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A week in May with two dinner recipes

Meal Plan for Week of 12/05/2025 – 18/05/2025

Monday – 12/05/2025

Hearty pasta soup 

Monday is a busy night round our place with Nipper 3.0 at guitar, Nipper 2.0 at singing lessons, me coming in from the office, and Himself out at running. The latter is a casual running group that evolved partly from a coaching group we used to be in and partly from parkrun. While I used to join in, my various injuries has slowed me down and, at times in the last four years, stopped me entirely. It’s not that everyone in the group is very fast, I just hate running in the evening. Either way it frees me up to drive Nipper 3.0 to her guitar class. Strictly speaking I am driving the guitar to the class and Nipper 3.0 is just availing of the lift. She used to cycle every week when she was learning the piano…

Himself usually works from home on a Monday and has the dinner more or less ready to go before heading out to run. So the other chores fall to the rest of us. While Nipper 3.0 is at her lesson I’ll nip around to Lidl and get entirely distracted by the middle aisle and pick up any bits needed for upcoming meals and some staples that we always buy in Lidl such as dark chocolate for baking, lardons and some “snacky bits” as we call them that the Nippers like to include in their lunchboxes. We are on the last stretch of schooldays at this stage.

The Hearty Pasta soup is an okay option for a day like this. It reheats well but whenI eat it I always think, “I wished I had made the soup yesterday and added the pasta today.” A vegetable soup or stew always benefits from a resting period, I feel. I think I did suggest to Himself as I was leaving that morning that he should make it right now.

• Rachel Allen’s Nutty Granola or a variation thereof

I actually end up making this way later in the week as I keep running out of time. I can’t remember which day but I was having rice crispies for breakfast in the meantime. They really didn’t cut it!

Tuesday – 13/05/2025

Creole chicken dish

(The instructions on AnyList read top drawer shed freezer but this is from Pinch of Yum who has some great slow cooker recipes.)

Leftovers from the freezer as I thought I was going to my parents entirely forgetting that they were departing for Paris, France. Leftovers were delish so no harm, no foul.

Wednesday – 14/05/2025

DINNER

One-pot garlic chicken

I’m usually on dinner duty on Wednesdays as I work from home. This was our first time having this dish and while it was tasty there definitely wasn’t enough for all of us. I served it with green beans per the recipe but entirely missed the rice part. There was a lot of grumbling and rumbling tummies. Fair. Less washing up though!

I don’t like to eat much at all on Wednesdays as I have been back to Yogalates since January. Best/ Easiest decision ever.

Thursday – 15/05/2025

Chickpea & Chorizo Fideos

This dish. I feel it has a lot of potential. Maybe it’s delicious but sometimes that toasted pasta doesn’t quite work and the chickpeas are chalky and the chorizo isn’t melt in the mouth. There’s a lot of places to go wrong with it. If anyone has a variation on this recipe I’d love to try it.

I tried the link in my AnyList App and it now links to a Chorizo, Chickpea and Spinach soup. Not. The. Same. At. All.

So here is our current recipe – let me know if you try it and what you think.

A child sneaks a piece of chorizo from a cut up sausage on a wooden chopping board
A child sneaks a piece of chorizo from a cut up sausage on a wooden chopping board

Chickpea & Chorizo Fideos

Serving Size:
4
Time:
25 mins
Difficulty:
Medium

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons/ 45ml extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 8 oz/ 225 g whole-wheat angel hair pasta or spagehetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup/ 60g chopped Spanish chorizo or pepperoni (about 2 ounces)
  • 1 14-ounce/ 400g can petite diced tomatoes
  • 1½ cups/ 360ml water
  • ½ cup/120ml dry white wine
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed
  • 3 scallions ( ½ bunch), sliced

Directions

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. (Le Creuset works well for this recipe if you have one) Add pasta pieces and cook, stirring, until toasted and browned in spots. Original recipe says 2 to 3 minutes but I feel this takes longer. maybe because we use spaghetti. Transfer to a bowl.
  2. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and chorizo (or pepperoni) and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, water, wine and the toasted pasta; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes. Stir in chickpeas and scallions and cook 1 minute more.
  3. (From EatingWell but no longer on that site alas)

