Meal Planning Monday - I'm Pinching Your Meal Plan!!

I've been reading all your lovely meal plans and I think it's about time I tried some of your recipes (hint, hint barenakedmummy re nutella muffins!!)

 

Monday

Chicken Pasta Bake from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families Blog

 

Tuesday

Potato Cakes, Beans and Sausage

 

Wednesday

Crustless Quiche also from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families Blog

 

Thursday

Quick Quesadillas from The Five F's Blog

 

Friday
Fish Fingers, Chips and Mushy Peas (yes possibly from the chippy!)

 

Saturday
Steak in Brandy and Peppercorn Sauce

 

Sunday

Slow Cooker Sunday Chinese Beef and Greens from Mediocre Mum's Blog

 

If it wasn't for Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday Movement I seriously would be eating rubbish all week, so thanks and please do take a look at everyone elses delicious ideas.

 

Oh...!  And thanks to all those who have been leaving comments for me, I have been trying to reply but Disqus just isn't working, so when I get a mo, I will be sorting/working it out

 

 

Organising The Home errr Organising

So, I mentioned last week in this post that I am trying to get obsessive about cleaning. 

 

Not WORK organisation!! HOME organisation!!

 

 

Well I seem to have become obsessed with organising, so I'm sure this is the first step and the cleaning obsession will follow.

 

This really has come from the sheer frustration of not being able to find things and from not knowing when appointments are. 

 

Breaking it down

 

So, being the top organiser I now am, I have split the house into two rooms to clean per day

 

1. Porch, downstairs bathroom, hall, stairs and landing

2. Kitchen and living room

3. Dining room and bathroom

4. Both kids rooms

5. Our bedroom and the car

6. Front and back gardens including Windows

 

And I'll give myself Sundays off I think!

 

The Timing

 

So now in my head it's a manageable chunk, I need to make sure it doesn't turn into something unachievable so I'm spending no longer than 45 minutes on each of my two rooms each day.  So I'm spending no longer than an hour and a half cleaning each day.  That way, nothing else well be neglected and as the weeks go on, the rooms will become more organised and cleaner so my plan is to eventually only spend an hour a day cleaning.

 

Then maybe, I shall have the time to devise ascend discover more money and time saving habits!!

 

Do I sound insane, by the way?

Get Paid To Spring Clean

And I don't mean go and do other peoples cleaning (although that would be a great way to make money !)

I mean go through your house, top to bottom and clear out what you don't use, then sell it.

• Car Boot
• Ebay
• Cards in Shop Windows

Clear your clutter and make money. 

The most important thing I find is not to get precious about things.  Will you really wear those out of fashion jeans?  How often do you use that kitchen appliance?  Have the kids grown out of their toys?

It's a quick and easy way to get some money in for Christmas and if you work on the premise of getting £1 for each item then anything else is a bonus.  I can easily find 100 things around the house that we no longer need or use.  That's £100 quid!!

So get clutter clearing!!

Go for the three pile approach

- Bin (broken and can't be sold on ebay for spares or poor condition)

- Sellable

- Charity (not quite sellable condition but life left)

Another route is the Cash for Clothes (other shops which pay for clothes are available I'm sure, just that the one on our high street is actually called that!) shops.  Personally, I think a charity can benefit more from a bag of clothes I can't sell than me getting 50p per kilo, but if you have a lot of denim or heavy coats then that could be worthwhile.

I'm off to get ebay listing!!

Good luck - and Get it Done!!

Meal Planning Monday - Raid the Freeezer Week

Well, after my success of following my clear out meal plan last week in an attempt to save £80 for a trip to the Christmas Markets, I'm glad to say is was a success with £70 saved!!

Unfortunately, I then realised I need to pay the next installment for a school trip so here we go again trying to save the shopping budget by eating through the freezer.  it needs emptying anyway in time for Christmas!



Meal Planning Ideas

So, looking at my list of what is in the black hole I call the freezer, we are on...

Monday
Hairy Dieters Steak and Ale Pie over a Jacket Potato

Tuesday:
Levi Roots Carribean Curry
(I froze this to not waste some chicken and to use the cook in sauce I got for £1 with a coupon!)

Wednesday:
Fish Cakes, Chips and Peas

Thursday:
Meatballs and spaghetti in home made pasta sauce

Friday:
Bangers and Mash

Saturday:
Takeaway

Sunday:
Fish pie made from the Haddock and Salmon lingering in the bottom drawer


So hopefully all I need to buy this week is fresh veg, milk, bread and potatoes.  Everything else I should have tucked away.  I've saved a small fortune using up baking supplies and dried fruit on packed lunches too.

