Menu Plan Monday - 30th August

Hi everyone - how did you go with your menu plan last week?  We really enjoyed last Monday's spaghetti and meatballs, cooked completely in the Thermomix (made heaps, there was enough for six plus leftovers!) and I'll try and get that recipe posted soon.  (It's similar to this one, but without the beans, and with spaghetti added to the sauce towards the end.) We ended up having a pizza night on Friday night, as we had extra kids - everyone made their own pizza with toppings of their choice, eight pizzas in all.  I found a recipe for satay chicken pizza, and made a batch of the satay chicken in the Thermomix to use as a topping - it was really delicious!  Pizza is such an easy meal with the Thermomix.

I'm really pleased because my 13 year old daughter is now baking our bread for us!  And she's doing a great job.  She's mastered spelt and spelt & rye breads, and today she made hot cross buns (without the cross) which were delicious!!  It's so important to teach kids to cook, and very rewarding too - for the whole family!

A couple of times a week, I try and cook some meals that can be doubled and frozen, so I have extras for when I'm going to be out at demos or am just really busy.  A frozen casserole can be placed into the oven and thawed and cooked at the same time, usually taking about an hour and a half on moderate heat.  (Make sure you cover with a lid or foil so it doesn't dry out.)  I don't use a microwave, for health reasons, so this is a good way to cook up leftovers.  Here's another tip for those of you who have a Thermomix - you can heat up your leftovers in the Varoma!  If you're in a hurry, half fill the bowl with boiling water from the kettle, then steam on Varoma temperature until the food is hot.  If it's something a bit sloppy, take a piece of baking paper that's big enough to cover the bottom of the Varoma tray, wet it and scrunch it up under the tap, then smooth it out in the bottom of the tray and place the food to be warmed on top.  The food won't drip through, but the steam will still come up.

There's some great recipes over at the Thermomix forum - make sure you have a look!  And if you go to Menu Plan Monday at "I'm an Organizing Junkie", you'll get plenty of ideas for planning your weekly menu.  Have a great week!

[tmx = prepared and/or cooked in my Thermomix]

Monday:

(lunch) Pasta e Fagioli (tmx)

(dinner) Chicken tikka curry (made from leftover roast chicken & tmx tikka paste) with basmati rice (tmx) and stir fried veges (tmx)

Tuesday:

(lunch) Lunch at Grandma's - dd is making spelt bread rolls from this recipe (tmx)

(dinner) Beef & vegetable pie with spelt pastry (tmx) (pie filling prepared in morning and slow cooked in crockpot)

Spelt rolls

Wednesday:

(lunch) Baked potatoes, dairy free sour cream (tmx), orange-carrot-pecan salad (tmx)

(dinner) Smoky sausage & lima bean stew (crockpot)

Thursday:

(lunch) Leftovers/sandwiches

(dinner) Tuna pie with mashed potato topping (tmx) (x 2 - freezing one for Saturday)

Friday:

(lunch) Eggs a la Goldenrod (tmx) on spelt scones (tmx)

(dinner) Sweet 'n' sour beef & noodles (tmx) (x 2)

Saturday:

(lunch) Leftovers & vege sticks

(dinner) Tuna-potato pie (thawed & cooked in oven)

Sunday:

(lunch) Steak, baked potatoes (crockpot) & salad

(dinner) Cauliflower soup & sesame snack sticks (no cheese)

Snack Sticks