Hi everyone... I've been going through my fridge and freezer, figuring out what needs using up this week.  Apart from the regular meals, I'm planning on making Tebasile's Crunchy Chocolate Buckwheaties with sprouted buckwheat, a raw hummus with soaked almonds, guacamole with all the over-ripe avocados, homemade muesli bars with various rolled, soaked grains and seeds, and some yummy juices with all the fruit that's getting soft.   I'm hoping to start making sourdough rye bread and sourdough buckwheat bread, as a friend gave me some of her starter.  (If you'd like to know why soaking and fermenting grains and flour is such a good idea, check out Chelsea's blog, Filling Little Tummies.)  I'm also going to try a couple of 'cheeses' made from nuts, including a 'cheese' sauce for a broccoli and cauliflower bake... should be an interesting week!  (And I'm planning a special dessert for my dad's birthday too - shhh, it's a surprise!)

Our favourite meal last week was the Butter Chicken out of the Indian Thermomix cookbook - I made the tikka paste first, dry roasting and grinding the spices in the Thermomix then adding the other ingredients and cooking then pureeing - smelt and tasted so good!  Then I made the Butter Chicken (with coconut cream instead of dairy cream, and olive oil instead of butter), and it was absolutely delicious!  And I have heaps of tikka paste left in the fridge for quick curries - I used some in a vege curry another night, and we loved it, and I'll be using it again this week in a lamb curry in the crockpot.

If you have a Thermomix, there's lots of great recipes on the Thermomix Forum, and also on the Thermomix Recipe Blog!  If you live on the Atherton Tablelands, please come along to our monthly Thermomix Cooking Class - the next one is on Monday the 24th, 6.30 to 8.30pm at the Atherton Golf Club - email me for more info, and to book.  (Bookings essential!)  We also have a cooking class with Chef Laurent, 'The Lunch Box Chef', coming up - don't miss it!  It will be held in Cairns on Wednesday the 9th of June, 6.30pm, at Cairns Tropical Gardens Motel.  Hope to meet some of you there :)

For help with your menu planning, see this article, and 'Menu Plan Monday' at "I'm an Organizing Junkie".

TMX = prepared and/or cooked in the Thermomix.  If you'd like to know more about the Thermomix, please email me :)

Monday:
(lunch) Sourdough rye bread (TMX) with pumpkin & sweet potato soup (TMX)
(dinner) Leftover beef, gravy & vege pie with spelt crust (TMX)

Tuesday:
(lunch) Pasta salad (TMX)
(dinner) Dad's birthday dinner - taking sourdough breadrolls and a special dessert - photos coming! (TMX)

Wednesday:
(lunch) Tuna mornay (TMX - double batch for two meals)
(dinner) Beef fajitas with homemade spelt tortillas (TMX) & guacamole (TMX)

Thursday:
(lunch) Sandwiches with rye/buckwheat sourdough bread (TMX)
(dinner) Lamb shanks in tikka paste-coconut milk curry (crockpot) with rice (TMX)

Friday:
(lunch) Soup made with leftovers (TMX)
(dinner) Tuna mornay (frozen, reheated in oven) with salad

Saturday:
(lunch) Baked potatoes (sweet & English) and vege sticks
(dinner) Steamed fish, broccoli & cauliflower bake (fish & veges steamed in TMX) with creamy df 'cheese' sauce (TMX)

Sunday:
(lunch) Roast chicken & veges (gravy made in TMX)
(dinner) leftovers, sandwiches

Have a great week! :)