EEK! Just a little bit excited about sharing my first menu
with my nearest and dearests. I always feel that once Labour Weekend hits, summer is just
around the corner. This week’s menu is
just that – a little bit of summer goodness with a couple of winter faves too.
Before the big reveal, let me explain my thinking about how
your weekly menu will work...
Weekly eating plan: Each day your menu will include breakfast, lunch and dinner. Whilst this works best for me and the hubby,
mix this up and make it work in whatever way you need it to for you and your
family. I will always give you options in regards to the meat that
you can use. This can be really helpful
if you are like me and not a huge fan of meat or on the other hand if your better
half needs more. Lunch is always a mix of lovely leftovers from the night
before or a wee concoction of what's available in the fridge.
Snacks and sweet treats: I'm an absolute planning freak and love to have my snacks
and treats planned before the week starts.
I find that if I don’t plan for them I will resort to the foods that
make me feel a bit ick. So each week, you'll find a list of snacks and sweet treats that you can make whenever
it works best for you.
Shopping list: Alongside your weekly eating plan, you will get your
shopping list of all the ingredients you'll need for the week.
Tips & Tricks: For some meals I'll include some extra thoughts I've learnt from my own experiences.
t=teaspoon, T=tablespoon, C=cup, g=grams, L=litre, w=with
So here we go...
SHOPPING LIST
Fruit & Veg:
4 avocados
1kg lemons
4 apples
4 bananas
500g frozen blueberries
1 bag of rocket
1 Cos lettuce
1 pack cherry tomatoes
4 onions
3 red capsicums
2 orange capsicums
4 spring onions
4 bunches of coriander
3 stalks of lemongrass
4 cucumber
4cm of ginger
1 shallot
450g spinach
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of parsley
2 tomatoes
Meat:
500g mince (any meat)
500g frozen prawns
6 chicken sausages
500g bacon
2 fish fillets
900g chicken (breast or thighs)
800g chicken
1kg boneless pork belly
Deli:
4 chorizo
1 pack pastry
500g cheese
30 eggs
500ml cream
200g feta
250g parmesan
250ml lime juice
2L coconut water
1kg greek yoghurt
Canned:
3 cans coconut cream
1 can pineapple slices
1 can crushed tomatoes
500g corn
Pre-packed:
Wholegrain mustard
500g sundried tomatoes
450g green olives
150g minced chilli
150g minced garlic
250g brown sugar
100g kaffir lime leaves
10g cumin seeds
40g cumin
40g turmeric
40g ground cloves
150ml fish sauce
250g corn flour
Rice paper wraps
150ml soy sauce
500ml balsamic vinegar
500g unsalted peanut butter
500g honey
Vanilla essence
40g cinnamon
500g coconut
250g rice flour
2L almond milk
500g cacao powder
500g bulgur wheat
50g curry powder
150g whole almonds
500g coconut oil
250g dates
40g sesame seeds
40g pumpkin seeds
40g sunflower seeds
50g goji berries
50g cranberries
250g mayonaise
Misc:
1C chia seeds
500g vanilla protein powder
SNACKS & SWEET TREATS
Curried Eggs: allrecipes.com.au/recipe/14511/curry-eggs.aspx
Apple Quarters Spread with Peanut Butter
Greek Yoghurt with Almonds and Honey Drizzle
Bliss Balls: jesselanewellness.com/recipes/date-bliss-balls/
With this recipe use up the remainder of your seeds from your shopping list and reduce the amount of water.
Salted Cacao Fudge: petite-kitchen.com/2013/06/simple-and-nourishing-chocolate-fudge.html
MONDAY
Breakfast: Coconut Green
Smoothie
I love starting the week with a glass full of green goodness. Place all of your ingredients in a jug and blitz with your whizz stick.
600mls coconut water
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 apple
1C spinach
½C kale
2 spirulina tablets
1 frozen banana
1T peanut butter
Tips and tricks: Once the groceries arrive, I immediately peel my
bananas, cut them in half and throw them in a container and straight into the
freezer they go. I buy my pills and potions like spirulina
tablets from iherb.com, I find it really cheap.
Lunch: Avocado Smash
w Rocket & Chorizo
2 ripe avocados
2 chorizo
80g rocket
8 cherry toms
1 lemon
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
1) Preheat oven grill to 200degrees. Slice chorizo and lay flat on oven tray. Place under grill.
2) Whilst in the oven, prepare remainder of the salad. Roughly mash avocado in the bottom of a bowl. Squeeze
half a lemon over avocado. Place a small handful of rocket on top. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and place
over the rocket.
3) Once outer edges of chorizo are crisp, remove
from oven and sit for a few mins. Place chorizo over salad and drizzle with olive oil and
balsamic.
Dinner: Little & Friday Quiche w Summer Salad (
This recipe is adapted from the Little and Friday Quiche
Lorraine Recipe. I have so much respect
for Kim Evans – I love her story and business model and if you haven’t been to
her café it is must next weekend.
