25/05/2013

Quinoa, Feta Cheese, Peppers and Tomato Salad

Now initially this was also supposed to be with chicken, which I still think would be a nice addition to this salad. We had a fairly busy day today though and decided to go to Doncaster wildlife park, which I really enjoyed and as I've not really been since it has been built up and more animals have been brought in. We then went out for lunch in town, where I had a lovely gluten free burger with cheese sauce. This meant that I didn't particularly want something too heavy and left out the chicken on this occasion (this was possibly also due to me being a little tired but shhhh....)


I loved the Feta cheese in this recipe, I think it worked really well in this. The quinoa is also something that takes on the other flavours really well. This is definitely something that I would have again and it was really quick to make.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup / mug of quinoa
  • 1 handful of cherry tomatoes (chopped in half)
  • 200 g Feta Cheese
  • 2 handfuls of frozen, sliced peppers
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt

Method:
  1. Boil the kettle, then put the quinoa with 2 cups / mugs into a pan and bring to the boil. Salt the water, then turn the heat down and put a lid on the pan. Leave to cook for approximately 15 minutes, until all the water have been absorbed and the quinoa is cooked through. Leave to one side to cool a little.
  2. Cook the frozen peppers in a little oil in a frying pan on a medium - high heat, until the peppers have cooked through.
  3. Place the peppers, quinoa and lemon juice in a bowl. Stir thoroughly, add the cherry tomatoes and crumble the cheese into the mixture. Mix this through and serve either on its on or with some griddled chicken.
I really fancy making this with feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes, as I think this would be really nice. There could be a few more recipes like this over the summer as I really enjoyed it!

23/05/2013

Chocolate Breakfast Milkshake

I've had this post in my drafts for a while now, so I thought as I've just been having kidney bean burgers again for dinner (I was feeling rather tired and this evening and didn't fancy cooking anything too much) that I would post this.

Whilst trying to vary my diet and eat different things, which is particularly an issue at breakfast I came across this milkshake on Chocolate Covered Katie's site. The recipe was that good, that I have had it again on a few occasions, however I keep hearing some negative things about tofu, which is not to say that I think having some tofu on occasions in bad for you, just in the moderation as everything should be which is something that I'm trying to build into my diet. Anyway, with this in mind I searched for web for some new ideas to replace the tofu and I came across some recipes like this one

As I'm not exercising enough to warrant putting protein powder in my milkshake, this is not something that I particularly wanted to do, I basically subbed the tofu in the recipe for cottage cheese (which is obviously not suitable for vegans), but gives the milkshake a nice smooth texture and the cottage cheese is fairly low fat and still has a fair bit of protein in it.

If you fancy trying this, you can find the recipe on this page and just sub the cup of tofu for cottage cheese and remember to add more milk if you don't want your milkshake to be quite as thick. 

20/05/2013

Warm New Potatoes & Smoked Mackerel Salad

We fancied something fairly easy to make and low fuss but still tasty. We both also love smoked mackerel, so this seemed like to perfect Monday night meal.


Ingredients:

Serves 2 (with leftover potatoes)
  • 600 g baby new potatoes
  • 1 packet of smoked mackerel (285 g)
  • 150 ml of crème fraiche
  • 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • 1 - 2 tablespoon of horseradish cream (we liked the strong flavour, as this particular one was quite mild)
  • 1 lemon, juice only
  • 1 small handful of chives, chopped
  • Pepper
  • 1 packet of watercress
Method

  1. Boil the kettle, then add the potatoes to the pan, top with water and add salt. You can chop some of the potatoes if they are slightly big. Cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through.
  2. While the potatoes are cooking, you can be making the sauce. Put the crème fraiche, mayonnaise, horseradish, lemon juice and chives into a bowl and stir thoroughly.
  3. When the potatoes have cooked through, drain and leave to cool down for a few minutes.
  4. Peel the skin off the mackerel and flaked into a frying pan, cook a few minutes until the mackerel has warmed through. The fish is oily, so you wont need any oil.
  5. Mix the potatoes with the crème fraiche sauce, then add the watercress and toss through. Season with freshly ground pepper.
  6. Serve the potatoes and the mackerel, you can drizzle some of the sauce on top of the mackerel.
Notes: You actually only need about 350 g of potatoes, but we decided to make more as this would be quite nice to take for lunch the next day with some sliced ham.


You can find the original recipe here.

19/05/2013

Menu Plan for 19/05/13 - 25/05/13

We're having people over for dinner on Sunday, so we will be having dessert as well. I've tried to use some of the leftovers from the freezer as well as trying to be keep the costs of the food down as well. I've tried to also balance out the type of food that we are having to incorporate some fish, meat and vegetables into our diet.

The boyfriend again will be having mackerel soup for 4 days this week. I do expect to have some leftovers from this week. Some of which will be taken in for lunches and some for the freezer.

Meal Plan 19/05/13 - 25/05/13


kidney bean burgers, pitta bread, avocado & bacon salad, banana chocolate souffle

Lamb steak fajitas

Chicken & bean enchiladas

Warm new potato and smoked mackerel salad 

Kidney bean burgers and potatoes / rice

Quinoa, feta cheese, chicken and pepper salad

Peppers, bean and chilli spaghetti

Shopping List


New potatoes £1.40
Pitta bread £2.00
Milk 4 pints £1.00
Apples (0.67 kg) £1.31
Bananas (2.04 kg) £1.38
Fahita seasoning £0.50
Large tortillas £1.00
Warburton newburn gf wraps - Tesco £3.10 *
Frozen mixed sliced peppers £1.00
Garlic £0.30
Smart price sweetcorn £0.32
Mature cheddar (300 g) £2.00
Soured cream (150 ml) £0.60
Smart price passata £0.29
Cooking bacon £0.81
Chopped tomatoes x 2 £0.78
Mushroom (250 g) £0.79
Carrots x 2 (approx 0.22 kg) £0.17
Crème fraiche £1.10
Heinz vegetable soup  * 4 £2.96
Asda mackerel * 4 £3.40
Satsumas £2.00
Horseradish cream £0.66
Lemon £0.27
Watercress £1.00
Smoked mackerel fillets £2.00
Cereal £2.48
Sliced ham £4.00
Lettuce £1.00
Cinnamon £0.62 ** to stock the spice rack up as ours had ran out
Onion £1.00
Kidney bean x 5 £1.35
Pitta bread £0.60
Avocado £1.00
Watercress, spinach, rocket and red chard salad £1.50
cherry tomatoes (350 g) £1.00

Total 46.69


The above are all based on Asda prices (verified on asda.com), all correct at the time of publishing. Items purchased from other stores are indicated above above, which were also correct at the time of publishing.

Store cupboard & freezer leftovers: rice, cornflakes, frozen peas, risotto rice, chicken, spaghetti