Friday – 16/05/2025

Detroit-Style Pan Pizza

My first attempt at Detroit Style Pizza

Doom Slice has a lot to answer for. I brought the two younger Nippers there after a Fringe Festival show last year. This was my third go at this Detroit Style Pizza. I doubled everything this time after complaints about the lack of abundance last time. I also used a larger and shallower pan. The first time I made this I spent €12 on a delicious raclette from Sheridan’s Cheesemonger. It resulted in the best result so far. (see image above: mouth-watering)

For my next go round I asked Nipper 1.0 to bring home some raclette from Switzerland. While he did, it may not have been the raclette I would have chosen. It was sliced rather than in a block. For the purposes of pizza and that frijo cheesy crust vibe with Detroit Pan pizza, this probably would have been fine in block form but did you know that sliced cheese and grated cheese when bought in those forms are treated with a dessicant to keep them separated? I fear that this might have impacted the outcome. It was definitely still very edible but the base wasn’t as light and airy as the first time I made it. I have used Kenji Lopez-Alt’s foolproof recipe for this. There’s a lot of reading but as always with Kenji, it’s interesting and to the point of the food. (Unlike yours truly!)

We eat and leg it leaving the Nippers to tidy up the already mostly tidy kitchen as we head out to a birthday party. If I say I’m going to a party at all this year, just presume I’m off to a 50th Birthday party. The great weather continues and we all celebrate in the Cheeses’ beautiful back garden. I eventually leave to cycle home about 1am and leave Himself to it as I have an earlyish start the next day.

Saturday – 17/05/2025

Brioche Burger Buns  with Pulled Pork (Slow Cooker)

I took myself off to Belfast for the day to see a college friend’s MFA exhibition. It was a lovely day out to myself. I took the train north after a long night out chatting and therefore not drinking too much thankfully at the Cheese’s 50th. On the train journey north I finished the third of 14 socks (7 pairs) that I am making for friends to mark our 50th go around the sun. I am way behind schedule and when I blocked this one it still didn’t work so it has been frogged and redesigned. All that said it was nice to get in a couple of hours of uninterrupted knitting on the train to Belfast.

A handknitted blue sock with green and white snowdrop colourwork pattern designed by me
A handknitted blue sock with green and white snowdrop colourwork pattern designed by me

And when I got there, what a joy to reconnect with old friends and make more plans. Actually that has been quite the theme this year which is getting me through a lot of work-generated anxiety. That and therapy!

All this meant the others could go for Pulled Pork while I was away. In recent years I can’t manage pork as I once did. There are many foods I struggle with (excuse the reality lorry coming at you.) but pork I can live without. I actually don’t mind slow cooked pulled pork so much because it is so tenderised but there is no way I’m eating a pork chop.

I have no idea where this recipe came from but it is a cinch if you have a slow cooker. If you are reading this and are cooking for a family, it’s a great invesetment. Ours is just a no-name brand from Lidl. It has three settings and an on-off button. I know Caitríona Redmond gets fancy with a timer switch on the plug but so far we’ve never needed this.

So our recipe is as follows:

Delicious Brioche Buns that you too can make at home.

Pulled Pork (Slow Cooker)

Serving Size:
10
Time:
8-12 hours
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 kg pork roast (shoulder)
  • 2 onions
  • 1 bottle barbecue sauce, whatever brand catches your fancy
  • 3/4 cup sultanas
  • 200 ml Chicken Stock

Directions

  1. 1. Slice both onions but keep separate. Put one in slow cooker.
  2. Put in the pork and cover with the other sliced onion.
  3. Pour over barbecus sauce and chicken stock
  4. Cover and cook on low for about 12 hours or medium for 8 hours
  5. Shred the pork with two forks about 2 hours before serving.
  6. Serve with the delicious brioche buns that you have been making in the meanwhile or the best burger buns you can find. Sliced Dill Pickles go well too and leftovers freeze well.

And these Brioche Buns wow! So easy, so successful. I had made these once before so recommended that Himself give them a go and they turned out just as successful. Time is needed as with any yeasted breads but these seem very successful compared to other attempts I have made in the past. Yes there is a little bit of faffing with the Tangzhong (all is explained in the recipe) but all the effort (really not much) is worth it. Also why these are slated for a Saturday and not a weekday.

Meanwhile I had a delicious dinner al fresco in Belfast. Great company and a lift home to my front door 🙂

Sunday – 18/05/2025

John’s chicken nacho one-pot

The Nippers love this but it’s such a ridiculous meal. It’s never enough and it makes me feel like a bad parent. Ah well it was a busy week.

