no-waste lockdown meal plan, week 2

Glad you enjoyed my lockdown meal planning suggestions! I know it’s a scary time for a lot of us. I say let’s try and find comfort where we can and if that’s in cooking, enjoying your food and learning to make your own sourdough or yoghurt or whatever you fancy, then I say go for it. We’re all coping as best we can.

As promised, here is this week’s plan (subject to change, naturally!) and some encouragement to use this time to nourish yourself and your family, make the most of what you have already, and waste as little as possible.

Have a look at your fridge, freezer and cupboards
We have to minimise trips to the supermarket at the moment, so it makes sense to use what you have at home before venturing out to get more. Scan your fridge, pantry and freezer and see what ingredients you have already. You could even log it all in a spreadsheet and update it as you buy or use things if that’s helpful. That’s what I’m doing, but 1) that’s my project management training and 2) I kind of like taking things to the extreme!

Make a list of meals you can make
Once you know what you have in, make a list of all the meals you can think of using the ingredients you have. This is a lot of fun. You could also write down a list of all your (and partner/family’s, if you’re cooking for others too) favourite meals and see which ones you have the ingredients in for - it might be more than you think, or you could make some substitutes (grate halloumi instead of parmesan, for example).

Make a plan
Once you have your list of dishes, organise them into a week’s worth of lunches and dinners, prioritising using up the perishable items first like fresh vegetables and fruit, already-opened dairy and protein, half-empty jars of pastes/sauces in the fridge, that kind of thing.

Be adaptable and flexible
I anticipate that my meal plan might have a few switches as the week progresses. That’s cool! I think one of the best things we can be right now is flexible and roll with things, day by day.

What about breakfast?
Breakfast is probably the meal that has changed the most for me these past few weeks.

About a month ago, I stopped having a big smoothie for breakfast, which I used to do at least three times a week, if not more. I realised that, while it was a very nutritious breakfast, with the amount of fruit, almond milk, oats, peanut butter, etc I was putting in it, it was far more calorie-dense than I needed. And of course, with everything that has happened, I’m now keen to use oats, fruit, milk and other smoothie ingredients in other ways, to make them stretch further.

So our breakfasts now are pretty simple - porridge (which I make a little extra of, to make porridge bread); toast (mostly aforementioned porridge bread, with butter and Vegemite, butter and jam, ricotta and jam; or pesto and pickled tomatoes for something more substantial); or a small bowl of plain Greek yoghurt, if we want something light. I often swirl in a spoonful of homemade apple butter into the yoghurt, which is sublime.

On with the show!

Here’s this week’s plan for me and Tom. I will update with links to recipes as I make/photograph them!

Sunday 5/4
Lunch: Zucchini and butterbean soup + bread
Dinner: Roast pumpkin pizza

Monday 6/4
Lunch: Zucchini and butterbean soup + avocado toast
Dinner: Shepherd’s pie + broccoli

Tuesday 7/4
Lunch: Pumpkin and feta toasties
Dinner: Chickpea saag + rice

Wednesday 8/4
Lunch: Chickpea saag leftovers made into soup + bread
Dinner: Pumpkin, broccoli and silverbeet risotto

Thursday 9/4
Lunch: Pickled tomato and cheese toasties
Dinner: Pasta with rich chickpea sauce (adapt this recipe)

Friday 10/4
Lunch: Baked potato with beans and spinach
Dinner: Veggie burger, salad + chips

Saturday 11/4
Lunch: Poached eggs on sourdough avocado toast
Dinner: Eggplant, tomato and ricotta bake + green beans

I’m planning a lovely roast for Easter lunch on Sunday - but am not sure which nuts I have in for the traditional nut roast. That should be a fun experiment!

What about you? What’s on your meal plan this week?

lockdown meal planning

Fresh food is still plentiful. Hashtag grateful.

Life has changed a great deal for most of us over the past month.

The act of popping to the supermarket, knowing you would be able to find exactly what you need and purchase it in whatever quantity you desired, and knowing if you ran out of something you could easily replace it, feels like a long time ago.

Let’s be honest, it was a privileged and fortunate time.

We have to adapt to our new circumstances, given that the current way of things is probably how life will be for the foreseeable future.

Yet, every time I have braved the local food shop (or Woolworths or Coles), I have been comforted by the fact that there is still plenty of fresh produce available. You might not be able to get tinned tomatoes, but there are still plenty of fresh ones, as far as I can see. Friends and neighbours have been lavishing their excess produce on me, in exchange for some of what I make with it. And I’m learning to be flexible too. If I can’t get red lentils, I buy yellow split peas instead.

