Recipe binder: pasta pie

This was a bit of a store cupboard/random recipe I made up last week (if it already exists then whoops but I'd never heard of it before)

The premise is pretty simple, cheap and very filling (although probably not best if you're on a diet due to the amount of cheese!)

You will need;

• Lasagne sheets
• Tin of tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Carrots
• Peas
• Sweetcorn
• Cheese
• Bacon

How to make it;

• Cover the bottom of an oven dish with lasagne sheets
• Pour the tin of tomatoes and veg over the top
• Add bacon slices
• Grate cheese until covered
• Cover with lasagne sheets
• Grate more cheese on top
• Bake gas mark 6 or 7 for 25-30 minutes

Warning: the top layer of cheese will harden and go really crispy but don't worry, it still tastes absolutely fine!

Meal Planning Monday; 27 August 2012

So last week's plan completely fell apart! OH ended up spending nearly all his non-fast days with his parents helping them organise some things and I improvised all my dinners from scraps in the fridge that needed using up (and a cheeky Dominos on Friday). After last week's spate of illnesses we managed to get out a bit more this week, including a trip to the park!

With that in mind, and the fact OH is away on holiday all next week with his family I've decided to minimise waste and we're having a bit of a freezer week.

We have a combination of meals including;

-Ratatouille
-Honey and mustard chicken with veg
-Pasta pie (recipe to follow)
-Pizza
-Fajitas (transferred from last week's plans)
-Jackets (again, transferred from last week's plan) with spaghetti

On days OH as ratatouille and pasta pie I'll probably just have sausages and potatoes with veg as I can't have too much tomato due to poor ol' bubbah having an intolerance of them.

Bubbah is also having a freezer week including pork and veg, lamb and veg, broccoli and cauliflower cheese, and sweet potato. He's also got about 12 portions of rice pudding to get through!

As always, I've linked up to At Home With Mrs M, feel free to have a nosey at everyone else's meal plans for inspiration.

Meal Planning Monday; 20 August 2012

It's Monday again! This lovely, sunny weekend seems to have gone far too quickly for my liking. We took bubbah swimming for the first timeon Saturday at our local pool. He was a bit unsure at first but afterwards seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully I'll be able to take him again next week, now the first trip has been done and I'm feeling a bit more confident he won't drown or something (hi, my name's neurotic mum).

Bubbah's pirate swim suit

Last week's meal plan basically got scrapped as OH came back from his parents on Sunday and announced he was doing alternate fasting (like that programme from Channel 4 a few weeks back about fasting a little and all the health benefits, I can't remember the name of it but if you know what I'm going on about leave a comment so I can edit it in!) While it's been great in terms of his health; he's lost a bit of weight already, his general health has improved and his appetite is smaller, it threw me a bit of a curve ball and rendered my meal plan useless!

Add that to the viral infection bubbah had at the beginning on the week and my cold mid-week, I simply couldn't be bothered to cook much and I'm pretty sure I had bbq pork noodles three days this week (yummy but still, whoops). I did manage the mac n cheese, we had home made sausage and mushroom pizza on Friday as normal and jackets Saturday night (cheese for me, coleslaw for him) as it was far too hot for anything more than that.


This week, I'm more prepared! OH fasts Tuesday and Thursday so those will be lovely me days for food he doesn't like ;)


So, we will be having...

-Fajitas (these fell by the wayside last week but I'm determined to have them this week)
-Home made pizza (sausage, maybe some bacon, onion and mushroom. Possibly sweetcorn if I can be bothered with it. Seasoned with bbq and oregano)
-Cheesy mushroom pasta
-Veggie crumble for him, cheesy chicken and bacon with curly fries
-Tuna bolognaise on one of OH's fast days (as I can pre-cook in the day and re-heat when I'm hungry/when bubbah is settled)
-Jacket on OH's other fast day as again, quick and easy if done in the microwave. Probably have cheese with this, maybe some sausages from the freezer.

Lunches for OH on normal days;
-Mini pitta pizzas
-Yoghurt
-Fruit (banana/blueberries/strawberries)

My lunches will be mini pitta pizzas/pasta/mini pancakes/curly fries dependant on what I fancy and what I can be bothered to do/have.

We're trying to clear some freezer space and use up my mass of home made purées for bubbah so he'll be having those for his lunch/tea. It'll be a bit pot luck but here's some of what is in the freezer;
-Broccoli and cauliflower cheese
-Pork, mushrooms, carrots, peas, sweetcorn and gravy
-Lamb, carrots and mushrooms with gravy
-Peach pudding
-Rice pudding with mixed berries
-Pea, potato and carrot
-Sweet potato (possible, although I may have used this all up last week)
-Apple and pear
-Pear

He'll also be having yoghurt for lunch and tea. Although I may mix it up and give him banana or pitta bread with cream cheese so he's not overwhelmed by purée central.