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Raspberry and Milled Linseed Muffins

Despite the fact that Himself hates a recipe with a preamble, this requires one.

I love linseed sprinkled on my porridge in the morning. Both Dunnes and Lidl do very nice linseed (aka flaxseed) crunch which usually includes some other tasty morsels like dried cranberries or tiny dried apple crumbs or I don’t know, whatever.

Often, on a Monday evening after his running class, Himself will do a supplementary messages (aka groceries anywhere but here) run to Lidl. He very kindly remembered to pick up a pack of linseed as we were out. He’s a fan as well.

Unfortunately, when he got home he realised it was milled linseed and not linseed crunch: a different beast altogether. Before I could save it to be returned someone had actually opened it.

If it were merely a nutritional thing, we could just lash it in the porridge and enjoy the cranberry flavour but for me it’s all about the texture so it wouldn’t do. However, now I had this open pack of milled linseed needing something done with it.

Raspberries in neat diagonal rows on a pink background. Stock photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash

75g butter
50g milled linseed or flaxseed, any flavour
150g plain flour
0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda (aka bread soda)
2 tsp baking powder
200ml buttermilk or 100ml each of natural yoghurt and milk
1 large egg
200g fresh or frozen raspberries

12 hole muffin tray
12 muffin cases

Melt butter in the microwave carefully and leave to cool.
Preheat oven to 200deg Celsius.
Line muffin tin with cases.
Mix dry ingredients.
Toss raspberries in dry ingredients (doing this in any fruity cake will stop the fruit from sinking apparently.)
Mix buttermilk and egg and then stir in the melted butter.
Mix wet ingredients into dry until just mixed. Don’t overwork it as this will make muffins bready instead of light.
Spoon evenly into cases.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool and eat right away or wait if you can.

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What we are eating this week

Thursday – 23/09/2021

Dinner Speedy sausage stroganoff tagliatelle

This was a new recipe for us. I spend at least 30 mins every week perusing food magazines on Dublin City Libraries Libby App. If you have a library card in Ireland I think you can access it. Thousands of magazines at your fingertips.

I’m writing this on Saturday. I didn’t actually cook on Thursday evening. I worked a little late and by the time I emerged, Vinnie had produced this. While we all agreed that it was delicious, even the kids balked at the butter, cream and sausages in the one dish.

Sometimes I think we’re doing something right with this parenting lark. Then I discover on Saturday evening that a quarter of the Chocolate Fudge Cake that Mum made for their Coffee morning in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation is gone. And only one certain person has been nibbling away at it since Thursday…!!

But back to the Stroganoff: yes it has mushrooms which only Nipper 2.0 will eat. But I got a great tip once: rather than chopping them up small leave them halved or quartered and then the kids can fish them out. I’m not one to pander to finickiness but I do remember loathing mushrooms as a very young child. I have a memory of eating a delicious mushroom salad in Simon’s Place but feel it was probably in the 2.0 version of his place which would mean I was much older than even Nipper 1.0 is now. If anybody also remembers that delicious mushroom and (I wanna say) pepper salad and can tell me the recipe or even the ingredients I would be a very happy lady.

Friday – 24/09/2021

Dinner Pizza

Friday night is ALWAYS pizza night. While I do have detailed instructions here on the blog for how I used to make pizza, Vinnie has entirely taken over the process and makes what many, MANY have called the best pizza they have ever tasted. He starts them baking on a cast iron skillet and then transfers them to grill in the oven on the pizza stone. We used to go for very thin bases but these are much thicker, doughy bases. I know he’s my husband and I’m biased and all but if we ever invite you for Friday night pizza, decline at your peril. The kids will have Coke Zero and Vinnie and I share a Whiplash Body Riddle. Such a pair of squares!

But but BUT! This week I missed pizza Friday because I was out out OUT! I had a fun afternoon with my lovely colleagues doing a super scavenger hunt in Ballsbridge before retiring to a local hostelry where a number of drinks were drunk. I didn’t go wild myself – too much gabbing. Also, I knew I had an early start: parkrun is back!

