It’s been a busy but fun couple of weeks in the Bangers & Mash household. Despite racing around like a crazy thing most of the time, life feels good at the moment.

The sun has been shining, which always puts people in better moods. Our veggie patch is thriving; the hedgerows are full of beautiful wild flowers; the housemartins have returned to rebuild their nest in the eaves of our roof; the Olympic flame has passed through Somerset (my husband took the girls to see it in Wells); the bunting and flags are up and everyone’s getting excited about their Jubilee celebrations; and yours truly is becoming a bit of a local celebrity as a result of being a finalist in the MAD Blog Awards.

There’s been a piece on me in the local paper and I did an interview on BBC Radio Somerset’s breakfast show. I was terrified beforehand but actually rather enjoyed the interview in the end. The host Matt Faulkner was very easy to talk to and seemed genuinely interested in the ins and outs of meal planning and feeding a family on a budget.

Talking of budgets, ours got a little tighter this week. I’ve just finished my temporary stint at Bath Spa University, which is sad as I really enjoyed it there. But working from home again will make life a lot easier. And my husband has just finished working at a local primary school and is about to start retraining in IT. So on one hand it’s fantastic that we’ll both be at home much more and able to spend more time together as a family, but on the other hand we’re going to have to be incredibly careful with the pennies. Cheap eats are definitely the order of the day.

Foodwise I’ve been keeping things pretty simple because I have been rushing about so much and haven’t wanted to spend hours in the kitchen when it’s been so hot. Saying that, my mum and I did spend an afternoon baking this Jubilee cake on one of the hottest days of the year.

Yes, it’s completely OTT but I think it’s a great cake for children’s Jubilee parties.

Another culinary highlight was this delicious Oyakodon, a Japanese chicken and egg rice dish, the recipe for which I found at Under The Blue Gum Tree. As my mother is half Chinese, we tend to eat lots of oriental flavours in our house and with mum visiting for a weekend I thought this would be a good dish to try. It was a big hit all round, although the flavours were quite different to what I was expecting; much softer and more subtle, very clean and light. I could eat this dish again and again, and probably will.

With the mini heatwave in the UK, it’s only natural that salads have featured highly on our menu. One simple meal we had recently was fried chicken served with a red cabbage and beetroot slaw. The chicken was fairly dull really, but the slaw was very tasty and such a beautiful colour. It keeps well for a couple of days, and we used up the leftovers at our barbecue.

 Our herb patch is looking glorious. The rosemary, thyme and oregano are all in full bloom and the sage flowers are set to open any day now. I read somewhere recently that oregano flowers work well in salads, so I decided to add some to a lovely salad I made with courgette, mozzarella and baby plum tomatoes. It looked and tasted fantastic.

Rice salad is a regular in our lunch boxes and I try to play around with ingredients so the kids don’t get bored. This week I included grilled chicken (marinated first in a mustard vinaigrette) and artichoke hearts. The lunch boxes came home empty. Need I say more?

Always on the look out for new meat-free dishes, I came across this spinach roulade on Thinly Spread. Initially I thought the rolling of the roulade was going to be a bit of a tall order for me; I’m a walking disaster zone when it comes to dainty presentation. I really am the clumsiest person I know. But it was actually incredibly easy. And oh, so tasty. I’ve got to make this dish again when friends come over as it looks so much more difficult to pull off than it really is, and so a great one for impressing dinner guests.

And finally, because it looks like the weather has turned again and the rain is pattering against the window as I type, I include a picture of our barbecue last weekend when mum was over from Spain. Come back mum and bring the sunshine back with you!

So time for those meal plans…

Monday 14 May
Lunch: pasta salad
Dinner: spinach roulade with new potatoes and salad

Tuesday 15 May
Lunch: ham salad rolls
Dinner: lamb meatballs and rice (F)

Wednesday 16 May
Lunch: pitta bread with hummus and salad
Dinner: pork chops, mash and vegetables

Thursday 17 May
Lunch: cheese and cucumber rolls
Dinner: omelette and salad

Friday 18 May
Lunch:  rice salad with grilled chicken and artichoke hearts
Dinner: pasta with bacon and tomato sauce

Saturday 19 May
Lunch: baked sausages with fennel and butternut squash
Dinner: bread and cheese

Sunday 20 May
Lunch: kohlrabi and spinach gratin
Dinner: carrot and coriander soup

Monday 21  May
Lunch: olive and mozzarella muffins (F)
Dinner: courgette, mozzarella and oregano flower salad with crusty bread

Tuesday 22 May
Lunch: salad wraps
Dinner: wild garlic pesto and spaghetti

Wednesday 23 May
Lunch: pasta salad
Dinner: poached eggs on toast with asparagus

Thursday 24 May
Lunch: ham and salad rolls
Dinner: Oyakodon with steamed pak choi

Friday 25 May
Lunch: garlic mushrooms with salad
Dinner: southern fried chicken with beetroot and red cabbage slaw and potato wedges

Saturday 26 May
Lunch: pub lunch
Dinner: bread and cheese

Sunday 27 May
Lunch: barbecued sausages and chicken with salads
Dinner: bread and cheese

F = from freezer