Andrew returns to work tomorrow after our Christmas break, and I have taken this date to be my annual return to eating healthily. There was no point in trying to be good whilst Andrew was off, as considered all food to be fair game as he was still celebrating Christmas, and I have no willpower when there are homemade mince pies, boxes of Maltesers and cheese and crackers in the house. So tomorrow marks the day when I stop eating shortbread for breakfast and whole camemberts for lunch (that’s an exaggeration, but not by much).
Tomorrow also marks the day when I start a more rigid feeding routine for Ioan. He recently started weaning, and has taken to vegetable purees with a definite enthusiasm (especially parsnip and spinach).
But instead of spoonfeeding him a bit of food a couple of times a day when he seems to be in a good mood and I have some time on my hands, I need to start to set some predictable ‘mealtime’ routines for him. Let’s see how that goes, eh?!
A couple of meals of note from last week include our annual trip to the pie and mash shop. It’s not intended to be annual, but I note from Facebook memories that the first week of January seems to coincide with a pie and mash craving, and I end up indulging in one of my favourite meals. Next year Ioan will be able to enjoy his own portion!
I also cooked some lovely Toulouse sausages, which I served with Puy lentils mixed with vegetables.
I also restarted my Cookbook Challenge with lemon and butter roasted chicken with pommes Anna from Anthony Bourdain’s new book – more on that in another blog post.
On the menu this week is the following:
- Monday – easy peasy pasta for meat free Monday (recipe to follow)
- Tuesday – faggots and vegetables
- Wednesday – sausage pasta bake
- Thursday – pierogi with caramelised onions and sauerkraut
- Friday – a Gordon Ramsay Cookbook Challenge of cod and tomato stew
- Saturday – lamb kebabs with homemade hummus and salad
- Sunday – roast beef and all the trimmings
I am also hoping to have a new piece of kit in my kitchen in the next few days, which should mean making healthy breakfasts and lunches is much easier for me, even with Ioan around – more on that soon.
What are your plans for the coming days? For inspiration, here is a meal plan from my fellow blogger Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Mummy.