Saturday – 25/09/2021

Dinner: Bolognese for freezer

Because I knew I would be running on Sunday (see below) I kicked off Saturday by volunteering at our first post-Lockdown parkrun. It was glorious: glorious weather and a glorious get-together.

A ginormous bowl of subagetsi

Every few weeks we’ll make a massive batch of either bolognese or chilli (meat or veggie). Then I will add the batches to our meal plan for the coming month, usually on a weeknight when we have activities on.

This week I went for bolognese. We use Rachel Allen’s recipe from her book Home Cooking; it’s simple and quick which was a good thing this week.

I was reluctantly chaperoning Nipper 3.0 and friends to Forbidden Planet and on our way Vinnie texts me, “Did you get mince?” I definitely ordered some – we have been shopping online on and off for years but every week since I went back to work full time in Winter 2019. He checks the receipt, which is “miraculously” still floating around the kitchen. He double checks that none of the kids filed the mince in the wrong part of the fridge or freezer and lo! there it is, gone! as they say.

So we all rendezvous in SuperValu Sundrive and I go and have a chat with the manager, who, thanks to my previous religious weekly attendance for The Big Shop knows me and sorts me out with my mince and change (a different cheaper brand) even though it’s all from a different store (Lucan) originally. Online grocery shopping has some serious pitfalls!

It’s well after 8pm by the time we sit down to eat. I am exhausted by bedtime and sleep like a log.

Marshalls and tail walker close off the first post-pandemic parkrun at Tymon Park.

Sunday – 26/09/2021

Dinner Lasagne

Sunday’s dinner is Lasagne. We are doing our first post-lockdown race on Sunday (yay! Naas 10k) Lasasgne is the family’s favourite meal but it’s definitely a treat. It will be well deserved after our 10k race.

Dessert Crock Pot Apple Pudding Cake

One of our neighbours has very productive apple and pear trees. We have received two bags this autumn so far. The first batch I made into, firstly, a double batch of individual crumbles. My intention was to put half in the freezer for another less apple-filled time but they were gone by the following evening with a dollop of sour cream. Then, secondly, I also had enough apples to make an apple tray bake. This is a very simple and delicious recipe from Odlums. I added cinnamon and I will also add the reassurance that you will think there is not enough batter to create three layers. It is barely more than a thick smear but it does poof up and is delicious.

Another bag was delivered this weekend, a mix of apples and pear, me ol China plate! As we are heading out early afternoon to do the 10k (which starts at the annoying time of 2pm) I realised this was the perfect opportunity to rustle up this amazing slow cooker number, Crock Pot Apple Pudding cake from Bunny’s Warm Oven. It’s been years since I last made it but the memory (and probably the calories) lingers.

Monday – 27/09/2021

Dinner: Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken

Vinnie will be out so getting the dinner out of the freezer or the slow cooker keeps the evening ticking over.

Vinnie goes to training with Kevin English as did I until the lockdown. I’ve gotten even slower and really less competitive (like I ever was!) since lockdown. I’ve had a run of weird back and hip problems since lockdown. A sit stand desk and a better chair (not even a particularly fancy one, just one from IKEA! Replacing the actual designer fancy one I bought like an eejit) has improved the situation. But I was hobbling – but still running!

Still, though Vinnie showed me a photo from his Facebook memories this week: me about to embark on my first half-marathon seven (?) years ago. I’ve done two since then but not until 2019, both faster than that first (as I recall) so I’ve had ups and downs before.

Also with the dinner ready to go, I might grab some time to put on my skates and practice my technique in the kitchen while Nipper 1.0 does the washing up.

Skating is my lockdown skill. Everyone else was learning to bake (done), knit (done), crochet (done) and I got sucked into this hobby that really doesn’t have enough representation of small, grey haired, mammies from Ireland so I’m redressing that balance very slowly. I’m certainly not half as gung ho as some of the young ones but it gets me out of my head big time. I’ve met some nice folk down at my local rink and I get a bit of a mean thrill from speeding past the other mammies plonked on the banquettes watching their darlings. Get up and join in, missus! I want to shout.

