I’ve seen this on a few other blogs and have decided to join in at last! Go over to Mrs M to see more entries!
I do all my food shopping on a Saturday, usually online, so although it’s Meal Planning Monday, mine is going to include the weekend past.
This week the diet starts again with a vengeance, I think I lost 1lb over Christmas so I intend to carry on where I left off. Also, we need to budget very carefully this month because I got paid 8 days early so January is going to be a very lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng month.
On Saturday night, as it was New Year’s Eve and on previous years we’ve had takeaway pizza, I decided to do a home version. I cooked chicken goujons and made home made dipping sauces, then we had a garlic pizza bread to share then the husband and I shared a pepperoni pizza, which I had with salad and he had with some oven chips. M had a small cheese and ham pizza of his own with some chips. For dessert we all had a Cadbury mousse. The whole meal came to 27 WeightWatchers points, which sounds a lot but I get 42 Pro Points a day and I had slept through breakfast and had low point soup for lunch. If we’d had the same things from Dominos, it would have been at least double!
Last night (Sunday) I made Beef and Ale Stew in the slow cooker. I changed the recipe slightly because I didn’t do dumplings but put potatoes in the stew instead, plus I added some button mushrooms just to increase the veg content. The whole thing was Filling & Healthy on WeightWatchers and only came to 6 Pro Points each! M didn’t eat it, as he refuses anything with gravy and there’s not much I can to stew to make it dry, so he had fishfingers, chips and a load of veg!
Tonight I am making Cottage Pie. Yes, that link is for Shepherd’s Pie, but I’m using beef mince as I don’t like lamb mince. It works out 13 Points whereas their version is 12. Again, it’ll just be for me and the husband as the boy won’t eat it. I’ll think about what to give him later.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) it’s back to work for me and the hub, so I am doing something quick and easy as the husband will going off to football. I have some steak in the freezer and will grill it and serve it with a jacket potato and some veg. M will be going to the childminder who gives him an evening meal so I don’t have to worry about what to feed him during the week, which is a great help.
On Wednesday we have Coq au Vin. Surprisingly easy to make, and a WW recipe to boot. You dry fry some streaky bacon in little strips, then add some skinless boneless chicken thighs (whole) to brown along with whole shallots, then you add chicken stock, a glass of red wine, a tablespoon of tomato purée and some button mushrooms and simmer it for about 90 minutes. At the end you add a tablespoon of plain flour to thicken and serve sprinkled with fresh parsley and with mashed potato. I’ve been making this recipe for years and it really is delicious.
Thursday is Spaghetti Bolognese, using up the rest of the beef mince from Monday. I will grate carrots into it to bulk it out a bit (and to make the husband eat at least one portion of his five-a-day) and I prefer whole wheat spaghetti. And I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten to buy chopped tomatoes.
Friday is freezer night. It used to be takeaway night, but due to dieting and budgeting that has to change. So it will most likely be scampi and chips, which I love. It is quite high in points but not as high as an Indian, so it will have to do!
So that’s my first Meal Planning Monday. I’d love to hear what you are planning this week – are you dieting, detoxing or eating what you darn well please?
Glad to see so many people climbing back on the weightloss wagon (me being one of them as well!) Good luck to us all. Impressed to see you’ve read a book already this year!
Kind of cheated on the book front, I read 75% of it last year! But I’ve almost finished a book in one day so I guess it’s evening itself out
1) your new years eve meal sounds BRILL. Of course, being Hogmanay up here dinner on the 31st tends to be quite a big thing- there were eight of us and four courses? but i could really look forward to this in future. Might have to get D on the case. Pizza AND goujons??
2) Freezer Friday! What a great idea. Will add to the routine.
3) I like this whole idea immensely. Sadly I fear this would last me about two weeks (and then university would take over). I would delegate to Dougal but he just doesn’t have the cooking flexibility. Whenever I get him to cook tea it ends up being some hours-overdue epic. there’s no such thing as a quick flung together healthy meal. I guess he’s still somewhat new to cooking. and he’s better than he was when I *started* at uni.
4) Will try that coq au vin, probably cook it in the oven so as to have rice with it (I cook rice in the oven, odd I know but it’s how I was taught to!) as it sounds yum!
Maybe we’re pigs, but we ALWAYS get chicken strippers when we order pizza from Dominos!
I always keep some goodies in the freezer for quick meals if we’re too tired – to avoid the takeaways. Doesn’t always work, but sometimes a particularly nice ready meal curry can work just as well as an expensive takeaway one! This week I really fancy scampi!
I will email you the recipe for the Coq au Vin so you have the amounts and timings etc. It really is lovely. Definitely use thigh meat as it works better with the red wine than breast meat which I have also tried.
I now want to eat scampi. Grr.
I am going to try some of those recipes though. Thx.
They’re still in the freezer. Pop round!
Hello, just found your blog via Mrs M’s MPM. Love the sound of your coq au vin meal, never tried that. Good luck with WW, it’s challenging trying to cook up low fat meals for hubbys who don’t need to follow the plan. Thanks for sharing x
Hello, thanks for visiting! I have just posted the recipe for the coq au vin, do try it – only 7 points! My hubby thinks he doesn’t need the low fat meals but actually he does
Thanks for joining in!
I think I am going to try that beef and ale stew, Mr M would love that and it’s healthy too which is a big bonus. I’ve just dusted off my slow cooker so I might get round to it in the next couple of weeks!