Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup

A slight change to the soup on the meal plan for this week, but we still had all of the ingredients in for it so it wasn't a problem. 

The smell of this cooking was really good, the spices really came through and made the kitchen smell wonderful! To make it even better, it's low in calories and fat. I also didn't feel as though I was eating too little as the soup was pretty thick.

I just loved the flavour of the dish and it was pretty speedy to make, the leftovers will be taken for lunch the next day too. 

It's so simple and quick to make, as well as being low in fat and calories, but really full of flavour. I think this is definitely one the list to make again.

You can find the recipe on the BBC Good Food website here.

Meal Plan 12/01/14 - 18/01/14

We'll be having a roast beef dinner this week for a change, which I'm looking for and also I do like the leftovers it gives. One of the best parts for me is the roast beef pie, which the other half really likes as well! 

Meal Plan

Roast Beef, Beans, Parsnips, Carrots, Roast Potatoes

Red Lentil, Chickpea and Chilli Soup

Roast Beef Pie

Gratin of Carrots & Root Vegetables

Leftover Beef  and Green Lentil Cottage Pie

Pork Mince Chilli with Cheesy Nachos

Tuna & Sweetcorn Jacket Potatoes

Breakfast: Cereal, Toast, Eggs, Porridge

Lunch: Ham Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Bananas, Citrus Fruit, Yoghurts

Leftovers:  Chickpeas, Chopped Tomatoes, Red Lentils, Butter, Flour, Frozen Beans, Beef, Porridge Oats, Eggs

Shopping List ( I shopped at Sainsbury's this week on 11/01/14)

Milk £1.39

Bananas* 5 £0.56

Easy Peeler Box £2.50

Activia Yoghurts 8 £1.50

Active Health Yoghurt Drinks x 6 £1.50

Bread £0.80

Gluten Free Bread £2.00

Red Onion £0.16

Vegetable Stock Cubes (Sainsbury 10) £0.90

Coriander £0.80

FrozenMixed Vegetables £0.75

Parsnips Basics 750 g £0.90

Carrots 1.5 kg £0.89

White Potatoes 2.5 kg £2.09

Garlic £0.35

Rosemary £0.80

Light Elmlea Double  Cream £0.85

Honey |Roast Ham (16 slices) £3.00

Pork Mince 750 g £3.00

Kidney Beans * 2 £0.54

Tortilla Chips £0.50

Abbey Mature Cheese 400 g £2.00

Basics Crunchy Peanut Butter £0.62

Tomato Ketchup £1.00

Weetos £2.69

Onions * 2 £0.31

Celery £1.00

Total £33.40

Start as I mean to go on...

I don't know about you, but when it comes to food I always have the best of intentions when it comes to food wastage. I buy food items for recipes, always trying to keep my budget as low as possible, but then I'll find some hidden things lurking in the depths of the cupboard. 

I'm always looking for ways to lower our budget and to make better use of what we have and I can only do that by being organised. So with that in mind, I intend to do the following during this year:

• Clean, sort and organise all of the kitchen cupboards (I've already made a start on this).
• Go through the house and throw out anything that I do not need (I'm particularly terrible at hoarding food magazines...)
• Fix the things in the house that need fixing

I figure this is a good start to where I need to be, basically getting the house organised and not so cluttered. I figure this will help me make better use of the things that I do have and save me money in the long run (it means I will not buy double!).

If I've not wished you it already, have a happy new year.

Meal Plan 29/12/13 - 04/01/14

We've only got 6 meals planned this week as we will not be eating at home on new years eve. We may also end up eating on another day, so may take one of the below meals over to the following week as well.

There's a few additional items in there this week as I'm trying to build the store cupboards up a bit, I thought that this might help with creating recipes. One thing on my to do list is to organise my cupboards better. Some of the food bought this week is specifically for the other half as these are things that he likes ( like the super noodles, which is something I personally don't eat).

Meal Plan 29/12/13 - 04/01/13

Stuffing Crusted Pork with Tenderstem Broccoli, Carrots & Beans

Garlic & Herb Spaghetti

Turkey, Stuffing & Cranberry Pie

Cheese and Ham/Bacon Quiche with Baked Beans

Blue Cheese Burgers and Wedges

Turkey Mince & Polenta Lasagne

Breakfast: Cereal, Porridge, Fruit

Lunch: Ham or Tuna Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Fruit

Leftovers:  Frozen Beans, Red Lentils, Flour, Pork, Turkey Mince

Shopping List:

