GINGER CRUNCH BLISS BALLS

These are so delicious. The buckwheat grouts add a great crunch, and if you're a fan of ginger then you will love these!

GINGER CRUNCH BLISS BALLS

1 cup buckwheat groats
1 cup raw cashew nuts
1 cup dates, soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tsp ground ginger

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process for 1-2 minutes, or until it all comes together. Add a tablespoon or two of water if it is a little dry.

Roll into small balls, and put in the fridge for a few hours to set.

Enjoy!

MEAL PLAN #12

Here is our final meal plan for 2015! With Christmas just around the corner, this is a short three day plan which will take you through to the 23rd. We are taking a short summer break and will resume our meal plan posts in mid January.

Enjoy your Christmas holidays and see you back here in 2016!

Download meal plan #12 here.

MEAL PLAN #11

We're on the countdown to Christmas - yay! I love this time of the year.

This weeks meal plan repeats the REFRIED BEAN & CORN QUESDILLAS and TOM YUM SOUP from earlier meal plans. I love these two recipes as they are so quick and easy to make, and pack lots of punch flavour wise.

I've also included my SALTED CARAMEL TART recipe. If you only make one thing this week, let it be this. It is divine.

Download Meal Plan #11 here.

MEAL PLAN #10

Gosh, the day has gotten away from me, I've only just remember to post the link to Meal Plan #10!

This week we have a new take on the classic Macaroni & Cheese, where we replace the cheese with peas! The colour of this dish is a vibrant green and very tasty with a generous squeeze of lemon and lashings of parmesan.

Pictured above we have baked jacket potatoes with homemade creamed corn. We also have my mother-in-laws beef Stifado recipe which is another family favourite, and a great slow cooker recipe.

Enjoy.

Download Meal Plan #10 here.

MEAL PLAN #9

Meal plan #9 includes yummy TAHINI ROAST POTATOES & KALE, and a nourishing VEGETABLE SOUP.  I love preparing a big pot on soup in the weekend, and find vegetable soup a great way to use up any leftover veggies you have sitting in the fridge.

Meal plan #9 also includes the recipe for the CHOCOLATE MINT BALLS some of you have been patiently waiting for. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! I am hoping to find some time in the kitchen this weekend to experiment with a new flavour.

Download Meal Plan #9 here.

GREEN KITCHEN STORIES

I've been a fan of Green Kitchen Stories for a while now, but have only just discovered their Instagram feed - oh my goodness it is a visual delight!

 And, it is making me hungry...

MEAL PLAN #8

Having just got back from holidaying in the South Island, we are slowly easing ourselves back into our usual routine. As a result we're re-posting meal plan #2 this week, as inbetween unpacking, catching up with a visiting family member and a work event, we didn't have time to get a new meal plan up and ready for today.

I did however find time to play around with a new recipe - Chocolate Mint Balls. These are sooooo good! The recipe for these will be available next wednesday for you to enjoy.

Download meal plan #2 here

MEAL PLAN #7

We are currently exploring the South Island in a little, beat up rental car, so there is no structured meal plan for us this week...
So that you don't do hungry, here is the link for our very first meal plan - meal plan #1 - which includes my favourite dish, Pad Thai.

Pad Thai photo by mummajaxm.

MEAL PLAN #6

Well, this week didn't go quite to plan. Our oven broke midway through the week, which meant that I had to deviate from my original meal plan, and come up with some new dinner ideas without heading back to the supermarket. Luckily we have a ready supply of chickpeas, coconut cream and tinned tomatoes in the pantry, so I was able to come up with some new, and easy, dinner ideas pretty quickly.

Next week we are away exploring the south island, so I will be re-posting the link to meal plan #1. There are lots of yummy recipes in that plan, including my all time favourite, Pad Thai, which I know some of you made and loved.

Download Meal Plan #6 here

THUG KITCHEN

Haha! It's a little R-rated, but this food blog - Thug Kitchen - is full of humour and tasty looking food.

MEAL PLAN #5

Noodle Salad

Gosh Wednesday rolls around fast, especially after a long weekend! Here is meal plan #5.

We start the week with a classic bolognese, and then globe trot through Thailand, China and India for the rest of the week! The fiery Fireman's Larb was a new one for us this week, as was the Tandoori Chicken with Almond Pilaf. Both were extremely delicious and will be featuring again soon!

OUR KITCHEN

There are lots of great recipes over on Fisher & Paykel's blog, Our Kitchen. I've bookmarked the pulled pork, date & almond slice and chocolate crunch recipes to try sometime soon... I'm always excited to try new recipes and discover new family favs.

