort it out while we are gone. We arranged it for then so it won't matter if they have to tear the bathroom apart and it is unusable for any amount of time. 

It's meal planning Monday and the meals this week are planned to use up what I have on hand as well as keeping leftovers to a minimum. So, tonight we are having grilled lamb chops that I marinated in some of my home made salad dressing. As a side, I am going to make a baked mashed potato casserole to use up some potatoes and bacon I have in the fridge. Basically it's twice baked potatoes, but in a dish. Just make some mashed potatoes, using your favourite recipe, add some cooked, crumbled bacon, sour cream, and some grated sharp cheddar cheese, spread into a greased baking dish and then top with some more grated cheese, bake until hot all the way through. You can add chopped green onion or anything else you want. We will have a green salad with this to use up the rest of the dressing. 

Tuesday is fish day and I have some tuna steaks in the freezer.  I am going make a spicy grilled tuna and serve it with spinach and fried potatoes, made using some boiled potatoes I have left over from making the baked potato salad last week. I have some strawberries (400 grams) I got on sale so I am going to slice them up and add some balsamic vinegar (@ 1/4 cup or 60 ml) mixed with honey (@  1.5 tablespoons) and a grinding of fresh black pepper. You can serve this with good vanilla ice cream or plain Greek yoghurt, it is delicious. I know it sounds weird but be brave and try it.

Wednesday I am making home made bagel dogs. I am going to make a few changes by skipping the seeds on the outside and putting a slice of smoked Bavarian cheese on top of the hot dog before I wrap it up in the bagel dough. We will have these with oven fries and sautéed green beans. 

Bagel dogs, recipe and photo courtesy of
Circle B Kitchen

Thursday we are having egg and chorizo wraps.  To make them I fry up some sliced chorizo sausage and diced onions add beaten eggs, 2 per person, and cook until the eggs are cooked through. Serve on tortillas/wraps with grated cheddar cheese and salsa. I am going to serve carrot sticks with these.

Friday will be whatever is left in the fridge/freezer.  Larry's mum is coming by to pick up keys and spend time with us before we go so I will try to make something nice but it will just be using up bits of this and that, most certainly involving eggs. I'll keep you posted on what it turns out to be.  

The weekend is going to be meals out because we won't be home at all. It is the nineteenth annual Dundee Blues Bonanza. It's three days of fabulous music with musicians coming from all over the world and not to be missed (by us anyway). Larry and I went last year and we had a great time. We hope to see some of the same acts as last year and maybe find some new ones to add to our list of favourites. Part of the fun is in seeing various friends every where we go. Last time there were people we knew at each of the venues and I would expect it to be the same this time. Last year we had to cut our Sunday fun short because Larry had to work on the Monday. This year we can dance into the wee hours because, while we do have to be up early for our ride to the airport, we can sleep all day on the plane if we need/want to. My plan is to have everything packed and ready to go except for the last minute things, like toiletries and meds, by Friday night so the weekend is free for fun. Wish me luck! 

Menu Monday

It's Menu Planning Monday again. Seems like we just did this last week . . . oh wait . . . we did . . .

We are having a pretty easy week, meal wise. Today we had croissants with ham and cheese omelettes on them. We had sliced apples and grapes as a side. Tuesday is fish night and we will be having fish cakes with mushy peas and chips. Wednesday we are having spaghetti and Italian meatballs that I had in the freezer with some garlic toast and salad. Thursday will be roast chicken with roasted balsamic sweet potatoes and a green salad. I plan to add some chunks of onion and carrot to the sweet potato recipe. Friday will be beans on toast. Sunday is Father's Day so my boys will be having dinner with their Dad which means Larry and I will just have leftovers.

Roasted Balsamic Sweet Potatoes
photo and recipe courtesy of
Rufus' Food and Spirit Guide

Menu Planning Monday

It's menu planning Monday again. I love to try new recipes and this week has two new recipes and three tried and true favourites.

Monday:

Toad in the Hole (recipe found here, at the bottom of this previous post). Requested by Larry, who rarely asks for anything specific, so it is my great pleasure when he does mention a favourite meal. Today I will be using Cumberland sausages and serving it with a green salad on the side.  

Toad in the Hole

Tuesday:

Scottish Smoked Haddock Supper- The first of our new recipes, made with smoked haddock poached in milk, served on whole grain toast with a rarebit sauce. We'll have some spinach on the side.

Wednesday:

Guinness Burgers- I have made these once before and they were a huge hit. I use  lean steak mince and will be using smoked Gouda for the cheese this time. We will have chips (oven fries) and a green salad with these.

Thursday: 

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes- another new recipe for us.  I plan to make half this recipe because it makes two pans. Since my chorizo is cured I will add it half way through the cooking time and I am going to put in some cherry tomatoes and green beans as well. I will be using lemon zest instead of orange because no one, except me, really eats oranges here but I always have lemons on hand. (Connor's idea of eating oranges is to suck the juice out and leave the rest.) This is a whole meal in one pan so I will just serve it with some nice French bread to soak up all the juices.

Friday:

"Gourmet" Baked Beans on Toast (recipe found here) An oldie but a goodie and one of mine and Larry's favourite quick meals.

Saturday:

Date night

Sunday: 

We will be having a takeaway tonight because Larry and I are going to the Perth Races with a crowd of people from our local. We went last year and had a great time and expect it to be even more fun this year. Last year it was rainy and cold and this year it looks like it will be a beautiful sunny day. All of the girls get together and we each bring something(s) to share and we end up with a very nice picnic lunch. I am bringing dessert. I haven't decided all what I am making but I know peanut butter cookies will be one of the things.

