Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
Halfway into our challenge, we’ve tried to eat a bigger variety of food this week as well as celebrate Chinese New Year and again cooked in bulk to save money and time. Because we had to spend alot of money on a whole duck and chicken thighs, I made a large vegetarian lasagne based on a Lorraine Pascale recipe. This needed tweaking and had to replace the ricotta with a cheaper alternative using Sainsburys Basics cream cheese. However, the end result was very moreish and definitely a keeper. Mr Justsorice struggled to vary his breakfast and lunches as found it easier to prepare the same foods but always included fruit with his lunch. Here’s how we ate on Week 2:
SUNDAY
Me
Breakfast: Noodle soup with king prawns and spinach
Lunch: Cheddar cheese on toast, grapefruit
Dinner: Roast five spice duck with pancakes
Mr Justsorice
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with jam and butter, coffee
Lunch: Salami sandwich
Dinner: Roast five spice duck with pancakes
MONDAY
Me
Breakfast: Muesli, tea
Lunch: Leftover roast duck with salad and cous cous
Dinner: Black pepper chicken curry and rice
Mr Justsorice
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with butter, jam and coffee
Lunch: Homemade celery soup (found in the freezer!)
Dinner: Black pepper chicken curry and rice
TUESDAY
Me
Breakfast: Mueseli, tea
Lunch: Leftover chicken curry and rice
Dinner: Butternut squash and spinach lasagne with boiled spring greens
Mr Justsorice
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with butter and jam, coffee
Lunch: Salami, tomato and chutney sandwich, orange, apple, flapjack
Dinner: Butternut squash and spinach lasagne with boiled spring greens
WEDNESDAY
Me
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with butter, 2 crumpets with butter and jam (free crumpets!), coffee, tea
Lunch: Leftover butternut squash and spinach lasagne
Dinner: Buckwheat noodle soup made from duck stock with leftover roast duck, tofu puffs and spring greens
Mr Justsorice
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with butter and jam, coffee
Lunch: Salami, tomato and chutney sandwich, orange, apple, flapjack
Dinner: Buckwheat noodle soup made from duck stock with leftover roast duck, tofu puffs and spring greens
THURSDAY
Me
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with butter, tea, yoghurt with honey, dried fruit and nuts
Lunch: Buckwheat noodle soup made with duck stock, tofu puffs, poached egg and spinach
Dinner: Butternut squash and spinach lasagne with sauteed spring greens
Mr Justsorice
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with jam, butter and coffee
Lunch: Salami, tomato and chutney sandwich, apple, flapjack
Dinner: Butternut squash and spinach lasagne with sauteed spring greens
FRIDAY
Me Breakfast: Museli, tea
Lunch: Leftover lasagne
Dinner: Fish and chips
Mr Justsorice
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with jam, butter and coffee
Lunch: Salami, tomato and chutney sandwich, apple, flapjack
Dinner: Fish and chips
SATURDAY
Me
Brunch: Noodle soup with prawns and spinach
Dinner: Steamed salmon and sauteed spring greens, snacks: cheddar cheese falvoured crisps
Mr Justsorice Away this weekend
We did so well with our shopping that we still had about £2 left which we’ll add onto next week’s shopping budget. We treated ourselves to fish and chips on Friday night but during the week, I was really tempted by a monster craving on Thursday morning when I had a day off work. The thought of eating a full English breakfast invaded my thoughts after walking past a cafe but luckily managed to stem my cravings temporarily after getting free crumpets for breakfast at a local bar! Although the duck was almost half of our £20 budget, I used the carcass to make a delicious duck stock which provided a base for delicious noodle soups. After the fat had been rendered from the duck during roasting, I kept this to use in the future for roasting potatoes. We’ve also been more conscious of food costs and happy to try cheaper alternatives and continue shopping at ALDI and Lidl. So roll on Week 3, we can’t stop now!
JUST SO RICE 