Been a while......

Soooo...Thought I would give a quick update on things
Due to illness and other things going on in my life I kinda lost my way but now I'm back!
I went Tesco last night and bought a few bits from the reduced section, along with a few items I had already had in I decided to set myself a challenge!
I wanted to see exactly how many dishes I could make out of the items below..! 

 Got the witches cauldrons from Tesco for 1p .... that is Jacks sweeties took care of for the next few weeks

Dish no1 is...... beefs stew with dumplings, made using one beef steak, carrots, parsnips, swede onion, half a leek, wine and stock... This cost me next to nothing to make & I just got enough out of it for 2 meals for us, so one for tonight and one for the freezer

Pic took just as I put the dumplings in.

Next is a beef and mushroom curry

Again this cost me next to nothing to make & its a quick tea for myself & hubby next week

I bought a pack of 4 value pizzas for £1.45 normally I would make my own but I thought they were a bargain and with abit of jazzing up they would be great for quick meals for Jack.
So I added some Black pepper salami (which was reduced to 45p), mushroom & cheese,

Already to be wrapped and frozen.


Leek, cheese & potato pie.
Again cost next to nothing and ideal for myself & hubby to have with a slice of quiche and salad for tomorrow nights tea

2 x cheese & onion quiches, 1 for the fridge and 1 for the freezer, as you can see by the colour I just got them out of the oven in time!

Then using the rest of the leeks I decided to make a leek & potato soup

Also made 2 x Apple and blackberry crumbles for the freezer

Just waiting for the crumble topping to go on....

Then I blanched half of the Brocolli, Parsnips, swede cabbage and chopped the mushrooms and got them all ready for the freezer.

I also used up some old bread by making a bread pudding.
Just got to blanch some carrot, the rest of the Brocolli for the freezer, will do this tomorrow.


So after spending most of today in the kitchen slaving, I am going to treat myself to a nice hot bath... I really do think I deserve it! x

We will remember them..... x

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That marks our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scares heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch: Be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
WE SHALL NOT SLEEP,
THOUGH POPPIES GROW
IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

Lest we forget... x

A few of my makes from the last few days.....

I have not abandoned the blog...Just had soooo much on this last week!  anyway thought I would share a few piccies with you.....I will be adding more over the next few days.. so please keep checking my blog ... Or you could really spoil me and become a follower of my blog......this will give me a more incentive to update my blog more cos sometimes I'm sure I am nattering on here to myself... lol x

Anyway...

After spending a few days staring at a 2week old Clementine all alone in the fruit bowl I decided to jazz it up! sooooo with a few cloves and a piece of old ribbon I came up with this.... Ideal for the xmas tree..

 Whilst sorting the washing out the other day I came across 2 pairs of Jacks Bed socks.... Within an hr they had been turned into this....

His name is Bill...... x

Tonight I have sat and made another bird out of newspaper and cellotape.. This time it is going to be a robin Red breast... he isnt finished yet but thought I would give you a sneeky peek..

Here he is having his first coat of paint... Will update with more pics as I finish him...

I have also been making a few hearts to hang on the Christmas tree out of old scrap materiel I have knocking around the house (Will upload pics later or tomorrow for those as the phone wont let me..Blooming thing!


I'm gonna have to dash as I'm off bargain hunting @ Mr Tesco ... will update with any bargains I get.... x

New additions to my collections & makes from the last week

 Found lots of tissue paper in loft the other day and didn't want to sling it out so I put my thinking cap on so with an empty jam jar a leaf off the garden tree and some glue both myself and Jack came up with this..

It looks lovely at night when it has a lit tealight in it... I'm already planning making some with a christmassy theme...

After watching an episode of Kirsties homemade.. I decided to have a go at one of the paper animals she made for a craft fair, I thought  a bird would be the easiest to have a go at...It took 3 + hours and its a bit rough here and there but I'm really pleased with it...Just got to finish his beak

My cute, cupcake, icecream and sweetie lights, which I bought for a grand sum of £2.50!
I bought 2 sets intending to put them in a large glass goldfish bowl when I eventually find one! for now one set will do up at my window and the other draped over the shelf

Along with Metal detecting & fishing my hubbies other hobby is bottle digging (Digging old tips out ) he has not been active the last few years with him suffering with his joints but just recently he went back to an old tip site to have a mooch about and came back with these little beauties for me...