Scottish Smoked Haddock Supper 

photo and recipe courtesy of 

Fish is the Dish

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes
photo and recipe courtesy of
Pick Yin

Guinness Bacon Cheeseburgers
photo and recipe courtesy of
Care's Kitchen

Menu Planning Monday

It's Menu Planning Monday so here are the meals I have planned for the week.  I know I still owe you some recipes from last week and I will do a post tomorrow with those to play catch up.  

Monday:

Buffalo Chicken Wraps with home made Blue Stilton Dressing

Apple slices

Photo courtesy of Eating Well

I didn't make the dressing called for  

in the recipe, I made my own Blue Stilton 

dressing (recipe below). To save

on calories, I will have my wrap 

as a salad, with lots of extra 

vegetables and skip the tortilla.

Tuesday
Crispy Baked Basa  with Tartar Sauce
Potato Salad
Green Salad 

Recipe and photo courtesy
Chef in Training

Wednesday:

Corn Dogs

Carrot Sticks

Chips (Fries)

Not really the healthiest of meals but a treat for my boys.  Corn dogs aren't known over here in Scotland and when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it. I am following some of the tips and cutting the hot dogs in half, skipping the skewers and using honey in the batter instead of sugar.

Thursday:                                                               

Recipe and photo courtesy
Chocolate Broccoli

Spicy Thai Chicken with Basil

Rice

Sauteed Cabbage

Green Beans

Friday:

Crustless Quiche

Toasted Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Grapes

Saturday:

Larry and I have a wedding party to go to tonight so it is just something easy for the boys.  I have some cooked shredded chicken breast in the freezer and I am going to put some barbecue sauce on it and put it on rolls.

BBQ chicken on Rolls 

Crisps (potato chips)

Salad

Sunday:

The boys are eating at their Dad's tonight.  It will be an easy cooking night because I will just heat up some leftovers.  If there are no leftovers then we will have fried eggs with sharp cheddar cheese on rolls. 

The Blue Stilton Dressing recipe is a revamped recipe I found online.  I cut back on the mayonnaise and the cheese and I think it is just as good for less calories.  The trick is to use a good quality cheese for the sharpest flavour, which is what allows you to get by with less. Once you start making your own salad dressings, and discover how easy it is, you will never go back to the chemical laden store bought!

Blue Stilton Dressing

3/4 cup sour cream 

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt

1/4 teaspoon (generous) garlic powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup mayonnaise (I used Helmann's Light)

3 ounces (divided) of good quality Blue cheese, Stilton, or Gorgonzola, what ever you like.

In a medium mixing bowl beat together, sour cream, spices and Worcestershire sauce for about two minutes. Add the mayo and 2 ounces of the cheese, crumbled.  Mix for another two minutes or so, until the cheese is pretty well incorporate.  Add the last ounce of cheese, crumbled, and mix again until the dressing reaches your desired texture. We like some chunkiness. Chill in a covered container for at least 8 hours to blend the flavours.

Blue Stilton Dressing

Menu Planning Monday

OK, Menu Planning Monday is a misnomer. We do the weekly grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday (depends on when Liverpool plays) so I plan my menus on a Thursday. But, the link party is for Menu Planning Monday, so that's the title. It is a good idea to have a menu for the week, I use a desk size diary to keep track of the boys school stuff, birthdays etcetera and the daily menu.  If you can plan for the week, you only shop once so you spend less money in the long run.  It is those little trips into the shops for "just the one thing" that really add up. Now be honest, when was the last time you got only the one thing?

Here is this week's menu. I'm not going to post all the recipes today, that would make this post a little lengthy, but I will post them throughout the week. 

Monday

Swedish meatballs with buttered pasta, and garlic green beans for Larry and the boys.  Sautéed cabbage instead of pasta for me.

The Swedish meatball recipe and photo are courtesy of Gina at SkinnyTaste.  

Skinny Taste Swedish Meatballs 

To make the beans heat a dab of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and then add whole green beans. I use frozen beans but I thaw them ahead of time. Sauté until they are cooked until almost done, what ever that is for you. We like them really well done. Add a couple cloves of pressed garlic or a teaspoon of garlic powder. If you add the garlic too early it will burn and become bitter so fight the urge! Add cracked sea salt and pepper and/or chilli flakes if you like spicy. 

Tuesday 

Blackened Tuna Steaks with spinach and home made potato salad.   I always have whole green beans, spinach, corn, and peas in the freezer. Carrots, potatoes, celery, cabbage, salad mix, tomatoes and onions are always in the fridge.  Along with rice and pasta, those ingredients are the basis for all the side dishes/vegetables we eat every day.  If you want to eat real food you have to buy real food!  

Wednesday

Bean Burritos, made with home made refried beans (recipe to follow later in the week), carrot sticks and apple slices. I am making the boys Hot Fudge Pie for dessert this week.  The recipe and photo come from IslandEat. They like to eat it warm with vanilla ice cream on top.






Thursday

Roasted Garlic, Chicken and Red Onion Pizza (recipe to follow later in the week) with salad.

Friday

Gourmet Baked Beans on Toast

Saturday

Date Night, no cooking.

Sunday

Mince Rolls (recipe to follow later in the week), Chips (oven-baked fries) and Salad.

So, that's the menu for the week along with some of the recipes.  Enjoy!