Sunday 19th May - Fresh Week with Tefal

Sunday 19th May 

Lunch: Roast Lamb cooked in a slow oven with Rosemary 

Roast new potatoes cooked in olive oil and sea salt

Selection of vegetables: broccoli, green beans, sweetcorn, mashed swede and roast parsnips

Gravy 

Onion Sauce

(Fry sliced onions and then remove from pan. Add a little more fat and a large spoonful of plain flour, mix well adding milk. Return onions and stir. Season to taste)

Summer pudding:  Line a bowl with buttered bread, fill with summer fruits. I used raspberries and mixed summer fruit selection (bought frozen as it is cheaper). Seal with more bread. Cover the top with cling film and foil and weight down with another bowl. Put in the fridge for about 4 hours or longer. 

Serve on its own or with cream or ice cream

Tea: Carpet Picnic 

sardines on toast

chopped fruit 

fruit cake

vegetable sticks

tuna dip

crunchy bread sticks 

(made in bread mixer - technically they are supposed to be french bread sticks but mine never come out big enough to look like french sticks!)

Cheese cubes - mix of cheddar and goats cheese 

Beetroot slices (tried these today and they didn't go down too well!!)

Selection of cakes left over from the week!

Saturday 18th May - Fresh Week with Tefal

Saturday 18th May 

Lunch: Sandwiches - ham or cheese 

carrot, cucumber and celery sticks with a tuna dip

( tinned tuna, onions, plain yoghurt and chives)

fruit and yoghurt 

cherry cup cakes 

(recipe as before for a basic sponge with glacé cherries thrown in!)

Tea: BBQ Time 

Home made beef burgers - using minced beef, mixed herbs and garlic

Home - made bread rolls (made in the bread maker) 

Tomato relish - (tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs, ginger and honey)

Sausages from the butchers 

Fruit and ice cream for pudding 

(sadly not home made ice cream!)

Fresh Week by Tefal - Friday 17th May 2013

It is swimming night tonight so no large home cooked meals today....

Lunch:  Ham and cheese sandwich with cucumber 

carrot sticks

Yoghurt and fruit 

Chocolate cup cakes

 or school dinners for the school aged children 

Tea: Ham and sweetcorn omelette for the non- swimmers and packed tea (as above)for the swimmers  

For chocolate cup cakes: 

100g self raising flour

100g cooking margarine 

100g caster sugar 

2 x large tablespoons of cocoa powder 

a dribble of coffee 

2 x teaspoons of baking powder

2 eggs 

Mix with an electric mixer and gently place in to cup cake cases - or in my case let the little ones throw mixture into cup cake cases and lick the bowl and spoons... yum....

Fresh Week by Tefal - Thursday 16th May 2013

Lunch: srambled egg on home- made toast for the little ones and left over soup for the grown ups! 

Tea: Beef stew cooked in the slow cooker 

I am a very lazy cook, so no browning etc for me! I literally throw everything in the slow cooker and switch it on...

carrots, potatoes, swede, parsnip, onion, whole garlic cloves, mixed herbs, tablespoon of curry powder, diced up beef, boiling water with gravy granules dissolved in it. Salt and black pepper. 

Pudding: yoghurt and choose your own fruit

Fresh Week by Tefal - Wednesday 15th May 2013

Lunch: Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash peeled and de-seeded. Chopped into smallish chunks.

2 onions chopped. 

3 potatoes peeled and chopped. 

Pinch of ginger. 

Pinch of salt and black pepper. 

Fry the onions, butternut squash and potatoes until soft. 

Add water or chicken stock and boil until all soft. 

Add ginger, salt and black pepper to taste. 

Whiz until smooth and creamy. 

Served with homemade bread ( made in bread maker) 

Tea: Chicken and Rice 

Place rice in a large casserole dish. Add chopped garlic. Slices or quarters on onion and halved mushrooms. 

Place a whole chicken on top. 

Pour in enough fluid to cover the rice and keep topping up until cooked. It takes about 2 hours in hot oven. I use a mix of boiling water and gravy granules or home-made chicken stock. 

(I make my chicken stock by just boiling up the left over chicken carcass with some herbs and water,salt and pepper and freeze it) 

Serve with any veg you fancy. We are having broccoli and peas. I love this with mayonnaise but other family members like it with gravy. 

Pudding: Easi yo home-made greek yoghurt and a slice of victoria sponge cake. 

I make my sponge cakes using 200g of self-rasing flour, 200g of caster sugar, 200g of cooking margarine, 4 eggs, a splash of vanilla essesence or lemon juice. Cooked for approx 20 mins at 170 degrees Celsius.  Just add a generous dollop of any jam you can find in the fridge!

Fresh Week with Tefal - Tuesday 14th May 2013

Lunch: Tuna Mayonaise and salad wrap

Tin of tuna mixed with a mix of light mayo and plain yoghurt

lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and watercress all wrapped up in a wholemeal wrap

Salt and pepper to taste

Tea: Cheesy Pasta with Vegetables and Bacon 

Pasta

Boil or steam the carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, peas and cauliflower.

Cheese sauce: cooking margarine, 2 tablespoons of plain white flour mixed together over a low heat. Add milk and continue to stir. Then add cheese of choice or a mix of your favourite cheeses. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens. Add a teaspoon of mustard, pinch of salt and white pepper.

Dry fry chopped up bacon bits.

Cook pasta as per instructions on packet. 

Put pasta, veg and bacon bits in a large oven proof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. 

Bake in the oven until brown and crispy on the top and bubbling at the sides. 

I also make a cow's milk free version of this meal using soya milk and hard goats cheese.

Pudding: 

Fresh fruit salad with home-made dairy free banana ice cream. 

Banana ice cream

3 large bananas

juice of half a lemon

1/4 pint of soya milk

5 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tsp vanilla extract/essence

Peel and chop bananas and put in freezer for at least 4 hours. When they are frozen throw them and the other ingredients into a blender and whiz. Place in freezer. This can be left in the freezer for as long as you like but remember to take out 2 hours before you eat it and mix with a spoon before serving. It may discolour slightly if kept for a long time but this will not deter from the flavour. 

Fruit salad today is made from a selection of fruits that were reduced in the local supermarket; blueberries, pineapple, kiwi and grapes.

Freshweek 2013 by Tefal

Have you made your pledge yet to eat fresh food all week - pop over to Fresh Week to make your pledge and for a chance to win.....

I have made my pledge and have been busy cooking up our food for today. Breakfast is a choice of home-made bread (made in bread machine)or cereal - and I admit I am not making my own cereal; but the cereal of choice has no added sugar, chocolate etc in it. I am a bit of a 'throw it in' and see cook - no exact measurements!

Lunch:  Home-made Leek and Potato soup

3 large potato's

5 large leeks 

pinch of salt

pinch of ginger

Ground black pepper 

Boil up in a pan with water, whizz together and serve!

Tea: Home-made Bolognaise Pasta

Pasta ( sadly not home-made) 

Mince Meat - mix of pork and beef

2 large onions

4 cloves of garlic

3 Bay Leaves 

largish pinch of nutmeg

left over veg from Sunday lunch 

Tin of chopped tomatoes 

tomato purée

Cook all the ingredients together (not the mince) and when soft whizz to hide all veg and onions (that children profess they do not like!) then add the mince and cook slowly for 40 mins or so. 

Cook pasta as per instructions on packet 

Mix together the bolognaise sauce with the pasta (so that children who say they don't like the meat get no choice!) and serve 

Sprinkle with cheddar or parmesan