Last week and this week

My task for yesterday evening was to post up last week's recipes, but as I went to bed at half past six before the baby I missed that task. I did make a very nice chocolate fudge pudding on Friday, but I'll save last week's recipes for another time.

Here's the dinner menu for this week.

Saturday - Veggie bacon chowder
Sunday - Vegetable hot pot and brocolli
Monday - Red lentil tart with boiled potatoes and peas (a pre-cooked frozen tart)
Tuesday - Pasta with broccoli and walnuts
Wednesday - Lasagne and garlic bread (pre-cooked and frozen)
Thursday - Crunchy pasties (my Mum's secret recipe she'll kill me if I give the recipe away) with veg and new potatoes (pre-cooked frozen pasties).
Friday - chick pea broth and parsley dumplings.

Veggie Bacon Chowder
Oil for frying (I used olive oil)
Some bacon
Some sweetcorn
1 medium onion
1 large potato
Half a pint of vegetable stock
Half a pint of milk (I used soya milk)
2 tbsp of cornflour.

1. Chop the onion and bacon and saute in the oil.
2. Chop the potato into bit sized pieces and add to the pan.
3. After tossing the potato around for a bit add the stock and sweet corn, simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile make the cornflour into a paste with a wee bit of milk.
5. Add the cornflour mix and the rest of the milk and simmer until the potato is cooked.
YUM. N loved this.

Vegetable hot pot.
Whatever veg you fancy
Oil for frying
Handful of red lentils
Handful of pearl barley
Handful of veggie mince
Squidge of tomato paste
Spoonful of marmite
Water
1 large potato cut into thin slices
Butter, milk or cheese for the top

1. I used onions, carrots and celery in my hotpot. I fried the veg off then added the pulses (pearl barley is amazing, if you haven't tried it buy some NOW).
2. Then I added some water (just enough to cover everything), the tomato paste, the marmite (yes, yes, love it or hate it that's right - well I love it and it gives veggie food a savoury taste) and the veggie mince. Personally, I'd prefer it with more lentils and pearl barley and no mince, but Steve likes mince.
3. I bought the whole lot to the boil and simmered for a while until it thickened and the pearl barley was nearly cooked. I checked on it every now and again to make sure it hadn't dried out and burned.
4. Transfer to an oven proof dish and cover with slices of potato.
5. Ideally you would paint the potato topping with melted butter so it goes golden and crispy. I couldn't be bothered to do this, so I poured a bit of milk on top and cooked it at gas mark 6. I decided the potato was going a bit black at the edges and not golden in the middle half way through cooking (after about 20 minutes) so I grated a bit of cheese on top instead.

These are the two recipes I've cooked this week so far and it's getting late, so I'll call it quits here. More recipes and photos later in the week.