1 sheet of flaky pastry
2T wholegrain mustard
1C grated cheese
1C finely chopped onion
1C finely chopped parsley
12 eggs
½C cream
8 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1) Preheat oven to 180degrees. Grease meatloaf tin with butter. Lay your pastry inside of the tin so that your pastry covers the sides of the tin.
Prick the pastry with a fork and place into the fridge for 10 minutes. Bake for 5 minutes or until pastry
starts to puff up. Remove from the oven
and using the back of a fork gently flatten the pastry back into shape.
2) Mix the mustard and cheese and cover the bottom of the
pastry. Top with onion and parsley. Whisk eggs and cream with salt and pepper and pour into loaf tin. Do not let this mix
go over the edge of the pastry. Bake for 30mins.
3) Place tomatoes on top and
bake for a further 20mins until the egg is set and the top is golden. Let sit for 5–10mins before serving.
4) Put a salad together of all of things that you love – I love
rocket, beetroot, feta and pine nuts with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic.
Tips & tricks: This quiche is great served with your favourite chutney. You do not have to use all of the egg mix. I made mini muffin with my left overs by lining muffin tin with baking paper and filling with the egg mixture. I baked for around 180degrees for 10 minutes and they were so good the next day.
TUESDAY
Breakfast: Chia Brekkie Pudding
I love having this breakfast pudding. I make mine in a jar the night before and take it to work with me. I substitute the banana for blueberries, which is absolutely delicious.
Lunch: Little & Friday
Quiche
Leftovers from Monday night's dinner. Heat and eat!
Dinner: Prawn Saagwala
w Cauliflower Rice
This curry is a great way to get your daily intake of greens. Save some leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.
View Saagwala recipe here: nadialim.com/recipe/chicken-saagwala/
View cauliflower rice recipe here: ohmyveggies.com/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/
Tips & tricks: I always make extra cauliflower rice as I find it lasts so well in the fridge. It's great to add to meals that need extra substance. You can use whatever meat that tickles your fancy or whatever you have in the freezer that needs to be used. Frozen spinach is perfect for this recipe too.
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Blueberry Breeze Smoothie
Blitz all ingredients in a jug with a stick blender. If you need to, you can thin it down with additional water.
600mls coconut water
½C greek yoghurt
½C frozen blue berries
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Lunch: Leftover Saagwala w Cauliflower Rice
Dinner: Corn Fritters
w Bacon & Avocado Smash
This is summer on a plate for me. I add the bacon just to add
a little bit of something-something but I will leave that one completely up to
you. There should be extra fritters for tomorrow's lunch.
View recipe here: thehealthychef.com/2014/02/gluten-free-sweetcorn-fritters/
THURSDAY
Breakfast: Petite Cacao
Smoothie
Add all ingredients in a jug and blitz with a stick blender.
500mls almond milk
1T avocado
1½T cocao
1t chia seeds
¼C coconut cream
½t cinnamon
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Tips & tricks: When my avos start to go a little brown I gladwrap a tablespoon
of avocado and place it in the freezer all ready for my petite cacao smoothie.
Lunch: Leftover Fritters w Salad
Dinner: Meatloaf w Italian Twist
Meatloaf was a bit of a staple meal for me as a kid,
but it wasn’t quite like this one. To
spunk up a very basic meatloaf recipe, I add all of my favourite antipasto
flavours.
500g pork mince
6 chicken sausages
1 egg
1 onion
1 chorizo
2 rashes of bacon diced
100grams crumbled feta
½C sliced sundried toms
½C pitted olives
4 capsicums
Grated parmesan
1) Preheat oven to 200degrees. Place whole capsicum in the oven. Keep in until the skin is blistering
and turning slightly black.
2) Place all other ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Grease your meatloaf tin and place the meat mixture into the
dish.
3) Remove the crispy skins from your capsicum and place the
flesh into a jug and blitz with a stick blender – add some olive oil so that
you from a puree with the capsicum. Cover the top of your meatloaf with the capsicum puree and
grate the parmesan on top.
4) Reduce oven to 180degrees and bake meatloaf
for up to another 30mins.
FRIDAY
Breakfast: Peanut Butter
Smoothie
Add all ingredients into a jug and blitz with a stick blender.
600mls almond milk
1 whole frozen banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2T peanut butter
1T honey
Lunch: Meatloaf Wrap
I am not a fan of re-heating meat which is perfect for this
lunch. Add your favourite salad fillings including an egg based
mayo, slice your meatloaf over top and crumble feta over top. Your family will love this one!
Dinner: Pan-seared Fish
w Cos and Tabouleh Salad
This dish is so easy but looks so impressive! I always get the hubby to cook the fish as he
cooks it to perfection, allowing me to prepare the Tabouleh. Put the large cos lettuce on plates and cover with Tabouleh. Place the fish on top of the Tabouleh and serve with lemon
wedges.
View tabouleh recipe here: norecipes.com/recipe/tabouleh-recipe/
SATURDAY
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs
w Feta & Sundried Tomatoes
Milk is fine in scrambled eggs but cream is my all-time
favourite. I always use the line ‘oh I do hate to waste that last little bit
of cream, let’s have eggs for breakfast’.
