Confessions of a Meal Planner

I always have mixed feelings about admitting that I am a meal planner to my peers. I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how many other 20-year-olds do this kind of thing. Is it dorky? Do I seem incredibly old and pedantic? But really, what does it matter. I love cooking, and I love meal planning and all the benefits it entails.

Back when I first begun here blog, I shared my weekly meal plans online. While I have currently stopped posting them, I have by no means stopped implementing them at home! Each week, usually on a Friday night - over the occasional bottle of wine - Chris and I sit down with a selection of our cookbooks and plan out meals for the week (I know, could we be any more hardcore young adults?). Chris is the ideas man, pulling recipes from everywhere, while I occasionally mumble something along the lines of "we could just do a stir fry or something…"
From my personal experience, the benefits of making a meal plan are boundless. We only go major food shopping once a week, which saves us money and time by cutting out numerous trips to the supermarket (though I'll be honest here, we always forget or run out of something during the week so we do often go back!). While we don't usually assign meals to specific days, we always decide in the morning what we are going to have, so we can know what we are doing upon returning home from the days adventures. On a sustainable level, we never have to throw out unused food because we only buy what we need. And in the year and a bit we have lived out of home, Chris and I have never bought take out - something I am incredibly happy about.

I bought Chris this blackboard for Christmas, to finally fulfil our dream of displaying our meal plan in a more aesthetically pleasing way. Plus, we are just really into decorating our little apartment.
Are you a meal planner? Do you love it as much as I do, or am I just an overly organised crazy person (some days, I really think I am!).
Reanna.

What's on the Menu & Exam Freedom!

I cannot believe, my first year of university is over! Don't get me wrong, I have loved studying this year and I look forward eagerly to the rest of my degree (and post-grad, and whatever else, I'm an Arts student haha), but it is such a relief to be free of study for awhile. I have so many little plans for the summer break, and I've been counting down the days until I could free myself from the oppression of exam writing. 

This upcoming week I have plans to throw myself completely into the Blog With Pip course. I have been looking forward to it for months, but I am already behind! 

On another note, happy World Vegan Day! While Chris and I are still omnivores, we are still interested in occasionally eating and cooking vegan food. This morning we wondered down to the Melbourne Showgrounds for a festival showcase in honour of the day. It was great to get out of the house and try some of the delicious offerings available. Plus we had the best veggie burgers from Vegilicious catering. A bit of wondering further down the showgrounds resulted in us coming across the Masterchef kitchen (I completely forgot it was there!). I suspect we weren't meant to walk around the barrier and up the building, but we did anyway. I was in absolute awe of the herb gardens surrounding the building.

As for the week ahead and our foodie plans, here they are. Yesterday I was off at a last minute baby sitting job, so I was stuck with take away Thai for dinner. Chris, on the otherhand, apparently cooked an amazing chilli con carne with beans for himself. Nothing beats homemade food.

1) Tonight, keeping with the World Vegan Day theme, we tried out Janella's Tofu and Gado Gado Pies. With a delicious homemade spelt pastry and peanut sauce, they were pretty freaking good!

2) That lemon and calamari risotto from last week never eventuated due to a lat minute dinner date, so it's on the books again this week.

3) Dumpling soup is in order to use up all the wonton wrappers in our freezer!

4) Chicken and Pumpkin Laksa. 

5) A quick and easy frittata to use up a massive bunch of kale we scored at the market on the weekend. 

6) On my way to the gym the other day I came across a giant collection of rosemary stems and a sign saying they were free. So I gladly helped myself, and Chris has decided that this calls for a roast to use some of it up!

Expect to see me around a bit more in the coming weeks! I'll be sure to pop around the blogosphere as well.
What's on your menu this week?
Reanna.

Snapshots (ft. What's on the Menu)

Exams are starting up, so I'm a bit all over the place with study, even though I really feel like I should be in holiday mode! Thus I am for a lack of words today. Pictures should better some up life lately:

Forever stealing flowers from front gardens around the neighbourhood // This is where I've been spending most of my time lately // Homemade Vietnamse vermicelli salad for lunch

1) Lemon risotto with calamari. I made this a few months ago and it was delicious, yet so simple!

