Back to our routine

well kids back at school and college today so back to a routine. I do like it when the kids are off. Not having to make pack ups or bake cakes for pack ups and no rushing around in the morning but it is nice when they go back and I can get organised again. So this morning I dropped daughter No2 at college then headed to Aldi and Tesco to do my shop. In budget again so pleased at no overspend.

Tomorrow I'm making a veggie pasta bake and wanted some peppers to roast. I bought some value range peppers in Tesco for only £1.05 and they were big peppers and one was huge!

Only needed to use two for roasting so will save the other for pizzas on Saturday. I roasted the peppers with onions, garlic cloves some leftover butternut squash and a courgette and rosemary from the garden with a glug of olive oil and a grinding of black pepper.

I roasted for about 50 minutes then popped them in a container to cool for tea tomorrow.
When in Tesco today I found a packet of reduced chicken wing for £1.20 so bought them to make some Jamie Oliver chicken wing gravy. I saw him once make this on TV and tried it at christmas and the gang really loved it.

On a tray place chopped carrots. Split a couple of onions, leave skins on. About six cloves of garlic, left whole.  I threw on the tops of some leeks and some rosemary.

 Add the chicken wings and a glug of olive oil and some black pepper. I cooked this in the oven with the roasted veg. After about an hour tip everything into a very large pan. I added 3 large spoons of plain flour then mashed everything up with a potato masher. Pour on plenty of boiling water and keep mashing. Let this simmer for an hour or so and keep giving it a mash.

You will end up with a pan of mush and bones. Place a sieve over a clean pan and keep pouring some of the mixture into the sieve and mash it through the sieve with the potato masher then discard whats left in your sieve. You will be left with some tasty gravy which you can add extra chicken juices to from a roast chicken. I freeze this in portions and just take out on the morning we will be needing it.

Menu Week 28/02/11

MONDAY - Italian meatloaf, roast potatoes, veg and gravy

TUESDAY - Veggie pasta bake with home made garlic bread

WEDNESDAY - Carribean salmon with rice and green beans

THURSDAY - Roast chicken, jacket spuds, homemade coleslaw, salad and homemade baguette

FRIDAY - Pork & rice one pot

SATURDAY - homemade pizza & garlic bread, wedges & homemade coleslaw

SUNDAY - Chicken, bacon & leek pie, roasties, peas, carrots & broccoli. Profiteroles

Creeping up again!

On Thursday I drove by a petrol station I pass all the time and noticed the price had crept up by 1p to £129.9 for petrol! Mentioned this to hubby who thought it might be a good idea to fill my car up when I visit the parents in Leeds Friday as he thought prices may start to rise more soon. Petrol is a penny or two cheaper in Leeds than the area we live in. This is because here, there are no large supermarket petrol stations,and there are not many petrol stations around the rural areas so they keep the price at the higher end.

So on my travels to Leeds I stopped off in Tescos petrol station whos petrol was priced at £127.9. Filled my tank and spent £58.40. Used my little voucher to get 5p off a litre which brought the cost down to £56.15.  I saved £2.25 using the voucher which isn't much but I'd rather have the £2.25 in my purse than in Tescos profits.

Do you remember some time back when petrol went to £1.00 a litre? We were all horrified that petrol could cost so much. Little did we know what was to come!!

Mums Taxi!

Well it's half term from school and college and to be honest I feel like a taxi service to daughter No2. We live in a village which only has a bus every hour and has no bus after 6.00pm and no service on a  Sunday as of next month due to council cuts. I feel sorry for the kids because they cannot afford taxis and to go to anything social it requires transport around here which either means public transport or parents ferrying them around. We then end up with mum & dad having no social life to keep the offspring happy. Got to find a happy medium here somewhere.

Pancake day early

Youngest daughter wanted pancakes for breakfast today. They usually like these on a Sunday morning but it's half term, have plenty of time, so we made them this morning.

PANCAKES (enough for 6 large ones)

100g plain flour
pinch salt
1 egg
300ml milk

Put flour in a bowl with the pinch of salt.
Add the egg with a little milk and whisk.
Keep whisking milk in a little at a time until all milk used and batter is smooth.
Add a little drizzle of oil to a hot frying pan then add enough batter to cover the pan thinly.
Turn pancake over after a few minutes and cook other side.

Banana and golden syrup is daughter No3 choice and chocolate spread is daughter No2 choice.

  

On the hunt

Spent days last week on the hunt for fresh sage leaves. On http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/  it said both Tesco and Sainsburys had fresh sage for sale. Checked both stores and no sage. Tried other stores and still no sage to be seen so today I visited Wilkinson and bought my own sage growing kit and I shall no longer need the supermarket to supply me with my herbs. I bought a clematis I wanted to cover some pipes on a wall and three packets of seeds which were on 3 for 2 offer.

The sage kit worked out cheaper to buy than buying a packet of seeds. I know I would have had more sage seeds in the packet than in the kit but I would have never used a whole packet of sage seeds.

Stayed on track again

It's the last week of shopping for this month and I've done it again. I stayed on track with my grocery spend. Just got a small amount left in my shopping purse to get some eggs from the farm later in the week and I need to buy some tofu in Sainsburys tomorrow because Tesco did not have any when I did my shop today.

A simple tea tonight of pasta with tomato sauce and some fried bacon bits tossed through the sauce. I'm having some canned tuna mixed through mine.

MY TOMATO SAUCE

2 Red onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, finley chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 400g tinned tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree or red pesto
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper

 Heat olive oil in a large pan . Add onion and garlic, saute for a few minutes.
Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for 1 minute.
Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree or pesto, sugar, salt, oregano and a  grating of black pepper.
Once boiling reduce heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes.
Blend to a smooth sauce.