Meal Planning Monday #6 {27 April}

It's Monday, so it's time for another #mealplanningmonday post. 

Last week seems to have gone by in such a blur - we didn't really do anything much and Saturday is a day I want to forget as it was probably one of the worst days I've had this year, We had already made plans to go to town, so we still went to get out of the house - I really didn't want to stay in. The day got worse as I was sat in the car waiting for Michael who was in a shop 50 yards away, and a traffic warden issued us with a parking ticket. I was in the car with Alfie who was asleep and the traffic warden stood at the front of the car, watching as I tried to  frantically get hold of Michael who hadn't realised that it was pay and display when he'd parked up. The traffic warden was really quite intimidating, which left me feeling really angry and upset, especially after the morning I'd had, so I was in a bad mood for a few hours after the incident and it was just not what I'd needed.

Anyway, I had totally forgot that we were out at my Godmother's on Saturday night as her daughter, who I've known all my life, is moving to Australia for a year, so we went for a little leaving party with her. We followed my Mum up there as they live in Burnley. We took Alfie to the party too, which is something we've never done before - we had arranged to leave him with Michael's parents, but changed our mind at the last minute and took him. I'm really glad we did as he was really on form, and it was nice to see him playing with my Godmother's grandaughter who is just a few months older than him. 

So, with us being out on Saturday, I didn't end up making the burger in a bowl, which I'm really gutted about as I was really looking forward to it, and we also went for an impromptu tea at my Mum's on Friday so we didn't have the full English either. 

This week will see a new routine for us. From tonight and every Monday and Wednesday evening for the next 4 weeks, I'm going to be doing my Social Media course from 7pm - 8pm, meaning I'll have to have tea made, eaten and cleared away and be ready to settle down for the course at 7, whereas sometimes I'm still eating at that time, so I think I'll have to start eating earlier, when Alfie does. 

Our menu for this week isn't very appealing, but we went a bit mad with the chicken and sausages, so we are trying to use those up.

Here's what we are eating this week:

Monday - I am currently full of a cold so have not eaten so Michael had pizza and chips

Tuesday - Gammon, chips and egg

Wednesday - Sausage, Mash and beans

Thursday - Cheese and bacon pasta bake

Friday - Chicken fajita's

Saturday - SW burger in a bowl

Hopefully, I'll be able to make the burger in a bowl on Saturday, as I am really looking forward to trying it - that's this weeks meal I've never made before. 

So, that's us this week. What will you be having?

*linking up with at home with Mrs M

Meal Planning Monday #5 {20 April}

                                         

I’m back with another meal planning Monday.

This week, we needed to go food shopping, as we’ve finally run the freezer down and used all the meat which was in there. 

We did quite well last week and managed to stick to the meal plan. The only meal I didn’t make was the chicken wrapped in bacon, which we are having this week instead.

We have gone a bit overboard on meat shopping this week as we have taken advantages of the offers, so we have 12 chicken breasts, 1 pack of diced chicken, 2 gammon steaks, 16 sausages, 3 turkey breasts, 2 salmon fillets and a burger and 3 packs of bacon!! Luckily it’ll last us a while!!

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Monday – Nandos chicken, rice and veg

Tuesday – turkey steaks, noodles and veg

Wednesday – sausage casserole with mash and veg

Thursday – chicken breasts wrapped in bacon with potatoes/ rice and veg

Friday – sausage (one),  bacon, egg, chips and beans (me)

Mixed grill (sausage, gammon, bacon, chicken and veg) for Michael

Saturday (Treat night) – Slimming world burger in a bowl

The meal which I’ve never made before is the slimming world burger in a bowl. I’ve seen a few different people whom I follow on twitter make it and I’ve always really fancied it, so as I now have the Slimming World fakeaways book I’m going to give it a go.

What are you eating this week?  

*linking up with athomewithmrsm.com

The Ordinary Moments #1 'Coffee Shop Dates'

 A water and a latte, nothing special right? Wrong. This simple, ordinary moment is one of my favourite moments of the week. As a family, we only have one day a week together which is Saturday as I work on Sunday's, and this is tricky for us as we have a lot to fit in during that one day, but one thing we've always made sure of is that once Alfie is asleep, we will head to Costa or Starbucks and grab a drink.