VEGGIE BURGERS

My veggie burger mix is done! Now just to shape and bake. Happy long weekend everyone.

MEAL PLAN #4

Click here to download Meal Plan #4

Growing up, we ate a traditional dutch dish called stamppot, made with either carrots or kale and a gravy volcano. This was back when kale wasn't in vogue and it was rarely seen in shops. This week I am sharing my mums recipe with you. I hope you enjoy it. Miss M scoffed hers down and asked for more, so I would rate this as a pretty successful dinner!

There is also a quick and easy smoked fish salad, and some delicious spiced truffles as a wee treat for the week.

SUNDAY BAKING

Miss M helped with Sunday baking today. As I scooped the muffin batter into the tin, she proceeded to scope it out and eat it! #bakingwithatoddler

MEAL PLAN #3

Meal plan #3 is ready to download here.

There is a little more prep work to do this week, which will make cooking some of the meals so much faster after a busy day at work.

My good friend Suzy's pancake recipe also makes an appearance for Pancake Sunday. These get a big thumbs up in our household as they were the first pancakes that Miss M devoured. See more of Suzy's delicious recipes here.

HAPPY FRIDAY

Some cake porn for your Friday afternoon. Have a happy weekend.

Images found here

MY FAMILY TABLE

I was excited about the arrival of this new cookbook in my letterbox last week. I am a huge Petite Kitchen fan, and have a few of her recipes (from her first book) in my rotation of family favourites. I have already included a few in meal plans #1 and #2, but with a few tweaks here and there to suit what I had in the pantry. 

What are your favourite cookbooks?

MEAL PLAN #2

Click here to download Meal Plan #2. 

For week two, you'll find an easy recipe for fried rice, humble potato top pie, sunday baking (hands up if you love ginger slice!), and a slightly different take on a pancake. 

Enjoy!

P.S: How did you find meal plan #1?

HAPPY HOUR

It's hard to say no to a jug of Sangria, and with summer just around the corner, this Peach & Basil Sangria is looking rather tempting.

MEAL PLAN #1

We are excited to bring you our very first meal plan! Meal plan #1 includes one of our family favourites - Pad Thai. I learnt how to make this in a Thai cooking class, and find it 100 times better than any Pad Thai you buy at a takeaway shop. I hope you do too.

This week, you will find three vegetarian dinner options, and all recipes are gluten and dairy free. Simply adapt each recipe to suit your needs. If you have a meat lover in the family, then add a protein of choice to the vegetarian meals.

Bear with me as I make changes over the coming weeks to improve the layout of our meal plans, and blog. I would love your feedback & comments - was the plan easy to follow? Would you like the shopping list as a separate file to the recipes? Which meal was your favourite? Share your favourite recipes with us too! We love to know what others are eating, and if we like it, expect to see your recipe on a future meal plan.

Download Meal Plan #1 here.

Image found here (recipe is not the same)

HOW IT WORKS

Our very first meal plan will be ready to download from tomorrow morning - exciting!!

So, how does it work?

Every Wednesday morning a new meal plan and shopping list will be ready to download. Print it out, and read it through. Look at the shopping list, and check off everything you already have in your pantry.

Over the weekend grab whatever groceries you need, and get yourself into the kitchen on Sunday to do some baking and prep work. Any prep work which is suggested is entirely optional, but does make things a little quicker during the week. The Sunday baking is also optional.

The meal plan only includes dinner for Monday through to Saturday night. Sunday's are 'free nights', for you to cook your own favourite meal, or Sunday roast. Sunday mornings are 'Pancake Sunday' in our house, so I will include the odd new pancake recipe I have tried and liked.

All dinners are designed to serve four. I find them enough for two adults & a toddler, plus leftovers for lunch the next day.

Enjoy week one, and If you have any questions, then please leave a comment below.

Illustration by Monica Ramos found here

OUR EVENING MEAL

After a month of creating weekly meal plans to make dinner times easy, we decided to create this blog as a place to share our weekly menus, recipes, shopping lists and other foodie inspiration. 

As a busy working family of three - textile designer mum, firefighter dad & non-stop toddler - we find meal planning a great way to add order to the chaos of life. We love cooking & eating good, wholesome food.

Our focus is on recipes which are easy to cook after a busy day at work, and family friendly - we like our toddler to eat what we eat. We follow a refined sugar-free lifestyle, but still indulge in the odd treat here and there - we won't turn down a slice of birthday cake!

Welcome to the start of our food sharing journey. Enjoy.