Wednesday 3 April 2013

Food diary of a greedy foodie mother - Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd April

Diet started well but as soon as I started my diet Alexa was sleeping badly had a cold and cough, diarrhoea and started teething. Being a first time mum I thought it was because I didn't eat enough calories for breastfeeding so I gave up as soon as I started. Coincidence maybe but I think it is good enough excuse don't you think ;) As my husband is still on a diet, I had to cook food with lower calories but it is a challenge being a mum to my high maintenance daughter and being creative at the same time. I refuse to eat plain food, in fact I am pretty sure I was not born to do it. My father in law said that I am a bit pretentious with my food, cheeky bugger! What can I say, I love food.

To achieve this I need planning. I plan what to cook so I hit the supermarket like a hurricane whilst hoping Alexa will stay quiet! So I browse the internet normally when I am sat feeding in the middle of the night! Not recommended as it does make you very hungry! Or I will look at magazines or through my extensive collection of recipe books! What I do is I look for ideas rather than recipes. I tend to make it up as I go along. After that I would write down what I am cooking everyday after foraging in the fridge for leftovers and then write down all other ingredients I need to get.  I also tend to make dishes using the same ingredients as much as possible to avoid wastage. I do a Monday to Friday plan only as we tend to get a bit wild at the weekend. I hope this food diary will help those who has limited time but want to enjoy healthy meals. I do the planning so you don't have to ;)

This week's menu is as follows
Monday - Easter BH so we gorge on chocolates!
Tuesday - Supermarket day (supposed to be yesterday) Spicy sweet potato soup, cumin oil
Wednesday - Roasted vegetable salad with grilled chicken, bulgar wheat and feta
Thursday - Steamed pork with shitake and wood ear mushrooms, ginger, stir fry vegetables and brown rice
Friday - Smoked haddock risotto with asparagus and poached egg

Tuesday 2nd April
Spicy sweet potato soup, cumin oil

3 - 4 medium sweet potatoes
A pinch of dried chilli flakes ( you can use fresh chillies as well)
1 onion
Chicken stock
Pinch of cumin seeds gently fried in olive oil, leave to infuse
Greek yoghurt (optional as it was leftover in the fridge)

Cut the sweet potatoes into small cubes and the onion into quarters. Season with a pinch of chilli flakes and some olive oil and roast in the oven for 1/2 hour. Remove from oven, transfer to a pan, cover with chicken stock, bring to boil and then blend into a smooth soup. Season to taste. Serve with cumin oil, greek yoghurt and crusty bread with loads of butter


Wednesday 3rd April
Roasted vegetables salad with grilled chicken, bulgar wheat and feta
1 chicken breast, flatten or beaten within an inch of its life between two pieces of cling film, seasoned with salt and pepper
Feta cheese, diced
2 peppers, 1 red and 1 yellow to give colour
1 courgette
3 cloves of garlic
1 sprig of rosemary
2 parsnips
2 sweet potatoes
Rocket
Little gem lettuce
Bulgar wheat or cous cous, cooked in a bit of stock (leftover from a few dinners before)
Olive oil

Roast all the vegetables ( I did it at the same time I did the soup the day before to save on time and energy) apart from the little gem and rocket. Grill chicken for 3-4 minutes. Combine roasted vegetables, rocket, lettuce, bulgar wheat and feta cheese in a bowl, add lashings of olive oil, season then top with the sliced grilled chicken.

For Thursday and Friday recipes, it will be published on Friday unless my little monster plays up :). Happy cooking!

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