2 week meal plan

I haven't added anything for a while and thought this might be a nice thing to add. each fortnight I try to do up a menu plan before i go and do groceries. I consult with my many cookbooks and make it up from there (or my head). This one is for the week starting 29th May. I have also done a shopping list which I will add here.

Each meal is worth about 250-400 calories each. it is based on my daily diet of around 1200-1400 calories a day, for men it should be 1800.

if you would like to follow this plan you could use taste.com to get recipes or use the various books i have used: crunch time cookbook , Michelle Bridges, the no excuses cookbook, Michelle Bridges, OMG! i can eat that, jane kennedy, everyday cooking 2009, weight watchers and rivercottage everyday, hugh fearnley-whittington.

Meal	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Up&go Belvita breaky biscuit	Up&go Belvita breaky biscuit	Up&go Belvita breaky biscuit	Up&go Belvita breaky biscuit	Up&go Belvita breaky biscuit	Toast with ricotta, pear & cinnamon	Toast with ricotta, pear & cinnamon
Lunch		Left over stirfry	Left over roast veg	Left over Portuguese chicken	Minestrone	Chicken sandwich	Shepherd’s pie
Dinner	Beef & oyster sauce stirfry	Roasted Mediterranean veg	Portuguese chicken with grilled capsicum salad	Minestrone	Chinese poached chicken	Lentil shepherd’s pie Desert: blueberry millefeuilles	Roast beef (x3 beef for extra meals) and vegetables
Snacks
Breakfast	Up&go Toast with ricotta & tomato	Up&go Toast with ricotta & tomato	Up&go Toast with ricotta & tomato	Up&go Toast with ricotta & tomato	Up&go Toast with ricotta & tomato	HM baked beans
Lunch	Roast beef sandwich	Shepherd’s pie	Stirfry	Soup	Chilli con carne	Veg & chickpea salad	HM baked beans
Dinner	Thai beef salad	Vegie & tofu stirfry with oyster sauce	Pumpkin and carrot soup	Chilli con carne- served with lots of tomato & corn salsa	Tandoori chicken skewers with roast veg & chickpea salad	Chilli lamb with Asian greens Desert: baked ricotta pears	Chicken with cous cous honey and cinnamon
Snacks

Shopping list

Meat Rump steak x 500g 1.2kg beef fillet Chicken breast x 7-8 breast Lamb backstrap x 500g	Veg Asian greens x 3 bunch Pumpkin x 1kg (500g butternut) Zucchini x 3 (med-large) Parsnip x3 Sweed x2 Squash Capsicum x3 large Eggplant x2 Mushrooms x 100g Tomato cherri x 1 pnt Tomato x 1bag Cabbage x ¼ Baby corn (fresh) x 2 pk Onions Asian salad mix Chilli (long) x4 Cauliflower Corn cob Avocado Spring onions Ginger Celery Bunch basil Bunch parsley Frozen beans
Fruit Pears x6 Bananas Apples Oranges Mandarins Lemon x 2 Blueberries strawberries
Groceries Lentil x2 cans Water chestnuts Almonds (flaked) Stock (all types) Diced tom Tandoori paste Butter beans Macaroni Cannellini beans
Dairy/ fridge  Ricotta x 1kg Tofu (firm) Parmesan Filo pastry Vanilla fruche	Bakery Multigrain bread x 2 loaves

hope there are some people out there willing to have a go and give me feedback. :)

Roast pumpkin and carrot soup

This is a new favourite of mine. We love it, it's tasty and filling. And even gets the nod of approval from my fussy fiancé.

1.5kg pumpkin
3large carrots
1large onion
5cloves garlic
1.5litres salt reduced chicken stock

Peel cut and roast all veg for aprox 1.5 hrs on med-high heat.
Once everything is cooked through and starting to brown remove from oven and place in food processor. Pulse whilst adding small amounts of stock until smooth.
Add to soup pot with any left over stock and simmer for around 20 minutes.

I serve with some Greek yoghurt, crispy prosciutto and spring onions.

Chilli Con Carne

The chilli con carne recipe I base mine on is from Jane Kennedy's book 'OMG! I Can Eat That?' (she writes great books).

I had never tries it before making it, but my gamble at trying it paid off. It's really good and we eat it all the time. I do add kidney beans and I often eat it with brown rice and an avocado salsa- I dont like to just chow down on a bowl full of meat.

recipe:
1 medium onion diced
500g beef mince
1tsp onion powder
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp cumin
1tsp paprika
1tsp dried origano
1/2tsp cayanne pepper
1/2tsp crushed chilli flakes
1/2tsp sugar
1 can diced tomato
1 can rinsed kidney beans
beef stock concentrate
1 cup pasata

method:
brown the onions in a small amount of oil- add some salt to them to help them sauté not fry.
once onions are soft add all dry spices and stir until you can smell the aroma.
add mince and brown
add canned tomatoes, beef stock and pasata and simmer for arround 20-30 minutes
add kidney beans 5 min before serving

serve with  brown rice, plain greek yoghurt and avocado

The Begining

I am a 26 year old teacher who is about to get married. I live in a small town which is quite isolated (the nearest Woolworths or Coles is over an hours drive away).

I am starting this blog with the mission of adding at least one new recipe to it each week; which i have cooked and tried first.

I am obsessed with cookbooks and cooking shows, but find that often the food that they say is fast and easy is fattening, or its low fat but takes ages and lots of mucking arround.

Hopefully a few people will follow this blog and give me some new recipes or try my recipes and give me feedback. I find it important when trying to make a life change, such as a big diet overhaul, that there are people to support you and go through the same thing with you.

I am sure there will be people out there doing what i am doing. Please get in-touch!