BFree Brown Seeded Bloomer

I was sent a BFree Brown Seeded Bloomer to sample and I was pleasantly surprised when I received the bread. The bread was sliced length ways, as opposed to width ways. This means that there are much larger slices than your average gluten free bread. 

I tried the it several ways: toast, sandwiches and in soup. I can truthfully say, I enjoyed the bread on all counts. It was one of the better brown breads that I've eaten. 

To say the slices were large, it was surprising to find out they were only 68 calories per slice.

All in all, I would try this bread again. The texture and taste is good for a brown seeded bread and is a bit healthier (in my opinion anyway).

If you like brown seeded bread, then this is definitely up there as one of the best!

Meal Plan WC 23/02/14 - 01/03/14

This weeks meals are a bit of a mixed bag, I've got some leftovers from last week to use up (I didn't strictly follow last weeks plan as it was a bit of a manic week), but I've also got some items that I found on offer at Lidl.

I'm really looking forward to trying steak on Friday, as it's not very often we have it.

The other half is also still following the 5:2 diet, but if he gets a  bit fed up of soup then I might change the meals up a little bit.

Meal Plan W/C 23/02/14

Curried Carrot Soup (5:2)

Spaghetti Bolognese

Leftover Beef Rissoles with Onion Gravy, Green Beans, Carrots & Broccoli

Broad Bean Risotto

Broccoli Soup (5:2)

Rib Eye Steak & Wedges

Leftover Christmas Ham Quiche with Baked Beans

Breakfast: Porridge, Cereal, Toast, Eggs

Lunch: Sandwiches, Leftovers, Super Noodles (these are for the other half)

Snacks: Fruit, Carrot Sticks

Leftovers : Broad Beans, Rib Eye Steaks, Wedges, Bread

Shopping List

Milk £1.00

Bananas * 4 (0.58 kg) £0.39

Tangerines £3.00

Apples £0.00

Yoghurts £0.80

Mousse strawberry £0.65

Peppers £1.45

Bisto Best £1.80

GF Bread £1.99

Smoked Bacon £1.45

I cant believe its not butter * 2 £1.80

Bacon Joint £3.00

Free Range Eggs ( 12 * Large) £2.50

Tuna * 2 £1.80

Baked Beans £0.25

BBQ Beef Super Noodle * 3 £1.50

Sweet Thai & Chilli Chicken Super Noodle * 3 £1.50

Tilda Rice £2.00

Tomato Puree £0.30

Salad Cream £0.80

Orange Juice £0.75

Tomato Ketchup £1.00

Total 29.73

Easy Broccoli and Celery Soup

The other half has been following the 5:2 diet for a few weeks now. Whilst this is not my 'thing', I still want to support him and have been trying to cook low calorie meals on this 600 calorie days. I've found soups to be amazing so far, as it's a good way to use any vegetables you have lying around but tend to be quite healthy and low in calories (so long as you don't add too much cream or cheese etc).

I found this vegetable soup easy to make, took hardly any time at all and if you keep broccoli in the freezer, then you always have this soup to fall back on. It was really good to have this warm, comforting soup while it's so cold outside. 

Serves 2:

250 g Frozen Broccoli Florets

1 Celery Stick, Sliced

Approx 300 ml Chicken Stock (you could use vegetable, just make sure its gluten free)

2 Cloves Garlic, Sliced

1 Tablespoon Oil

Pinch of dried mixed herbs

Celery Salt

Pepper

Method:

1. Slice the garlic and fry on a low light for a couple of minutes in the oil. 
2. Add the stock to the pan, then add the Broccoli florets and Celery. 
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes, until the Celery and Broccoli are soft.
4. Whizz up with a hand blender or in a blender.

I really enjoyed this soup, it tasted great on its own but if you do have some calories to spare then why not add a sprinkle of leftover cheese? It could be anything from cheddar to blue cheese, they will all add a slightly different taste. 

You can also add potato to give a bit more body to the soup.

Feel free to share any low calorie soup recipes that you have.

Meal Plan 09/02/14 - 15/02/14

I've only got 5 meals planned this week, as the other half is going to cook us a meal for valentines day and were going out for the day next Saturday (although I'm not entirely sure where yet). I've tried to keep most of the recipes fairly low cost, as well as fairly low in calories.