2) Porcupine Meatballs, an old family favourite of Chris'. It's essentially just balls of mince and rice in a tomato sauce, should be good with a nice salad. 

3) We are going to try our hand at making  gozleme again. 

4) Ochazuke - a Japanese dish we saw on a tv show the other day. It's basically rice with a few vegetables, pickles and the like on top, which you then cover with green tea. 

5) Beef teriyaki, something simple. 

6) Tofu and vegetable skewers. Hopefully if the weather is nice we can take this down to the park for a barbecue dinner. 

7) Haricot Lamb, from our new gluten free cookbook. 

This time next week I should be at the end of writing my last essay, then I'll finally be free! I'm also starting Pip's blog course on Monday, so hopefully there will be a bit going on around here!

What's been happening in your world this week? Cooking anything new, or going for some old favourites?

Reanna. 

What's on the Menu

Uni classes are DONE for the year! Now just to knuckle down and study for exams. It's crazy to think that in just over two weeks I will have officially completed my first year of university, which will also coincide with the one year anniversary of Chris and I moving up to Melbourne. So much has changed this year, and it has had it's numerous ups and downs. But overall, it has been a fantastic experience. 

I'm going to miss walking through beautiful Parkville all the time over the next few months. This place is my ultimate suburb crush (is that even a thing?). This house was a bit decrepit - including equally as run down cars out the front - but it still caught my eye.

 

Here's what's happening around here this week:

1) Asian marinated fish.

2) One of the new cookbooks Chris picked up the other week is conveniently gluten free! We are trying a few recipes from this lately, including this Spinach Meat Loaf.

3) An old favourite of tempeh burgers, with pumpkin sauce and maybe some home made wheat-free bread!

4) Chicken quesadillas, to start using up all those delicious tortillas we have in the freezer.

5) Polenta and lentils. This sounds a bit different - and doesn't look particularly visually appealing - but I am keen to start using up all this polenta we have in the pantry.

6) Tomorrow night we are having our monthly dinner party with friends. I suggested a Lebanese mezze theme, so hopefully it comes together well! Chris and I are bringing falafels, fattoush salad, and hopefully some gluten free breads. And maybe a dip if I get time.

7) We are having another date night this week! Seeing as my car registration is looming on the horizon (boo), we are staying in again. It's Chris' turn to organise, and he has chosen an Indian theme. Think curries, rice and naan bread! Excited!

Once I get past exams, I'm really looking forward to the summer months! Warmer weather, freedom, reading for pleasure, and camping. 

What's going on around your neighbourhood this week?

Reanna. 

What's on the Menu (ft. Cake)

Time is honestly getting the best of me these days. I've been feeling a bit all over the place lately, so I'm really looking forward to November 11 - the day my last assignment is due. A quick little weekend camping trip is in order I think!

My gluten free experiment hasn't exactly got off to a flying start. However, I have definitely cut back on the amount of wheat I am consuming. Chris bought some spelt flour the other day - which still contains gluten, but at a much lower level than regular wheat flours - and made a delicious foccacia with it for a BBQ dinner with friends last night. This week I am going to try a bit harder to cut gluten - or at least wheat - out of my diet. 

This delicious striped birthday cake a friend made last night wasn't exactly helping my cause haha.

That aside, here is the meal plan for our week ahead:

1) Homemade lasagna is in order, and I'm going to try my hand at making some gluten free (or spelt) lasagna sheets. Fingers crossed it works!

2) Miso and honey marinated chicken, with a fresh salad. Even though today looks like the last of the sunny weather for another week!

3) Coconut and lime baked fish.

4) Tofu with Kahah sauce (something peanuty I think?).

5) We are off to have dinner with a relative one night this week. I haven't seen her for ages, and she always puts up a good meal.

6) And tonight, fajitas! We were feeling the need for some Mexican in our life. While out shopping today we popped into La Tortilleria, a local Mexican restaurant that we have yet to try out, but it also sells fresh authentic tortillas! They grind the corn maize from scarcth and make the tortillas right in front of you. And for a 22 pack of them it was only $9! We can't wait to try them out tonight. 

And that's it for the week. I'm off to check of the Spring Fling festival in North Melbourne this afternoon, and hopefully the North Melbourne Market too.

What are your plans for the week ahead in cooking?

Have a good week!

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

I had all intentions of posting this yesterday, but it didn't matter all too much anyway, as we weren't even home last night! We are down in the country visiting family again this weekend, for my little half-brother's second birthday. The plan is for a barbecue in the park today, but I'm sceptical as to how successful this will be - the weather doesn't look very hopeful. Either way, delicious homemade food and family will still make for a wonderful day!

Here's something I have been a bit excited about home - FINALLY putting pictures up on the wall of our apartment! We have only been living there nearly a whole year, so it was about time we got around to it. We live in a rental, so we had to go through the process of getting permission from our landlord, but they were more than happy to let us decorate. As you can see, we have a bit of a red theme going on in our living area (this is only a small part of it). I love our old red chairs, we inherited them off my mum, and she got them second hand. So I have no idea how old they are!

But getting on track, here is our meal plan for the week ahead:

1) The book shop at our uni had a $2 book sale this last week, so Chris managed to score us several new cook books! One of them was an Indian one, so we are trying out Spicy Grilled Fish Fillets.

2) Stuffed Eggplants with Lamb - more stuffed eggplants! But they are Indian style this week haha.

3) Slow Beef "Melt", which is essentially a roast in the slowcooker. Hopefully this works, I've never done a roast in the slowcooker before!

4) Blackbean Fejoada over Spicy Rice. No idea what a fejoada is, I think it's some kind of curry.

4) Stir-fried kimchi and pork.

6) Lentil, Sesame and Sunflower Burgers, with some salad and fresh rolls. Perfect for this warmer weather!

What about you, have you been decorating around home lately? What are you cooking up anything new this week?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu (ft. Green Growing Things!)

I have been looking forward to Saturday all week. Chris and I had plans for shopping at the Vic Market, going to check of Finders Keepers in the city, and cooking up a Spanish fiesta for dinner - homemade date night! However, I felt rather under the weather this morning, then somehow managed to get something in my eye. I was in pain all morning, leaving Chris to do the shopping while I lay around feeling pathetic. A trip to the chemist was unsuccessful, so after spending forever trying to find a doctor that was a) open on a Saturday, and b) bulk billing, I finally managed to get an appointment.

Only to get local anaesethic in my eye and have a small bug removed. Not exactly the greatest day of my life (I have to wear an eyer patch for the next three hours!), but I feel much better. 

So sexy.

In better news, my seeds are growing! The basil is coming along in leaps and bounds, and the rosemary and oregano are poking their heads up too. 

It's back to uni next week (where did that week off go?), so here's what we have planned in the kitchen:

1) Falafels, perhaps with some homemade pita and salad.

2) Chicken soup and homemade noodles. I've never made noodles before, so fingers crossed this works!

3) Coconut, tomato and lentil dhal, in the slowcooker. Chris has work, and I have training at my job, so this week be perfect.

4) Fish balls in tomato sauce, maybe with homemade pasta?

5) Stuffed eggplant with rice wine and ginger sauce, from a Korean cookbook we borrowed from the library. We need to use up all this kimchi Chris made!

6) Pork and salad, something simple.

7) And as I mentioned earlier, tonight we are making a Spanish fiesta! We were planning to go out for dinner sometime this past week for our monthly date night, but someone (totalllly not me) scored themselves a public transport fine, so we opted to stay home instead. Plus, cooking it yourself is way more fun! We are planning to make a white wine sangria, and a series of small tapas. I'll be sure to share!

What are your plans for cooking this week? Are you growing any herbs or similar lately?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

Delayed meal plan this week, due to a trip back to our hometown over the weekend! It was great to catch up with both Chris and my families, eat some food that we didn't cook ourselves (a welcome reprise sometimes, as much as I love cooking haha) and just relax in the quiet countryside. 

Tonight's dinner, meal number #4. Nom.

We only just returned home this afternoon, so we missed out on our usual shopping trip to the Queen Vic Market! Here's our shortened meal plan for the week ahead:

1) Kofta kebabs, with some salad and home made pita bread.

2) Korean Sesame Beef Cups. Korean was in order this week, so we can try out the kimchi Chris has had fermenting the past few days. Fingers crossed it works!

3) Curried Lentil Loaf. 

4) Salmon and Thai Style Dressing. The recipe was originally for squid, but apparently the supermarket we went to was too cool to have fresh squid. BUT frozen salmon fillets were half price, so they will be even better! We hardly ever have salmon as it's so expensive.

5) Chris' sister and partner are coming around for dinner one night, so we have plans to whip up an African feast! Injeras, some Ethiopian curries, and a few beers. I love dinner parties!

I'm looking forward to this week. It's our "mid-semester" break from uni (9 weeks of class, 1 week off, 3 week than exams. What?), so I'm eager to spend some time at home, chill out, and catch up on study. I just handed in my major Psychology report this afternoon, so I finally feel like I can take a break for a few days. 

What's your culinary plan for the week ahead? Anything new?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

Time, stop! Or slow down!

I feel a bit inundated right now, due to assignments and work and uni and life and... I need a break haha. I only have one more week of uni then I finally get my "mid-semester break" (I've been at uni for 9 weeks, get a week off, then go back for three weeks... logical?) so, I'm pretty tired. 

To take my mind off things, I did some procrasti-baking last night:

I made these delicious brownies. I altered the icing (I used yogurt, cacao power and honey), and they turned out pretty good!

Tonight, we discovered we didn't have all the ingredients for the soup we were planning to make, so Chris opted to make our old favourite of miso soup. 

And some Japanese beer of course!

Meal planning down, now we are sitting back and having a chat about the future.

Here's the plan for the week ahead in our kitchen:

1) It's another dinner party night this Sunday with our high school friends. And I am not on dessert duty this time (one of our friends has a lot of allergies, so dessert is particularly difficult!). Chris and I are on the main, so we are going for a lamb curry and brown rice.

2) My mum is popping up to Melbourne with my younger siblings for the school holidays, so we will catch up for dinner at some point. I'm also heading out to the Werribee Zoo with my Mum and little sister tomorrow!!

3) Vego fried rice, something nice and easy for the busy week ahead of us!

4) Tacos - we are planning to slice up a nice steak and cook it up with some spices and home made tortillas. Nothing beats mexican.

5) We having been eyeing of a Quinoa Crust Pumpkin Pie in one of Donna Hay's books for ages, so we are knuckling down and trying it out this week!

6) Poached fish in an Asian Broth.

7) This is completely open! We may be meeting up with Chris' sister for another dinner party, or heading out to a Wine Ball through our uni. We are yet undecided! Maybe both? What to do.

How has your week been? What are your plans for the week ahead?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu & Snapshots

I find myself lacking in words a bit today, so here's a few snapshots from my week. 

Moroccan feast, featuring homemade hummus, chermoula and pita bread // Trying out a braided crown for something different // Studying in the non-studying library at uni, so reckless. 

Here's what we are eating this week:

1) The Fakes (essentially lentils, vegies and spices) soup we had planned for last week never eventuated, due a lovely dinner request from a relative. So we'll try again this week.

2) Jamie's Southern Indian Rice and Seafood Soup sounds pretty good!

3) Moroccan grilled chicken skewers. Just something pretty simple, as we are both pretty busy the first few evenings of the week with work, meetings and interviews.

4) Vegan MoFo bloggers are still producing loads of delicious recipes, so I'll try these Walnut-Crusted Tofu. Something different!

5) Spaghetti bolognese. Can you ever go wrong with bolognese?

6) Braised Beef in Rich Peanut Sauce from my slowcooker cookbook. Again, for our busy start to the week!

7) Lamb steaks with leek sauce.

Today I'm off to have lunch with my dad and his wife. Should be good to get away from study for a bit! I have a History assignment on the horizon, and it's a bit daunting. 

How has your week been? What are you cooking?

Reanna. 

What's on the Menu

It seems time has flown by again! Another week of uni, assignments, work and cooking some delicious meals! Chris has just started a new job which unfortunately coincides with dinner time, so I've been spending most nights cooking dinner! Not that I have a problem with that, but it was lovely to come from a nine hour day at uni on Wednesday to find this:

Red wine and a note on the table, and a surprise roast dinner. Chris also delivered the goods again this morning:

Yep, strawberry and banana bread for breakfast. Delicious! I think I'll keep this guy around :)

The plans for the week ahead in the kitchen are as follows:

1) I spied this Tempeh Matar recipe over here the other day. A few of the blog I'm following are participating in Vegan MoFo this month, so lots of delicious meals are popping up in the feed!

2) Moroccan Lamb from Jamie's 30 Minute Meals. Should be delicious with veggies, hummus and flat bread (and extra chilli according to Chris). 

3) Twice-Cooked Quinoa with Chilli and Lime Chicken from Donna Hay. 

4) Moroccan (again? Whoops!) meat with honey and dates, in the slowcooker!

5) Fakes soup. Basic but delicious!

6) Chilli Garlic Prawns from Janella. 

7) And tonight, we are off to a friends place to make pizzas, have a few beers, and celebrate the end of this damn election. I'll drink to that! 

Have you had a busy week? What's planned for your week ahead in the kitchen?
Reanna.

What's on the Menu & Spring Love

It's almost Spring, and I am so excited! I can't believe how amazing the weather has been this past week in Melbourne. I spent the whole day at uni on Thursday in a t-shirt, and today I even decided to bare my white legs!

Warm weather has got me looking forward for the months ahead. Picnics, evening walks, salads, and cold beers in the sunshine. Bliss!

Here's what we are cooking up this week:

1) Chermoula fish with Quinoa Pilaf and Tahini and Yoghurt Sauce, from our old favourite.

2) We'll whip up these Pumpkin and Chickpea Burgers, and put them in some fresh rolls from my work (benefits of working at a bakery, I can't remember the last time we bought bread!) with a Pumpkin and Miso Sauce from one of Janella's cookbooks and salad.

3) Vegetarian Frittata, maybe with a bit of feta thrown in and a salad on the side.

4) Chris wants to try cook a roast. We've tried a few times since we've moved out of home, but we always seem to stuff up something! Though we had no luck finding a decent piece of meat today. It's hard to get a small roast for two people.

5) Minestrone with Mixed Grains (from Janella, yet again!). We might add some chicken to this for a hearty soup.

6) There are still some dumpling wrappers in the freezer, so I might try make some tomorrow, and have some steamed Asian greens on the side. There's just something so fun about making and eating dumplings! Maybe it's just watching me fail at using chopsticks...

7) Satay stirfry with lamb and soba noodles, something simple.

And there we have it! I better buckle down and do some study, so I can enjoy the last few hours of sunshine later this afternoon!

Are you as excited as I am about this change in weather? What have you got planned this week in your kitchen?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

Oh my god, I can't believe it's the weekend again already. This week has gone by insanely quick. In between being inundated with uni classes, work, and general study, I've managed to squeeze a few other things into my schedule. Some highlights including volunteering at my uni's open day on Sunday (in the most freezing wind ever, but hey, I scored a $50 voucher!), indulging in some delicious Vietnamese food with my Dad when he was in town, and joining the gym yesterday! I haven't been for well over six months, so I'm feeling some pain after my first session this morning. But no pain, no gain, right?

I also made an amaaaazzzing dessert the other night, but unfortunately I pretty much just formulated it on the spot without much of a recipe haha. It was a chocolate-moussey-cheesecake-tropical-thing. The mousse was made with avocado, raw cacao powder, dates and agave nectar. And it is the best thing ever. 

But to the meal plan! We have a few things on again this week, so it's a bit all over the place!

1) We are heading back to see family for a couple of days, so we'll be scoring a meal with them.

2) Sabudana Khichdi. Potentially... Indian? After buying tapioca for a special dessert the other week, I've been wondering what else I could make with it. Turns out it makes a savoury pilaff style dish too! We'll serve this up with steak.

3) Sexy Calamari and salad. Yes. That is a legitimate recipe name.

4) Moroccan Slowcooker Stew. The old slowcooker is getting a fair bit of action in the kitchen lately!

5) Beef bourguignon. What a name to spell! I couldn't spell it for the life of me when Chris suggested it haha.

6) Veggie Chilli and crunchy tortilla salad, from Jamie Oliver.

7) Next Wednesday Chris and I will be celebrating two and a half years together. I know, not much of an anniversary, but we just wanted an excuse to go out for a nice night! Chris has booked us a table at a "Wine Appreciation Night" at a local bar the following night. Four wines matched with four tapas, sounds fabulous! Chris intended it be a surprise, but I saw the ad on facebook and was raving about how good it sounded, so he admitted he had already booked it. It was still sweet though :)

I have a feeling this week is probably going to fly away from me as well!

What have you got planned for the week ahead? Anything delicious, new?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

Time seems to be flying by at the moment, I can't believe I've been back at uni for three weeks already! It's been a relatively busy week, with work, study, my first assignment for the semester, and work meetings that no one told me about until that morning (but my boss made heaps of delicious gourmet pizza, putting the bakery ovens to good use!). 

Chris was inundated with homework this morning, so I went off to the market by myself. This was the first time I'd been game enough to attempt shopping at the market by myself (that place can be pretty overwhelming), but thanks to our new purchase of this trolley, I managed. 

Very fashionable thing it is.

It comes in handy though!

I put together a quick lunch of pasta today, using up some homemade spinach and wholemeal pasta from the freezer, leftover vegetables, and a bit of smoked tofu we had in the fridge. And it turned out pretty good! We purchased smoked tofu earlier in the week for the first time ever, and it's not bad! It has a great, smokey flavour, so we used it as a substitute for chorizo in a spanish paella. Delicious! Have you ever cooked with it before?

But yes! Here is what's on the menu for the upcoming week:

1) Honey-miso chicken. Miso is actually delicious in more than just soup!

2) Pork curry, with brown rice and wholemeal flat breads. Curry is the bomb.

3) We're going to try our hand at making prawn laksa, should be good!

4) It's time to get the slowcooker out again, this time for beef stroganoff. Which I have never actually had...

5) Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas. I am cooking up the sauce for this as we speak! (or type?)

6) Vegetarian Lentil, Carrot and Cumin Loaf.

7) My Dad is coming down to the city for a couple of days, so he is taking us out for pizza on Lygon Street. Yum!

What have you got planned for the week ahead in your kitchen? Trying your hand at something new?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu (ft. Procrastination, Asian Food & Baby Chickens)

After spending the past hour or so torturing myself with my first assignment of the semester (and to make it even worse, it was for History), I decided that I might reward myself with a bit of blogging. Plus, I just really wanted a reason to not write about historical perspectives of the Cold War for awhile. 

Meal planning was squeezed into our agenda last night, amidst all the study that Chris and I have both found ourselves buried in this weekend. If it can even be called that! 

This morning, we walked into the city for our usual trip to the Vic Market - in surprising lovely and sunny weather for once, cheers Melbourne! After much debate, we finally gave in and bought one of those trolleys everyone has at the markets. We have been umm-ing and aah-ing over getting one for awhile, due to how lame we both thought they were. But eventually we relented - poor Chris can only take so much of carrying around all our groceries! 

Did you know you can buy baby chickens at the market? I had never seen them before, but we chanced upon them today and Chris literally had to drag me away from buying them (4 for $10?!?!?).

Afterwards, we whipped up an Asian feast for lunch, featuring vegetarian dumplings, sushi and Asian greens. 

But I suppose I should really just shut up and get to the real reason for today's post - here's what's happening in our kitchen this week:

1) Tonight I'm meant to be cooking up some capsicums stuffed with chickpeas, taken from an African cookbook we have on loan from the library. 

