Weekly menu and recipes!

[jamethiel]

So, I have the day off! That equals me posting!

First things first: how are your challenges going? I am doing REALLY WELL. I have eaten a packed lunch every single day, made dinner every single night and only bought hot cross buns once.

So: the menu for this week.
Friday: Home-made Sourdough bread bruschetta
Saturday: Kangaroo Bolognaise and salad
Sunday: Left over Pearl Barley and Vege soup (told you that was a lifesaver)
Monday: Beef and Turnip casserole
Tuesday: Salad and Beef roll as I was out at Photography class
Wednesday: Oriental style Chicken and Noodle soup
Thursday: Vaguely Moroccanish Lamb with lentils
Tonight: Hamas curry

If you want any of the recipes, just comment~

Today's recipe (which was for breakfast, but anyway)
World's best baked beans.


400g of a mix of dried beans. I use borlotti, navy, and black-eyed beans.
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
2 rashers of thick bacon
2 sweet peppers (capsicum)
1/2 a bottle of passata
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
1 teaspoon of smoky paprika
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
black pepper
1 tablespoon of maple syrup.


The day before, soak the beans for 12 hours.

Chop the onion, carrot, capsicum and bacon. Mince the garlic.

Drain the beans and combine the ingredients, either in a crockpot or an ovenproof casserole dish.

Crockpot cooking.
Leave the dish cooking overnight. You'll have fresh baked beans in the morning.

Oven cooking
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
Add sufficient water to cover the beans by two inches. Seal the casserole and bake for at least 4 hours. Stir well after 2 hours, adjusting the liquid level if necessary.

Comments

[holyschist]

I am intrigued by Vaguely Moroccanish Lamb with lentils and would love a recipe!

We've done pretty well on cooking the last couple weeks. We've eaten out a little, but FAR less, and no McDonald's or Wendy's (I'm trying for "if we eat out, something cheap and relatively healthy is preferable"); I've also been packing my lunches for work out of necessity (I'll probably go back to buying lunches next month, different job).

I got a very well-paid internship for the summer, so my ability to pay rent and keep making inroads in my debt is probably good through September, by which point I sure hope I get a decent job or have some more regular temping lined up.

[jamethiel]

This quantity feeds 8-10 and freezes amazingly

Ingredients
1.25 kg of lamb, cubed in 1.5 inch chunks
500g green/brown lentils
2 medium brown onions
200g dried apricots
1L beef stock (more if you cook it on the stovetop/oven)
1 cup of water

Marinade
175 mL citrus juice (I usually use a lemon and an orange)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves (minced)
2 strips of lemon peel/citrus peel
1 tbsp dried ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

12+ hours prior, combine the marinade and the lamb. Cover and leave in the fridge for 24 hours.

Slice the onions and brown. Layer onions, lentils, dried apricots and meat in thin layers until all the ingredients are used

Tip the remainder of the marinade and the stock and water. Cover and (oven) either simmer on low for 4 hours or (crockpot) turn onto low and cook for 8 hours. If you cook it on the oven, cover the solids with 1-2 inches of liquid and check it every hour, stirring.

Let me know if you have questions!

[holyschist]

That looks so good! Thank you!

[kyrielle]

Oh, that sounds marvelous!