Today's dinner, chorizo and cannellini bean stew, inspired by Sue over at The Quince Tree, cooked in my recently acquired cast iron pan from Aldi. One of the delights of blogging is trying out fellow bloggers' recipes and Sue is a particularly rich source of delicious dishes.
I'm two days into the new four week menu plan I drew up over the Easter holidays. I was fed up of having to decide what to eat every day, deciding on a recipe and then realising I didn't have all the ingredients, making mad dashes out to the shops before they closed, paying over the odds for convenience goods or giving up entirely and ordering a takeaway. So I did what I've been intending to do for as long as I can remember and drew up a plan.
Now I'm not pretending that it's set in stone and will be followed slavishly from now until whenever. I've made a deal with my younger daughter that meals will be ticked or crossed and unpopular choices will be replaced by more popular alternatives. I'm fully expecting it to evolve constantly. If I persist it will look quite different this time next year.
The plan is also an attempt to eat healthily and sustainably. Two days a week are completely meat free and Friday is fish day. I'm hoping to gradually increase the number of vegetarian days but this will have to be by negotiation with my daughter who is rather suspicious of the whole experiment. Already meals are being swapped to ensure that she avoids the meat free days and doesn't miss out on her favourites. But I'm up for the challenge of persuading her to expand her horizons.
I think meal planning is a great way forward...I do it but weekly rather than monthly. It makes me focus on actually cooking new things as I have time to plan.
ReplyDeleteFleur xx
I like the look of that dish/recipe Gai. I make a note of fellow bloggers' recipes as well. It's good to try recommended ones.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Fleur Cotton. Thanks not only for stopping by but for leaving a comment. I love hearing what people think of my posts.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right about trying our new dishes. My current menu plan features old favourites but I'm hoping to replace them with new recipes as I go.
It tasted good too, Strawberry Jam Anne. I think I'll use tinned tomatoes instead of passata next time as I prefer a chunkier sauce. And I'll try and remember to add the paprika!
Great idea to plan ahead - I think it's something we should do more of, especially when work gets busy.
ReplyDeleteTwo meat free days - wow... I'm impressed! Look forward to seeing the photos & hearing more.
Kay :)
You know Kay, I think that my Lenten abstinence helped me realise that, although I'll probably never give up meat entirely, I don't need it as much as I imagined.
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