Weekly Meal Plan

We have been getting a vegie box from Food Connect for a couple of months now, and I am hooked. I cannot imagine buying my vegies any other way now! In addition to everything else, it is super convenient that all my vegie shopping involves is literally picking up a box.

I have also recently added a weekly fruit box to our subscription. Pictured above is the contents of our Single Fruit Box for this week. It seems to vary quite a bit from week to week, which is nice. There are things in there I would never think to buy, but I like that!

Here's the weekly meal plan:

Friday: Gnocchi with sweet potato and bacon sauce.
Saturday: San choy baos (lettuce, mince beef, potato, onion, cucumber, peanuts).
Sunday: Calzones with silver beet, onion, asparagus and mushroom.
Monday: Kangaroo stir fry with carrot, corn, broccoli, beans, oyster sauce. Rice.
Tuesday: Zucchini and fetta fritters with rice, lemon and tomato relish (from fresh tomatoes).
Wednesday: Pumpkin soup (including, beetroot, onion and potato).

Long weekend lunches:
1) Baked potatoes with cottage cheese, lettuce, corn and bacon.
2) Ham, cheese, aioli and sun dried tomato toasted sandwich on home made French bread .
3) Sausage sizzle, salad, home made baguettes.

Saturday family breakfast:
Apple and cinnamon scrolls with fruit salad of apples and kiwifruits.

This Week's Meal Plan

Friday (we have guests): Pizzas - 2x ham and pineapple, 1x salami, olive, anchovy, mushroom and capsicum, 1x BBQ chicken, bacon, mushroom and onion.
Saturday: Thai beef salad and rice
Sunday: Gnocchi with sweet potato and bacon sauce.
Monday: Beef fajitas - corn, capsicum, onion. Home made tortillas. Mexican yellow rice (turmeric, capsicum, onion, lime)
Tuesday: Beef stew (mushroom, broccoli) with colcannon (potato and cabbage mash
Wednesday: Out
Thursday: Meatball soup (beans, turnip, celery, broccoli).

Weekly Meal Plan

New in the vegie box this week was a bag of baby spinach and some shelling peas.

Friday: Pizza - Mexican chicken (corn, capsicum, shallot, chilli avocado sour cream).

Saturday: Out

Sunday: Sausages with home made baguettes and salad of baby spinach, roast pumpkin, pine nuts and feta.

Monday: Fettuccine with creamy bacon, mushroom and silver beet sauce.

Tuesday: White fish with steamed broccoli, peas, mashed potatoes and lemon

Wednesday: Zucchini and feta fritters with rice and tomato dipping sauce

Thursday: Spaghetti bolognese using eggplant, oregano and all remaining vegies from fridge!

No stir fry this week, that really is a miracle!

Weekly Meal Plan

There were lots of "greens" in this week's box. Snow peas and radishes are something new this week. Not quite sure what to do with the radishes. I like it how the vegie box forces me outside of my vegie comfort zone. We are definitely eating more vegie variety than we used to.

Friday: Pizza - Mushroom, tomato, onion, bacon, chili.

Saturday: San choy baos and rice - lettuce, cucumber, mince beef, potato, peanuts

Sunday: Zucchini feta fritters and rice with tomato dipping sauce

Monday: Sage roast chicken with roast potato, onion, garlic and steamed broccoli. *use leftovers to make chicken stock for chicken noodle soup

Tuesday: Stirfry beef, beans, bok choy, radish. Oyster/soy sauce.

Wednesday: Chicken noodle soup - celery, corn, cabbage.

Thursday: Tuna pilau - snow peas, capsicum

This Week's Meal Plan

The photo above is of the finger limes that I was talking about last week. These little limes are native to Australia and grow well in my local area. It would be great to have a finger lime tree in the garden, but I haven't had any luck finding a nursery that supplies them.

The vegie box seemed a little lighter this week. There were no mushrooms for the first time, but plenty of tomatoes and carrots and even sweet potatoes which we haven't received before. This weeks menu: Friday: Pizza - potato, bacon, red onion, BBQ sauce, sour cream, chives. Saturday: Palaak Paneer and rice Sunday: Zucchini and feta fritters with tomato dipping sauce and rice or mash potato Monday: Fruity beef casserole (beans and carrots) with mash potato Tuesday: Stirfry chicken, broccoli, cabbage, almond and honey soy dressing. Rice. Wednesday: Eggplant pasta sauce (anchovies, olives, eggplant, onion, basil, canned tomatoes) and spaghetti. Thursday: Stirfry beef, broccoli, carrot, chilli, corn and soy/oyster sauce. Quite a few vegetarian dishes this week which I am pleased about as the menus have been very meat intensive these last few weeks. Trying more vegetarian dishes is something I am keen to do for environmental reasons, but have not made a serious effort on yet.

Meal Planning

This week's vegie box looks good. One unusual thing we got in it was a finger lime. It is the oddest looking thing. I had never tried one before but you break it open and pop out the little juice sacks. They taste so limey and sharp and made my mouth go a little numb. Apparently they go well in cocktails...

Here's this week's menu plan:

Friday: Pizza - cajun chicken, capsicum, corn, red onion, shallot, sour cream.

Saturday: San choy baos and rice - lettuce, mince beef, shallot, cucumber, peanuts.

Sunday: Pumpkin soup with cheese toasts (home made ciabatta or similar).

Monday: Stir fry and rice - beef, asian greens, broccoli, celery. Home made satay sauce.

Tuesday: Trinidadian lamb curry and rice (tomatoes)

Wednesday: Sausages with mash potato, mushrooms and balsamic onions (maybe also home made bread/rolls)

Thursday: Spaghetti bolognese, using zucchini, half celery and the oregano.

Wacky Wednesday

Aaah Wednesday, the day I pick up my vegie box from Food Connect, then scrabble around desparately trying to figure out what I am going to cook this week with all the wonderful vegetables that have just come in to my possession. And then there's trying to fit them all in the fridge....

The above photo is what I got in my Single Vegie Box this week. I cannot say enough good things about Food Connect (and no, I do not work for them). If you live in Brisbane and are looking for local produce, check them out. Everything is grown within 5 hours of Brisbane and most of the fruit and vegies are organic or very close to it.

Getting the vegie box each week has totally changed the way I shop for and prepare our meals. We are spending approximately $100 less on groceries each week now (no kidding, we used to spend about $260/wk, now it is more like $160). Admittedly we eat simpler meals now and I "make do" with what we do have in the pantry rather than buying every single item listed on a recipe.

Here is what I came up with this week from the vegies in the box:

Friday: Pizza (it is always pizza on Fridays) - chargrilled eggplant, feta, olives, ham and antipasto from jars in fridge.

Saturday: San Choy Baos + rice - lettuce, mince beef, cucumber, peanuts.

Sunday: Creamy spinach, mushroom, onion and bacon fettucini.

Monday: Chicken, basil, pumpkin, green beans, onion, chilli stirfry. Fish sauce. rice.

Tuesday: Fruity beef casserole + mash potato (including green beans, zucchini and fig paste to use up from the fridge).

Wednesday: Home made tortillas with chicken, onion, tomato, capsicum & canned corn stew. lettuce, sour cream.

Thursday: Stirfry beef with onion, broccoli, corn, zucchini, home made plum sauce & rice.

Baking: cupcakes