4 eggs
6T milk/cream
¼C sundried tomatoes,
¼C crumbled feta
Whisk eggs and milk/cream together with a little salt
and pepper. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, reduce the heat a little and pour your
eggs in. Lightly scramble the eggs, but not mixing them too much, then add sundried toms and crumbled feta. Mix through gently not separating the
eggs. Serve on toasted Vogel's.
Lunch: Leftover Tabouleh w Prawns
Panfry some prawns to add to your leftover tabouleh for lunch.
Dinner: Cuisine Coconut
Chicken Wraps
This is my signature summer dish – it has the absolute wow
factor. You could use fish or beef with
this dish too. Recipe from Cuisine mag, January 2014 issue.
Coconut Chutney
Place everything into a jug and blitz with your stick blender. Season with salt.
1C coconut
1T minced chilli
½C chopped coriander
2T brown sugar
4T lime juice
½C coconut cream
1t kaffir lime leaves
½t toasted cumin seeds
Chicken
900g chicken, chopped into 3 cm strips
2 stalks of lemongrass, chopped
2t minced chilli
½t turmeric
4t minced garlic
2T fish sauce
1t corn flour
1 cucumber
Fresh bunch of coriander
Rice paper wraps
1) Add everything except for the chicken/cucumber/rice
paper into a jug and blitz with your stick blender. Marinade chicken for as long as possible. Then cook chicken on BBQ or skillet pan for 4 minutes on each side – set aside.
2) Peel your cucumber into strips with your potato peeler – set
aside. Remove coriander leaves from stalks – set aside.
3) Place chutney, cucumber, coriander and chicken on
separate plates with a spoon on each. Get a large bowl of warm water. Cover an area of your bench in glad wrap. Dip one rice paper wrap in your bowl of water until it
becomes flimsy. Place onto your gladwrapped bench. In the middle of the rice
paper, place a layer of cucumber followed by a layer of chicken, a layer of
chutney and sprinkle with coriander.
Gently pull one side of the rice paper roll and wrap over the chicken
tightly, do the same with other side.
Place on a chopping board covered in gladwrap. Repeat until all ingredients are finished. Place the salsa in the middle of the plate. Cut the wraps in the middle on an angle and
place on top of the salsa. Sprinkle
coriander on top of the wraps.
Tips & tricks: Always use warm water when working with rice paper. Whenever it's too hot I find that the rice
paper is much harder to work with. Gladwrap is a necessity for this recipe – lay the rice
paper on top of glad wrap, it makes the rolling of the wraps super easy. This chicken makes amazing kebabs on the BBQ too. And lasty, you can never have too much coriander.
SUNDAY
Breakfast: Bircher Muesli
It's great to have this muesli on a Sunday morning with a
freshly brewed coffee. I always add a
few almonds on top to add to the texture. The great thing with bircher muesli is that you can substitute some of the ingredients with what you have in the pantry.
View muesli recipe here: au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/food/recipes/recipe/-/19498391/gluten-free-chia-and-goji-bircher-muesli-with-coconut-yoghurt-and-passionfruit-recipe/
Lunch: Coconut Chicken Wraps Leftovers
Dinner: Lemongrass Pork
Belly w Spicy Salsa
There is something really close to my heart about a family
Sunday roast. This is my kind of roast and these flavours will rock your world. Recipe from Dish Magazine, 2012.
Pork
1K boneless pork belly
1 large stalk of lemongrass
1T grated fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
Oil
Salt
1) Preheat oven to 220degrees. Score pork belly skin with sharp knife. Sprinkle with salt then cover with a paper towel and let sit for 10mins to dry the skin out.
2) Peel away the outer layer of lemongrass and grate remaining with a microplane. Grate the ginger
and finely chop the garlic. Add to a
small bowl and blitz with a stick blender.
3) Pat dry the pork skin and sprinkle some additional
salt. Lightly score the flesh of
the pork and massage the lemongrass paste into the meat.
In a small roasting dish place a piece of tin foil so that it lines the
dish. Place the pork on top of the tin
foil, skin side up. Gently pour water into the tin foil bath, making sure that
you don’t pour any of the water onto the skin of the pork. The water should be half way up the
pork. Brush the skin of the pork with
olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4) Roast pork for 30mins. Add a little bit more water then reduce heat to 175degrees and roast for a further 30mins. To finish, place the pork belly under the grill to make the skin
crackle.
Spicy Salsa
Mix all ingredients together.
400g pineapple slices, finely chopped
½ a cucumber, chopped
1t minced chilli
1 shallot, finely chopped
2t fish sauce
2t caster sugar
2T lime juice
Dipping Sauce
Mix all ingredients together.
2T soy sauce
2T balsamic vinegar
2t lime juice
2t chilli sauce
½t grated ginger
1t minced garlic
Tips & tricks: I love doubling the spicy salsa and serving slices of pork
belly on top. Rice and bok choy are great additions to serve with this
dish too. I love to buy fresh lemongrass. I pop it in the freezer and bring it out when
I need it. It is so much better that the
stuff in the jar and about a quarter of the price. If you have any left of salsa it is amazing for lunch the
next day with a little bit (or a lot) of crispy bacon.