I don’t think we’ve had this varied and interesting a diet for some time. As a result, I’m enjoying cooking, preparing food and eating it more than ever. I can’t remember the last time I planned every meal with such care and thought, determined to make the most of what I had. It has been a welcome distraction and helped me feel focused and purposeful.

It’s also ensuring we use what we already have in, preventing any unnecessary trips to the supermarket. I was as guilty as the next person of picking up bits and pieces at least once a week, even when I had plenty already at home. Now that I plan each meal, I’m minimising waste and ensuring everything is used.

I hope this is a permanent change in my habits, whatever happens.

So, what are you cooking right now?

What other people cook, and their favourite standby pantry dinners, have always intrigued me, and never more so now. It gives me new ideas and encourages me to try different things.

So I thought I’d tell you what we’ve been eating this past week, and tomorrow I’ll post what my plan is for this coming week. Please join in!

As Tom and I are both working from home now, we’re enjoying all our meals together so I’m planning lunches as well.

I made a list of all the meals we have ingredients for and then made a plan based on what needed to be used up first (fresh vegetables, already opened dairy/tofu/pastes, leftovers). We have a small vegetable garden still producing ample silverbeet and zucchini (though I suspect the latter’s reign is coming to an end).

I am also making bread every few days. I’m not sure what we’ll do if we run out of flour! But we have plenty for now.

Phil’s No Waste Lockdown Meal Plan

Sunday 29/3
Lunch: Veggie burger
Dinner: Tomato, coconut and silverbeet dhal + rice

Monday 30/3
Lunch: Leftover dhal turned into soup + bread
Dinner: Tofu noodle stir fry 

Tuesday 31/3
Lunch: Leftovers fried rice (rice from Sunday, tofu from Monday, with greens, soy sauce, chilli)
Dinner: No Waste Buddha Bowl

Wednesday 1/4
Lunch: Silverbeet, lemon and risoni soup + bread
Dinner: Zucchini slice 

Thursday 2/4
Lunch: Leftover soup and zucchini slice
Dinner: Jacket potato, beans, spinach

Friday 3/4
Lunch: Zucchini slice
Dinner: Silverbeet and ricotta cannelloni

Saturday 4/4
Lunch: Haloumi and fried egg rolls
Dinner: Leftover cannelloni + green veg

I don’t know about you, but cooking has been something wonderful to focus on these past few weeks. It’s helped quieten and focus my mind. I waste nothing, I think before I use anything, and value my food in a completely different way than I used to. I hope that seeing what I’ve been up to inspires you to do the same.

no waste buddha bowl

This is more of a suggestion than a recipe but I’m finding Buddha bowls like this, where you assemble a number of savoury things you have on hand or need to use up, are very useful in minimising food waste and also absolutely delicious.

Here’s how I made the one in the picture:

• Grains/carb: use any leftover cooked rice, quinoa, lentils, beans, etc. I made 100g couscous (50g per person) and put in some harissa seasoning and finely chopped silverbeet leaves in with the boiling water. Left for 15 minutes with a lid on, come back and fluff it up with a fork. Yum!

• Protein: Chickpeas, egg, tofu, tempeh, or whatever you’ve got on hand. I had two chickpea burgers that needed to be eaten (they had already been defrosted from a pack of 4) so they were grilled and chopped up.

• Ferment: Kimchi, sauerkraut, or some kind of pickles, for interest and gut health. I used some pickled tomatoes that I made last week, which are sensational. I got the recipe from Elly Curshen’s Green. This is what I plan to do with all cherry tomatoes that enter my house from now on.

• Vegetables: Whatever fresh vegetables you have to use up, throw them in. And get creative! You can leave them raw or find an interesting way to cook them. I had a zucchini (of course! Plus flowers) and two small potatoes. I cut the zucchini into thick slices and the potatoes into thin slices, and roasted them all together with cooking spray and some flavoured salt. OMG. Not all the slices made it into the bowls, let’s put it that way!

• Fresh herbs: if you have any to hand. Basil, thyme, dill, parsley, coriander - any of the soft herbs work well here. Avoid anything like sage and rosemary, unless you’re going to cook them with the vegetables.

• Dip/sauce/dressing: Pesto, hummus, tzatziki, tahini, mashed avocado….whatever you have or like. My friend very kindly shared some kale, walnut and basil pesto she made and dropped it on our doorstep, so I was keen to use that.

• Finally: I squeezed a lemon wedge over each bowl and ground some pepper over the top. There might have been a bit of pickled chilli put on my bowl too.

Mindful, conscious, no-waste eating never tasted so good!

spiced zucchini and apple loaf

Might not look like much - but it’s good!