Milk £1.00
Bananas * 5 (0.785 kg) £0.53
Mango * 2 £1.50
Red Grapes (Reduced) £0.50
Cereal £2.68
Muller Vitality Drinks (6) £1.00
GF Ciabatta £2.00
Southern Fried Wedges £1.00
Tenderstem Broccoli £1.20
Free From Flour £1.65
Free From Stuffing £2.00
Cranberry Sauce £0.82
Smoked Bacon £1.68
Honey £2.00
Eggs £1.41
Baking Powder £1.29
Cathedral City Cheese 2 *350 g £4.00
Mackerel £1.00
Garlic & Herb Cheese £1.10
Potatoes £1.00
Hendersons Relish £1.57
Onions ( 4 - 0.610 kg) £0.46
Tomato Puree £0.48
Baked Beans * 4 £1.24
Mushy Peas £1.00
Super Noodles * 4 £2.00
Ravioli £0.64
Anchovies £0.79
Chopped Tomatoes £0.31
Total £37.85

I'm really looking forward to trying the Turkey Mince and Polenta Lasagne and hoping that it turns out to be nice, to give us a different option to the regular lasagne sheets which can be quite expensive when buying them gluten free.

Home Made 5 Spice Powder

I don't know about you, but after the rush of finishing off the Christmas presents and eating way too much over the festive period, for a couple of days I quite like to stay at home and not do much! It was on one of these days that we were due to make Chinese food. We quite like to make a "takeaway" type meal, in the hope that it will stop us from buying a take away.

We realised quite quickly that for the Salty Crispy Chicken recipe that I cook, we need 5 spice which we were out of. Neither of us wanted to go to the shop, preferring just to have a relaxing day instead. A quick scout on the internet later and I came across a home made 5 spice recipe.

I must admit that I've never used the grinder function on my food processor, but I will most definitely be using it again as this was so easy! 

The 5 spice powder was really aromatic and it tasted really good in the recipe, so I don't think I'll be buying the small jars on pre-made stuff from the supermarket from now on. You can find the recipe on the food.com website here.

I used whole black peppercorns in my recipe, as this is what I had in the house. I would love to taste it with with szechuan peppercorns.

Do you make your own spice mixes?

Meal Plan 15/12/13 - 21/12/13

The beef joints at Asda are still on offer at £4 per kilo, so I've bought another one of these and frozen it in 2 halves. They're really good for leaving plenty of leftovers, which is really good made when made into a pie. If we have enough leftovers, we're also going to make either a hot pot or a cottage pie.

I'm going to be quite busy in the coming weeks, baking and making chocolate for Christmas presents.

Meal Plan 15/12/13 - 21/12/13

Roast Beef Dinner

Smoked Mackerel with Potatoes and Beans

Stuffing Crusted Pork with Tenderstem Broccoli and Fine Beans

Cottage Pie /Beef Hot Pot

Roast Beef Pie

Crème Fraiche Chicken with Beans

Chorizo, Pork belly & chickpea casserole

Breakfast: Cereals, Eggs, Bacon, Fruit

Lunch: Gammon Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Fruit

Leftovers:  Pork Loin Steaks, Cheese,  Frozen Green Beans, Small Potatoes

Shopping

Milk £1.00

Bananas £1.00

Mandarins £1.00

Apples £1.28

Bread £1.50

GF Bread £1.75

Yoghurts £1.00

Stuffing £2.00

Gluten Free Soy Sauce £2.80

Garlic £0.30

Potatoes £2.25

Vitality Drinks (6) * 2 £2.00

Chopped Tomatoes £0.31

Gammon Joint (1.4 kg) £7.00

Smoked Mackerel Fillets £2.27

Chicken  Thigh Fillets £3.58

Courgette £0.55

Crème Fraiche £1.10

Pecorino £2.00

Frozen Sliced Green Beans £0.75

2 * carrots £0.25

Beef Joint 2.3 kg (for later use) £9.20

2 * squash £2.50

Tender stem Broccoli & Fine Beans £1.35

Porridge Oats £0.75

Olive Spread £1.00

Total £50.49

Meal Plan 08/12/13 - 14/12/13

I'll not be sharing a shopping list this week, as I let the other half loose in the supermarket this week. I will still share with you the meals I have planned for the week though.

Gammon Dinner with Broccoli, Carrots and Green Beans

Griddled Polenta with Caramelised Onion, Goats Cheese & Bacon

Leftover Lamb Curry

Pork Stir fry

Spaghetti, Peppers (from jar) and Chorizo

Blue Cheese Beef Burgers and Wedges

Chorizo, Pork belly & Chickpea Casserole

Breakfast: Cereal, Toast, Fruit, Eggs, Bacon

Lunches: Gammon / Tuna Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Clementines, Bananas, Apples

I'm looking forward to trying this weeks meals, I've never tried Polenta before so I'm really looking forward to trying it. I was hoping to try a recipe I'd seen for Parma ham wrapped polenta chips.