Meal Plan 09/02/14 - 15/02/14

Corned Beef Hash

Moroccan Chickpea Soup

Everyday Lentil Curry 

Spicy Mince & Lettuce Cups

Mediterranean Vegetable Stew

Shopping List (from Sainsbury's unless stated otherwise)

Item Price 

Milk £1.00

Bread £0.80

Gluten Free Bread £1.99

Tangerines £3.00

Pink Lady Apples £0.00

Bananas £0.70

Yoghurts £0.80

Porridge Oats £1.69

Baked Beans £0.25

Corned Beef £2.00

Strawberry Mousse £0.65

Broad Beans £1.25

Lemon £0.30

Chopped Tomatoes £0.35

Garlic £0.35

Tomatoes £1.60

Asafoetida £1.60

Light Brown Sugar £1.40

Lime £0.30

Mint £0.80

Coriander £0.80

Minced Pork £3.00

Smoked Gammon £3.00

Smoked Bacon £1.45

Butter £1.00

Green Lentils £0.70

Chickpeas (Asda) £0.60

Total £31.38

Meal Plan 02/02/14 - 08/02/14

I've tried to use up some of the leftover gammon, as well as keeping the rest of the meals pretty low in calories for the week. I may end up having some of this weeks meals left over as I still have some food left from last week. 

I've also stocked up on a few items that I was running out of, so the cost of this weeks plan is a little higher than it should have been.

We're eating out once this week, so we have 6 meals planned.

Meal Plan 02/02/14 - 08/02/14

Gammon and Cheese Quiche

Mediterranean Vegetable Stew

Spinach, Avocado & Prawn Salad

Tangy Tuna Burgers

Jamie Oliver's Sizzling Beef

Celery and Leek Soup

Breakfast: Cereal, Toast, Fruit

Lunch: Leftovers, Turkey Sandwiches

Snacks: Fruit, Yoghurts

Leftovers:  Cereal, Mousse, Green Beans, Sweetcorn

Shopping List:

Milk £1.00

Gluten Free Bread £1.99

Oranges £1.50

Apples £1.50

Bananas * 2 £0.24

Milk Powder £1.05

Beef Rump Steak £6.00

Ginger (120 g) £0.48

Spring Onions £0.75

Coriander £0.80

Black Bean Sauce * 2 £1.00

Garlic £0.35

Soy Sauce £1.00

Limes * 3 £1.05

Eggs £2.10

Chopped Tomatoes £0.34

Mediterranean Vegetables Frozen * 2 £2.50

Spinach £1.00

Avocados * 4 Basic £1.75

Tuna £1.80

Mayonnaise £1.40

Salad Cream £0.80

Garlic Powder £1.00

Oregano £1.00

Celery £0.90

Leek * 1 (205 g) £0.55

Chicken Stock Cubes £0.25

Celery Salt £1.00

Sweetcorn £0.60

Small Chicken £2.59

Peanut Butter £0.65

Yoghurts £0.80

Prawn £3.00

BBQ Sauce £1.25

Total £43.99

Meal Plan 26/01/14 - 01/02/14

I've now started shopping at Sainsbury's for one reason or another, so all of the below prices will be from Sainsbury's unless detailed otherwise. There are a couple of missing items, but I'll probably call into Asda on the way home form work for these.

The missing items are lamb kidney and bread rolls, I'll freeze mine but prefer to get the regular rolls nearer to the time so they are fresh. We're also having company on Thursday, so will be making Lancashire Hot Pot.

These are the upcoming meals (not in order):

Chicken Soup

Broccoli, Sweetcorn, Parsnip & Chicken Bake (Roux Sauce & Mustard)

Lacashire Hot Pot

Sweetcorn Chower

Tuna Sweetcorn Jacket Potato

Bacon, Beef and Brie Burgers

Brie & Cherry Tomato Spaghetti

Shopping List:

Milk £1.39

Bread £0.80

Gluten Free Bread £1.99

Tangerines £1.50

Rubens Apples £1.00

Bananas (4 - 0.525 kg) £0.41

Lamb Shoulder £6.10

Carrots 1.5 kg £0.89

Basics Onions £0.95

Potatoes 4 kg £1.90

Dripping £0.75

Parsnips £0.90

Broccoli (300 g) £0.87

Chicken Legs £2.19

Spring Onions £0.75

Salted Tortilla Chips £0.50

Sweetcorn £0.60

Tuna Chunks £1.80

Half Swede £0.60

Cherry Tomatoes £1.00

Brie £1.15

Smoked Bacon 250 g £1.40

FF Bread Roll £2.19

Organic Minced Beef 500 g £3.48

Lettuce £1.00

Cucumber £0.80

Chocolate Mousse £0.35

Savoy £0.80

Chicken Wings £1.84

Flora Buttery £1.00

Lemon Mousse £0.65

Celery £1.00

Eggs £0.93

Total £47.18 (All of the above were bought from Sainsburys)

The other half has started the 5:2 diet, so I'm trying to support him by having lower calorie meals twice a week. I personally don't want to go on this diet, so I'm continuing to go to the gym and trying to get fit and hopefully lose a bit of weight that way.

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. 

Beef Stroganoff

After buying a huge 2.5 kg joint of rump roast from Asda for £4 per kg I knew we'd have PLENTY of leftovers from this. As there's only 2 of us, I actually cut it in half and roasted half for a dinner on Monday. This left of with enough beef for the stroganoff and another (approx) 300 g for a pie that I'm planning of making tomorrow.