Tuesday – 28/09/2021

Dinner: Chickpea & Chorizo Fideos

This is a really odd recipe that I just had to try out when I first read it. Toasted pasta? Colour me intrigued! I made it slightly wrong the first time I made it and everyone loved it but now I can’t quite remember what I did wrong and haven’t achieved the same glorious heights of appreciation since. But it’s still popular. Also it has chickpeas which is a vegetable which as I have been typing all of this (on my fecking iPhone like a dope) I realise we probably seem to be sorely lacking in our diet. I have broccoli to go with the Chixken cashew on Monday. We’ll have a green salad on the side with lasagne on Sunday and most the other meals have some vegetables in them but I agree, it’s not a great veggie week at all. We have our peaks and troughs.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I generally try to make something that reheats well as Nipper 1.0 is out at karate till after 8. But I’m considering this approach since school has returned and as winter comes in and thinking should we be making something that he can attack after school and then snack when he gets in rather than eating a heavy meal late at night. Decisions, decisions. Mental load, how are ye?

Wednesday – 29/09/2021

Dinner: Chips n Stuff

This is our cheat meal once a week of food we have not cooked from scratch. Straight out of the freezer usually. If I can find them I’ll opt for frozen sweet potato fries which I have myself convinced are healthier. We’ll have petit pois and usually Donegal catch but occasionally Chicken Kiev. But yeah a shocking meal. My poor nod to fish once a week.

I’m not a big fish fan. I find it boring if it’s not cooked interestingly and I often don’t feel I’ve cooked it interestingly. It’s hard to explain. I’ve a few amazing fish recipes which I go back to so I get bored of them. I’ve some that I’ve loved but the kids have refused to even look at (hello 25 minute cod with lentils). I keep them in my AnyList for the day the children all leave home. To cheer me up, like.

And that is it! See you next weekend for the next instalment!

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Tomato Soup for Nipper 3.0

Roseanne’s Tomato Soup

It’s really not a soup day but I made this at the beginning of the week and reheated a portion for lunch today with Nipper 3.0. I made up this soup for her after she came home raving about the delicious tomato 🍅 soup she had in her friend’s house. I tried a few different recipes and none passed muster with her. She suggested I ask her friend’s mum. “Oh it’s from a carton.”
Ah okay.
Well here’s the one that finally got the seal of approval. This tomato soup reheats really well so make a double or triple batch and stick it in single servings in the freezer for these busy school days and long working days especially as the weather, eh, turns cool.

Prep Time: 5 min 

Cook Time: 40 min 

Serves: 4

Ingredients

  •  25 g Butter
  •  1 Onions, chopped
  •  0.5 tsp Smoked Paprika
  •  1 Tbsp Flour
  •  1 can Tomatoes, chopped
  •  1000 ml Chicken Stock
  •  3 Sun Dried Tomatoes, in oil
    Or
  • Sundried tomato paste
    Or
  • Red Pesto
  •  Handful Basil, fresh
    Or
  • Mixed dried herbs or pick up a pack of the pizza seasoning from Flying Tiger – it’s really good!
  •  Salt
  • Pepper

Preparation Steps

  1. Melt butter and sauté onion very slowly until caramelised.
  2. Add smoked paprika and sauté to release flavour.
  3. Add flour and cook gently for about 2 mins.
  4. Add tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to the oil stirring.
  5. Add sun dried tomatoes and basil and simmer for 20-30mins.
  6. Use blender stick to blend if desired.
  7. Taste and season very carefully
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Creations

Lily and RosieHere I am wearing one of my creations, holding my sister’s beautiful creation. If I had known I was being papped I would have smiled. I’m having a very bad photo day: there’s not much more ignominious than getting your photo taken in the chemist. I don’t know why I do it: always appalling results.

This top is the first piece of clothing I’ve crocheted for myself. It was not difficult but some aspects of the pattern were a little difficult to follow. I didn’t get much assistance from Rowan Yarn when I asked them, so the edges turned out quite wonky hence the belt. You can get all the details from my project on Ravelry. including yarn and links to where you can buy the pattern. You can also see how it turned out for other hookers.

In this picture we’re in the café of the Royal Hibernian Academy. We were there to check out VUE, the annual art fair. It was amazing to be able to see the work of so many different artists curated by so many different gallery owners. I understand that this exhibition previously took place in the RDS but the RHA strikes me as a much more pleasant venue. We were there to support my common law brother John O’Reilly and my actual brother Blaise Smith of course but I have to say I was totally smitten as usual by Patrick Redmond’s work.

VUE is finished up but I would recommend a visit to the RHA just off Stephen’s Green where there is always someting inspirational to see in a beautiful space.