This is something we've done since Alfie was really tiny and it's a moment I really do look forward too all week. Since Michael got a new job in January and we no longer work together, I have found it difficult to have any quality time with him during the week, so going for a coffee at a weekend gives us a chance to talk about our week and make plans for the upcoming week, which recently has included doing our meal planning and to chat about things we wouldn't normally get to talk about at home when there's a toddler to look after or chores to be done.

We are lucky that Alfie still naps for well over an hour during the day and as much as I love him to pieces, sometimes it is difficult to enjoy a meal or a hot drink whilst he is out with us as he hates being restricted so won't go in a high chair, meaning he is free to get down from his seat and run off. So once he goes to sleep, we will add to our nearest coffee shop and take a breather and catch up.

A very simple thing, which has become one of my very favourite ordinary moments of our weekend :)

Linking up with Katie at mummydaddyandmemakesthree.co.uk

The Week That Was {06 April - 12 April}

The Week That Was Captured #1 {06 April– 12 April}

I have never done this type of post before, but I thought I would do one as we’ve just had such a lovely relaxing week and it’s one I kind of wanted to remember. 

So another week is upon us. I honestly don’t know where this year is going. The weeks just seem to be flying by so quickly! Last week we had a lovely relaxed week after Easter. We started off going to Bents Garden Centre on Monday afternoon once I’d finished work and it was the loveliest afternoon we’d had in so long. Alfie fell asleep on the way there, so Michael and I got a drink and went to sit outside. He got me the biggest hot chocolate with a huge pile of cream on top and marshmallows underneath it – not good for the waistline at all! We had the most gorgeous view over the lake and the fountain. I could have stayed there for hours. 

It was an absolutely glorious day and really warm, so it was lovely to sit out in the sun and fresh air and it’s definitely made me excited for summer. We are in the process of transforming our garden so initially went to get some ideas, but since we last went, they’ve extended it, so there is now a food hall, a children’s boutique and a crafts area as well as the main area which was there before, which sells loads of beautiful things from home wear to garden furniture, cards and gift and clothes. It’s definitely a place I can see us visiting a lot over the summer as they’ve also a large outdoor park which will be idea for Alfie if he gets bored with shopping. That said, once he’d woken up from his nap, we got him out of his buggy and took him on the park but he wanted to come and walk around with us. He is normally a nightmare if we go anywhere as he wants to run off, but he held one of our hands at all times and he seemed to be really taking it all in. We even spotted little frog which had lost its way, so the boys rescued it and took it back to the lake.

Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s are my half days in work, so when I finished at 12 I had the afternoon’s free with Alfie and we were able to get outside and play in what we have of a garden – when we moved in back in January, the garden was a path from the back door to the gate as parking is at the back, then the rest of the garden was large pebble like stones. Great for a low maintenance garden, but not at all practical for a young family or for a  2.5 year old to play on, so we are planning on getting rid of all the stone and putting turf down and some decking with a little table and chairs so we have somewhere to sit in the warmer weather. 

The garden as it is at present - not at all practical

Thursday was a work day and a full day for me. We picked Alfie up from nursery at 5 then I went and got some food shopping whilst the boys went to the bunny shop (Pets at home) and we ended up having a naughty treat at McDonald’s!  

Friday was another lovely day weather wise, but it was very much a wasted day as I had to wait in for a plumber who was supposed to come between 12.30-1.00 but didn't arrive until 2.15 and was there for 2 hours, so we didn't get chance to go anywhere. Although we didn’t really do much, Alfie was an absolute dream on Friday. He’s going through a bit of a naughty stage at the moment. He’s not overly naughty as such, but he certainly has his moments and is smacking or paddying when he doesn't get his own way. I put it down to the terrible two’s, but Friday was totally different. He was so polite and well-mannered all day, he ate all his meals, played really nice, there was not one crossed word said. I even got some paints out and let him have a little paint which I thought was a great idea, until he painted my table cloth – luckily it’s only a throw away one ;) 

Saturday, we had a chilled morning and early afternoon my best friend Amy, came to visit. I haven’t seen her in sooo long, so we had lots to catch up on. She hadn’t even seen the wedding album, so it was lovely to re-visit the pictures and chat about the wedding again and have a good long catch up. We stayed at mine, so the boys went out for a couple of hours. I was grateful for Michael taking Alfie out for a while as I wouldn’t have been able to chat to Amy properly if he’d been there. She also very kindly picked me up this book from her slimming world group which I’m really looking forward to using. 

