Weekly Meal Plan - #MealPlanningMonday Week 17 2017

After a week away it is lovely to come home to a meal plan already in place. To make life easier I planned this week before we went on holiday. I did this for a couple of reasons, one so it saves me the stress of wondering what we can eat and secondly there is always so much to do after a holiday and with the children going straight back to school the following day it does not give us much time to unwind.

The majority of this weeks meals are easy dinners using what I have already got in the freezer. This means I do not need to worry about going shopping as soon as we get home which will save us some much needed money.

This is what we will be having this week...

Easy School Holiday Meals with Birds Eye

When Birds Eye got in touch with me and asked me if I would like to try out some of their spring recipes I knew that the school holidays would be the ideal time to try one out. During the school holidays we all want to have meals that are quick and easy. When you have days out or have just had a busy day at home you want to be able to prepare a meal that is both nutritious and tasty.

Birds Eye do a great range of frozen fish, chicken, vegetables, potato products, pie, ready meals and even breakfast sweet treats. I decided to use some of their delicious fish products in a recipe. The Birds Eye Inspirations range allow you to feast on fish that is full of flavour and that has been paired with perfect extra ingredients. As you know I am following the Slimming World eating plan and will admit that it did play a part in what I decided to get. When I was looking at the syn value in the fish I was delighted to find that the Salmon in Lemon and Dill Sauce was syn free it went straight into my trolley!

I decided to make a meal based on the serving suggestion on the front of the box. The picture shows the salmon on a bed of pasta and peas.

This is what I did...

Honey Earl Grey Cupcakes for National Tea Day 2017

Like them or love them there seems to be a national day, week, or month for just about everything. The foodie that I am, I love food and drink days. Even if they are foods and drinks that we consume on a daily basis it is always good to celebrate them and try something new.

On Friday 21st April it is National Tea Day so it is only fitting to celebrate this much loved drink by creating a recipe incorporating tea. There are so many different teas, blends, flavours, makes available on the market. If you are a tea drinker you really are spoilt for choice! Aldi stock a good range of teas at a great price. From Mao Feng green tea to Earl Grey, from fruit infusions to the traditional black tea, we have even found special green teas that contain coconut, manuka honey or mint.

This recipe features the Aldi Earl Grey tea. Earl Grey is a lovely blend of black tea with flavours of bergamot. Bergamot that is used in Earl Grey is an oil that comes from the bergamot orange that grows in Italy. It gives you a light citrus cup of tea which goes perfectly with a slice of lemon and no milk. Tea also has many health benefits which make it an even better drink, they are:

• Tea contains antioxidants which help protect our bodies from pollutants
• Herbal teas contain no caffeine
• Black teas contain half the amount of caffeine than coffee
• Herbal teas can help settle your digestive system
• Tea is hydrating

Whenever we think about afternoon tea we immediately think of cake. This cake recipe is the ideal accompaniment to you cup of tea.

This is what I did...

Weekly Meal Plan - #MealPlanningMonday Week 16 2017 - Easy Meals for a Holiday

Welcome to week 16 of #MealPlanningMonday.

This weeks meal plan is not my usual plan. As it is the Easter holidays we have got a bit of time away so this week there is no specific meal plan in place. We have got a couple of meals booked but the remainder of the week we will be cooking for ourselves. To keep costs down I will be doing a small shop to get foods and snacks that we may need. But as we are a family of five I am sure you can imagine how much stuff we take away with us so we do not have the room for a lot of groceries. Plus we cannot take perishable foods, we will need to purchase those once we arrive. So this weeks meal plan is going to be a list of meals that will be easy to prepare, foods that we can easily pack and meals that everyone will enjoy.

Here are my top holiday meals...

• Lasagne - Pasta dishes are great easy meals. When cooking lasagne you can buy some delicious sauces that allow you to easily make this classic dish. You can buy the tomato base sauce, white sauce and a box of lasagne sheets will easily pack.

Lentil and Bacon Stew with Celeriac Mash

Stews are a great way of adding extra vegetables to a meal without the children always knowing exactly what they are eating. My eldest is adamant that he does not like butternut squash, but when I use it is a stew he eats it with no questions asked. Stews can often take a while, especially if you are using a slow cooker. But since I got my Pressure King Pro to review I am able to make a quick and easy stew in a faction of the time. As a busy mum this is something which has made meal time a lot easier and quicker!

This recipe is full of delicious vegetables but also has the bacon and lentils to bulk it up. With the celeriac mash it really is a filling meal.

This is what I did...

Posh Cross Buns French Toast - An Easter Breakfast

I love hot cross buns and can happily eat them all year round. At Easter they are an essential part of my shopping list. This year Aldi have lovingly created a hot cross bun that is out of this world! If you love a good, rich hot cross bun you must take a trip to your local store and pick up a pack of their brioche hot cross buns. Priced at just 99p for 4 you cannot go wrong.

You do not have to take just my word for how great these hot cross buns are. They have been dubbed the 'Posh Cross Bun' for Easter 2017. These indulgent, sweet buns are packed with juicy sultanas, raisins and currants and combined with the all butter brioche you will find them to be simply irresistible! Over the last few years brioche breads have certainly become the most popular sweet bread on the market and during 2016 Aldi sold 16 times more brioche than the likes of Marks and Spencer and Waitrose! Aldi's brioche range accounted for 37% of sweet bread sales in the UK!

To celebrate their 'Posh Cross Buns' Aldi have teamed up with Great British Bake Off finalist Miranda Gore Browne to bring you some delicious recipes, both sweet and savoury, and all featuring their 'Posh Cross Buns'. When I was asked to feature one of the recipes I could not resist trying the French toast recipe. It was so delicious I am going to share it with you!

This is what I did...