Thursday 17 September 2015

WEEKLY MEAL PLAN + QUESADILLA RECIPE



When we can we try to plan our meals for the week. We find that this saves on time and money in the long run. It means that every day we already have a plan of action for what's going to happen come meal-time, and all the ingredients to hand. It also helps to prevent food wastage.

We try to cook according to the seasons. And we also try to provide as much of a balanced diet as possible - for every meal, and over the course of a week. That means seafood, at least once a week, as well as daily vegetables.

Sometimes, we find a menu that works well for the week - and fits in with everyone's various activities, and run that for several weeks. It doesn't feel too repetitious but it helps speed things up - both in terms of cooking (you're familiar with the recipe) and also you don't have to hunt out new recipes. A few meals might get tweaked if they weren't very popular, although we do encourage the children to eat the same food that we do. And we always eat together as a family.

I thought I would share our upcoming meal plan for the week - not because it's amazing, but it might give you some ideas. And in turn, I'd love to hear what you're cooking this coming week. Or what are some of your favourite weekday meals. You can never have too many ideas to hand when it comes to planning time! Thank you.

Thursday - Chicken and asparagus risotto
Friday - Mussel soup and crunchy potatoes (our take on frites)
Saturday - Quesadillas (see recipe below)
Sunday - Minestrone soup
Monday - Spaghetti marinara
Tuesday - Roast chicken and vegetable couscous salad
Wednesday - Pasta with pesto and broccoli (or whatever is left in the fridge ahead of the following week's delivery)

QUESADILLAS
We often have these on a Saturday night so it's not a rush to make them. They're a big hit though - especially the beef filling for the children. My favourite is the spinach and feta.

Beef filling
500g beef mince
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 carrot, grated
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup beef stock
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Spray olive oil
Tortillas

1. Heat oil in non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes or until soft. Increase heat to high. Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until browned. Add garlic, cumin, carrot and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
2. Add stock and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until mixture reduces and thickens slightly.
3. Preheat non-stick frying pan on medium. Spray with olive oil and place tortilla on pan. Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of mixture over tortilla and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place another tortilla on top and spray with oil.
4. Once underside is cooked, place a plate on top to help flip the tortilla. Turn the pan upside down and slide uncooked side on the pan. Note: The pan gets hotter the longer you make them, so it speeds up the process and you have to get quicker at making them.
5. Slice into quarters or smaller and serve with a slice of lemon.

Spinach and feta filling
1 packet of frozen spinach
250g feta, chopped
1/4 cup mozzarella
1 tablespoon dill, chopped
1 egg, lightly whisked

1. Defrost spinach in a large bowl and add chopped feta, mozzarella and dill and mix together. Add egg and mix until combined.
2. Cook tortillas as above but replace beef filling with spinach and feta mixture. No extra mozzarella is required.

images the indigo crew

6 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for posting these, I'm definitely adding minestrone soup, the quesadillas and the risotto to my list! We've been on the go all summer & I'm not sure I can eat another slice of pizza. Some of my easiest favorites are: quiche + a salad of spinach and berries // Annie's white cheddar mac and cheese + lots of diced veggies (carrots, peas, and tiny chopped broccoli and cauliflower) and then a 'breakfast for dinner' thing that I made up where you mash a soft cooked egg over cut-up pieces of buttered Ezekial toast --from there you can add bacon, ham, avocado, salsa, - whatever sounds good to you & your kids will eat :-) and lastly: chicken apple sausage served over brown rice with pineapple + stir fry veggies. xxo

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    1. Thanks so much for these suggestions Jennifer. They sound so great! The only problem is one of my children doesn't eat cheese or egg. But the others do. It's a whole other topic!!! I love quiche though. Actually, everything you mention, I would eat in an instant. Really appreciate your suggestions. It's good to hear other people's meals as so easy to get caught making the same things over and over. Thanks!

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  2. It's a struggle :-) My daughter who 'doesn't eat eggs' is the one who loves quiche. And the one who DOES eat eggs, doesn't like quiche!

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    1. Ha! That made me laugh. If there's one thing I've learnt - it's always worth getting them to try to eat something. One of my kids love olives and so I called mussels "fishy olives" and she eats them! ;-)

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  3. Am impressed with this plan!! I've been on my own with the kids this week, working full time so we've devised a plan and shopped together after school on the way home. Wednesday - roast chicken, roast potatoes and rocket salad, Thursday - homemade pizza using leftover chicken, Friday - pasta bolognaise... Saturday, Dad is home so back over to him!!

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  4. I'm a weekly menu gal too :) Could not not have a menu, or I'd get to dinner time and draw a complete blank! Though our veg garden dictates what needs to be eaten that day! I like the idea of rotating the menu for a few weeks. I do a new one every week and sometimes struggle to come up with new ideas, so repeating it is a great idea thankyou! Some meals from this week include baked salmon with kecap manis, and a salad with corn, lettuce, red cabbage etc; sort of carbonara, but with baby spinach and peas added; double batch of chicken drums in the slow cooker, then shredded and added to coleslaw wraps, and then the remaining chicken went into a curry a couple of days later.��

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