Menu Week 28/11/11

MONDAY - Leftover different types of casseroles from freezer, roast potatoes, peas and Yorkshire puddings

TUESDAY - Sausage & mushroom crumble, peas and broccoli

WEDNESDAY - Homemade beef burgers, chips and homemade coleslaw

THURSDAY - Roast chicken, sage & onion stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, mash and vegetables

FRIDAY - Spanish rice (using leftover chicken)

SATURDAY - Homemade lamb doner kebab, pitta salad, white kebab sauce & chips

SUNDAY - Sausage, mash, vegetables & onion gravy

Had a search on google this afternoon looking for budget meals. I printed a few off that I thought the family might like and planned a couple into this weeks menu. So two new dishes will be tried, one tomorrow and one on Friday. Before I hit the supermarket I called into a local family butchers near us and bought 1kg of pork sausages. I know sounds a lot of sausages but we will have some tomorrow and some on Sunday. I shall leave 3 out for daughter No2's boyfriend for a sandwich when he finishes football training on Thursday. If there are any sausages left, which I doubt, they will be frozen. I also called into the farm shop and bought a half sack, 12.5kg of potatoes for £2.70.

I went with my list of everything I need for the week and stuck to it. I shall have to return to the supermarket later in the week though. I wanted some minced lamb and Tesco had none left on the shelves. I know I could have bought some in the butchers but it is a lot more expensive there and I cannot afford it this week. Also Tesco had no hard water Yorkshire T-bags left on the shelf so shall be going back for these items Friday.  I did fail to stick to my shopping list with one item though. Soap. We don't use much soap. Think I use it the most in the shower. Can't do with shower gel but the others use it. So when I saw the bargain price of 15p for two bars of soap I had to try it.

I was really pleased with my cheap soap when I tried it in the shower tonight. It lathered well and had a nice light smell. Shall definitely be buying this again.

After our evening meal I made some pastry, not too much, to line two small foil cases to make a quiche for daughters lunch tomorrow.   Sauteed a little onion and a bit of bacon then added this to the pastry case with a couple of cherry tomatoes chopped up and some grated cheese. The second  pastry case I froze for another day. With the leftover pastry I made a jam tart with some homemade blackberry jam. I've also boiled a gammon then roasted it with honey which will be sliced for sandwiches for the week. I found a pepper starting to go wrinkly in the fridge today so chopped it up and popped it into a container and into the freezer. Shall use this in a recipe I am making on Friday. Had a productive day really. Hope weather hold out for me to get in the garden tomorrow and do a bit of garden tidying.

Have you had a productive day today?
See you tomorrow x

Menu Week 07/11/11

MONDAY - Baked coley with a herb citrus crust, potatoes, vegetables and parsley sauce

TUESDAY - Sausage & liver and onion gravy, mash, cabbage & carrots

WEDNESDAY - Beef casserole, Yorkshire puddings and mash

THURSDAY - Egg, chips and beans

FRIDAY - Salmon fishcakes, wedges and coleslaw

SATURDAY - Homemade doner kebab, pitta salad and white kebab sauce

SUNDAY - Not sure yet

Well the time came to put the heating on. Quite pleased we went so long without it but it's been on for a few days now.

Daughter No3 tried on her coat from last winter this morning. The sleeves were short and it was not a good fit with the blazer being a bigger size this year. So off we went to town when she finished school. We went in New Look and she found a black 3/4 length jacket for £39.99. We went into another shop and she found a jacket she liked more so we bought that one too. It cost £36.00 but had a label on saying £10.00 off so we got it for £26.00, bargain. I shall take the expensive jacket back tomorrow when I go to do my voluntary job. Need to take daughter No2 now and find her a winter jacket, hope we can find as good a bargain for her

Just a short one

I'm setting off for work very soon so just a short blog today. I saw daughters boyfriend today when I went to pick her up from his house. He looked a bit under the weather and was still in shock and in a lot of discomfort but at least he's alive. He booked his driving test today. I think this has really scared him and he wants to get rid of the bike.

I made chicken, sweetcorn and mayo sandwiches this morning for daughters packup and needed to open a new tin of sweetcorn. When I only need a bit of sweetcorn for something what I do is drain the can then portion the sweetcorn into small containers.

I pop these containers in the freezer so whenever I need a bit of corn I just have to defrost a small pot and I am not wasting any food.

Forgot to show you my bargain shoes I got at my charity shop last Friday.

These are my glam shoes for over christmas. A bargain at £3.75 and they are nearly perfect. I think someone bought them for a special occasion and only wore them the once they are that new.