This recipe happened to pop up when I was searching for one and it looked pretty simple and straight forward so I decided to give it a go. I can tell you now that I wasn't disappointed and felt like I was slaving over a hot stove for too long after work.

You can find the recipe on the Ocado website here. I do urge you to give this a go, as it's so simple and straight forward and is a great way to enjoy leftover beef! This is definitely going on the list of things to make again.

As I've got another joint in the freezer, I'll be looking for different ways to use up the meat. I have a few ideas but if you have any, please feel free to share.

Meal Plan 01/12/13 - 07/12/13

We've stocked up on food a bit this week, so we'll have plenty of leftovers for next week. Beef Rump Roast was on offer this week for £4 per kg this week, so we took advantage of this offer while we could. It'll give the 2 of us plenty of food to get on with.

We're eating out twice this week, so there will be 2 less meals than usual.

Roast Beef Dinner

Leftover Beef Recipe (Maybe Roast Beef Pie)

Beef Stroganoff

Egg, Bacon & Cheese Omelette

Lamb Curry & Bombay Potatoes

Breakfast: Cereal, Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Fruit, Sausages

Lunch: Tuna & Sweetcorn / Chicken Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Apples, Bananas, Clementines, Chicken Wings, 

Leftovers:  Tuna, Sweetcorn

Shopping List

Milk £1.00

Bananas (10) £1.27

Clementines £1.80

Apples £1.00

Little Big Loaf £0.75

GF Bread £1.75

Sliced Chicken £3.00

Chicken Wings £3.00

2.5 kg beef joint £10.06

Savoy £0.80

2 * Carrots £0.24

Frozen Green Beans £1.05

Dried Mushrooms £1.98

Onions £1.00

Double Cream £1.10

Curry Paste £1.68

2 X Diced Lamb (300 g) £7.00

Chopped Tomatoes £0.62

Baby Potatoes £0.69

Yoghurts £1.00

Bacon £1.69

GF Sausages £1.98

Salt £0.29

Total £44.75

Garlic Cheese, Herb and Gammon Spaghetti

We often cook a smoked gammon joint in the slow cooker then use this for sandwiches or lunches to take to work. We'll often find ourselves with some left though, so we decided we'd use some up in some pasta. 

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I get home from work, all I want to do is relax and have some time to myself or with the other half before we have to go back to work again. Don't get me wrong, I do like cooking but I don't always feel like it. This recipe is great for those days and the good thing is you can change the flavour easily to your taste.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

250 g Spaghetti (I used gluten free)

200 g Pack Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese

100 - 150 g leftover Smoked Gammon

1 handful of Parmesan / Pecorino Cheese

Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet.
2. Drain the pasta, but reserve some of the cooking liquid.
3. Add the spaghetti back to the pan, add the cream cheese, ham and stir through. Keep on the heat and add the reserved cooking water until you get the spaghetti to the required consistency.
4. Add half the remaining cheese to the spaghetti, then sprinkle the rest on top when you serve it up.

I know this is a very simple recipe, but with the different flavours of cream cheese you can get it's very

Meal Plan 24/11/13 - 30/11/13

In this weeks meals, I've tried to make sure that most of the meals don't take too long to prepare / cook. I've noticed since a lot of the colder and darker days and nights have come in that all I seem to want to do when I get home is hibernate. 

We've also stocked up on a few bits such as pork, which will give us enough for 4 meals for the both of us. We'll also probably have some gammon leftover from sandwiches, so I'll either freeze the leftovers or I'll make a quiche again. 

Meal Plan 24/11/13 - 30/11/13

Butter Chicken

Pork Stir Fry

Polish Sausage Soup

Roast Vegetables with Cheese

Cheese, garlic and herbs & Gammon Spaghetti

Buffalo Chicken Pitta & Wedges

Goats Cheese and Spinach ravioli

Shopping List

Milk £1.00

Bananas (0.81 kg) £0.55

Clementines £1.80

Gala Apples £1.00

Bread £1.00

GF Bread £1.75

Chicken Breasts ( 4 breasts) £4.50

Single Cream £0.55

Pork Loin Steak £5.00

Stir Fry Vegetables & Rice Noodles £3.00

2 * Oyster Sauce £1.00

Garlic £0.30

Carrots * 4 (0.42 kg) £0.37

Kale £0.95

Kabanos £2.40

Butter £1.00

Peppers £1.00

Courgettes £0.49

Gammon £5.34

Garlic and Herb Cheese £0.80

Smoked Bacon £1.69

Eggs £1.41

Goats Cheese £1.28

Buffalo Wings Sauce £1.48

Southern Fried Potato Wedges £1.00

Free From flour £1.65

Pesto £1.10

Cheese £2.00

Total £45.41

Quiche with Home Made Baked Beans with Bacon

I like to buy gammon every now and again, I love it as part of a roast dinner and also for sandwiches. There's so many ways you can use it. one of my favourite ways is in a quiche, so I went back to this cheese, onion and gammon quiche here.

