Meal Planning Monday
To link up with At Home With Mrs M
Last week I never even went to Mrs M's blog and linked. I don't know what happened; I scheduled the post on Sunday (the free time I had to schedule it) and meant to go on Monday to link in, when ...poof!... the time vanished, it was Friday and the planned week was nearly over.
I plan my menu a month in advance, often using just one cook book as my inspiration. This month I'm planning on using Jamie's Italy. That doesn't mean I'll slavishly plan every meal out of the book, or even use any of the recipes, but that I read the book a few times and see a dish I like the look of but it reminds me of a family favourite or with a twist would be fab to use, or I need to use a cheaper cut so instead of roasting would prefer to slow cook. Like crochet patterns, recipes are only advisory, except for baking recipes where I KNOW I need to follow them to.the.letter.
Enough already! You want to know what we're eating this week, no?
For your delectation and delight;
lunedi; rigatoni con ragu. Pasta with tomato sauce Jamie's Italy page 105. No, I will not make my own pasta. Mr Aldi is making it for me as we speak.
martedi; pollo con pepe rosso arrosto. Chicken and red pepper roast, served with roast new potatoes. This isn't strictly in Jamie's Italy, but we like it and it's an easy make, requiring 5 minutes prep and 1 hour or more in the oven.
mercole; spiedini di salsiccia e manzo. Sausage and meat kebabs Jamie's Italy page 218. Cooking anything skewered on wooden sticks must be fun, yes? I'll probably actually do mash with this, as son no.2 has an aversion to rice.
giovedi; Meatloaf. Sorry, Jamie doesn't have this in his Italian book, but I have been using his Money Saving Meals book, which has a lovely meatloaf recipe in.
venerdi; porchetta in Jamie's Italy page 48. Slow cooked and slow roast pork so soft you can tear it to shreds, we love meat cooked this way. I'll do it for the children in large buns with barbecue sauce and chips as a side and for me & Mr Angel Jem with fried mushrooms, broccoli and Aldi's best potato gratin. The price of a piece of pork at Aldi is so ridiculously cheap it makes this a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.
sabato; Is still under consideration. My Mum is back from her hellishly long continental jaunt, so I may have her over for a meal, or be going there. Either way it will be a good meal with good company and perhaps a bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo as well. Golly, I wish I was sponsored by Aldi.
Speaking of which, we did our weekly shop at Aldi again. It cost us £89.58 with a couple of decent pieces of pork (one to freeze) and a whole chicken, frikadellen and enough for lunch and dinner for a week for five adult appetites. I comparison shopped with Sainsbury's again (because that was our favourite supermarket before) and the comparable basket would have cost £122.86!! That's a £33.28 saving this week alone!!
Last week I never even went to Mrs M's blog and linked. I don't know what happened; I scheduled the post on Sunday (the free time I had to schedule it) and meant to go on Monday to link in, when ...poof!... the time vanished, it was Friday and the planned week was nearly over.
I plan my menu a month in advance, often using just one cook book as my inspiration. This month I'm planning on using Jamie's Italy. That doesn't mean I'll slavishly plan every meal out of the book, or even use any of the recipes, but that I read the book a few times and see a dish I like the look of but it reminds me of a family favourite or with a twist would be fab to use, or I need to use a cheaper cut so instead of roasting would prefer to slow cook. Like crochet patterns, recipes are only advisory, except for baking recipes where I KNOW I need to follow them to.the.letter.
Enough already! You want to know what we're eating this week, no?
For your delectation and delight;
lunedi; rigatoni con ragu. Pasta with tomato sauce Jamie's Italy page 105. No, I will not make my own pasta. Mr Aldi is making it for me as we speak.
martedi; pollo con pepe rosso arrosto. Chicken and red pepper roast, served with roast new potatoes. This isn't strictly in Jamie's Italy, but we like it and it's an easy make, requiring 5 minutes prep and 1 hour or more in the oven.
mercole; spiedini di salsiccia e manzo. Sausage and meat kebabs Jamie's Italy page 218. Cooking anything skewered on wooden sticks must be fun, yes? I'll probably actually do mash with this, as son no.2 has an aversion to rice.
giovedi; Meatloaf. Sorry, Jamie doesn't have this in his Italian book, but I have been using his Money Saving Meals book, which has a lovely meatloaf recipe in.
venerdi; porchetta in Jamie's Italy page 48. Slow cooked and slow roast pork so soft you can tear it to shreds, we love meat cooked this way. I'll do it for the children in large buns with barbecue sauce and chips as a side and for me & Mr Angel Jem with fried mushrooms, broccoli and Aldi's best potato gratin. The price of a piece of pork at Aldi is so ridiculously cheap it makes this a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.
sabato; Is still under consideration. My Mum is back from her hellishly long continental jaunt, so I may have her over for a meal, or be going there. Either way it will be a good meal with good company and perhaps a bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo as well. Golly, I wish I was sponsored by Aldi.
Speaking of which, we did our weekly shop at Aldi again. It cost us £89.58 with a couple of decent pieces of pork (one to freeze) and a whole chicken, frikadellen and enough for lunch and dinner for a week for five adult appetites. I comparison shopped with Sainsbury's again (because that was our favourite supermarket before) and the comparable basket would have cost £122.86!! That's a £33.28 saving this week alone!!
Look at you writing in Italian! I love Jamie's Italy, it's a really nice book. The menu sounds wonderful to me. Good savings at Aldi, that's fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI may need to borrow this book from the library. My lot would like the slow roast pork I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteLisa x