What's Cooking At The Madhouse ? menu plan week 5

Another week down - only one to go until the school holidays. Phew ! I don't think we'll make it over to see my mum and dad this time though, as we have so much to do - homework projects for the kids, paperwork to deal with and I really need to repaper the hallway (which goes up two flights of stairs so it's a big job). Assuming, of course, that we manage to stay COVID-free. Numbers are rising at school, both in terms of teachers and pupils, but everyone seems to be back at school in good health after a week of feeling decidedly lousy. Fingers crossed.

Last week's menu plan was hit and miss. We had the chicken and chorizo stew and the beef maffé is in the slow cooker as I type (on Saturday afternoon). We had pizza too but several of the other meals got bumped as Sophie wanted to cook - no problem there ! - so she rustled up veggie samosas and chicken curry (plus leftovers). This week will involve using up whatever's in the fridge.

Monday

lunch- fridge diving for the kids, canteen for me

dinner - Sophie wants to make stuffed courgettes for me and her - Juliette and Pierre can have leftovers or chicken dippers with rice or pasta

Tuesday

lunch- School canteen for me, leftovers for the kids

dinner- Bacon & veg risotto (I made this with pearl barley last time but I'll try it with rice this time)

Wednesday

lunch- burgers/veggie burgers with mash & peas/carrots

dinner- Honey mustard pretzel chicken (probably made with breadcrumbs rather than crushed pretzels) with ebly and coleslaw

Thursday

lunch - restaurant with friends for me and Sophie

dinner- coconut chicken with rice (bumped over from last week's menu plan)

Friday 

lunch- probably leftovers or Sophie can rustle something up

dinner - Meatball & egg tagine with couscous

Saturday

lunch- we haven't been to McDonald's for a few weeks so maybe a trip to town? If not, something simple like spaghetti carbonara sounds good.

dinner- Sloppy Joes with potato wedges and coleslaw

Sunday 

lunch- Mongolian beef with rice or noodles (& lots of added veggies in the dish)

dinner- toast or leftovers

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Linking up with the Menu Plan roundup on Cats, Kids, Chaos

What's Cooking At The Madhouse ? menu plan week 4

Last week was calmer - thank goodness for that ! It's been totally manic since Christmas. The other colleague from our table at the school canteen came down with COVID - the one who sits next to me, after the one opposite me last week- but somehow I managed to escape again. Phew ! I got letters from the tax people this week too, detailing the direct debit payments for the coming year for local taxes, for me and separately for Mike ! I headed to the tax office on my morning off and waited in the long queue to sort it all out. It was worth it - they cancelled Mike's direct debit (lots of people have "come back from the dead" apparently and been set up on new payment plans, despite their deaths being declared, after a new system was installed). I also queried the €2300 that was taken out of my account before Christmas - it was indeed an error so that will be reimbursed too. They normally sort themselves out when they make a mistake so I was waiting but it was just as well I chased this one up ! So what will this next week bring ?! 

In terms of food, browsing back through the old recipes on my blog was a great idea and the kids loved everything I cooked, so it's more of the same this week. Sophie cooked last week too, making something she saw on Tik Tok - hot dog sausages, wrapped in cheese and bread then fried. Very tasty and very nice to get a night off cooking ! So here's this week's plan.

Monday

lunch- fridge diving for the kids, canteen for me

dinner - spicy chicken and chorizo stew with ebly

Tuesday

lunch- School canteen for me, leftovers for the kids

dinner- slow cooker beef maffé with potatoes and green beans (should be handy for using up the FOUR ends of jars of peanut butter I just found in the cupboard ! To be fair, they're all from Degustaboxes so I can't complain)

Wednesday

lunch- Hogslop (bacon, onion, potatoes) with fried eggs (or leftovers, if preferred)

dinner- I'm thinking there will be plenty of leftovers in the fridge

Thursday

lunch - canteen for me (then a trip to the cinema with the kids from school), the kids can fend for themselves (leftovers or sandwiches)

dinner- coconut chicken with rice

Friday 

lunch- Sophie might cook or there may be leftovers or sandwiches

dinner - Creamy veal stew (with potatoes, carrots, leeks, mushrooms, onions)

Saturday

lunch- BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders with wedges and coleslaw

dinner- pizza (or something interesting that I spot when I go shopping)

Sunday 

lunch- Creamy chicken & chorizo pasta

dinner- Mince & potatoes freestyle

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Linking up with the Menu Plan roundup on Cats, Kids, Chaos

What's Cooking At The Madhouse ? menu plan week 3

Last week's menu plan message ended with me saying I was hoping we'd have a quiet week - yeah, right ! On Monday, Juliette came home and said that her friend at school (who she had spent time with without a mask) had COVID. We booked her straight in for a test which luckily came back negative. She got the ping on her phone app the next day to say that she was a "cas contact". On Wednesday, I awoke to a message from my work colleague to say that she had COVID too. I eat opposite her at the canteen three times a week so we spend about 45 minutes each time without masks in close contact. Back to the test centre for me this time. I needed to wait 24-36 hours for the result but needed to go back to work until I got my test results - how stupid is that?! Luckily (and surprisingly), my test result was negative too so (fingers crossed) we got away with it this time. There are about 5 or 6 contact cases in each class at school now and the peak is expected to be in two weeks. I'm counting down the days to the holidays when I can spend two weeks breathing easily !

