Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Menu Plan Monday - 20th May


I really shouldn't go out on Mondays - it throws my whole week out! So here we are, a little late!

Review of Last week's menu -

* The bubble and squeak were quite nice. I liked them, I don't think Pete was as impressed but I'll keep making them occasionally anyway.
* Nasi goreng - very yummy, although not really that different from fried rice apart from the plum sauce. Added to the recipe book.
* Steak pie - turned into shepherd's pie. The steak was very tender from being cooked in the slow cooker - I thought it was very yummy. Once again, Pete not a huge fan of shepherd's pie but will eat it if I don't cook it too often!

To use up this week:
* zucchini


Menu Plan this week:

Monday - ended up having fried chicken & chips (homemade). Not very healthy but quick & fairly easy.
Tuesday - Swiss Steak in slow cooker & mashed potato & vege - recipe stolen unashamedly from Lis at Altered Cutlery
Wednesday - Pork Stir Fry - add Pak choy & cashews, serve with rice
Thursday - Continental frankfurt bake - not sure how this will go over but what the hey, I have frankfurts in the freezer to use up!
Friday - Thai chicken curry & rice
Saturday - blade steak & veges
Sunday - baked dinner - pork, potato, veges


For more menu plan ideas, see Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.



Eating from the garden:
* spinach - just about finished
* basil
* pakchoy - something has been eating my leaves but hopefully I can scavenge enough for us!

Seedlings underway (on the windowsill):
* Lettuce
* Cauliflower
* Silverbeet
* Parsley
* Broccoli
* Pakchoy

Planting this week: (didn't get to it last week - still waiting for the worms to move out of one bin into the other so I can use the compost!)
* Garlic
* More peas / snow peas

6 comments:

lightening said...

sounds like the garden is doing well. I like the idea of listing what you're eating and stuff. I should do that.

Lis said...

I look forward to hearing how the swiss steak goes down :)

The Tin House said...

I'm with Lisa - I want to know how the swiss steak turned out...also want some info on your slow cooker - brand, usefulness etc
I am tagging you for a meme - come and see me for details. Lisa x

Kez said...

Lightening - go for it. I find it quite helpful. Tying the garden post in with Menu Plan Monday gives me a good reminder to do it!

Lis & Lisa - the swiss steak was nice. DS complained but he doesn't like tomatoes. Tough! The best thing about it was the fact that I started it before I left at 12, came home after 6pm to a cooked tea!

Lisa - mine's a fairly old slow cooker, probably about 10 years old. It's a Sunbeam, has Low & High settings, removable insert. It works well, but to be honest I've only just started using it again. Hubby's not a big "stew" or soup eater so it got a bit limiting. I'm starting to get back into using it now. I'm over cooking what everyone likes, and am cooking what I want lol.

Laurie said...

Kez, Maybe I'm just a dumb USer but what is Bubbles and Squeak? Sounds like you cooked up your gerbils. LOL

And HOW do you grow garlic? Is it as simple as getting a bulb from the grocer and sticking it in the ground? I've been wanting to research this but haven't gotten around to it yet. Any special things I should know...like will it flavor whatever I plant it next to?

I love my slow cooker too!

Lisa, my old one just died last year...after 14 years, somehow the inner (non-removable) crock actually cracked on the bottom of my Rival. What a MESS! But it was a great product to last that long. Anyway, I have this one now
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4012120
I don't find I like the oblong shape quite as much as the round. And the lid has a rubber gasket around it (my previous ones have only ever been all glass or plastic) that has an odd smell. Even after I've used it many times and washed it many times, I'm still not happy with the weird smell there. Anyway, next time I'll skip the shiny and 'new' features and go with the old name I came to rely on...Rival. (Though I really DO love that most have the removable crocks in them! HUGE bonus!)

Thanks!

Kez said...

Laurie - bubble & squeak I think is English originally. It's basically just veges fried up together - this is the recipe I used. http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/show/23

This is the first time I've planted garlic but yeah, that's how it seems to work. I got a bulb from the organic food shop, split it up into cloves and planted it pointy end up. Hopefully it will work!
This blog that I read describes how to do it better than I can :) http://patveretto.com/blog/2008/05/grow-garlic-on-windowsill.html