I'm liking the saving element of this way of meal planning but I feel/fear a really big stock up shop coming.

There's loads more meal plans over At Home With Mrs M - and quite frankly they will be better and more tastier!!

Enjoy your week and let me know how much you save by eating through your stockpile!

Slow Cooker Sunday - Full O'Veg Pasta Sauce

This recipe makes a vat of pasta sauce and will save you a fortune on dolmio/ragu, particularly if you buy a cheaper passatta.  I've tried expensive and budget brand and can't tell the difference, just taste to ensure the salt is right.

Oh, I have a huge 6 litre slow cooker so just halve the quantities for a normal size appliance!

Ingredients

2 small aubergines
1 leek
1 onion
5 small carrotts
250g mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
6 basil leaves
3 litres of passatta (6 cartons)
1 tbsp caster sugar
Salt to taste

Method

Rinse the aubergine, slice into circles and sprinkle with salt.  Leave while you chop the rest of the veg.

Wash and slice the leek

Dice the onion

Peel and dice the carrots

Peel and chop the mushrooms

Crush the garlic (or add 3 tsp of lazy garlic)

Dice the peppers

Rinse the aubergine well, dice and throw everything into the slow cooker.

Add the passstta and the sugar

Stir and cook on low for 5 hours

Blend with a stick blender and salt to taste.

Voila!!

How To...Christmas Hampers - Get Started

There's nothing better than getting a box full of stuff and the excitement of seeing what's inside!

This year I will be giving Christmas Hampers to the majority of people on my list.  There's tons of reasons to put together hampers such as...

1)  It's a lovely personal gift that shows you know and have thought about your recipient
2)  It's a cheap way to give a big present
3)  You can give people something useful that will get used rather than (durh dur durrrrr) regifted    (hangs head in shame!)

So where to start?

1. Make a list of people you will give a hamper to

2. Find that number of boxes and decorate with christmas wrap and ribbons (don't do a massive box, it will cost a fortune!!)  Baskets look lovely if you can find some on offer. 

3. Decide on a theme

Ideas for themes...

Regional Goods
Good if sending to a different county

Afternoon Tea
Think chutneys, biscuits, different teas, honey, swizzle sticks, home made biscuits

Breakfast in Bed
Marmalade, Jams, Breads, Honey, Orange Juice, Champagne

Boozy Christmas
Minitures, Cocktail Cherrys, A Snowball, Babycham, Foods containing booze such as jams or drink sachets, Pack of Resolve

Coffee & Chocolate
Various coffee sachets (split the boxes of 8 and put one or two in each hamper), Chocolate Minatures (Booths have a big box of Green and Black's Minitures on offer for £9 until Christmas Day - again split the box), Marshmallows, Tinned Cream, Coffee Biscuits


I start hamper harvesting early doors when I see things on offer that I have an appropriate coupon for or I use my Tesco Price Promise coupons again when the product is on offer.

The hampers can be quite cumbersome so I tend to set them up in the garage and stack them up.

Oh, a big tip...check sell by dates!!  Some biscuits I bought in September expire in December.  So I HAD to eat them!!  Not cost effective, but quite delicious.

Have you any ideas for themes?

I'll post photos asap

Trying to Be Obsessive

During the last week of the summer holidays, my neighbour came over and said "Oh Claire. Why don't you give that Cleaning Company in Lytham a ring and get them to do what you can't manage" as she stepped over the boys coats, the dog and a box of toys in the Hall.

Most people would be offended but I laughed and said "It'll be spotless next week when they're back at school"

And it was.

Once I get cleaning, I'm pretty good at it and get through it.  What I'm not good at is keeping on top of it.

So I am determined to get a grip on this and keep my home like a showhome.

I've been inspired by Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners on Channel 4.  I wish I could be as dedicated to cleaning.  The ironing board is in my eyeline as I type and I'm slightly compelled to iron but there's not that "I MUST" feeling about it.  I can ignore it until I go to bed and then be annoyed about it in the morning.

Have a look here

 

So I'm putting a schedule together and I'm going to get this house to show home standard and have that homely feel for Christmas.

 

Who's With Me?

 

I'm going to blog about my progress (more to keep me in line that thinking that someone may be interested!!) so I'll put a linky up as I'd love to read about how you keep on top of the housework and keep a lovely home

 

I look forward to reading about your triumphs!