On Monday, I told you what I'd be eating this week. Like many of you, I have a somewhat crazy, hectic existence, juggling work, home, family, friends, blogging, admiring handbags and more.
Sometimes things don't go to plan.
In fact, that is why I plan. It makes things easier when it all goes wrong.
The hiccup
On Wednesday, I planned to go to the butcher (opening hours aren't all that open here in Perth-town) but ended up in the office instead.
Surprisingly, I couldn't find any lovely cooked crab or fresh, home-made angelhair pasta or even any beautifully hung sirloin steak in my CBD office. I did however find an overstuffed in-tray, too many emails and a meeting or two. Not that tasty. But hey - I had leftovers for dinner! Thanks, Tuesday!
The complication
By Thursday, my eyes were bulging, my nose was running and my brain was trying to chip its way out of my skull. I DO NOT HAVE SWINE FLU. My husband announced he would be going to the pub after work (sometimes he forgets about the existence of Fridays).
At about 7:30pm it occured to me I should probably find out if he intended to come home any time soon. He told me he'd be getting the 8:00 bus home. Good. Great. I continued to chat to a friend on facebook.
Photo: Bus Stop 3 by Bartek Kuzia
At 8:10 he called when he remembered that there *is* no bus at 8:00pm. So I threw some clothes on, got in the car and proceeded to drive a few blocks past where I said I'd pick him up. A roundabout or two later he was in the car, it was 8:30pm and we were hungry (and he was slightly drunk). We went to KFC and had zinger burgers (no chips!).
Photo: I'm sorry, I can't be perfect by Leeo
It wasn't that bad. I am not perfect.
The plan is dead
So, here comes Friday, my brain had pushed itself halfway out my right eye, the house was spinning and my tongue didn't know how to make sounds any more. My husband called a few times and on the 3rd time I answered it and slurred at him that he should come home early because gobbledegook. I don't know if he responded because I think I hung up then.
He got home at 4:30pm (I was still in bed), he attended to the dry cleaning and then made dinner of some sort. It resembled food and I ate it and I think I felt better because then I went to sleep.
Photo: body by wise.adam
Flexibility - adapt, change, compromise!
A menu plan is a guideline to make things easier for yourself - when grocery shopping, when you get home tired from work and don't have to think about what to cook.
It is not the be all and end all.
It must be flexible.
As Chive Talkin says - you rule your menu plan - it does not rule you!
What now?
So now it is Saturday and I'm about to head off to the friendly neighbourhood butcher to pick up some steak. The herbs and vegetables are in the fridge waiting to be turned into seared beef and noodle Thai-inspired loveliness.
I'm cooking the beef first, not the crab, because coriander and mint can be a little fragile in the fridge, whereas lemons grow on trees. I'm also still slightly delirious and feverish (if you can't tell) and it is always easier to cook something you've cooked a million times.
The angelhair and crab now gets moved onto next week's menu and my sister, her boyfriend and my grandmother can call in a dinner rain check. Easy!
How was it for you?
Did you have a crazy week? Or did things go to plan for you? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>I've previously mentioned how I use technology to plan my meals and write my shopping list. Of course, not everything is digital - I still have handwritten, scribbled notes and many favourite, sauce splattered and annotated cookbooks.
Try something new
I like to try at least one new recipe a week, and this may come from a cookbook, an idea posted on another blog, or something I invented in my sleep (this happens fairly often). This meal is usually scheduled for a weekend or a day I'm not in the office. I like to make things as easy for myself as possible.
Keep it fresh
My planning also takes into account my access to fresh produce. I prefer not to freeze steak or seafood for example, so I will always plan those meals around when I can buy fresh.
Save time with bulk cooking
I also like to ensure that at least one meal a week is something that can be doubled or tripled. I prefer not to have the same meal twice in a week but instead will use the extra from the first meal to make something a bit different. Alternatively I will prepare something and freeze it so we won't starve if I'm sick or I get home late.
This week I spread out some cookbooks and clicked through some favourite foodie websites. My husband chose Jill Dupleix's Angelhair with crab and lemon as the new recipe on this week's meal plan. He gets extra bonus points for choosing something quick, easy and light. He usually doesn't!
Photo credit: Betty Crocker by 427
Keep records
My planning system also includes recording each day's meals on our synchronised google calendars. It avoids the mid-day phone call, "what are we having for dinner tonight?" And here it is for you.
Monday:
Garlic and chilli king prawns stir-fried with onion and still crispy red capsicum, green beans and broccoli, lightened with oodles of fresh parsley, served on steamed Basmati (I use Basmati a lot as it is lower GI than other types) rice. I'd prefer brown rice but I haven't won that battle in my household yet.
Tuesday:
Home-made chilli and herb crumbed chicken schnitzels (oven baked), with macaroni cheese, roast grape tomatoes, baked herb field mushrooms, steamed greens. For some reason unknown to me, my macaroni cheese provokes bizarre reactions of rapture amongst my friends and family. My husband regularly begs me to make this, and due to the fact it is so insanely easy, I do indulge him. My version isn't too heavy either - the sauce is a roux enriched with mustard, cheese and herbs and lightened with low-fat milk.
