Meal Planning Mondays June 16th ~ 22nd

Well it's a day late but that's because I wasn't actually going to post this week's MPM due to the fact it's pretty vague because I am having minor surgery on Wednesday. Since it's my first time having a general anesthetic I have no idea how I will feel after and how much I will want to cook - I guessing not much!! I am trying to be organised by making a dish today for tomorrow - more so for my mother-in-law who was has the lucky job of looking after me(!) as I don't imagine I will want much to eat. On the off chance I do though I'm also going to make up a batch of Carrot & Lentil Soup (definitely not Summery but very comforting!).

Last night Wee One and I made the most of Scott being away by having our favourite - Tomato Pasta! I had leftover sauce from Friday's Roasted Pepper & Tomato Pasta so all I had to do was quickly cook some pasta, make a salad and hey presto dinner was done! Tonight and I'm trying out a new recipe that I found in an old issue of Olive (you've got to love opening an old magazine and discovering a ton of recipes you want to try!) - Carrot, Cumin & Feta Fritters. Only problem is I hope I'm not starving after since I can't eat anything tomorrow before my op!! Tomorrow and after much deliberation I have decided to make my Thai Red Curry with Chicken (using thighs instead of breasts so they don't dry out while being reheated and replacing the Bamboo Shoots with Squash) which I am making mainly for my MIL but will also mean I have leftovers for later in the week which I'll need. After that it will be a case of waiting to see. Thursday will definitely be either leftovers or takeaway and I have planned Fajita's for Friday since they are really easy and fast to make and I have all of the ingredients. It's yet another one of my planned "coming soon" recipes but we shall see as I seem to have less and less time to spend on here (as you have most likely noticed!). As usual the weekends are undecided as it will depend on what we do but I definitely suspect Scott will be barbecuing at least one night!

So there you have it! Have a great week everyone with family, friends and of course, lots of good food! x

 Monday June 16th - June 22nd

                                  Monday  -      Tomato & Pepper Pasta with Salad

                                  Tuesday -       Carrot, Cumin & Feta Fritters with Coriander Yogurt
                                  Wednesday -  Red Thai Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice

                                  Thursday -      Leftovers or Takeaway

                                  Friday -          Chicken Fajita's (my own recipe which I unfortunately don't have                                                                   on the blog!)

                                  Saturday -      TBD

                                  Sunday -        TBD
  
As always don't forget you can add links to your Weekly Meal Plans in the comments section below.  

Meal Planning Mondays June 9th ~ 15th

Well another Monday and another Meal Plan! We have been so incredibly lucky with the weather - normally June is a bad month for us here in Canada but so far it has been fantastic. We had a good week last week despite the fact that hubby was away again but I'm delighted he's home this week. The weekend was fairly busy but we still had time to relax on the boat for a few hours and enjoy another picnic on our own private beach.

I'm so excited as I picked up the chilli and tomato plants that I had ordered from a local farm so yesterday we spent the afternoon planting them as well as some extra herbs (Sage, Coriander/ Cilantro, Dill and lots of Basil - sweet and purple) and finally got our hanging baskets done. Planting everything really makes it feel like Summer is here so I'm just hoping we get a bumper crop! I have 3 tomato plants (a San Marzano which I'm very excited about; 1 yellow cherry tomato and 1 red cherry tomato) and 8 chilli plants which range in heat so I should be covered! The strawberry plants are already producing lots of strawberries and although most of them are really small they are so unbelievably sweet and packed with flavour. Funnily enough Ben seems to be the one that is reaping the rewards of the strawberry plant! Why am I not surprised?!