2) Pork and vegies. Nothing too exciting here.

3) Homemade falafel from Janella, and we will most likely make our own wraps to have them in!

4) Prawn paella. I actually don't think I have ever had paella, so this sounds pretty good.

5) Chicken, chilli and lemon cous cous soup.

6) Chilli Con Carne, from one of my favourite food websites.

7) Tomorrow night, we should hopefully be off to catch up with a couple of friends for another dinner party! I'm trying to think of a dessert to make that is gluten, nut, egg and lactose free (one of my friends has allergies), which is a bit of a challenge. Last time we met up I made chocolate mousse, but I would love to make a cheesecake or something similar. Any ideas?

My apologies for the ramblings today, procrastination does things to one's mind!

What's happening in your kitchen this week?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

We actually made this meal plan on Thursday night, but since I ended up going home to visit my family over the weekend I've been a bit delayed blogging about it! 

I hadn't visited my family since before I went away to New Zealand, so I thought it was high time I went down to old Gippsland. While I don't hold my hometown in very high esteem, I do love getting away from the city and relishing a bit of time in the countryside. I think I have actually developed a greater appreciation for regional Victoria since I have moved to the city. The rolling hills and forests seem a lot more beautiful now. 

Plus, who doesn't love going home to score a free meal? My mum cooked up a fantastic Mexican feast, featuring burritoes, chilli con carne, and homemade fruit slushies ("it's kiiiinnnd of a margarita mocktail" - Mum). Besides stuffing my face, it was also great to catch up with my family. 

Although my brother did drag me to see the Conjuring, because he knows I hate horror movies. Needless to say, it was not fun.

But yes, to the week ahead in our kitchen!

1) That soba noodle soup we had planned for last week never eventuated due to a last minute dinner invitation, so we'll try again this week!

2) Beef and lentil soup. 

3) Spiced Apricot Chicken, as we received multitudes of dried fruit recently. And that stuff never lasts long in our house!

4) Chermoula Fish, from our old friend Janella Purcell.

5) I haven't had the slowcooker out for awhile, and now that uni is back I'm looking to get it happening regularly again! We are trying out a Vegetable Kashmiri.

6) Lamb, cous cous and spiced nuts (and roasted vegetables I believe?) - Chris is currently cooking this up as we speak. It smells pretty damn good! And it's nearly ready, so I'm off to eat!

What's happening in your kitchen this week?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

As much as I love going on holidays, it's always a nice feeling to come home and return to some of your favourite habits. Chris and I were far too excited to come home and be back in our own kitchen (hostel kitchens certainly limit what you can cook!). Here's what we've got planned for the week ahead:

Delicious Black Sesame & Coconut Dessert Soup from Loving Hut

1) Spiced Shrimp with salad, from an awesome North African cookbook we borrowed from the library the other day. Chris cooked up an amazing lamb and chickpea soup from it last night. 

2) Beef with taro, again from the African cookbook. I've never had taro before, so this could be fun!

3) Soba noodle soup - we needed an excuse to test out some Asian soup spoons we scored the other day.

4) Corn on the cob with Mexican sauce (from one of Janella's trusty books), and we'll have that on the side of some delicious looking pork chops we picked up at the market this morning.

5) Gado Gado with tempeh - I think Gado Gado is essentially some kind of satay sauce and vegetables, but this sounds pretty good! Tempeh is one of my favourite meat substitutes, it makes some amazing burgers (which we just had for lunch haha).

6) Chicken stuffed with orange and ginger.

7) Lemon Risotto with Calamari, but with brown rice. I've never cooked with calamari before, so fingers crossed I don't stuff it up somehow! 

Tomorrow I'll probably make up some soup for lunches during the week, as it's back to university on Monday! I'm looking forward to getting back into studying and having a more solid routine in my life.

What's happening in your kitchen this week? Trying anything new?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

Another week over already! I can't believe how quick the days are going by, considering I haven't been doing anything very productive these uni holidays.