This meal will give me leftovers - extra cooked chicken schnitzels to go into the freezer (I can then pull them out later, defrost in the fridge overnight, then top with a tomatoey sauce and cheese, then chuck under the grill) plus leftover macaroni cheese to have with a salad for lunch on Wednesday.
Wednesday:
Angelhair pasta with crab and lemon plus a simple garden salad. With any luck I'll be able to buy some fresh pasta from the Italian place down the road, but if not I have some decent quality dried pasta in the pantry. I don't mind making my own pasta but I'm better at ravioli or lasagne sheets that don't need as much precision!
I'm not in the office on Wednesday so I can skip over to the fishmonger and then the butcher for tomorrow's dinner.
Thursday:
Seared beef and rice noodle salad. I can make this one in my sleep and it is lovely and fresh and flavourful.
Friday:
My grandmother, my sister and her boyfriend are coming over for dinner to have my famous risotto. This one will have prosciutto, tomato, basil and baby spinach. We'll go heavy on the carbs with some home-made bread and a few simple salads. Dessert is likely to be sorbet and fruit or perhaps some cupcakes if I get time.
Saturday:
Duck salad with rocket and baby spinach, just warm slow-roasted tomatoes, red onion, capsicum and snow peas, drizzled with chilli jam.
Sunday:
On Sunday nights we usually have dinner with my parents or in-laws. Otherwise it'll be a quiet night at home with takeaway Thai or a wood-fired pizza with a few glasses of wine.
If you'd like to see what other people are cooking this week, you'll find more meal plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie and Chive Talkin.
Check back later in the week for recipe reviews and results!
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]]>I have no idea how this happens when I dutifully write a meal plan and shopping list every week, but I digress. So we had risotto cakes all wrapped up in prosciutto and served with sweet balsamicky tomatoes and rocket.
This recipe is an easy one, and very quick if you happen to have some left-over plainish risotto in the fridge. I never seem to, we're both far too fat and far too fond of risotto.
photo credit: Metano
At any rate this makes a nice dinner party entree with a little "here's some I prepared earlier" magic. On a weeknight it is far more important to make sure your husband knows exactly how long you've been standing in front of the stove.
You'll need a couple of cups of cooked risotto to serve 4 as an entree or 2 as a main. If you're starting from scratch now, you want a basic risotto base. Anything too complicated will get lost when you turn the risotto into cakes and fry them.
Basic risotto
photo credit: Glorious risotto
My basic risotto starts with a cup of arborio rice (carnaroli is better, but I always only seem to have arborio in the pantry), a small brown onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, butter and olive oil, white wine and chicken or vegetarian stock. Homemade stock has a far superior flavour but if you've got some tetra packs of stock in the pantry then use them, I do.
Simmer the stock (about 5 cups should do it) and keep warm on the stove over a low heat.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan with the chopped garlic and then add the onion, finely chopped, to soften. Don't brown it.
Add the rice at lowish heat and toast it, stirring, until covered in the oil and butter and you can hear the rice start to crack.
Add about 1/4 cup of white wine now, stirring until mostly absorbed. Add another 1/4 cup of wine for the pot and a glass for you.
Now gradually add the stock to the rice, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring as you go.
Add more stock as it gets absorbed and continue until the rice gets fat and swollen and lovely. You want the risotto to be al dente and creamy.
Add a few good handfuls of freshly grated parmesan (the powder in the green tin is not parmesan, it is dirty sock scrapings) and season well.
Stir through some fresh breadcrumbs and put the risotto in the fridge to cool while you prepare the other bits and pieces to go with it. (If you use dried breadcrumbs the roof probably won't cave in and I won't tell on you.)
Photo credit: Homegrown roma tomatoes
Sweet Balsamic Tomatoes
I'm pretty sure the tomatoes are originally from a Delicious magazine recipe.
You'll need a couple of roma tomatoes, quartered.
Seal them on each cut side in a frypan over high heat, then add 1 TB of brown sugar, 2 TB balsamic vinegar, a tsp of Worcestershire sauce and a TB of water.
Drop the heat to low, pop the lid on and cook for a few minutes.
Make the Risotto Cakes
While that's happening, mix an egg into the risotto mixture and divide into 4 or 6 cakes, depending on how much risotto you have.
You don't want arancini size for this, but you don't want them to be so big and cumbersome that they will fall apart when you put them into the pan.
Wrap each cake in a few pieces of proscuitto. A few sage leaves can work nicely with this too.
Shallow fry the cakes in a bit of oil for a few minutes either side in a frypan over medium heat, until the cakes are golden and the proscuitto is crisping.
Serve the cakes over some nice peppery rocket and top with the tomatoes and some shaved parmesan and pretend that it was hard work.
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