Meal Plan w/c Monday 10th November

Monday: Tonight's dinner will be minestrone soup with carrots, bell peppers, courgettes, cavolo nero and ripe Italian tomatoes. We won't need any bread because there will be pinto beans and pasta in the soup. I'll serve some green olives on the side and top the soup with Parmesan shavings.

Tuesday: I'm going to buy a chicken and see how many meals we can get out of it during the week. For the first day, I'm going to joint it and use the legs/thighs in a jalfrezi. This will be served with basmati rice and naan bread when we get home from the quiz.

Wednesday: Continuing with the chicken theme, I'm going to roast the breasts in a lemon and coriander marinade and serve them with a mixture of roasted Mediterranean vegetable. The side dish with either be giant cous cous or creamy mashed potatoe with truffle oil.

Thursday: I'm going to boil up whatever is left of the chicken carcass with whatever vegetable peelings I've accumulated during the week and make a stock. I might make a chicken consommé and serve it with some fresh homemade bread.

Friday: As a treat, I'm going to make homemade beer battered fish and chips, which we'll have with minted pea purée, gherkins and a tangy tartare sauce. I may even whip up a batch of curry sauce if I'm feeling particularly indulgent!

Saturday: We usually have oily fish tonight, but may feel like something different after the Friday night fish and chips. If that's the case, I'll make a beef Bibambap, with courgettes, carrots, red onion, beansprouts and sticky rice, with a hot sauce on the side and topped with a soft fried egg.

Sunday: I recently read somewhere that pheasant which has been covered in bacon before roasting is delicious,map so I'm going to test that theory this weekend. We'll have that with some goose fat roast potatoes and a variety of vegetables - cabbage is great this time of year. For dessert, I'm thinking of baking a plum, orange and almond cobbler with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream on the side. The contrast of hot and cold is wonderful.

Meal Plan w/c Monday 3rd November

Monday: Tonight's dinner will be minestrone soup with pinto beans, kale, courgettes, bell peppers and lots of other delicious veg. Perfect meal after a weekend of excess. We're cutting down on carbs so I'm not making any bread, but the soup is so filling that it doesn't need anything else anyway.

Tuesday: It's my birthday, so we will have a special meal tonight. Shellfish linguine with scallops, king prawns and clams, washed down with champagne and followed a delicious dessert. Happy birthday to me!

Wednesday: It's Guy Fawkes Night and we will most likely be going to a fireworks display. I'm going to make a lamb and date tagine that can be put in the slow cooker so it is ready to serve as soon as we arrive home. This will be served with a pomegranate and mint cous cous.

Thursday: We should go meat free today, so I'm going to make a ratatouille with courgettes, aubergines and peppers and I'll add in some lentils for a protein boost.

Friday: Depending on how we feel, I'm going to make either fish and chips or bulgogi beef Bibambap. Both are a great choice for a cosy Friday night dinner.

Saturday: Oily fish night! We'll have our weekly dose of omega 3 with some mackerel and I'll serve it with steamed samphire and garlic and herb baby potatoes. 

Sunday: I'm going to try and order some fresh suet from the butchers early on in the week so that I can make a steak and kidney pudding. This will be followed by a chocolate and fig tart with an orange blossom cream. 

Meal Plan w/c Monday 20th October 2014

Monday: Soup day! Quite fancy a nice minestrone soup to boost my veg levels. Last weeks rye bread was a bit of a disaster - I'll either be brave and give it another go, or wimp out and revert back to my faithful wheaten bread recipe.

Tuesday: I'm trying to eat less meat during the week, so I'm going to make a nice ratatouille with courgettes, aubergines, red onions and whatever other veg takes my fancy. 

Wednesday: I'm going to try making falafels for the first time! This will take some organising as the chickpeas and broad beans have to be soaked the night before so that they're soft enough to cook with the following day. I'm going to serve this with a Middle Eastern inspired salad and some homemade tortilla bread. Recipe up soon!

Thursday: I'm really craving meatballs and although they seem like quite a low maintainence meal by the time you've made your own pasta and tomato sauce a whole day has gone by in the kitchen. I might try and source a crate of tomatoes on Monday and spend a few hours batch making tomato sauce to freeze for later use. I'll also make the pasta the night before as well.

Friday: I'm going to make a pork Bimbambap tonight which will be washed down with some Breton cider before a trip to the cinema.

Saturday: Fish night! Last week I had mackerel, so this Saturday will either be rainbow trout, or else I'll make my famous seafood linguine, which goes wonderfully well with our weekly bottle of champagne.

Sunday: Thinking of doing a mock Christmas dinner with game birds, chestnut stuffing, Brussels sprouts with pancetta and a delicious dessert.

Meal Plan w/c Monday 6th October

Monday: It's such a rainy day today, and apparently it's going to be like that all week long, so it's time to break out the comfort food! Tonight's dinner is going to be a hearty minestrone soup and wheaten bread. The perfect meal for a wet and dull Monday. 

Tuesday: Tonight is quiz night. I need to make something that can be prepared in advance and then easily reheated when we get home, but I don't want to serve something too nice as it won't be appreciated after a few drinks have been consumed... I haven't used my slow cooker in a while, so I I might throw together a casserole and let it do all the hard work.

Wednesday: We're trying to up our intake of oily fish during the week. Last week we had smoked mackerel with puy lentils and a green salad which was delicious. This time I might make some light mackerel fish cakes and serve them with sweet potato chips and a cress and rocket salad.

Thursday: Tonight I'm thinking of making either a meatloaf with tomato passata and truffle mash, or a lamb and date tagine with pomegranate cous cous. Both are equally gorgeous, but the tagine requires a bit more effort. I'll have to see how I feel...

Friday: We'll either go to the Vietnamese if we're planning on going to the cinema, or else I'll cook something. I'd like to make some more ravioli soon. Last time was a very stressful experience, but it was worth it in the end. If I'm feeling adventurous I might make two fillings- wild mushroom and ricotta, and spinach with Parma ham.

Saturday: Fish day! If I'm organised enough today, I'm going to try out something a bit more exotic than I usually do on a Saturday. Maybe some monkfish with a nice garnish and some veg.

Sunday: Hopefully Borough Market will have some pheasant this weekend. If they do, I'm going to serve it with a spiced plum sauce and seasonal vegetables. I'm also going to start making cocktails to pair with my desserts, so I'll buy some nice fruit, make a syrup with it, and mix it with spirits. Dessert will be chocolately this weekend, maybe a chocolate and pear tart.