Sunday, 17 January 2016

On Plan with my Menus

After rejoining Slimming World, needing to organise myself more, having to tighten our belts a bit financially and just enjoying writing lists, I thought I'd start writing a weekly menu. I always take a shopping list with me to the supermarkets, but it feels more organised making the list from the menu... and sticking to it, I'm hoping this will cut our shopping bills down by a little as well.

Our menu for the week was

Tuesday: Bolognese, pasta, cottage cheese and peas


 It was really filling and didn't take long to make (and there's bolognese in the freezer for next week too).



Wednesday: Burgers (from Slimming World), chips made in the actifry (with lots of paprika) and some salad



 Again, it was nice and easy, all I had to do was peel and chip the potatoes.



Thursday: Baked potatoes with cottage cheese, sweetcorn, chinese flavoured chop and salad



I think this was my favourite meal this week, so will probably be repeated next week.



Friday:  Cottage pie with a sweet potato topping and runner beans






Saturday: Vegetable Boulangere with gammon, sweetcorn and watercress




The idea for the Boulangere was from the Slimming World magazine and I've put the method after the menu.



Sunday: Corned Beef, spaghetti and fried potatoes.



 This was comfort food, nice and warming for this cold weather and to use up the potatoes from yesterday.


I made the Boulangere Saturday afternoon, it didn't take long (the longest part was probably waiting for the potatoes to cool down). It also gave me a chance to use our new frying pan, it has a ceramic coating that is supposed to mean you don't need to use oil. I was a little dubious, but wow, you can even dry fry an egg in it!



I started off by par boiling the potatoes.



Then leaving them to drain and cool



While they cooled, I sliced a couple of leeks, an onion and a few garlic cloves


Then softened them in the frying pan



When the potatoes had cooled, I sliced them and placed them in a dish with some pepper to season.


Lots of big, juicy tomatoes were sliced and layered on the potatoes.


On top of this went the leeks, onion and garlic , then a few more potatoes, tomatoes and seasoning with a little drop of vegetable stock followed by a sprinkle of cheese



In the oven for 30 minutes at gas mark 6



It was delicious!


I took pictures of our meals and popped them on Instagram (cherylbowsie if you want to come and say hi) each day, hopefully to inspire me in the 'harder' weeks.

Take care
xxx







37 comments:

  1. Everything looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Wow you have been busy! Everything looks delicious :) x

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  3. These all look delicious. Thursday's looks my favourite too and I like the idea of the sweet potato cottage pie. x

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    1. I thought it was a good substitute for creamy mash x

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  4. A great weeks eating by the sounds of it!! Hope that you enjoy next weeks just as much. xx

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    1. So do I, just need to make it a lifestyle rather than a diet x

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  5. This has made me hungry, it all looks very tasty x

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  6. Yes, you've made me hungry too! All these meals sound delicious but I especially would like to try the shepherds pie with sweet potatoes. Wishing you a great week, Pat

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  7. I have never come across a boulangere before, it looks amazing. I certainly will be giving that a go.

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  8. Good for you and a great variety which I think always keeps you on track ...slimming world does have lovely recipes.

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  9. This all looks delicious, Cheryl. I should get more organized with my food shopping.
    Amalia
    xo

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  10. I'm trying to get back into SW too, can't make it to a class at the moment though, my daughter is though so i keep asking her to check syns for me, lol.

    I like the look of the Boulangere, i might have a go at that this week. I started putting cauliflower on top of cottage pie, gives it a different taste but it's ok and saves the carbs ;-)

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    1. I've heard of a lot of people substituting it for rice too x

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  11. Your meals look delicious. I've heard such good things about Slimming World and come across people who actually change their eating habits, stick to it and keep the weight off rather than just dieting and putting the weight back on. I'm quite tempted to try it myself, I bought the magazine last week and there's some lovely recipes in it.

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    1. I do like it, much of it is common sense, just need to keep it up x

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  12. Meal planning makes life so much easier. I'm currently cooking again everything I've got in my book of clippings just to make sure it's all liked and then I'm hoping to make a few weekly menu plans.
    Lisa x

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  13. Hi Cheryl - you can almost taste all that lovely good! Some brilliant ideas there, and it's good to cut out the fat wherever we can, isn't it? I really would be hard pressed to choose a favourite from all those meals! Well done, and keep up the good work!
    Happy Days!
    Lynda.

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  14. Yum, those don't look like slimming meals!

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  15. Hello Cheryl, your post has made my mouth water so much. I need to lose a few pounds after christmas myself so you have inspired me to get back on track. I have a frypan similar to yours & I love mine. Happy Cooking Cheryl :-)

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  16. Lots of lovely meals. I like your new frying pan - very useful.

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  17. Yummy what great looking meals.

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  18. I would need to join slimming world too....the meals look very appetizing and such generous portion sizes as well.

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  19. All of the meals look delicious! :-)

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  20. These all look SO yummy..now I'm really hungry hahaha :)

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  21. Those are my kind of meals. Delish.
    xx

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