Meal plans

Hi everyone, long time no see! I was pretty busy on one of my other blogs for a bit and neglected this one. If there is interest in it, I will update it more often. I have to admit though that being a stay at home mum and a student means it won't be daily!

Just a caution, if you check out my profile there are links to my other blogs. One of these is the blog I wrote following the death of my son, who was stillborn at fullterm. There are photos of him after his birth so please don't check if they might upset you. I'm sure I don't need to ask you to consider my feelings before you make any comments about him. :-)

Ok, moving on, meal plans. A life saver! Heading into year 2 of my study and having about 28 hours a week of work to do while Mr 4 is only at kindy for 18 hours a week meant I had to be super organised. I figured anything I could get onto paper and out of my headspace left more energy to absorb new information. And it's working! The meal plans have saved me so much stress. I would still like to go through my recipe books and add a few more but all in good time.

So here you go. Just remember, these are not gourmet, restaurant quality dishes. My kids are youngish and picky so they are family-friendly meals that usually 2 out of 3 kids will eat. That makes a win in my book!

I love the meal swaps. I don't always feel like what's on the plan so I might swap it for something on another night, something on next week's plan or something on my meal swaps list. 

The 100+ refers to Destitute Gourmet's book 100+ $10 meals. Brilliant book, I use it all the time. 

Enjoy!

Lynne

xx

Foccacia bread

Ok so this is a cheat's foccacia but it works for me. I just made the dough in the breadmaker and then shaped it into a circle, then baked it for an hour or so at 180. Next time I will make it thinner and cook it for a bit less. It was still very tasty.

This was the perfect accompniment (I can't spell that word!) to our spicy sausage and lentil soup! Thanks to Sophie for anothe great recipe. I'm getting so much use out of her latest book 100+ $10 meals.

Recipes

I've not been publishing specific recipes due to time constraints but if you want any please just let me know and I'll happily send it to you. :-)

Apple upside down pudding

In our family everyone gets pudding on Sunday night so I am always on the lookout for tasty, healthyish new ideas. The other day I was looking through the good old Edmonds (kiwi favourite!) and came across a recipe for upside down apple pudding. We served it warm with whipped cream on the side and it was so so yummy - perfect for a cold winter evening.

English muffins

Nick and I love tasty treats to eat but our modest way of living doesn't allow us to buy them as often as we'd like so any chance I get to make them I give it a go. I found this recipe for English muffins on Sophie Grey's website  http://www.destitutegourmet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=90     They're a little time consuming but easy to make. They taste delicous when toasted, just as good as the bought ones. And at about $1.50 for 12 about quarter of the price.

 

Sticky lemon slice

Well I apologise for not doing much blogging lately. The cursor jumps all over the place mucking up my blog when I'm trying to type. If anyone knows how to fix this, please tell me!

A while back we had some lemons so I had a go at Julie Biuso's sticky lemon slice. It was absolutely delicous and very easy to make. http://www.juliebiuso.com/recipes/recipe.php?rid=42&pref=nz to check it out.

Breadsticks

I was looking for some yummy savoury treats to make and found these on the DG website. http://www.destitutegourmet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=90   I think Sophie Grey is fantastic. She's such an inspiration and has so many things to share. She is also wonderfully generous about sharing her recipes for free on her website and blog.  
Back to the breadsticks, the dough is easy to make and quick to prepare. I did find the breadsticks time consuming and a bit fiddly to make however the results were definately worth it!