Monday, January 26, 2015

Meal Planning Monday 2015 Week 5




I've been rushed off my feet at work and had unexpectedly busy weekend - on Saturday we drove from Surrey to Edinburgh and part of the way back as well! My boyfriend has been looking for a new car for a while and had an exact model in mind, but needed to find one with a low mileage and in his price range (second hand, but still a lot of money for a car). He also wanted to only buy one from an official dealership and eventually found what he was looking for - but the only place that had the right one was in Edinburgh! So I came home from work on Friday night to find he had put down a deposit and was planning to drive there the very next day!



We left at 4am to beat the traffic as it was a 7-hour drive, and made it to Edinburgh (including stopping for breakfast) at about midday. My boyfriend traded in his car, did all the paperwork and paid for the new one and we roared off home in a shiny new (well, second hand but new to us) Aston Martin. I'm really not a spontaneous person so can't quite believe we decided to do that on pretty much the spur of the moment and went all that way just for a day!



By the time we got home on Sunday afternoon - it would have been earlier but we stayed the night near Manchester then stopped at Bicester Village on the way back and my boyfriend bought me a nice little present, if the words Kate Spade mean anything to you - most of the weekend had gone. So the meal plan had gone out of the window but unfortunately so had the grocery shopping I planned to do this weekend! So instead I am going to make do with what we have in the freezer and pick up a couple of bits and pieces during the week then do a big shop next Saturday as we have friends visiting on Sunday.


So here's this week's plan

Monday

lunch: jacket potato with chicken (on the meal plan a couple of weeks ago but didn't have it). I want a hot lunch as I'm out in the evening at a talk about making money from your blog (I can dream!).

dinner: sandwich


Tuesday

lunch: tuna pasta, again as I'm out in the evening

dinner: sandwich as I'm at my cake decorating course


Wednesday

lunch: sandwich

dinner: BBQ chicken


Thursday

lunch: sandwich unless I have time on Weds night to make anything else, but it's going to be a busy week

dinner: my boyfriend is out at work drinks so I'll have salmon and veg


Friday

lunch: sandwich

dinner: out for a friend's birthday


Saturday

lunch: bacon sandwich for him, Quorn sausage sandwich for me

dinner: Slimming World fish and chips for me, sausage in batter and chips for him (on the meal plan for the past 2 weeks but still haven't made it yet!)


Sunday

lunch: friends visiting so I'm going to make Persian roast chicken with walnut pomegranate sauce followed by Nigella's ice cream cake

dinner: something light eg beans on toast




Saturday, January 24, 2015

Goat's Cheese Filo Pastry Parcels






These goats cheese parcels are delicious and easy to make. We had them as our starter on Christmas day but they would also be a nice idea if you were cooking a romantic Valentine's day meal perhaps. The recipe came from the AllRecipes website and you can find the full recipe by clicking on the link.



Preparing the red onion filling:






Lay out the red onion filling and a slice of goat's cheese on some oiled filo pastry






Gather up like a parcel and secure with a piece of spring onion






Ready to go in the oven




Lovely golden brown, our starter for Christmas dinner






When you cut into the parcels, the goat's cheese is beautifully soft and slowly oozes out. The red onion is a sweet but tangy contrast that works perfectly - I really enjoyed these and am sure you will too!