Meal-Prep Mondays

So this is what my kitchen often looks like on a Monday – I use a couple of hours to try to get ahead for the week. This involves batch cooking, or prepping ahead and making some dump bags for the week. Especially now we’re trying to save money I’m thinking ahead to slow cooker, or Electric Pressure cooker meals that I can put together on Mondays then throw in on the day.

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This week, I’ve used the Tefal Cook 4 Me (an electric pressure cooker) to make a beef stew in 30 minutes using 500g beef skirt from the butchers at Tesco. I cut it into big chunks of beef and it’s now falling apart…can’t wait to get Effie to make her light-fingered easy-peasy dumplings later in the week. Then I’ve prepped other meals: Honey and Ginger Chinese Chicken and Sticky Pork Baos, both slow cooker recipes from @boredoflunch , 2 Goustos – Spiced Lentil Stew and Katsu Fish Fingers. Plus I’ve got enough Beef Skirt left for some Cornish-style pasties and another Bored of Lunch Beef Stifado with Orzo.

For the two slow cooker ones, I’ve measured all the ingredients into a tub, sealed and left in the fridge. Not only will the flavours infuse, it makes it so easy to simply tip it into the Slow Cooker and turn it on. For the Pork, I just need to sear off the fillet first, then add it to the pot with the other ingredients. I’ve tried the Honey Chicken noddles previously and it was amazing; I added some tenderstem broccoli at the last minute too for some green goodness. I@m hoping the Sticky Pork for the Baos will be just as good! I have, however, cheated and bought the pre-made, ready to steam buns from M&S.

The Gousto Lentil stew is a ten-minute concoction, but again, I’ve added all the spices to a small jar to fry off first, before adding the cans of lentils and tomatoes along with some frozen spinach and stock powder. The other Gousto takes a while, so I’m leaving it until the weekend – it’s definitely not a prep-ahead dish!

I’m looking forward to Father Christmas bringing me a Crisp Lid for my Pressure Cooker to turn it into an air fryer – I’ve seen lots of delicious-looking crackling, ribs and fried chicken ideas I’d like to try.

January’s Meet, Make & Munch

Well, it’s the beginning of a new year and a new-style blog. I’m hoping to round up my month here, and hopefully include a little inspiration for you and your family too. It might be somewhere to visit, something to do or something to eat, but will be based around what we have done over the last few weeks. If you’re looking for food specifically, nip over to Bon Appétit where I’ll still post all my efforts, but I’ll also generally link to them from here too! Feel free to have a browse through the menus at the top of the home page for some of my more random musings too.

So, here goes…

Meet…

The new year began with a family trip to the Science Museum where we met my Sister-in-Law over from Mexico for the Christmas period, and her cousin. While we spent a lovely few days at various houses over the festive period with my Brother and Sister-in Law, it was nice to get out and about and actually ‘do’ something! I haven’t been to the Science Museum since I was about 6, where I distinctly remember the ‘interactive part’ being downstairs on the left on the way in. I made a bird in a cage – think a small picture of a bird with a picture of the cage on the reverse. These were then stuck onto opposite sides of the top of a straw, which you twirled in your hands, thus making the bird appear to be inside the cage! Well, things have moved on slightly in the intervening years and there’s now a huge hands-on interactive experience, Wonderlab, on the upper floors. You have to pay and book, then queue, but it’s well worth it. In fact, we didn’t have to time to look around the rest of the museum, so if you fancy doing both, go earlier in the day!

My 21 month old loved investigating the paper helicopter area where you make your own flying paper twirly thing then hold it over the air blowers to see if it is taken up to the sky! I think the idea is to change the power of the air jets to see what happens, but in truth, we were all having too much fun just watching them fly! My 6 year old thoroughly enjoyed it all, from capturing a water drop on a camera, to hoisting herself up using a pulley; investigating light to learning how lightning worked.

Make…

Those who know me will know we’re, albeit slowly, coming to the end of a rather long and stressful renovation period on our house. I can’t wait for it all to be finished, and the downstairs flooring is going in next week, but it’s getting to the stage where I can’t live without colour or gentleness. So this month I’m trying to ‘make it pretty’ and give back some of the 1930’s glamour and originality the house first had before we knocked it about. One of the new windows should have been frosted glass, but ended up being plain, so instead of changing it, we opted instead to cover it with a period window sticker from Purlfrost and are really pleased with the result. It still lets in light but restores a bit of originality to the house once more.

 

We have a new DunElm just round the corner and it’s one of those shops that you can’t leave without buying something! Anyway, I was seduced by the faux flowers and thought they’d add a bit of class without me having to weed out the dead ones, change the water, etc! So I invested in a few select’blooms’. I just couldn’t resist!

 

 

Munch…

I always begin the year by trying to ‘make ahead’ and this month has been no different. If I get an hour or two, I try to batch cook or batch prepare meals for the week ahead. I’ve found it makes school evenings so much less stressful, either just spooning it up and reheating, or doing all the prep. work, sealing in a bag, then throwing it all into the slow or pressure cooker on the day. This week’s choices have been a slow cooked Jamie’s Beef Brisket Chilli, made with chipotle paste instead of chillies which even CC ate in a toasted wrap, swiftly followed by a bowl of fresh and limey guacamole; Chicken Burrito Rice bowls; and a Beef Stew. These three meals will do for three evenings, plus leftovers for lunch with a quick addition of rice or wraps, and a more picnic style tea for the other evenings, such as sausages, wedges and beans, or chicken wraps. Have a look over on Bon Appétit for some other ‘Prep Ahead’ meal ideas too.