How can Weetabix not be F&H - they're horrid!

5^th January 2012

Triumph is “umph” added to Try!

Well I finally have my house back and as much as I love my brother and his wife, I’m so glad, yesterday was a tough day, trying to do 3 meetings, paperwork and having my brother in my ears asking me about facebook and how to do things!  Trying to do so many things, being tired from not being able to sleep in your own bed and not being organised is not good for staying on track.  I made some not so wise food choices yesterday just because I was too busy to care, having said that, they could’ve been a lot worse than they were.

Roll on the weekend so I can sit and do some thinking and planning, I’ve decided I’m going to sit and plan a week and see if I can stick to a planner, maybe precook and freeze some stuff.

On a positive note I did manage to nip into Asda on my way to work and buy some fruit and other bits to help me out until the weekend.  They have lots of WW products on offer, and I also bought a block of “I can’t believe it’s not Cheddar” which was on offer for £2 and actually tasted nicer than the book of regular Cheddar I bought, plus it was 9pp per 100g which was 2pp less than the regular Cheddar.

I also decided at lunch time that I would follow F&H for the day until someone pointed out that Weetabix weren’t on the Filling & Healthy list, so if I can get it wrong, anyone can, therefore if you decide to follow F&H, make sure you’ve checked everything on the list, because it only works if you follow it properly.

On a brighter note a wonderful member made my tea, she bought me a portion of that Hash Brown Brunch recipe from yesterday’s blog and I really enjoyed that, delicious.  So I know cooking is the way forward for me to succeed.  I like good food and I know I can cook it, I also know cooking from scratch will give me larger portions.  There’s a tasty looking tagliatelle in this weeks ‘your week’ and the new cook books have lots to try, so again, that’s my weekend sorted.

This is my first dish I plan to cook starting Friday, I’ve got most of the ingredients, I shan’t use fresh lasagne I’ll use the dried stuff, it’s cheaper, I will pop and get Parmesan though.  This is delicious, I’ve made it a few times, and very easy to make.  I use those small round gammon joints that are on offer most of the time so I always have one in my freezer, I can cook double and freeze it for my new cleaned out freezer.

Cheese & Bacon Lasagne,

Serves 6 - 9pp each, 8pp if using gammon
Prep: 35m, cook: 40m.

This freezable, family-friendly recipe is economical and has a wonderful comfort-food feel about it and recipe can easily be doubled.

3 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

1 ½ tbsp olive oil (6pp)
1 tsp dried oregano (optional I didn’t have any & it was still delicious)
300g pack lean smoked back bacon, chopped (17pp) or 300g lean gammon (11pp)
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes in rich juice
20 basil leaves, roughly torn, plus extra to serve if you like (optional I forgot to use it & it was delicious)
250g pack fresh egg lasagne (check pack for cooking instructions) (10pp)

For sauce

600ml skimmed milk (6pp)
50g each butter (5pp) and plain flour (5pp)
Generous grating fresh nutmeg
50g grated Parmesan (6pp)

Fry the onions in the oil for about 15 mins until golden. Add the oregano and bacon and fry for 5 mins more, stirring frequently. Tip in the tomatoes, season and bubble uncovered for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil.  Meanwhile, make the white sauce. Pour the milk into a pan and tip in the butter and flour. Whisk continuously over a moderate heat to incorporate the flour, then simmer, stirring until thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon a third of the tomato sauce on the base of a lasagne dish. Top with a third of the lasagne sheets. Then top with a third sauce, a third lasagne, and the last of the tomato sauce and finally the last sheets of lasagne. Pour over the white sauce and scatter with the cheese and an extra grating of nutmeg. Chill. If eating straight away, bake at 190C/170C fan/gas 5 for 40 mins until golden and bubbling. Scatter with basil, if you like, and serve with a salad and garlic bread.

To freeze, cool completely, then wrap in cling film, then foil. Will store for 3 months. To serve, thaw for 6 hrs in a cool place. Unwrap and bake at 190C/170C fan/gas 5 for 50-60 mins until thoroughly heated through

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Yay it’s Thursday, almost the weekend and the first week of January goes by in a flash!

Have a tremendous tracking day – I plan to. xx