 With all this dashing about all week, I was knackered and we ordered in Deliveroo twice this week - bad mummy ! The girls chose sushi for one meal and we got "gourmet burgers with waffle fries" for the other (this is extra special posh food apparently, according to the girls !) so they were happy. No trip to McDonald's this weekend though, as we've done our junk food quota for the week ! Hopefully, this week will be calmer - it can't be any worse, surely ?! Oh, Sophie has asked for more of "the food we used to eat when Dad was around" - I wasn't aware we'd changed what we eat, but I'll be looking back over old menu plans for family faves that I might have forgotten about.

Monday

lunch- fridge diving for the kids, canteen for me (I'm slightly nervous about eating at the school canteen now to be honest !)

dinner - gratin dauphinois (creamy potato bake - request from the kids !) with steak (me and Juliette love steak, and I have some in the freezer - Pierre has just said he wants to try some some too) or veggie burgers (Sophie doesn't like steak but she'll have a veggie option from the freezer). We'll have some veggies or salad on the side too.

Tuesday

lunch- School canteen for me, leftovers for the kids

dinner- Jollof rice with chicken (a tomatoey, spicy chicken stew)

Wednesday

lunch- leftovers or omelette

dinner- cottage pie

Thursday

lunch - probably meeting with friends for lunch (depending on COVID results !), if not sandwiches at home

dinner- Honey orange BBQ chicken with rice

Friday 

lunch- leftovers or tuna pasta (or whatever Sophie cooks)

dinner - Bacon & tomato stew with dumplings

Saturday

lunch- spaghetti bolognese

dinner- baguette pizzas

Sunday 

lunch- roast chicken, roast potatoes, veggies and gravy

dinner- sandwiches or cheese on toast

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Linking up with the Menu Plan roundup on Cats, Kids, Chaos

What's Cooking At The Madhouse ? menu plan week 2

You may have noticed, I didn't do a meal plan last week. Everything went manic ! The last day of the holiday saw me heading off to the COVID testing centre as I had had a cold (caught from Pierre who had tested negative the week before) and I was concerned about infecting everyone at school. It came back negative - perfect ! With New Year's Eve falling on a Saturday, I didn't have time to do the weekly shop so I asked Sophie to grab some food on Monday and planned on writing my meal plan on the Tuesday. My Tuesday afternoon ended up being used by the plumber (and various problems) so I had no time. Wednesday was my COVID jab, and I had Moderna instead of Pfizer, that I had had for the two previous jabs. On Thursday, I went to work but only lasted two hours before taking the day off - I felt like absolute crap and spent the whole day sleeping ! Luckily, it was just the side effects of the vaccine and on Friday, I was back at work and the plumber was fixing the leak in the garage AND replacing the fittings on the radiators so our heating is working properly again. Hallelujah ! I'm looking forward to next week being an easy week !

Monday

lunch- I'll eat at school, the kids can fend for themselves (there's a leek quiche Sophie will probably eat, Pierre will probably cook a beefburger and goodness knows what Juliette will find in the fridge !)

dinner - creamy pork with rice & veggie patties

Tuesday

lunch- School canteen for me, leftovers for the kids

dinner- chicken burgers with pasta

Wednesday

lunch- smoked sausages with couscous and lentils

dinner- veal stew in the slow cooker with rice (and veggies in the stew - carrots, onions, leeks)

Thursday

lunch - leftovers or spaghetti carbonara

dinner- chicken curry with rice

Friday 

lunch- leftovers

dinner - beef bourguignon with mash (& carrots, tomatoes, onions in the stew)

Saturday

lunch- leftovers or McDonald's (but I think the kids vaccine certificates will have run out, as they need their third dose, so it will have to be take-away)

dinner- freezer diving - I think there are some odds and ends of Christmas/New Year food that never got eaten so this could be a good time to make some space in the freezer

Sunday 

lunch- roast chicken, roast potatoes, veg, gravy

dinner- tartiflette (stinky reblochon cheese baked over potatoes, onions and bacon)

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***