This is my favourite a 1920's boots medicine bottle...

A vintage hot water bottle,  can just imagine someone tootsies on this on a cold winters night...


Now I'm off to have a read of these.....

With a nice cup of this...

Then I'm going to make some Tree decorations with Jack out of salt dough.. (will add pictures tomorrow)...x

50 odd days till.....

Christmas :))))) I blooming well love it!

My plan this year is to try and get everything done by the end of this month...
So far I have...

Made menu plans/shopping lists , so I know exactly what I need to buy and can pick little bits up every week between now and the big day so that the shopping bill isnt huge.

Made my Christmas cake

Got all Jacks presents total cost should have been £400++  and I've not even spent half of that!!.. I have the grabbit board on Moneysaving expert to thank for all the glitch & special offers posts that the kind members have been posting .. without the forum I would have never been able to treat Jack to all the lovely gifts he will have to open on Christmas morning

Bought my duck for Christmas day ....paid for with my nectar points
My sun perks Turkey
My Pork for Christmas eve
Got 2 tins of chocolates

I have also set up a selling account  on Facebook ...all proceeds will fund mine and hubbys gifts.

So just got to....

Raise enough money to buy mine and hubbys gifts
Buy the rest of the food shopping
Put a Christmas eve hamper together for Jack...
Start working on some craft projects with Jack as I want to have a 6ft tree in the kitchen but I want it totally decorated with things we have made.
Buy the family presents (Only buying for 3 family members this year @£10 each)
Finish off the contents of Jacks stocking (max £5)

Tesco clubcard vouchers will help fund for the contents of Jacks stocking, his Christmas eve hamper and a few bottles of wine ...Just waiting on them to arrive, my neighbour had hers yesterday so mine should be here soon.


Hopefully I manage to get it all done so I can spend the whole month of December going to Christmas fairs, cinema, carol services and family days out... Instead of being stressed running round town fighting the queues to get the last minute bits....x

How are your Christmas plans coming along?

Toilet hugger!

Yeah that is right, in the last 48hrs my toilet has had more hugs off me than my hubby has!
Both myself and Jack have some how got some kind of sickness bug..
Despite the way he must be feeling my baby still has a smile on his face.. bless him.. x
Anyway just thought I would update the blog as I didn't want it to look like I had abandoned it.
I will be back with updates of family life and my makes....But for now...I'm off to feel sorry for myself curled up on the sofa under a thick furry blanket... x

Mmmmmmmm

Nothing beats the smell of a stew cooking....Its like a thick woolly jumper in a pot...the smell instantly warms me up!

For dinner today I was going to use the Left over Stew I have in my freezer, but when I looked in my fridge and saw how many vegetables I have that need using up I thought I would make a fresh one and add abit of chicken from Sundays roast (Think we are at risk of clucking if we eat much more of it!) and save the frozen one for a day when I really cannot be bothered to prepare anything...

Stew always brings me back to my childhood, coming in from school on a cold Autumn/winter day to the smell of it bubbling away on the stove..

Anyway.. must stop daydreaming and get a shifty on got a pineapple cake to make and collect the most adorable "Sweets n treats" led lights...  Will update with a picture later... x

Not alot got done today...

But I did manage to cook our dinner and a cake!
Using up some of the left overs from yesterdays Chicken I made a chicken and mushroom pie for our tea

Here is the filling all ready to be covered with the pastry

I used this recipe:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chickenandmushroompi_89034

I didn't buy ready rolled pastry, but I must confess I did use this....

I can make pastry (Well I try!) But I have a good few packs of this in as I printed a few 50p off any Aunt Bessie product coupons so I have used them to buy these as with the voucher they only cost 29p & I thought they would be handy to keep in for days like today when I really couldn't be bothered to chuck my own mix together....

Here they are all covered ..