I’m making the most of my zucchini glut, as I’m sure you’ve been able to tell!

I’m trying to ration my eggs and butter carefully at the moment, so I decided to make this cake vegan and see what the results were. And it was spectacular.

It’s a supremely moist cake anyway, thanks to the zucchini, but with the apple sauce involved too, the outside of the loaf is crusty and the middle is almost custardy. So it’s perfect for dessert as well as alongside your morning or afternoon cup of coffee.

And don’t skimp on the spices - it may seem like a lot but the whole point is that the flavour of the spices is very pronounced in this cake. If you prefer the flavours to be subtler, halve the quantities I’ve listed below. You can use any combination of baking spices you like (mixed spice, ground nutmeg, etc) but what I’ve listed below was a particularly good combination, for a spice lover like me. I’d never put black pepper in a cake before and was amazed by how just three turns of the pepper grinder gave it such a pleasant heat.

I hope you give it a try!

Spiced zucchini and apple loaf

Inspired by a similar recipe in A Basket By the Door by Sophie Hansen

Roughly 500g grated zucchini (courgette), about 3 large ones (you can even use marrow, just cut the woolly middle bit out first)
250g wholemeal plain flour or wholemeal spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
A generous grating of fresh nutmeg
3 turns of the black pepper grinder
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g brown sugar
6 heaped tablespoons apple sauce or puree
100ml olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180 C (fan-forced). Grease and line a large loaf tin or two small ones.

Squeeze as much liquid out of the grated zucchini as you can.

Place the squeezed grated zucchini in a bowl and add the flour, spices and salt, stir to combine. Add the vanilla, brown sugar, apple sauce and oil, and stir together until well combined (though try not to overmix, naturally).

Pour the batter into your prepared tin or tins, and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. My oven is hotter than most so I checked mine after 45 minutes.

Allow the loaf to cool slightly then remove from the tin on to a cake rack to cool completely.

As it makes a large loaf, or two small ones, you can also happily freeze it in slices to defrost in the toaster whenever you need some comforting home-baked goodness. Which, let’s face it, in the times of coronavirus, is pretty much every day!

Enjoy it fresh or toasted, spread with butter, ricotta or left plain, and absolutely with a steaming cup of tea or coffee alongside.

tomato, coconut and silverbeet dhal

Sorry, it’s not the best picture. This is why I should cook dinner while it’s still light outside.

I have made many a dhal in my time and I am not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best I’ve ever made. It’s comforting, spicy, delicious and filling - everything I want in a home-cooked meal.

If you have a bag of lentils that’s been waiting in your pantry for its moment in the sun, this is the dish! Red lentils are my preferred lentil but as they are harder and harder to come by at the supermarkets at the moment, you can use yellow split peas, green lentils, brown lentils, or indeed, any lentil you can find. Red break down faster and tend to transform into the delectable creaminess that you want for the comfort factor in a dhal, but regardless of what kind of lentils you use, it will still be delicious.

I cooked my rice with a little turmeric, cinnamon and a star anise and I will be making rice this way to serve with dhals and curries from now on - it was spectacular. Just a shake of each spice, whack in the star anise and make your rice in the usual way. As Jamie Oliver would say, happy days.

Tomato, coconut and silverbeet dhal

Serves 4

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
4 large leaves silverbeet, stalks and leaves, finely chopped (use spinach, chard, spring greens, whatever greens you have)
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon curry powder or garam masala
2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder (or other hot chilli powder)
200g red lentils
2-4 tablespoons tomato paste (depending on the other tomato components you have)
400g tomato passatta or chopped tomatoes
Whatever other fresh tomatoes you have that need using up, chopped
Boiling water, to cover
1 cup shredded coconut (more if you like it extra coconutty)
Salt, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste
Basmati rice, cooked as detailed above, to serve
Yoghurt, to serve (optional)

In a large stockpot, melt the coconut oil then saute the onion, garlic, carrot (plus any other vegetables you want to use up) and silverbeet stalks (reserve the leaves for later) until starting to soften. Add the spices, and a little water, and allow to cook and release the aromas for a minute or two. Don’t let the spices burn, add water if it’s getting a bit dry.

Add lentils, tomato paste and tomatoes, stir to combine, then cover the lot with boiling water from the kettle. You want it to be very soupy, remembering that the lentils will absorb some of the liquid as they cook. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, put a lid on and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the shredded coconut, stir in well, then replace the lid and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Add the silverbeet leaves, stir and cover again for 2 minutes or until the silverbeet is wilted. Add salt and lemon juice to your taste.

Serve with rice, a dollop of yoghurt and pride. You made this wholesome, delicious meal for yourself! You’re awesome.