Due to some last minute plans over the weekend the meal plan was changed a bit so we didn't have the Potato & Chorizo Omelette which means it's back on this week's menu. Tonight I am excited to try out another recipe from the Bill Granger book I am reviewing - thankfully this one has a link if you like the sound of it. Tuesday and Ben has a Birthday party so I'm not entirely sure if we'll need fed or not so at least the Omelette won't take long to make if it turns out that Scott & I need a late, quick dinner! Wednesday and it's another review book recipe, this time from Clodagh's Kitchen Diary. She has so many Summery recipes that I am desperate to try so I'm  hoping this one will be good, but really how can you go wrong with Creamy Basil & Grilled Chicken Tagliatelle!?! I'm going to cook a little extra chicken on Wednesday and then Thursday will be a quick and easy Chicken Caesar Salad - perfect for after swimming. Friday and I realised we need a vegetarian night as the menu is pretty heavy on the meat this week(!) so it's going to be a Roasted Pepper & Tomato Pasta. I'm thinking along the line of my Spiked Pepper, Tomato & Chorizo Pasta Salad but without the Vodka and Chorizo and served warm. I would love to say it will be a new recipe that I'll get up on the blog soon, but my list of "New recipes coming soon!" is getting a lot longer than I care to see... Honestly I have so much I would love to share with you I'm just finding it hard to find the time to sit down and type it all out, never mind taking and editing photographs.... hopefully I will get something up soon, besides just a meal plan! As usual with our weekend I have no idea at this point what it has in store so Saturday is still TBD and Sunday is a surprise for now as it's Father's Day so I am hoping to really pull out all the stops and treat Scott for an extra special day.

So there you have it! Have a great week everyone with family, friends and of course, lots of good food! x

 Monday June 9th - June 15th

                                  Monday  -      Banh mi Vietnamese Baguettes

                                  Tuesday -       Potato & Chorizo Omelette
                                  Wednesday -  Creamy Basil & Grilled Chicken Tagliatelle (Clodagh's Kitchen Diary)

                                  Thursday -      Chicken Caesar Salad

                                  Friday -          Roasted Pepper & Tomato Pasta 

                                  Saturday -      TBD

                                  Sunday -        Father's Day - surprise for now!
  
As always don't forget you can add links to your Weekly Meal Plans in the comments section below.  

Meal Planning Mondays June 2nd ~ 8th

Another week has flown by and once again I find myself amazed that already it's Monday. Even more shocking is that we are now officially in June!! How did that happen?

Last week was busy as Scott was away all week but yesterday we got our much needed down time with a day out on the boat which was fantastic. Sunny and hot with the water so calm it looked like a mirror, we couldn't have asked for a better day. After a few days on the boat now I have worked things out and was organised this time with a big picnic to keep us happy and well fed for as long as we wanted to stay out. I made some Scotch Eggs - one of my all time favourite additions to a picnic which we all love. I have a feeling that won't be the only appearance they make this Summer but I'm also keen to make my own Sausage Rolls one of these days!

This week is another busy one but the forecast is for glorious sunshine all week so you won't be hearing any complaints from me! Summer has honestly come early this year so I just hope it sticks around. My menu this week doesn't really reflect the beautiful weather as in an attempt to see if I can actually save some money this month I really am hoping to use up a lot of things that I already have.

Tonight is nice and easy as it's leftover pizza on the menu. Tomorrow and it seems to be the way that Tuesday night = pasta night but it's quick, easy and we all love it so why not! Last week we ended up not having the Spaghetti with Cherry Tomato Sauce as I had lots of sauce leftover from the Spicy Tomato & Mozzarella Gnocchi (since it was only Ben & I) so I used that up instead, so we're going for the Spaghetti tomorrow since I still have lots of lovely, sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes. Wednesday and I have a friend coming over for dinner as both our hubbies are away so it's a perfect excuse to have a night off, order some takeaway and catch up! I can't wait! Thursday and it's swimming so I am making Fragrant Pork & Prawn Noodle Broth which I can prepare in advance. This recipe was really a lucky find as I was looking through one of my favourite cookbooks just now - The Hairy Dieters- spotted this which I had bookmarked and realised I have all of the ingredients - perfect! Friday and I'm making a version of Jamie Oliver's Potato & Chorizo Omelette although I am going to add a little goats cheese to it since it will be needing used up. Saturday and we're back to Burgers because again we didn't get round to making them last week and once again Sunday is still up in the air as it will depend on what we are doing! So there you have it the first week of June, the sun is shining, the meals are planned and I'm ready to get on with things!

Have a great week everyone with family, friends and of course, lots of good food! x

 Monday June 2nd - June 8th

                                  Monday  -       Leftover Pizza with Salad (new recipe coming soon!)

                                  Tuesday -       Spaghetti with Cherry Tomato Sauce
                                  Wednesday -  Takeaway with a friend

                                  Thursday -      Fragrant Pork & Prawn Noodle Broth (Hairy Dieters book)

                                  Friday -          Potato & Chorizo Omelette

                                  Saturday -      Burgers with Potato Wedges

                                  Sunday -        TBD
  
As always don't forget you can add links to your Weekly Meal Plans in the comments section below.