Meal Planning Monday (4 February 2013)

Shockingly this is my first Meal Planning post of 2013! I must admit to have been a tad distracted so far this year, but I really need to get back on track with the meal planning so here we are.

So far my distractions have been pretty good, which is everything I hoped for after a rough year last year. Hubby has had a follow-up cholesterol test after two years and I am still dancing the fandango around the room because his cholesterol is down from a fear-inducing 7.3 to a very respectable 4.3! All hail to the plant based diet.

I have also been having fun with finances which is very unlike me (massive understatement). But thanks to a lovely new super-efficient accountant and me finally getting to grips with sites such as confused.com and moneysupermarket I have had a very satisfying prune of our finances, not to mention a socking great big tax refund.

Plus,we are on our annual two week shut down of the pub so we get our evenings to ourselves day after day! Such a luxury for us, as two weeks is not much to get in an entire year.

So, onto food. I have two themes this week. The first is exploring the darker reaches of my store cupboard to use up those things which have been hanging around for far too long. The second is a cookbook called the Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, which I haven't really tried out enough and feel the need to bond with.

As ever, all meals are meat and dairy free and (hopefully) delicious!

Mushroom, leek & quinoa pie

with mash and purple sprouting broccoli

Vegetable & bean cutlet

Red lentil & cauliflower curry 

with flat bread and rice

Mexican Bean soup

Mushroom & wild rice soup

got some wild rice on offer ages ago and never used it so here we are

Fragrant yellow split peas with carrots

(another store cupboard adventure...)

with flat bread and rice

Roast dinner with nut & quinoa loaf

new favourite thing to have with a roast, seriously good

To make my life a little less hectic and less kitchen orientated, I have instituted a 'always have a pot of soup available' rule. The standard is my slow cooked vegetable soup which we all love and I can easily add quinoa to if we want a protein boost. Makes a great snack, easy to put with sandwiches for a bigger lunch and a very happy meal since my boy (19 months old) says 'Hmmmm' with a big grin after every slurped mouthful!

We are also enjoying baking together at the moment. Recent hits which I will post soon include almond & quinoa muffins (excellent) and chocolate quinoa cookies (still need a bit of work). I also have a new variety of flapjack with added vegetables. Yes, really!

For a looksy at what other people are eating this week, head over to At Home with Mrs B or if you are Stateside, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie 

Enjoy your week and I'd love to hear your comments.