Menu Plan Monday – Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables for May

It is the start of a new month, so time to receive some inspiration for meals by which vegetables and fruit are in season.

The following fruits and vegetables listed below are at their best and cheapest this month in Victoria, Australia. These lists are for Australia, but if you live in the UK you can see what’s in season at Eat the Seasons UK and for North America Eat the Seasons US.

Fruits:
apples – bonza – braeburn – cox’s orange pippins – fuji – gala – golden delicious – granny smith – jonagold – jonathan – mutso – pink lady – red delicious – snow – sundowner, banana, cumquat, custard apple, feijoa, grapes – purple cornichon – waltham cross, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, mandarin – imperial, melon – champagne, nuts – chestnut – hazelnut – peanut – walnut, pears – howell – josephine – packham – red sensation – williams, persimmon, quince, rhubarb.

Vegetables:
asian greens – bok choy, – choy sum – gai laan – wonga bok, avocados – fuerte – sharwill, beetroot, broccoli, brussels sprout, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, daikon, eggplant, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms – wild – field – pine – slippery jacks, okra, olives, onions – brown – spring, parsnip, peas, potato, pumpkin, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, squash, swede, sweet potato, taro, tomato, turnip, witlof, zucchini.

Taking inspiration from the vegetables in season, there will be a few soups and casseroles over the month of May! We also had the opportunity to buy locally grown pumpkins cheaply when we were in Mildura, which is always a bonus!

Monday: Spaghetti Bolognaise
Baking: Lemon Slice (Recipe Below)

Tuesday: Pumpkin Soup

Wednesday: Chicken Schnitzel and Vegetables

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff (Recipe Below)

Friday: Chicken Wings, Baked Potatoes and Corn on the cob

Saturday: Left Overs

Sunday: Tacos

Again, I have included the shopping list for this week’s menu plan as an excel file. The below paragraphs explain what is in the attached excel file below.

It contains three separate spreadsheets. The first is named “Complete Grocery’ and it lists by supermarket aisle all the ingredients that are needed to cook the family meals for this week.

The second spreadsheet is named “Ingredient By Meal’ and it lists the ingredients that are required for the family by each individual meal this week. I have also left on the aisle and aisle subsection in this spreadsheet for reference, but if you want to print that out you will need to alter the print area.

The third spreadsheet is named “Menu Plan” and is a modified version of the menu plan that I print and place on the fridge. I have a notes section, that I like to populate with any activities that are likely to impact the evening meal routine.

Shopping Lists

Any seasonally influenced meals in your family menu plan?

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For more menu planning ideas head on over to Laura’s place at “I’m an Organizing Junkie“.

Beef Stroganoff (Slow Cooker Version)

Ingredients:
500 grams diced beef
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 teaspoons minced garlic
2 large potatoes, cubed 1cm x 1cm
3 large carrots, sliced thinly
1 cup beef stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
300 mls sour cream

Instructions:

(1). Toss the meat in flour. If the meat is in a plastic bag, I just add the flour to the bag and shake with some vigour.

(2). Heat oil in frying pan and brown the meat.

(3). Once browned, transfer meat to the slow cooker and then add all ingredients with the exception of the sour cream.

(4). Place lid on and cook on Auto/Low for 8-10 hours or High for 4-5 hours.
In the last 30 minutes add sour cream and stir in thoroughly.

(5). Serve with rice or pasta.

Lemon Slice

There are many variations on how to make a lemon slice, but this is a very easy to make, child friendly recipe that I use.

Ingredients:
BASE
100 grams butter
approx ¾ can of condensed milk (this equates to 296.25 grams to be precise!)
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cup coconut
1 packet Marie biscuits

ICING
1 ½ cups icing sugar
¾ cup coconut
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Crush biscuits until they are like a breadcrumb consistency. I put them in a plastic bag and crush using the wooden rolling pin and then pour into a medium sized bowl.

2. Add coconut, and lemon rind to the biscuit mix.

3. On a low heat melt butter and condensed milk.

4. Pour the milk and butter into the biscuit mix.

5. Press this mixture into a lined baking tray.

6. Place into fridge for appox an hour (when in a jury, I have put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and this has also worked).

7. To make the icing, mix all the ingredients together and then spread onto the set biscuit base. Refrigerate again until the icing has set.

8. Once set cut the slice into fingers. Lemon slices keeps best in the fridge.

Tagged as: family friendly food, Menu Planning, seasonal vegetables