Oops, I'm a bit late.
Sorry Folks, I'm a bit late with this week's post...and I'm not sure it's a very interesting one. Not many recipes this week.
But this painting is to rejoice and celebrate the fact that we had our first melon this week! And it tasted good! I love melon and so the season when I eat a bit more fruit arrives. I really should try to eat more fruit & vegetables - perhaps I should post the planned 5 portions here, so I know that at least I've planned to eat them! Usually I have 4, but I know more is better.
Does anyone have any tips how I can increase my intake? ( I usually have a glass of juice at breakfast, plus a pot of tinned peaches with my sandwich lunch. Sometimes I'll have 6 or 7 cherry tomatoes too)
So, what else are we eating?
Well, yesterday Danièle invited us for lunch, so we didn't have the steak-from-the-freezer that I'd planned. No problem! It can stay there until our wedding anniversary dinner on 25th May. (27 years!!!) We had a delicious paté of chicken livers with fig jam, then Portuguese Salt cod casserole. (While I was dubious when she brought this out, it was in fact really yummy! We didn't finish the enormous casserole full that D had made, so she gave us a box to bring home. Dinner tomorrow then!) We finished with cheese and a strawberry tiramisu. So in the evening we just had vegetable soup.
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TODAY (MONDAY) Tomorrow is a bank holiday (to celebrate VE day) so today is what is called "Le Pont", that is a "bridge day". In many places, workers take a long weekend, and don't come in on Monday, so it has almost become an official holiday. My language school is not open today, and many of the Michelin guys aren't working either. It's nice in one way, but in May this year there are THREE Ponts, which means SIX non-working days! (1st May was a Tuesday so 30th April was a Pont, 8th May is a Tuesday, so today is a Pont, and just to shake things up, we go to the other end of the week next week, as Ascension Day is always a Thursday, the Friday is a Pont) Anyway, that was a long winded way of saying I'm not working today!
Lunch: veggie soup and French Bread Pizzas. Dinner: Quiche from last week, home made coleslaw & jacket potatoes.
F&V: juice at breakfast, veggie soup, melon, 2 in coleslaw (onion, carrot & cabbage) = 5
TUESDAY: Lunch: veggie soup and quiche. Dinner: Danièle's fish stew with sautéed courgettes.
F&V: Juice, soup, peaches, fish stew (tomatoes + peppers), courgettes = 5
WEDNESDAY: Working, so I'll have sandwiches for lunch. Dinner: Spanish pork (from freezer), green beans & carrots, rice.
Is this what you would call Spanish Pork?!
source
F&V: Juice, tomatoes, peaches, (both for lunch), 2 in a combination of veggies with dinner + in sauce = 5
THURSDAY: Chilli & rice for dinner. A made up version, using veggie soup as a base, plus kidney beans and some more tomatoes.
F&V: Juice, tomatoes, peaches (lunch), kidney beans, veggie soup, tomatoes(all in dinner) = 6
FRIDAY: Pasta-and-vegetable-and-chorizo bake. Recipe below (but it's as free-and-easy as you wish!)
F&V: Juice, peaches, tomatoes (lunch), tomato sauce + veggies in bake = 5
SATURDAY: Probably bacon & eggs for lunch - Mr FD likes a good lunch before cycling, and Richard brought some English bacon with his delivery of Branston baked beans (see last week's update) We may go mad and open another tin - as we have more "on a promise" from Mij and Bill!
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Dinner: I feel a bit uninspired at the moment, and TBH, I'm not sure what's in the freezer to use up! But then I think about Toulouse sausages, and after a tiny search on t'internet come up with Toulouse sausage and lentil casserole which I think will do us nicely!
source
Bizarrely, this photo is taken from a site called "Cook Japan"!!! I wouldn't have said it was the first recipe I thought of when I imagined a site "Cook Japan"!
F&V: Juice, beans, dried apricots for lunch pudding, lentils, fruit for pudding (melon again? Maybe strawbs...depends on the price.) = 5
RECIPE (for 2):
150g chorizo (about)
150g pasta
tin of ratatouille. Or not, if you can't get it. You could just use tinned tomatoes. Or nothing and maybe a bigger jar of sauce.
Jar of favourite pasta sauce
1 onion. Or two if you like onions. Or maybe a leek. Or both.
1 courgette or a red pepper. Or both.
small tin of sweetcorn. Or not, if you don't like sweetcorn.
a few mushrooms. Or a lot, if you like.
cheese & breadcrumb mix
Put pasta on to cook, as packet says.
Cut chorizo into cubes and chop onion. Put both in a frying pan over a medium heat. Let onion sweat in the chorizo oil. Add chopped courgette & mushrooms and cook. If you want, add some garlic too.
Add ratatouille and pasta sauce and sweetcorn. Warm through. Splash in some red wine if you have it lurking around. Dried herbs might be nice.
Drain pasta when cooked and add to the sauce.
If at this moment you say "Bloody hell, that's a lot of food for two people!" divide into two dishes, let one cool and pop in the freezer for another day.
If you think "Mmm, that looks just right!" put into one dish and sprinkle with the cheese-and-breadcrumb mixture. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden and crisp and melty all at the same time.
