Why I Menu Plan Part Two

So in part one of Why I Menu Plan I shared why and how I menu plan.  In this part I thought I would 'deconstruct' this weeks menu and show that it really is simple food.  As much as I like love food, I want it fast, fresh and simple.

This weeks menu, I plan Thursday to Wednesday;

Thursday ~ Steak with chilli chips and cafe de Paris butter
aka Steak and chips :-) The butter was a one off roll of flavoured butter hubby made a little while ago and froze.  We just take slices as we want.

Friday ~ Moroccan lamb, roast vegies and pearl couscous
aka a freezer raid! Just leftovers from two different meals and it was the best!

I LOVE pearl couscous, it has a really gentle texture and Matilda loves it too which is great.  We have it as a side dish with no flavouring, we have it full of flavour - think Moroccan spices, sultanas, apricots, or just soaking up the sauces of the dish.

Saturday ~ fresh pasta with prawns and tomatoes
Recipe & image



Sunday ~ Keith Floyd's Rogan Josh
Keith had a special place in our hearts, having watched his shows and remembering his ads in the 70's (I'm sure it was Continental Cup a Soup) He was always known for cooking and presenting with a glass of wine firmly in his hand. We met him on our honeymoon in Phuket where he had a restaurant at our hotel.  His reputation proceeded him and he was known to be a chain smoking, cranky, wine loving man.  We mentioned we had just been watching his channel in the hotel to which he replied that he'd asked them to turn it off in his room because he didn't want to 'friggin' (obviously not his word) watch himself!  
Anyways I digress, this recipe isn't expensive as we use mutton and throw the whole thing in the pressure cooker.

Monday ~ Chicken, chorizo and potato pie
This is so simple it's not funny! The filling is used to make two pies to feed 6. I made the filling and froze half last week. Add some roast pumpkin and tada, simple.  It is really just four ingredients.  Chicken x 2 fillets, Chorizo sausage x 1, Creamy delight potatoes and a leek.  Oh and 1 sheet of puff pastry.  It is meant to look rustic...

  Their version....

My version...

Oh and the chorizo is supposed to be 'crispy' hahaha

Tuesday ~ Sweet leek risonni with roast tomatoes and oregano

Again, sounds gourmet but really simple.  Risonni is another pasta that I love, it's like a cross between rice and pasta and again not a lot of ingredients and all cooked in two pots.  Even with a dishwasher you gotta love that!

Wednesday ~ Date night

So there you go, while it all looks and sounds labour and $$ intensive, they really aren't.

My final part in this 'series' will be how to make shopping easy, fast and less stressful.

xx Bec