Most weeks I start with something substantial, like a roast, on Sunday, and then make meals for a couple of days in the week from the leftovers. This week we started with some leftovers on Sunday evening, and then I made braised beef in the slow cooker on Monday to eat up the rest of the week.

The other anchor meal this week was an accidentally converted risotto recipe where I substituted pearled spelt because I had run out of risotto rice. The recipe uses a thin puree of cooked butternut squash as the cooking liquid for the grain. I steamed the squash before pureeing half, and roasting the other half to give it a bit of colour. The result was much more satisfying than a normal risotto, with the chewy spelt, but without the richness that result from a dairy-heavy finish.

Recipes:

• Slow cooker beef shin – approximately from Slow Cooked, but with a mixture of red wine and stock instead of beer
• Butternut squash and bacon risotto – adapted to use pearled spelt as I found I had run out of risotto rice!
• Peanut butter and jam blondies – from the Guardian ‘Cook’ section

Without a recipe:

• Beef tacos – leftover braised beef, shredded with a bit of fajita seasoning, plus rice, red onion, guacamole and creme fraiche and tortillas.
• A hybrid hash/fried rice by frying leftover rice with a bit of onion, leftover cabbage and some braised beef.
• More leftovers – Chicken Pie and lasagne
• Pizza on Saturday – bacon, courgette, sweet corn and roasted red onion and peppers

Reading:

• Raspberry and hazelnut flapjack bars – from Rachel at Make a Long Story Short. I often have raspberries in the freezer, so this would be an easy one to make at short notice. Also bookmarked: 5 O’Clock Apron’s Apple cinnamon flapjacks.
• It’s Semlor season. Having made these Swedish cream and marzipan buns before, I am very keen to make them again. Or you can buy them at Scandinavian Kitchen unti Easter: 12 things you need to know about Semlor
• Another squash recipe: Claire Ptak’s Squash cobbler with savoury biscuits sounds good.
• From the Guardian: Reader’s recipe swap: after-school snacks
• I was very pleased to read Brazil’s very sensible dietary guidelines this week. Actually usable dietary advice, that covers not just what you eat, but how and where you eat it.