So here we are: week 19 of Meatless Monday 2020… 5th week of being furloughed and I think this image sums up my mood quite nicely…
Here’s what we wore:
Me: Long Sleeve Top: Superdry (thrifted), Vest: Primark, Jumper: Hollister (thrifted), Yellow Cardigan: Gifted, Jeans: GAP, Wellies & Gilet: Joules
Boys: Long Sleeve Tops, Jumpers, Trousers : thrifted or gifted from various sources, Vests: Tescos, Wellies: Mothercare, Coats: Vertbaudet
What’s in my ears:
This is a podcast I listened to this week and found really interesting, funny and relevant in the current climate entitled Rub your Ring Aladdin, hope you enjoy it too :):
Here’s my week in 4:
- Hug a tree: This is something which the boys and I have started doing on walks this week and the boys seemed to come to the idea themselves which was even sweeter, especially as they say “love you tree” when they do, which does just melt me. It turns out though its actually really great for your health: “Hugging a tree increases levels of hormone oxytocin. This hormone is responsible for feeling calm and emotional bonding. When hugging a tree, the hormones serotonin and dopamine make you feel happier. It is important to use this “free” space of a forest we were given by nature to holistically heal ourselves.” I have also heard on social that there is a campaign in Iceland to get people to hug trees as a means of comfort during social distancing. I’ve done it every walk since we started and it definitely does make me feel happy. + I really do think it is so important to teach our kids to love and respect nature and I think this is a really simple and beautiful way to do this 🙂
- I bought a tutu skirt: I have wanted one of these skirts ever since I saw it on Sex and the City years ago and so this week I decided to treat myself to one (with petrol money savings) and then get dressed up and take some photos in the garden. It was quite fun to do this, just get dressed up for no reason, I do look forward to going out again at some point once this is all over, but maybe every now and then I might just get my fancy pants on and drink a cocktail and enjoy being a bit girlie at home too 🙂
- 1st Walk somewhere different in 10 weeks: As the lock down restrictions were softened a little this week I took the boys for a drive to a walk for the first time since lock down, it was really strange but also so nice, to have music on and windows down and be singing along to some happy music like any other year followed by a walk somewhere we hadn’t been in 10 weeks at least. I also found it built my confidence a little with the small changes which we now can make to our daily routine. From my perspective I think we should be making baby steps and cautiously and check that that works and has no adverse effects before moving on to the next baby step. With this in mind we went for our walk around teatime, so we knew it would be quieter and also during the week. This coming week I have set up plans with grandparents for social distancing walks, which again is going to be very surreal but again another baby step. I really hope we manage to avoid a 2nd peak in the UK and that people are sensible and edge cautiously back into normality (or the new version of it) but I guess only time will tell. My fingers remained crossed. As ever you can only control yourself and how you choose to interpret these new rules. I wish all my readers luck and love with how they navigate that. Stay safe everyone 🙂
- Family Quiz + Cocktail: My sister-in-law took over organising the family quiz a couple of weeks ago and it has turned into a regular Friday night treat and something which I really do look forward to ending the week on. Close friends and family join from all sides of the family and we all say cheers with our drink of choice to another week survived under lock down. It really is a lovely, social evening and something which I can see us carrying on or at least talking about for years to come. This weeks quiz was special for me as both my nieces (based in Michigan) joined, it was so wonderful to have them hang out with Adam’s side of the family and have some social time together, which is something which we have never really managed before. They seemed excited to join again this coming week. 🙂
Video of the week:
I’ve got a bit obsessed with this programme this last week: Normal People – definitely recommend as something to watch once the kids are in bed for a bit of escapism. 🙂 – & PS. I want Marianne’s wardrobe and house from college 🙂
What we ate this week…
Breakfast:
I had my cup of tea in the garden and then we all had pancakes and fruit, the boys had their milk and I had a lemon, honey and ginger.
Lunch:
The boys had a snack pot for their mid-morning snack of multigrain shapes, sultanas and carrot sticks and I had a pack of these chickpea puffs which my friend introduced me to some time ago and I managed to get some the last time I went shopping, they are a bit healthier than regular crisps and keep you fuller for longer . Then I did jacket potatoes with cheese for the boys and spinach and tomato quiche and salad for myself. Then the boys had half an apple each and I had a brunch bar.
Dinner:
For dinner the boys had toast, cheese and beans 🙂 along with some fruit for afters.
I finally got round to doing some proper cooking again this week and finally tried something from REBEL RECIPES, who I have been following with awe on Instagram for quite some time. Literally everything she cooks looks amazing and is all vegetarian so really worth a follow! So I thought I’d start by trying her bolognese and garlic roast potato recipe…
Smokey lentil & walnut bolognese with crispy roast potatoes
Ingredients
- 750 g Organic new potatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic finely diced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- 200 g mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 red peppers chopped
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds or ground
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 .5 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 75 g walnuts toasted
- 1 carrot roughly chopped
- 4 sundried tomatoes chopped finely
- 1 can tomatoes
- 100 g dried red spilt lentils rinsed
- 500 ml water
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Twist black Pepper
Instructions
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To roast the potatoes;
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Pre heat your oven to 180c
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Add the potatoes to a roasting tray (I cut some of the larger ones in half) then toss to coat them on olive oil, garlic powder & salt. Roast for aprox 50- 60 minutes until crispy on the outside.
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To make the bolognese;
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Add the olive oil & onion to a large pan and heat to a medium heat. Fry for aprox 8-10 minutes until soft and browning.
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Add in the garlic, spices and stir for another few minutes, then add in the chopped mushrooms and red peppers and fry for 2-3 minutes.
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Add the walnuts to a pan and fry toast until lightly toasted. Allow to cool a little then add them along with the carrots and sun dried tomatoes to a food processor and blitz to a chunky crumb.
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Add the walnut mix to the pan, along with the tomatoes, lentils, water, harissa, balsamic and tamari.
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Simmer for 25 minutes.
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Season with salt, pepper
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I scattered some grated cheddar over the bolognese before serving and that was a super yummy edition 🙂
Recipe Notes
Info
2-4 servings
20 minutes preparation time
1 hr cook time
Overall it was quite time consuming to make and quite a lot of ingredients, but it was definitely yummy and I have 2 portions of the bolognese leftover to freeze after having a second portion for lunch on Tuesday this week. So this is definitely on my cook again list 🙂
Please check out my Pinterest meatless inspiration board: #MeatlessMonday to gather some pinspiration:
Along with the official Meatless Monday board which I am also now sharing on:
Find out how I got onto Meatless Mondays in the first place by watching this video:
And check out #meatlessmondays on this blog to see all my Meatless Monday posts and recipes. Hope you have a lovely week. 🙂
Go on Pin it!