Only a short meal plan this week, as Chris and I are off to Auckland for a week on Thursday! I am beyond excited as I have never been overseas (not that New Zealand is very exotic or far, but hey), and it's been ages since Chris and I went on our own little getaway. It's going to be freezing cold, but it can't be much worse than what it is here in Melbourne, can it?

Anyway, here's what's happening in our kitchen for the next few days:

1) Mexican Meatball Skewers and a salad on the side.

2) Chickpea patties with salad, and maybe a nice grainy roll.

3) Crispy Lemon Fish, courtesy of Donna Hay.

4) Lamb and spiced lentils, and some more salad. Or maybe I'll roast up some veggies.

5) We are having a dinner party with some friends from high school on Sunday night, and I've offered to make the dessert. Only problem is, our host is allergic to ALOT of things (gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts...) so it won't be an easy feat, but I am up for the challenge! Any ideas?

I'm also looking forward to trying local produce and dishes while on our holiday, not that i have the faintest idea as to what constitutes New Zealand cuisine! I can't imagine it would be that different to home. 

What's happening in your kitchen this week?

Reanna.

What's on the Menu

Another week, another meal plan to be made. 

Here's what we have planned over in our kitchen this week:

1) We are going to try our hand at making Sweet Potato Gnocchi and a homemade pasta sauce (potentially... tuna?) to go with it.

2) Vegetarian Lasagna from another of Janella Purcell's cookbooks.

3) Brown Rice Spinach Pie (again from Janella - she's one of our favourites!) and salad.

4) Janella's Basic Curry, with lamb.

5) Quinoa Roasted Chicken with Olive Gremolata from Donna Hay - I hardly ever get to have olives, as Chris isn't a huge fan, so I'm looking forward to this one!

6) Baked Spicy Beef Quesadillas (Mexican is always good).

7) Chris' mum is coming up for a night later in the week, so we'll decide what we want to do on the night.

Now it's off the Queen Victoria Market to get our fruit, veg and meat this morning. I love shopping at the market, and not just because it's so much cheaper. It's such a fun experience, once you get past the multitudes of other people crowding up the place on Saturday morning!

What have you got planned for the week ahead?

Reanna.

Is it sad that one of my favourite past times is meal planning?

I'm sure it isn't.

Now that I think about it, I don't really know that many people that even create weekly meal plans. Does that make me weird? I can't imagine not making one! 

When Chris (the boyfriend) and I were moving out of home together, we decided that we would try make a meal plan every week before doing the grocery shopping. Initially it was more just for convenience, but as we accumulated more and more cook books, and became increasingly passionate about having a delicious, home cooked meal every night, it became one of our favourite things to do together. The day we made the plan initially varied due to our disorganised routines (or lack of), but once the university semester started we settled for Saturday. We don't assign meals to a particular day, but rather list seven meals and decide on the day what we feel like. We always aim for at least one seafood meal, usually about two vegetarian, and then mix up the rest with different meats.

This week we made our plan a day early, as we are going out for tea tonight with a couple of friends (Japanese - I've never been so I am far too excited!) and the fridge was looking a bit sad... Here's what we've got planned!

1) Braised chicken with white wine and mushrooms (from the latest Epicure section in the Age).

2) Lime and Chilli Fish Tacos (from this cookbook by Donna Hay).

3) Parsnips and chickpeas in garlic, onion, chilli and ginger paste (from a slowcooker book I inherited from my mum - slowcooking is my new favourite thing this winter).

4) Semolina Pilaf (I've never really cooked with semolina, so this could be interesting!).

5) Greek beef meatballs in a rich tomato sauce (slowcooker book strikes again), and Chris wants to try his hand at making homemade pasta. This could be a fun!

6) Chris is into trying new cuisines, so thanks to the magic of the internet we are trying this Peruvian beef recipe, with a side of fragrant chickpeas and salad.

7) Our friends are planning an Indiana Jones movie marathon night, featuring homemade pizza. Yum!

What about you, are you a meal plan enthusiast? What are you cooking this week?