Got to go now. Bye

Great night with friends

Had a great night out with a lot of friends from the charity shop I volunteer at last night. It was a charity event to raise money for the charity we all volunteer for. Artists did a really good show for us and did not take a fee for performing choosing  instead to donate it to the charity night. They had a raffle to raise more money and we had a bucket collection to take everyones change they had left at the end of the night. Everyone had a great night and a lot of money was raised.

In true frugal style I went to the evening in a charity shop creation. Everything I wore was sourced from the charity shop except my trousers.

The top and necklace I bought last week. The sandals and bag were bought at the charity shop just before last Christmas. I love my little satin purse bag, it's a Jasper Conran bag.

My bracelets were bought from the charity shop too. A lot does not have to be spent to look smart for a night out.

Have you had any bargains from the charity shop lately?

Menu Week 03/10/11

Google image

Doing the same as last week and just making a list of what we will eat this week but not giving any meal a set day.

Yesterday we had, Sausage pasta and homemade garlic bread. Rest of the week we are having

• Mince and onion pie, vegetables and potatoes with gravy
• Lasagne, salad, sauteed potatoes and homemade garlic bread
• Fish pie, peas and carrots
• Pork escalope, fries, peas and salad
• Chicken/tofu fajitas 

Tomorrow I am going to a charity event and at the moment my wardrobe is a bit bare of autumn/winter clothes so I have been searching the rails of the charity shop for something to wear to the charity do.  I found a M&S purple top last week which I bought for a couple of pounds. Today I found a nice necklace to go with it for a pound. I have also found a grey/black top and matching necklace so all I need to do now is decide tomorrow which to wear. Shall post a picture of the one I choose tomorrow.

Off to work now. Bye

Autumn TV

I love autumn. All the good programmes are on the TV. Saturday is my favourite TV night this time of the year. Strictly come dancing, The X Factor. Downton Abbey and Spooks is back next week too. 

 What a selection! Can't beat snuggling under a blanket watching my fave programmes whilst it's dark and miserable outside.

I got a bargain today at the charity shop. A large gravy boat in perfect condition for £1.00. This will be great at Christmas

for the gravy as my gravy boat is quite small and I have to keep constantly filling it up. So this is a very useful bargain which will get used.

Well lots of expense on my car over the next few days. Tomorrow Hubby will take my car to get two new tyres and see if a puncture can be repaired. I'm having to have the tyres done because the car goes in for it's MOT on Monday and Hubby said the tyres won't pass the test. Also having a service on the car whilst it's in for the MOT so dreading the cost of all this because I know there will be some jobs that need doing for the car to pass its MOT.

Bargain Buys

Hi all, had the usual busy Friday volunteering at the charity shop. I got a bargain too for £3.30. It's a Next signature top with the new label still attached with the price tag of £35.00! 

Well, I could not pass a bargain like that now, could I? I've tried it on and it fits lovely and will go great with my white linen trouser. Really pleased with that buy. I also bought a DVD of Evita. This is one of my favourite films. It's years since I've watched it.

This DVD was brand new too. It still had it's cellophane and security strip on. I bought this for £1.50.
I called into a charity shop a few doors down from the one I work in because I saw a beautiful cake stand when I passed this morning. I asked the girl in the shop if I could have a look at it. It turned out to be a plate which when turned over had a couple of cracks through it. So that got left in the shop.

Anyone bought any great bargains today.
Bye for now

More Bargain Buys

Got a few more bargains in the charity shop yesterday. One of my bargains was a pair of new linen trousers, they even had the labels still on them.

It's amazing how many clothes are sent to charity shops that have not even been worn and still have labels attached. I also bought two summer vests.

Lets hope the summer sun returns so I can get some wear out of them.

Well my pasta salad I made the other day all got eaten and it was lovely so today I made a different salad.

I had a bowl of spaghetti  left from our meal last night so I chopped this up then mixed with a tin of mixed beans. I roasted the peppers and finely sliced them and added them with half a finely chopped onion. I flaked a packet of peppered mackerel fillets and squeezed over the juice of a lemon. I added some parsley and also added some chopped cherry tomatoes and gave it all a good mix.

Lunch  and my pack up for work sorted for a few more days.

Going to drop daughter No3 at college to have her hair dyed by her sister now. She's going in to model for daughter No2 who's doing a hairdressing course. She's rather excited as it's the first time she's had a colour on her hair ( she's only having a semi-permanent colour)  so bye for now.