My home made slimming world chicken tikka masala

Sunday I worked in the morning and when I finished at 12, we went to town for a few bits. The weather was awful as it was pouring down and really cold. I can’t believe only 6 days before, we were sat in glorious sunshine in t-shirts. Good old British weather hey! Later on, we went for a meal for my mother in Law’s birthday with the biggest Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever seen. It was delicious!

The biggest yorkshire pud I've ever had!

 And that was our week.

Here’s hoping for another good week J

*linking up with Hannah at makedoandpush.co.uk

                                                         

Meal Planning Monday #4 {13 April}

                                   

Monday again, meaning another meal planning Monday  post. 

We have done really well this week as we haven’t needed to do a big shop. We called at Tesco on Easter Saturday and got four packets of meat in the reduced section for £10. We bought a pack of pork loin steaks, some chicken breasts, a packet of mince and some sausages which had all been heavily reduced. I was really pleased to get all this for a tenner! 

Saturday nights in the past have very often been take away night where we will either order a curry or buy something from the supermarket such as a pizza or nacho’s (my absolute favourite), but this weekend I decided to make a Slimming World chicken tikka masala (recipe here: http://www.slimmingworld.com/recipes/chicken-tikka-masala.aspx ) and it was so delicious and definitely a meal I will be making again! Plus, it’s a much healthier option, not to mention saving us some pennies! 

So, this is what we are eating this week: 

Monday: We are out for tea tonight as it’s my Mother in Law’s birthday, so we will be eating there

Tuesday: Toad in the hole with mash and veg

Wednesday: Nando’s chicken – lemon and herb for me and peri peri for Michael with rice and veg

Thursday: Spaghetti bolognaise with side salad

Friday: Chicken breast wrapped in bacon stuffed with cheese with slimming world chips

Saturday: Slimming World chicken tikka masala with pilau rice 

I rarely plan for Saturday’s and Sunday’s as we usually have a treat tea on  a Saturday as I work on Sunday’s, Michael usually cooks what I have planned the night before! However, because we both enjoyed the curry I made on Saturday, we are going to have it again this weekend J

This week’s meal I’ve never made before is toad in the hole. I’ve eaten it many times, but never actually made it. I can’t wait for it.

What's on your menu this week? 

                                                            

*linking up with athomewithmrsmcom

Meal Planning Monday #3 {06 April}

Hello! 

Firstly, please excuse the absolutely awful quality of my photo. I have no idea how to fix it, so I'm just going to have to roll with it for now :(

So, that aside, I'm back for the 3rd week with my Meal Planning Monday. This week's meal plan was done whilst sat in Tesco on Sunday afternoon whilst Alfie slept. 

Before we left the house on Saturday, we made sure to check what meat we already had in. I'm terrible for not actually checking what's already in before we go food shopping! As it happens, we had 3 packets of mince, some chicken breasts, diced beef, sausages and some salmon.

So this is what we are eating this week: 

Monday: Fish Pie - this was last minute as we were supposed to be out, but it was cancelled

Tuesday: Lasagne, sw chips and side salad

Wednesday: Cottage pie

Thursday: Beef stir fry

Friday: Salmon, new potatoes and veg

Saturday: Home made slimming world curry

I am really enjoying meal planning as it's handy to know what we're having in the week, however I am finding that I'm chopping and changing what nights we have meals on depending on what mood I'm in. 

If you read my post last week, you'll know I've challenged myself to make something at least once a week which I've not made before. This week it's the beef stir fry and the slimming world chicken curry. Fingers crossed they turn out ok. 

What are you eating this week? 

*linking up with at home with Mrs M