1 ready for the Oven and the other for the freezer

So out of that 1 Chicken I got 2 pies

Yesterdays Roast Chicken dinner for all 3 of us..

2 tubs for the freezer, 1 to use in a curry the other in a stew

And with the remains (Bones & skin) with a carrot, onion, bay leaf & pepper I made a huge pot of stock.. for a soup!

So that is 6 meals for 3 of us out of a £3 Chicken... Plus I have half of today's pie left over for Hubby's lunch tomorrow...

After Tea I fancied a slice of cake so out came this...

Out of all my cook books this has to be my fav when it comes to cake recipes..

Anyway had a quick flick through and decided on a Victoria sponge


So out came my special bowl

I absolutely adore this bowl and will only use it when I'm cooking cakes.

 

 Already to go in the oven

And the finished result...Not really happy with it .... I think the sponge has gone too thin think I might have gone wrong somewhere, Never mind! its still tastes nice so I'm not complaining.


Tomorrow I am going to try and bake my very first Pineapple upside down cake but for now I'm going to put my feet up with a nice cuppa and a slice of cake...

Then I shall be off to

 the land of Nod catching some Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's
Goodnight... x

The Sun & its perks

We don't normally buy the Sun Newspaper but when I heard they were doing the Sun perks I thought I would start buying it to collect the tokens, 2 weeks ago I sent off for a turkey it cost 450 perks (Thinking off the top of my head , it could have been a few more) Well I received my voucher for it on Saturday so today I have been and collected it, To be honest I really do not think they are worth £10 but not complaining as the vouchers I used to send off for it were the ones passed onto me by my mum (my perks are being used on a scooter for Jack) ..So that is half the meat sorted for Christmas lunch, just the duck to get.... Hopefully I will come across one in the reduced section of a supermarket ;)

Chicken....

Last week I was in Tesco and noticed a 4 for £12 meat deal they have on at the mo, thought this was a great deal so I picked up 2 chickens, a pack of Pork chops and a pack of Cubed beef

Well with it being a Sunday and all that I decided to do a Chicken roast, put the chicken in my slow cooker expecting it to shrink to next to nothing with it being a cheap chicken... I must admit I was pleasantly surprised!


I used 1 breast of the chicken for myself, Hubby and Jack, Portioned the leg meat off for 2 pies (1 for tomorrows tea and 1 for the freezer) Then I portioned off the other breast for the freezer and at the mo the carcass is cooking in the slowcooker for me to make a soup for our lunches next week
So that is 5 meals for the 3 of us out of one chicken that cost £3.. Well I think that is blooming good going!



My plans for tonight

Whilst I'm waiting for the stock to finish I am going to have a nice hot bubble bath followed by a nice mug of ovaltine whilst chilling on the sofa completing my list of things I need to get together to make a winter box for the car
Last year we had really bad weather down here, which Hubby got stuck in, a normally 10 minute journey took over 3hrs, poor bugger was stuck in the freezing cold on a motorway with nothing, so I aim to be prepared if the worse happens again.
So far on my list I have:
A couple of blankets
Mobile charger
Torch
Small fold up spade
Jumper
Torch
Cereal bars
Small bag of dog food (incase she is in the car if we ever get stuck)
A bottle of water
Hat, gloves & scarf (Incase the car has to be abandoned and we have to walk home)
De-icer

That is has far as I have got ... Will update when the box is complete... x

Skint...!

Is a great word to describe what we are going to be for the next 10days
I have spent this fine Sunday afternoon sorting our finances out and doing my meal plans..I have £30 in my purse to last for the next 2 weeks so it is sooooo important I stick to it!