Kitchen has finally arrived

 

Well, nearly all of it. We are short of 14 cupboard handles, plinths and I think something else that I can't remember at the moment. We should have had this delivery last Friday but they rang on Wednesday to say they were behind with deliveries so could they deliver Saturday. Hubby said they could if it was delivered before 1.00pm as we were going out. No, they could not deliver before then. Rescheduled for Tuesday. Hubby rang Monday to see what time delivery due to be told we have you for a delivery on Wednesday!   They rang him back to say okay, will deliver Tuesday. So it's finally arrived with missing bits on order to arrive, who knows when! Hubby will be rather busy this weekend fitting cupboards. We will get there in the end.

Treated myself to a lovely silver bangle today from the charity shop I volunteer in. It only cost me £2.20.

It was in it's original box and the box had a little card inside with the web site of the jewellers. I had a quick look at the site before leaving for work. Could not see the bangle I got on the site, then again the little card in the box said something about 2005 so the bangle will have been bought a few years ago. Similar bangles were selling for £70.00 - £90.00. I'm very pleased with my dainty cheap/expensive bangle.

Menu Week 18/04/11

MONDAY - Chicken/prawn risotto, tomato gratin and roasted garlic mushrooms

TUESDAY - Lasagne, salad and homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - don't know yet

THURSDAY - Italian meatloaf, jacket potatoes, vegetables and gravy

FRIDAY - At parents for tea

SATURDAY -Homemade burgers, wedges, homemade coleslaw and homemade onion rings

SUNDAY - Homemade chicken & ham pie, roast potatoes, vegetables

I'm trying to use up a few things in the freezer to make room for food I make for the party I'm having soon. So tonight's tea will use up some chicken stock, cooked chicken and some prawns from the freezer and a lot of tomatoes from the fridge. Tomorrows meal of lasagne will use up a lot of small batches of bolognese and a small tub of chopped tomatoes and a baguette.

I made a trip to a larger Tesco today because my hubby saw an advert on the TV for whole salmons on offer. My local Tesco is only small and does not have a fish counter. When I arrived there were no salmons to be seen on the fish counter and I thought I was going to be disappointed. I asked the lady behind the fish counter if she had anymore whole salmons  and she told me she had, but had not gotten around to filling the counter with then yet. So I returned at the end of my shop and purchased this beauty

 
So I now have my gammon and a salmon for the party. They were both on offer because it's Easter. The salmon was down to £5.00 per Kg  and the salmon I bought cost £16.40. I got it cheaper though because I paid for it with some Tesco vouchers I got this weekend . I had vouchers to the value of £8.00 so the salmon cost me £8.40, bargain!

Had a nice lunch today using up some cottage cheese that had been sat in the fridge for a couple of weeks, oops. It smelt fine and I take no notice of dates on most food stuff. If it smells good, eat it. I have never poisoned myself or anyone else in the family with this way of checking food.

This was my lunch, cottage cheese on rice cakes with some Tesco value smoked salmon(87p for 120g) and cucumber and a cup of tea (trying to loose some weight, can you tell?). It was extra lovely because it was eaten in the garden in the lovely sunshine.

Our tea today was very tasty.

Got carried away with the breadcrumbs and ended up putting them on my garlic mushroom too just to use them up. They had chicken risotto and I made myself a prawn & pea risotto which was very tasty even if I do say so myself.

A frugal day

Only a short post. The internet connection is terrible where I am tonight and keeps disconnecting so I hope I get to do a short blog before I'm cut off.

Used up lots of odds and ends in the fridge today. I had a small dish off vegetables leftover from our fajitas a few days ago which I threw into the spagetti bolognese in the slowcooker. This was our tea tonight. I had a portion of creamy mascarpone sauce which was in the freezer from a meal we had last week. I had a small amount of coleslaw & salad leftover from tea last night and a half packet of crabsticks  which have been in the fridge since the end of last week.

 
These were all used up to make a nice tasty sandwich for my lunch. The dogs vegetables were low and I haven't time to go and buy a sack of pony carrots for him today so I boiled some old looking bits of veg to tied him over till I get a sack of carrots tomorrow.

Went to my voluntary job today and daughter No2 met me at the shop when I'd finished so she could get a lift home. She came out of the shop with a nice top and a pretty skirt which only cost us a few pounds. We then went to a shop to get her a dress she had seen in the White Rose Shopping Centre yesterday (did not have her size in the shop in Leeds). We found her size  and I was going to pay for it when daughter said," No mum, I'll pay for it and use my student  card to get  a discount. You pay me back later." So daughter saved me £3.00  which is not a great deal but it's better in my pocket than the shops profit.

