The Crunch Munch Bunch; Veggie’s Galore Meal Plan

This week is heavy on the veggies with a little raw food inspiration too. It all started with a recipe I received into my inbox from Sally’s Baking Addiction for Vietnamese Spring Rolls. These are the non-deep fried version of spring rolls, refreshingly packed with mint leaves, shredded vegetables, sometimes prawns, and can be dipped in delicious Thai dipping sauce or peanut satay sauce.

Aparagus, beansprouts, prawns and Thai green chilli dipping sauce

Rolling a rice paper into a Vietnamese spring roll a la Friedlander

The rolls were great fun to make, in fact we rolled them at the table so the kids could choose their own fillings and help roll them.

I prepared mint and coriander leaves, baby asparagus blanched, julienned carrots and cucumber, steamed prawns and sliced them in half, frozen corn and peas (cooked!), Vermicelli (rice) noodles. For dessert rolls I sliced strawberries, blueberries and banana and laid it all out on the table like a buffet. I also made Sally’s peanut satay sauce but I would use less soya sauce next time, 1-2 tsp is plenty to reduce salt for the kids. Scroll to the bottom of this post for a little lesson in knife skills or in case you were wondering about ‘Julienned Carrots’...

And without further ado, my 5 day meal plan…

Day one – Vietnamese spring rolls
Day two – Poached salmon salad with sweet potato wedges
Day three – Fussili Ratatouille
Day four – Spaghetti Bolognese (use leftover ratatouille to make the bolognese)
Day five – Mississippi Mud Pie – yes I know, it’s a dessert but c’mon its the highlight of the meal!

My trip to The Rockin Cafe, american diner last week has left me wanting more. Time to master the old fashioned american pie. Wish me luck, I’ll post more details anon.

This Week: Persian Saffron Chicken & Home-made Pizza Loaf

Am a big fan of long weekends… the chance for a lie in on at least one of the days, which is not a normal occurrence on any given weekend.

I’ve been trying out some Persian recipes from my new cookery book ‘Pomegranates and Roses‘ by Ariana Bundy, and doing some experimental bread baking this last week. So here is this weeks’ meal plan with a few success stories. I’ll add recipes for the Saffron Chicken (by Ariana Bundy) and my delicious Pizza Bread in the next few days.

Saffron Chicken cooked by Elaine. Recipe by Ariana Bundy ‘Pomegranates & Roses’.

 

 

Day one – Coriander, Coconut & Lime Sea Bass (the sauce can be used for chicken or fish)
Day two – Pizza Bread; Black Olive, sun-dried Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil
Day three – Saffron Chicken with French Beans and Basmati Rice
Day four – Jacket Potato with Bolognese
Day five – Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta Bake

Coriander, Coconut & Lime Bass

Week 8 Monster Meal Plan

Sorry this week’s plan is late. Afraid all that screaming at Halloween gave me and the kids sore throats. Although hubby thinks I might have caught it from kissing this critter at Singapore’s Halloween River Safari. BTW monster mash is a mash up of leftover potatoes, roast pumpkin, roast meat chopped or sausages and green veggies.