As always, I'm linked up to At Home With Mrs M so feel free to have a nosy at everyone else's meal plans.

Finally, before you go; a funny picture for you all. I was taking pictures of bubbah and got one which never fails to make me laugh. OH and I like to call it his photo bomb pic (where someone jumps in the picture at the last minute pulling a silly face)

Recipe Binder: Tuna Pasta Salad

Suitable for babies and adults this is a simple recipe you can make to give your baby some "real" food if you want a change from purées. It's from six months due to the pasta (it's not advised before then due to the gluten in pasta). Also, if you're making for baby and using tinned tune - get the tuna in sunflower oil or spring water as the one in brine will have too much salt for them.

Yummy!

What you need
-Pasta
-Cream cheese
-Tuna
-Sweetcorn

What you do
-Cook the pasta according to instructions
-Flake the tuna and, if wanting to, cook
-Again, if you want to, cook the sweetcorn
-Mix together with the pasta, binding together with cream cheese


Done! Quick and simple, my favourite kind of recipe. Cream cheese is used simply because it's stickier than cheese sauce (although you can use this instead) so it's easier for babies to get hold of it as a finger food.

Meal Planning Monday; 13 August 2012

Happy Monday! Last week's meal plan went pretty well, although three of my meals didn't happen as I bought some pork mince on a whim and that lasted me for three days!

Bubbah certainly enjoyed his food this week, upgrading to lumpier food including toast (after leaning forward and trying to eat mine earlier in the week) and a massive upgrade of tuna pasta salad - courtesy of my local sure start lunch club. I'm planning on making the pasta salad myself this week and will be posting the recipe up on here at some point. As you can see below, he certainly still enjoys his food;

I'm beginning to think he has hollow legs! That or all the backwards crawling he does works up an appetite. He seems to be making our small table his favourite spot to crawl to as he keeps ending up there;

Anyway, on with the real reason for this post...this week's meal plan. A couple of repeats (to use up sauces and tortillas) while some of last week's missed meals are moved to this week.

• Quiche (Lorraine for me, tomato for OH)
• Fajitas
• Tuna pasta salad for me, sausage stew for him
• Pizza
• Jackets
• Pigs in blankets

OH is having salad and fruit for lunches. Mine will be a mix of crumpets, pasta, leftover quiche and sandwiches. 

Bubbah has got a big ol' batch of rice pudding to work through this week as well as toast, veg and fruit purées, yoghurt, porridge and bananas. 

As always, I've linked up to Mrs M's meal planning post so head on over and have a looksie!

Recipe Binder: fruity rice pudding

This was something I tried last week to great success with bubbah (and OH) so I'm going to make a big batch of it this week. I thought I'd share the recipe as it's great for everyone, not just babies!

What you need

• 1 pint of milk
• 50g pudding rice
• Fruit of your choice (I used blueberries and raspberries)

How you make it

• On the hob, add the pudding rice and milk to a saucepan (make it a deep one)
• Cook while stirring continuously on a low heat (too high and it will curdle/boil over)
• Continue cooking and stirring until it is the desired consistency
• Blend your fruit and stir into the rice

Makes approx 5-6 portions

Meal Planning Monday; 6th August 2012

Happy Monday everybody! Last week's meal plan went very well, we managed to get a birthday date night out at Chiquitos (fajitas and mac 'n' jack for anyone who's interested)

We also managed to have our little picnic the next day - albeit indoors thanks to rain storms - consisting of pasta and pesto, mini pitta pizzas, chocolate covered flapjack, tortilla chips and nacho cheese dip, home made chocolate mousses, gummy sweets and the Victoria sponge birthday cake I'd made the day before and hid in the fridge while OH was at work. All topped off with Kopenburg for him (fruity cider) and grape Schloer for me.

Bubbah was, of course, very interested in our food and kept going for it but, obviously, couldn't have any of it so he was relegated to his own food supplies.

This week amidst all the excitement of birthday prep my little baby has suddenly become extremely adept at crawling backwards with great speed. Case in point; I left him in the middle of the room and went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I came back and he'd crawled backwards and then turned 90 degrees and continued crawling backwards under a small table we have in the space of about two minutes.

Doesn't he look pleased with himself?

This week is a bit of a basic, store cupboard use-up week. Mainly because we have a cupboard groaning from the amount of tins and basics I've accumulated over the last few weeks or so, whoops!

I'm going from memory again as bubbah decided the shopping list was quite nice looking and proceeded to grab it from my hand and eat it, resulting in massive holes in my list!

• Mac n cheese
• Fajitas
• Freezer meal for OH, lemon and herb turkey for me
• Jackets
• Pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon)
• Pizza

Lunches are muffins/toast for me, various purees for bubbah and salads with fruit and yoghurt for OH.

I've also got some pudding rice reading to make rice pudding for bubbah after a good trial run with it last week so I'll let you know how that goes!

As always, I've linked up to At Home With Mrs M! so mosey on over and have a nosey!