Thought I would share it with you.....
Monday:
B... Shreddies
L... Beans on toast
T.. Home made Chicken and mushroom pie, New potatos & Sliced beans (Chicken will be left overs from today's roast)

Tuesday:
B... Cereal or Toast
L.. Home made Chicken noodle soup ( made from the Carcass of Sundays chicken)
T..Vegetable Stew & Dumplings

Wednesday:
B.. Cereal or toast
L..Leftover chicken soup fromTuesday
T..Sausage casserole, Baby potato's & parsnips with Peas and carrots

Thursday:
B.. Cereal
L..Egg on toast
T.. Pasta bake with Garlic bread

Friday:
B.. Cereal or toast
L..HM Mushroom soup
T..Shepherds pie served with cabbage

Saturday:
B.. Pancakes
L..Mushroom soup (Left overs from Friday)
T..HM Lasagne

Sunday:
B.. Pancakes (Using Saturday's left over mix)
L..Ham sandwiches
T..Roast Chicken, roast potatos, Stuffing, Carrots, swede & cabbage with Gravy

Monday:
B.. Cereal or toast
L..Egg sandwiches
T..Chicken curry & Rice (Using Sundays left overs)

Tuesday
B..Cereal or toast
L..Chicken & mushroom soup (Made out of Sundays chicken carcass)
T..Pork chops, chips & beans

Wednesday
B..Cereal
L..Chicken & mushroom soup (LO from Tuesdays lunch)
T..Sweet n sour pork and rice (using leftover over pork from Tuesdays tea)

Thursday
B..cereal
L..Beans on toast
T..Hm Pizzas with wedges & Garlic bread

Friday
B..Cereal or toast
L..Tuna may sandwiches
T.. Spag bol

Saturday
B..Pancakes
L..Home made Potted cheese sandwiches
T..Omelette

Sunday
B..Pancakes (Made using Saturdays leftover mix)
L..Beefs casserole, Roast potatos & veg
T..Toast

Snacks will be Fruit, HM cake & Biscuits

I do have a fully stocked freezer so will only need to go and buy a few fresh items
The fresh items I will need are:
Milk (Will buy from Asda as they still have the 2 x 4pints for £3 offer on) 2 will last me a week if I water it down
Vegetables (Will shop at Aldi for these as they sell Fruit n Veg for 39p per pack)
Fruit (Aldi as above)
Bread...I only buy the fresh baked in store loaves from Tesco.. These cost £1.20 per loaf but last me 3-4 days plus I have a few loaves in the freezer for emergencies
Butter..Will switch to Tesco value unsalted butter @ £1.10 per block


Won't have any diesel either but that is not a big problem as Jack is off school so we will spend the week making Christmas decoration and de-cluttering the upstairs & if I do have to go anywhere we will just walk....We don't do enough walking anyway so it will do us good.

I have no choice but to stick to the above.. Quiet looking forward to it actually.
Depending how it goes I might do a no spend week per month to get the debts down even quicker!

Will update blog with pics/prices of today's dinner later.... x

So far today.....

I have done 2 lots of washing
Decluttered all the cupboards/drawers in the kitchen
Polished the dining table & living room furniture
Hoovered the whole of downstairs
Listed all my unwanted junk on freecycle
Made the beds
Cleaned the bathroom

Phew! Think I deserve a sit down and a cuppa after all that!


Just got the dinner to make now... Its home made pizzas tonight with wedges and garlic bread washed down with a few glasses of cola whilst watching the X Factor... My idea of bliss!

Todays meals...

Made Celery soup for the very first time today, was abit unsure as I'm not normally a big celery eater but I gave it a go and I was pleasantly surprised! will definitely be doing it again

It was very cheap too!

For 3 portions
1/2 pk Celery 25p
1 Stock cube (Tesco value @10p per pack) so 1p per stock cube!
1 Onion 10p
1tbsp plain flour (Not even worth counting as it would cost less than a penny!)
1/2pt milk 25p

So total for lunch for myself and hubby and another portion for me tomorrow is: £0.61p!

It really did taste as good as it looks :) x

Tonight's dinner was Pork & apple casserole using up the pork I had left over from the pack I opened yesterday for the curry so here goes..

Pork was reduced from Tesco @ £1.89 1/2 a Pack used ... 96p
1 Onion 10p
Other half of the celery used at  Lunch time 25p
Knorr pork stock cube 15p
4 Carrots 15p
2 Parsnip out of a 39p Aldi pack 10p

Grand total for 4 portions of Casserole  £1.71
Only 2 portions were used tonight the other 2 are in the freezer so tonight dinner cost a grand total of £0.86p

Then add 40p on for the mash and 10p for the sliced green beans that makes it £1.36p!

