Mealplans WB 22nd February 2008

purpleivy

Pandoro, I think I 'need' the falafels recipe too please. I know I probably could find a recipe ina book, but it would nice to have a tried and tested version. Are they deep fried?

Lillibet_2

Well, here's mine, such as it is. It's old style in that I have at least got back to proper menu planning, not so old style in that a lot of it is not home made (but here's to room for improvement:beer: )

Tonight : Aussie Lass' Impossible Pie made with tuna
Fri : Ready made Lasagne
Sat Ready made pizza & garlic bread
Sun : Roast stuffed chicken parcels & trimmings
Mon : HM Chicken chasseur & rice
Tues : Leftover HM Chicken chasseur & rice!
Weds : Jacket Spuds, cheese & beans
Thurs : Steak pie (Home made by my butcher...does that count?)
Fri : Tortillini & HM sauce

dorry_2

Lillibet wrote: »

Well, here's mine, such as it is. It's old style in that I have at least got back to proper menu planning, not so old style in that a lot of it is not home made (but here's to room for improvement:beer: )

Tonight : Aussie Lass' Impossible Pie made with tuna
Fri : Lasagne
Sat Ready made pizza & garlic bread
Sun : Roast stuffed chicken parcels & trimmings
Mon : Chicken chasseur & rice
Tues : Chicken chasseur & rice
Weds : Jacket Spuds, cheese & beans
Thurs : Steak pie
Fri : Tortillini & HM sauce

lillibet, so what if its not home made, just doing a menu plan is bril.:T sometimes, especially when I am realy busy, not all our meals are hm, but we are fed and thats what matters. Leave the home made stuff for when you feel like! xxxxx

ladymarmalade

here's ours for this week

today - salmon steaks with chili and lime with noodles
fri - hm meat and potato pie and greens
sat - sesame pork and noodles
sun - chicken and roasted vegetable wrap and pesto
mon - hm chicken breast burgers and salad
tues - ravioli

Pandora123_2

For madge7 and purpleivy...

I started off making the falafel recipe in Madhur Jaffrey's Eastern Vegetarian Cooking. When it came time to put the first batch in the fryer (yes, they're deep-fried), they completely fell apart into crumbs!! :eek:

Luckily, I had another recipe scribbled on a scrap of paper (I collect recipes compulsively, apparently) from Cranks Bible. It suggested adding some tinned chickpeas and tahini to the raw (soaked) chickpea mixture. So I opened a tin and added it to the remainder of the falafel mixture. This time they held together in the fryer. :T

I froze the leftover falafel patties for a later meal. I simply thawed them, then reheated in the oven. So easy!

This is the combined recipe..

Falafels

250g dried chickpeas, soaked in water for 24 hours
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 small onion, very finely chopped
Handful fresh coriander, very finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted in a dry skillet and ground
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
400g tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed (reserve the chickpea liquid)
2 tablespoons (or more) chickpea liquid
1 tablespoon tahini

---

lemon juice
salt

Drain chickpeas and put them in a food processor. Add bicarbonate of soda and salt. Turn machine on and blend until you have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. You should not have a paste.

Empty the chickpeas into a bowl. Add the onion, fresh coriander, ground cumin & coriander, garlic, freshly ground pepper, lemon juice and cayenne. Mix gently.

In a food processor or blender, combine tinned chickpeas with tahini and chickpea liquid. Process until smooth. You may have to add more chickpea liquid and scrape the sides of the processor/blender down a few times (not when it's running )

Combine the two chickpea mixtures. Form into balls or little patties (I did patties) and deep-fry in batches at 180C until golden (about 3 minutes). Don't do more than one layer at a time.

Remove from fryer and drain on a tray lined with kitchen paper. Sprinkle hot falafels with lemon juice & salt.

Serve in pita with tahini sauce and salad.

For the salad, I used a combo of cucumber, tomatoes, red pepper & onion, with salt, pepper, fresh coriander and lemon juice. But you can just use lettuce & tomato if you don't want to go to that trouble.

Let me know if you need the tahini sauce recipe.

:A

madge7

purpleivy - thanks for the info, tell me more about the cooking of the beans???! sounds interesting and something i havent tried yet. i dont have a slow cooker as i am single and live alone but may get one if i can find a reasonable one somewhere?

hope the falafels aren't deep fried, thats the only thing thats put me off making them in the past!

cakemaker

Hi,

Here's my effort:

Friday veggie curry
Sat family day out, so not sure!
Sun Chicken etc
Mon Chicken pie
Tues stew
Wed shep pie (freezer)
Thurs roast, whatever butcher has!

studentgirl_2

Evening all,

Having looked at you all planning meals for a bit I woundered what all the fuss was about And then I did it a few weeks ago. I feel it has made such a diffrence to by budget but also that " Muuuuum whats for tea to night " I love the fact that as im making bfast im getting the stuff out of the frezzer for later. The reduction is stress I must say is the best bit for me. So thank guys for all of your insperation.

kraftykat

Hi everyone,

I stuck to my mealplan quite well last week, except for last night...I was at the hospital till late & we grabbed a KFC instead.

I'm still trying to run down the freezer/cupboards as I'm getting a new kitchen fitted in 4-5 weeks.....but I still can't seem to resist a bargain & I keep freezing leftovers.

This week we're having......

TODAY - Gammon steaks, spuds, mixed veg & parsley sauce.

FRIDAY - Beef stew (beef from freezer).

SATURDAY - Pasta bake with garlic chicken (freezer) & salad.

SUNDAY - Breaded haddock, oven chips & mushy peas.

MONDAY - Low fat sausages, mash, peas, mashed turnip & gravy.

TUESDAY - Pizzas (hospital followed by parent/teacher meeting which lasts over 2 hours).

WEDNESDAY - Beef stew again (heading away for weekend & want to use up the last of the veg & spuds).

THURSDAY - Spaghetti carbonara.

Have a great week folks!!! :T :T

piglet6

Hi everyone! Here's my plan for this week...

Friday – Homemade chickpea & spinach curry with rice and naan bread (we’re bumping the planned pizza and garlic bread…)
Saturday – Pasta with broccoli, sweetcorn & boursin
Sunday – Lamb/pork chops with bubble & squeak & some extra veg (not sure what yet…)
Monday – Falafel with houmous, salad & pitta bread
Tuesday – Pizza, garlic bread & salad (try again!)
Wednesday – Chicken breasts with new baby potatoes and veggies
Thursday – Pasta with homemade meatballs in a tomato sauce, probably with some broccoli on the side...
Friday – Not sure I should even put anything here, as we’ve bumped the planned menu for the last two weeks on a Friday evening…but fancying sausages (perhaps a sausage casserole or just plain sausage & mash?!)

Piglet