Monthly menu plan - May/June

I read a report the other day that stated that less than 4% of Australians managed to eat enough vegetables - i.e. the recommended 5 serves of veg, plus 2 of fruit. Eeeek! So to make sure that as a family we hit those targets, I've decided to reduce our meat intake to once a week, and to eat mostly vegetarians meals instead. Good for us, good for our wallets, great for the environment. Win, win, win.

I've also tried to make my cooking go as Zero Waste as possible. We did a stock up at our local bulk organic store, and filled our jars with chickpeas, lentils and rice. It was so economical, and I love not having any single-use plastic to turf afterwards. And they also had quinces! So of course I brought them home with me. Quinces, meet the oven. You'll be slow cooked in there for about 10 hours until you are a dark and deep maroon. Delicious!

Week One
Monday - Moroccan lentil and chickpea soup
Tuesday - Chicken curry
Wednesday - Potato and leek soup with salad baguettes
Thursday - Lentil, feta and roasted pumpkin pasta with garden salad
Friday - Dinner with friends, so to be decided
Saturday - Persian eggs with lentils and couscous
Sunday - Grilled vegetable and bean tacos with red cabbage coleslaw

Week Two
Monday - Tortellini minestrone
Tuesday - Simple beef and vegetable casserole (slow cooker)
Wednesday - Roast vegetable and mushroom pizza
Thursday - Wholemeal pasta with silverbeet and walnuts and green salad
Friday - Bean nachos
Saturday - Spicy rice and sweet potato biryani with baked eggs and garden salad
Sunday - Spicy winter vegetable soup with chickpea and cauliflower tabouli

Week Three
Monday - Roasted vegetable,cheese and cranberry filo pie with salad
Tuesday - Beef, date and spinach tagine
Wednesday - Spiced pumpkin soup with super green salad
Thursday - Smoky chickpea stew with couscous
Friday - Carrot, feta, dill and chickpea tart with potato salad
Saturday - Baked jacket potatoes topped with leftover chickpea stew, plus loads of vegetables
Sunday - Roast chicken

Week Four
Monday - Creamy silverbeet soup with garlic bread
Tuesday - Beef casserole (from freezer)
Wednesday - Pearl barley minestrone
Thursday - Italian vegetable risotto with salad
Friday - Caramelised onion frittata with roasted garlic tomatoes and rocket salad
Saturday - Vegetable and tofu stir fry
Sunday - Spinach and ricotta cannelloni

Week Five
Monday - Spiced carrot soup with ginger raita
Tuesday - Beef tagine (from freezer)
Wednesday - Curried pea and lettuce soup with savoury scones
Thursday - Red lentil dhal with carrot and sweet potato
Friday - Baked beetroot and apple soup with Greek salad

Pebble Beach Shawlette

As I sit here to type this post up, the weather outside is the least conducive to carefree beach going that you can think of: the rain is pelting down, the storm water drains are beginning to back up, and the wind and rain are conspiring to rob as many people of their umbrellas as possible.

So I shan't pop out and look for a nice pebbly beach on which to wear my Pebble Beach Shawlette, and shall instead have to stay here with the rain lashing the windows whilst quinces slow cook in the oven. I know, tough life, eh?

To the knitting! Here is my version of the Pebble Beach Shawlette designed by Helen Stewart. To be perfectly frank with you, knitting a shawl has never appealed to me, but once I lay eyes on this design, it suddenly became imperative that I knit one right this very minute. It's so lovely that even I, avowed shawl derider, fell under its lacy spell.

I knit this shawlette in Vinnis Colours Serina, a beautifully silky and drapey yarn from Woolarium. It's hard to tell from the pics, but the yarn has the most incredibly subtle colour variegations within it that had me captivated.

The pattern was one of the best written I have ever come upon. One component that really tickled my fancy was the percentage of completion that accompanied each row. It was like having a little cheer squad encouraging you to knit more quickly to the end! Whilst there was a lot of knitting in this, the pattern was very easy to follow. I can see more being made as gifts!

Project Details
Pattern - Pebble Beach Shawlette by Helen Stewart, knit in size small
Yarn - Vinnis Colours Serina bamboo yarn from Woolarium
Needles - 4mm 100cm circular needle

Project Ravelried here.