On a previous visit to B&M, I'd bought some haricot beans at 29 p for a tin and they'd been sitting in my cupboard for a while now. I decided that now would be the perfect time to use these up. I do like to have baked beans every now and again, but as we know the sauce is not all that great for us (even though the beans are pretty good!). I loved the idea of making my own baked beans, so thought we'd give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 tin of haricot beans, drained

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

100 g smoked bacon, chopped

1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp of sugar
tablespoon of vinegar (make sure it is gluten free)

Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Fry the bacon in a medium sized pan.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil.
3. Lower the heat and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce has started to thicken and reduce.

Meal Plan 17/11/13 - 23/11/13

This weeks meal plan is a mixture of trying to use some of the store cupboard ingredients up, but also the cost of this weeks shopping is slightly higher than it would have been as I have stocked up on cereal for the other half. If I see some good offers on cereals he likes, I do try and stock up on them as he tends to eat a lot of it. 

We're making more of an effort to cook something on a Friday that's kind of like a takeaway. What tends to happen sometimes on a Friday is that we'll have a nice meal planned, but we'll end up ordering instead as we feel like "treating ourselves" as it's Friday. Last weekend worked pretty well as we had home made prawn fried rice with crispy fried chicken.

Meal Plan 17/11/13 - 23/11/13

Jacket Potato with Prawns

Lentil & Bacon Soup

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

Gammon Quiche with home made baked beans & bacon

Italian Beef Stew

Lamb Koftas with Pitta Bread & Raita

Chicken & Leek Potato Pie

Shopping List:

Milk £1.00

Bananas ( 5 - 0.84 kg) £0.57

Gala Apples £1.00

Satsumas £1.00

Mayonnaise (750 ml) £1.18

Red Potatoes £2.25

Tinned Tomatoes x 2 £0.62

Frosted Shredded Wheats £1.00

Wheatabix 36 £2.00

Chickpeas £0.60

Ginger (5g) £0.10

Eggs £1.41

Parsnips £1.00

Chicken Thighs £3.58

Leeks £1.00

Low Fat Crème Fraiche £1.10

Jiff Lemon Juice £0.55

Whole Grain Mustard £0.58

Mature Cheese £2.00

Stewing Beef - 450 g £7.00

Lamb Mince £0.00

Butternut Squash (0.605 kg) £0.57

Mint £0.70

Garlic £0.30

Pitta Bread £0.50

Free From Pitta £2.00

Raita £1.20

Free From Bread £1.75

Bread £1.50

Tuna 2 X 3 sandwich tuna £4.00

Sweetcorn £1.20

Total £43.26

The above was bought from Asda on 16/11/13

Breakfast: Cereal, Eggs, Fruit, Bacon

Lunch: Tuna & Sweetcorn Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Apples, Bananas Satsumas, 

Leftovers:  Peppers in jar, Sweet Potato, Lentils, Bacon, Haricot Beans, Cooked Gammon

Smoked Fish Cakes

I've been a little busy with a few things lately, such as the other half's birthday earlier this week, so I've not had as much time as I would have liked to blog so I decided to take a little break.

I have to apologise for the lack of picture below, in fact I've had this recipe done for a little while but didn't have a picture for it (guess I was too keen!), but I've decided to blog this recipe for you anyway.

I made smoked fish cakes fairly recently and we both really liked them, so when I saw some smoked fish in the marked down section in Asda I put them I thought I'd buy them. I put them straight in the freezer and defrosted them in the fridge when I needed them.

I bought 2 pieces of smoked fish, 1 was haddock and the other was river cobbler (I've read online that this is actually Catfish). To me this was fairly similar to the haddock and lends itself well to fish cakes. 

Ingredients:

400 - 450 g smoked fish (see above for more details)

450 g potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 tsp chopped mixed herbs

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup gluten free flour (I used Asda Free From Plain flour)

1/4 cup polenta

Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until they are cooked through.
2. Meanwhile put the fish in a pan and cover with enough milk to just cover the fish, put on a medium heat and cook for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Drain the potatoes and leave to steam for a couple of minutes. Add some of the poaching milk and mash the potatoes.
4. Add the fish to the potato mixture, season and leave to cool.
5. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, split into 4 - 6 portions. 
6. Put the flour and polenta onto separate plates, then put the beaten egg into a bowl. 
7. Make the mixture into patties, then cover in flour, dip in the egg and then the polenta.
8. Heat a large frying pan with a little oil, then cook the fish cakes for about 3 - 4 minutes on each side.

I served mine with some home made pea puree (made out of frozen peas).