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.

moroccan chickpea and lentil soup

This soup was a great favourite of mine in my Weight Watchers days - I made it again recently and to my delight, it is still excellent. And perfect for those nights where the air is freezing, you can smell chimney smoke and rotting leaves, and hear next-door’s dogs howling at the moon.

Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup

2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons turmeric
4 teaspoons Masterfoods Moroccan Seasoning (or a spicier Moroccan souk seasoning, my favourite is this one from Gerwurzhaus)
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 cups red lentils, rinsed
2 x 420g cans chickpeas, drained
2 large or 3 medium carrots, diced
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 large red capsicum, chopped
1 sweet potato (or large white potato), chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
Vegetable stock (or water), to cover
Fresh coriander to serve, if desired

Coat a stockpot with cooking spray. Saute onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add a bit of stock if it starts to stick.

Add carrots, capsicum, sweet potato and zucchini (a note on the vegetables: this combination is not set in stone. It works brilliantly with any vegetables so use up whatever you’ve got). Mix well, then add the red lentils and chickpeas. Add the spices. Stir well to coat everything evenly.

Cook for about a minute, until everything is fragrant and combined thoroughly. Add enough stock to cover. Stir well. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.

Come back to check on the soup every 15 minutes or so. Lentils will absorb the liquid as they cook, so you may need to add more stock or water during the cooking time, depending how thick you want the soup.

After 30 minutes, check the lentils to see if they are tender. If they are, the soup is ready. If not, cook for a further 10 minutes before checking again.

A note on the spices: some Moroccan seasonings can be quite mild so taste the soup as you go and add more if you want. I prefer a kick!

Either serve the soup as it is, or puree roughly with a hand-held blender to break up the bigger chunks of carrot and capsicum.

Serve immediately, or freeze in containers. Makes enough for 8 serves.

This is one of the most comforting things in the world to eat when it’s cold outside.

best ever kale pesto

You know how when you make something that's so delicious you just want to eat it all the time? 

Make this pesto and you'll understand!

And as usual, with a Phil recipe, it makes a lot! I got large jars and enough for a decent amount on toast with this batch.

Best ever kale pesto

250g curly kale

80g basil leaves (roughly two packets)

Small bunch parsley (roughly 80g)

50g pine nuts + 100g walnuts + handful of almonds (you could just use 160g nuts of your choice, this particular combo is very tasty)

Juice of 1 medium lemon

1 large clove garlic, peeled

40ml extra virgin olive oil

125ml filtered water

Salt (I use Pink Himalayan salt) and pepper

If you prefer the nuts toasted, toast them first in a dry frying pan until golden brown. Set aside. I love the flavour of toasted nuts and would recommend you do it if you have time. When you're in  a rush, you can just skip that step but it will still taste amazing. 

Place the kale in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. You need to do this first because, unless you have some industrial sized food processor, you won't be able to fit the rest of the ingredients in there until the kale has broken down a bit.

Add the basil and parsley. Pulse again.

Add the remaining ingredients apart from the water and oil.

Get the motor running and put the oil and then the water into the drip feed container at the top on the food processor's lid. Process until the oil and water has dripped through and the pesto is smooth enough to your liking. You can add more water if you want it less thick.

Spoon into jars and keep refrigerated. Lasts well up to two weeks (if it lasts that long!)

Enjoy it any way you like - I have eaten it with pasta, gnocchi, on toast, as a dip, dolloped in soup, stirred through risotto. It's so versatile and delicious and you'll seriously be thinking of an excuse to make it every single weekend!