Bye until tomorrow

Challenge, recipe 1 found

Found my first recipe to use up the can of chestnut puree http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/155632/chocolate-and-chestnut-truffle-torte. I am hosting a party in just over four weeks (more about that another day) so I am going to make this dessert and freeze it. The recipe states it can be frozen for 2 months. So onto the other four items now.

Dog walking beckons and have to go to my voluntary job shortly so shall return later if any bargains found at my shop.

Found these two baskets at the shop today. They were a bargain at 50p each.

They are in great condition and I shall put them away in the loft to us at Christmas for hampers I make.

Slight Blip

Had another day at the charity shop I volunteer at. Got another top to add to my collection to try to build up my wardrobe.

This one cost me £2.20. I remember last year around this time stashing away clothes I bought in the charity shop in a size 12. Then each week as I lost weight I would try them on to see if they would fit. Was great when I could fit into them all and I ended up with a good summer wardrobe at very little cost. Will keep trying my existing wardrobe on each week until I can get them all to fit again.

Not doing too bad today with the healthy eating. had a little blip when I got rather stressed at the state of the house after work had been done on it today. So I succumbed to a couple of biccies. Well, maybe four! Then I had tea at mum and dads and had a vegetable pie that mum had made that was lovely and tasty but not low in calories! I am on- call at home tonight, so if I don't get called out I shall be able to sleep so will have all of tomorrow to do stuff like make some more no fat soup for the weeks lunches instead of spending the day sleeping.

Bargain buys

Another fabulous day. Got two loads of washing out to dry. Getting a little shaded now the sun is moving round. Love to dry outside rather than have is draped over the airer in the dining room. Only got to iron this lot now! That can be tomorrows job.

Went to do my voluntary job today and with it being a lovely warm day struggled trying to find something to wear that I would not be too hot in. Having such a good clear out a while back and putting on some weight I just could not find anything to wear. This has made me determined to stick to my diet I started yesterday and loose some weight.

 I checked the rails today at work and got a couple of tops to wear. This black River Island top cost £3.10 and is in perfect condition.

I found this pretty Next blouse for £3.30 and this is also in perfect condition. So these are my bargain buys for today. I also put a dress and a skirt away to try another day.

Chicken & bacon in sauce, Cheap Meal

When I did my shopping earlier in the week I needed some pancetta for the meatloaf I was making. Instead of buying pancetta I bought a packet of bacon bits at a cost of 75p for 500g. I split the bag into four portions and frozen them. A portion was used in the meatloaf  Tuesday and I used a portion today to make

  CHICKEN & BACON IN SAUCE

1 Onion, chopped
knob butter
1 tbsp oil
100g bacon bits
3 tbsp plain flour
400mls chicken stock
400mls milk
400g cooked leftover chicken
2 tsp dried parsley
salt & pepper

VEGETABLE RICE

Basmati rice
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch salt
carrot, diced & cooked
peas, cooked

Fry the onion in the oil and butter for 5 minutes.
Add the bacon bits and cook for a further 5 minutes.
In a bowl add the flour and mix in the milk.
Add the chicken stock to the onion & bacon and bring to the boil.
Add the milk & flour mix and stir continually until thickened.
Add the cooked chicken, parsley and seasoning.
Cook for 10 minutes or until piping hot.
Serve with vegetable rice.

Cook the rice in a pan of cold water that just covers the rice adding the turmeric and salt.
When rice is boiling put a lid on the pot and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Drain rice into a sieve and rinse with boiling water then mix in the vegetables.

Like my bargain?

Do you like my great bargain?

It's a huge stock pot I got from the charity shop I volunteer at. I got it for £2.00! It's first job was to boil the dogs carrots. I bring the pan to the boil then always turn the hob off after 5 minutes and let the carrots cook in the steam and heat from the cooling hob, it saves on the electric. The pot will be great for jam making or for boiling big hams at christmas. Really pleased with my find. 

Worked a night shift last night so didn't get up until 1.30pm. I know, it's early when I've worked nights but I get up at that time to take the dog for his walk if no body's here to take him out. I hate dog walking at the moment with this weather. The roads and paths are still treacherous in our village, nothing is melting because the temperature every morning my husband goes to work reads -10. I've nearly fallen on numerous occasions and so has the poor dog. After my walk managed to get some cooking done which I enjoyed. I boiled a gammon for sandwiches and boiled the pan of carrots for the dog. I had the bread maker on making the dough for 3 baguettes and I made a veg and tuna lasagne.We had the lasagne for tea with a baguette made into a garlic baguette and a salad.

I have 3 portions of lasagne to freeze for another day.