Cod wrapped in bacon

Meal planning is a valuable skill to practise as it really helps you buy only what you need from the supermarket and it has helped us learn to use leftovers much better. I also love shopping with a list, it means that when I'm overwhelmed with the tempting choices that the supermarket puts in front of you, it is easier to make better decisions. I am also learning to pay more attention to the pricing of products to make sure that I am getting the best value for money from the products I'm buying. This does take extra time, but it is making me a much wiser consumer as I found that the larger 'value' packs aren't always the best value for money when you look at the price per gram or kilogram. When my son was in nappies, there were times when I bought two smaller bags of nappies rather than one large pack as the price per nappy was cheaper.

Anyway shopping tips over for today as I've gone completely off my first point which was menu planning. One of my favourite benefits of menu planning is that I don't have the awful thought of 'what are we going to eat tonight?' I know that if there is something I really want to cook and eat, I can build it into the food for the weekend as the majority of my planning focuses on weekday meals. We tend to look at weekend meals as being an opportunity to try out a new recipe. We still try to plan our food for the weekend though as if we have to do a food shop we want it to be as quick as possible so that we can spend more time together as a family rather than in a supermarket. Even though I'm still on holidays this week, I still needed to think carefully about the meals as we had a guest last night and my husband is going to be home late on Thursday night. This paid dividends today though as I've managed to hurt my back and can't really do anything in the kitchen. As my lovely husband is now very practised at looking at the meals I have planned, found my magic planning book, saw what was on the menu and started cooking. This meal is really simple and tasty, our son loved the cod and bacon combination. My husband cooked some boiled potatoes and steamed carrots and sprouts to go with the cod.

Cod wrapped in bacon (fed 2 adults and a toddler)

1 lemon

2 pieces of cod

12 slices thin streaky bacon (or pancetta)

1. Preheat an oven to 200°C. Slice the lemon into thin rounds and use this to line the bottom of an oven dish. I do this so that the fish doesn't stick to the bottom of the dish and can help avoid using oil.
   
2. Place the fish on the lemon slices (skin side down if it has skin on) and wrap the bacon over the top. You can just drape it if you are short on time or aren't keen on handling the fish too much.
   
3. Put in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, keep an eye on the fish more than the bacon as you want it cooked not overcooked.