15 Minute Meals - Week 1

After having a lovely lunch over at my friends house thanks to a recipe from Jamie Oliver's 15 minute meals I decided to get back on it and have a go myself. Turns out this was a great idea as my oven broke the first day of this menu (whilst baking bread) and luckily none of these recipes uses an oven, as it's all quick cooking you just use the hob. A real lifesaver!

Just before little one was born I used Jamie's book to get me through tired pregnancy days whilst working and looking after my eldest (who was then 2 years old) And I wondered why I had stopped? They're tasty, healthy and quick, plus it helps me really carefully budget for the week.

So this is my first weeks choice of meals. 

Day 1 - Tasty Daal Curry - Page 240

I forgot to photograph the accompanying lemon and tomato pickle which was the tastiest bit! This was delicious. We used green lentils rather than red lentils as it's what we already had in the store cupboard but the flavour didn't suffer from the substitute. This was Millies favourite one of teh week I think.

Day 2 - Pasta Pesto With Garlic and Rosemary Chicken - Page 172

This one was super yummy. I substituted the fresh lasagne sheets on this one for dried fettuccine as this was on special offer when I went food shopping making it loads cheaper than the fresh pasta and it stores better for future meals.

Day 3 - Blackened Chicken with San Fran Quinoa Salad - Page 46

I wasn't completely sure about adding mango to a savoury salad and being a slightly more expensive purchase I was a bit dubious however this was delicious and we all nommed it without complaint. This was my favourite.

Day 4 - The Best Fish Baps - Page 214

I used Pollock for this one as it was one of the cheaper white fish fillets I could find. Only £1.80 for all of us. This was made with home made rolls, which are obviously not included in the 15 minute make time. But I make my own bread all the time rather than buying it so this was no extra effort.

Day 5 - Sausage Fusilli with Creamy Garden Salad - Page 176

This is what had been made for me for lunch a week earlier and inspired this weeks menu. Everyone loves this one, it's a real crowd pleaser, who doesn't love sausage and pasta in a yummy tomato sauce. 

Day 6 - Happy Cow Burgers with coleslaw and corn on the cob - Page 222

These aren't really a substitute for a good beef burger, however they are really tasty and much healthier bean burgers. A great way to get some hidden veg into the kids. 

Day 7 - Chilli Con Carne Meatballs - Page 58

I will be making my meatballs and pasta like this from now on. They're full of flavour and work amazingly well. The original recipe here calls for Bulgur wheat but as I had some dried fettuccine left over from day 2 recipe I just used up the rest and saved myself a bit more money along the way. 

Lunches (Well some of them)

Spring Frittata - Page 242

Mexican Salad - Page 238

(Cooked just before my oven broke!) - Goes well with beer. 

Next weeks menu looks just as exciting and delicious. To be continued!