Does anyone have any tips how I can increase my intake? ( I usually have a glass of juice at breakfast, plus a pot of tinned peaches with my sandwich lunch. Sometimes I'll have 6 or 7 cherry tomatoes too)
Well, yesterday Danièle invited us for lunch, so we didn't have the steak-from-the-freezer that I'd planned. No problem! It can stay there until our wedding anniversary dinner on 25th May. (27 years!!!) We had a delicious paté of chicken livers with fig jam, then Portuguese Salt cod casserole. (While I was dubious when she brought this out, it was in fact really yummy! We didn't finish the enormous casserole full that D had made, so she gave us a box to bring home. Dinner tomorrow then!) We finished with cheese and a strawberry tiramisu. So in the evening we just had vegetable soup.
TODAY (MONDAY) Tomorrow is a bank holiday (to celebrate VE day) so today is what is called "Le Pont", that is a "bridge day". In many places, workers take a long weekend, and don't come in on Monday, so it has almost become an official holiday. My language school is not open today, and many of the Michelin guys aren't working either. It's nice in one way, but in May this year there are THREE Ponts, which means SIX non-working days! (1st May was a Tuesday so 30th April was a Pont, 8th May is a Tuesday, so today is a Pont, and just to shake things up, we go to the other end of the week next week, as Ascension Day is always a Thursday, the Friday is a Pont) Anyway, that was a long winded way of saying I'm not working today!
Lunch: veggie soup and French Bread Pizzas. Dinner: Quiche from last week, home made coleslaw & jacket potatoes.
F&V: juice at breakfast, veggie soup, melon, 2 in coleslaw (onion, carrot & cabbage) = 5
TUESDAY: Lunch: veggie soup and quiche. Dinner: Danièle's fish stew with sautéed courgettes.
F&V: Juice, soup, peaches, fish stew (tomatoes + peppers), courgettes = 5
WEDNESDAY: Working, so I'll have sandwiches for lunch. Dinner: Spanish pork (from freezer), green beans & carrots, rice.
Is this what you would call Spanish Pork?!
source
F&V: Juice, tomatoes, peaches, (both for lunch), 2 in a combination of veggies with dinner + in sauce = 5
THURSDAY: Chilli & rice for dinner. A made up version, using veggie soup as a base, plus kidney beans and some more tomatoes.
F&V: Juice, tomatoes, peaches (lunch), kidney beans, veggie soup, tomatoes(all in dinner) = 6
FRIDAY: Pasta-and-vegetable-and-chorizo bake. Recipe below (but it's as free-and-easy as you wish!)
F&V: Juice, peaches, tomatoes (lunch), tomato sauce + veggies in bake = 5
SATURDAY: Probably bacon & eggs for lunch - Mr FD likes a good lunch before cycling, and Richard brought some English bacon with his delivery of Branston baked beans (see last week's update) We may go mad and open another tin - as we have more "on a promise" from Mij and Bill!
Dinner: I feel a bit uninspired at the moment, and TBH, I'm not sure what's in the freezer to use up! But then I think about Toulouse sausages, and after a tiny search on t'internet come up with Toulouse sausage and lentil casserole which I think will do us nicely!
Bizarrely, this photo is taken from a site called "Cook Japan"!!! I wouldn't have said it was the first recipe I thought of when I imagined a site "Cook Japan"!
F&V: Juice, beans, dried apricots for lunch pudding, lentils, fruit for pudding (melon again? Maybe strawbs...depends on the price.) = 5
RECIPE (for 2):
150g chorizo (about)
150g pasta
tin of ratatouille. Or not, if you can't get it. You could just use tinned tomatoes. Or nothing and maybe a bigger jar of sauce.
Jar of favourite pasta sauce
1 onion. Or two if you like onions. Or maybe a leek. Or both.
1 courgette or a red pepper. Or both.
small tin of sweetcorn. Or not, if you don't like sweetcorn.
a few mushrooms. Or a lot, if you like.
cheese & breadcrumb mix
Put pasta on to cook, as packet says.
Cut chorizo into cubes and chop onion. Put both in a frying pan over a medium heat. Let onion sweat in the chorizo oil. Add chopped courgette & mushrooms and cook. If you want, add some garlic too.
Add ratatouille and pasta sauce and sweetcorn. Warm through. Splash in some red wine if you have it lurking around. Dried herbs might be nice.
Drain pasta when cooked and add to the sauce.
If at this moment you say "Bloody hell, that's a lot of food for two people!" divide into two dishes, let one cool and pop in the freezer for another day.
If you think "Mmm, that looks just right!" put into one dish and sprinkle with the cheese-and-breadcrumb mixture. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden and crisp and melty all at the same time.
Your week of fine dining sounds wonderful, Mouse!
ReplyDeleteI'm rejoicing with you at the sight of melons. I've been eating grapefruit (the reds) and apples every day. Spinach is a must right now, too. I like to throw in a few raspberries and sprinkle a light raspberry dressing on top.
Mrs. Mouse, I am envious of your culinary delights. They seem so exotic to me (after all, you ARE in France). As far as getting more vegetables into your diet, how about Bloody Marys in the evening with a celery garnish? I agree with Benjamin Franklin that everything is a bit cheerier with a splash of alcohol added.
ReplyDeleteNancy
You dont specify what you have for breakfast - I like homemade muesli with a banana sliced over it, or a chopped apple stirred in.
ReplyDeleteKeep a plastic box in the fridge with carrot, celery and pepper sticks to nibble on.
Try reducing the meat and upping the veg content of casseroles.
Make a cottage pie with half carrot, half potato mash for the topping.
just some ideas I use! blessings x