Here it is :

All ready to be switched on!

All ready to be dished out....

All ready to be enjoyed...

Bargains!

As I said in my previous post, I was nipping to the charity shop...well ... this is what I got :0)

30p An absolute bargain! All that is needed is a red pillar candle and a bit of ribbon and it will look lovely on my fire place at Christmas

£1.50!  I love anything Heart shaped so just had to have it! not sure what to put in it yet.. ?

£1.00 Pudding basin....I really really needed one of these as I need to get cracking on My Xmas pud before its too late...So guess what I will be doing next week.

On the way back from the High street I popped into Tesco to see if they had any Sausage rolls they are all raving about on Moneysaving expert  (They are apparently going through the tills @ 1p) As usual I was too late ;( the shelves were bare so someone must have beat me to it!
I did pounce on these reduced items whilst there though.. so something good did come from my trip to Tesco

For a grand total of £2.08! The carrots have been blanched and froze, the spring onions will be used over the weekend in our Sandwiches, 1 pk of mushrooms have been chopped and froze and the other 2 will make yummy mushroom soup!
 

Today will mostly be.....

Spent potting around the house doing a few Jobs that have in the last few weeks been neglected, really have got to try and stay on top of things, I did start writing out a household manual, think I will have to get that finished today so that I can list my chores and what days to do them on so I can stay on top of my housework.

So far today I have:
Prepared dinner which is now cooking in the slow cooker....the smell of it cooking is lurvely!
Put the washer on
Unloaded/reloaded the Dishwasher
Got My son fed, washed, dressed and off to school
Polished the dining table and all furniture in the living room

Still got to:

Make beds
Hoover
Sort the back garden out (Maybe one for DH)
Make celery soup for lunch
Sort the pantry out
Clean my baking tin cupboard out... Fed up of putting one thing in for 12 things to fall out.....
finally... Make a lemon drizzle cake

But for now.....

I'm going to nip out  to the local charity shop as there is a sign in the window about a halloween fun day we will be taking Jack to, I'm sure it is tomorrow but think I really do need to go and check ;) lol x

Tonights dinner

Pork & Mushroom curry with egg fried rice

Pork was reduced from Tesco @ £1.89 1/2 a Pack used ... 96p
1 onion 10p
Reduced pack of Organic mushrooms 49p 1/2 pack used so 25p
I Jar of Sainsburys basic curry sauce (Don't normally use this but I have had a tin in my cupboard for the last year so thought I would get rid) 19p
1 boil in the bag Basmati rice 25p
1egg 15p

Total cost of meal £1.90 :)

If I'm honest I don't think I will use the Value sauce again, it tasted a little too bland and watery for my liking...But.. it filled our tummies, got rid of the tin of sauce and didn't cost a lot so I shouldn't complain.... :0) x

Tomorrow's menu will be:

Breakfast: Toast or cereal
Lunch: Home made Celery soup
Dinner: Pork & Apple casserole with Mashed potato's

Both the celery soup and the Pork & apple casserole are new recipes I have never tried so fingers crossed they turn out ok else it will be beans on toast for us !

Meal planning....

I do try to stick to a meal plan but something always comes along and interrupts it at the start of the week I had to scrap it due to illness, Both Jack and hubby were ill with man flu and didnt feel like eating so I wasnt going to bother just cooking for myself so we lived off sandwiches and Cakes from Sainsburys...Oooh I am sooo naughty sometimes! 

Anyway... Last night I realised we are only 9weeks away from Christmas and the freezer needs thining out so there is room for the christmas meat and most importantly I need to save some money so we can splash out on a few luxuries for us to enjoy .......so I have vowed to stick to a Low cost meal plan from today up until Dec 23rd.

I nipped into Aldi to stock up on Veggies as they do fab deals for 39p
for the grand total of £6.78 I purchased:
1 savoy cabbage
1 sweetheart cabbage
2 Bags of Parsnips
1 bag bananas
1 Bag carrots
2 x Bag of baby potatoes
1 large cucmber
1 net of lemons
1 Pack celery
1 pack of Salami
4 pints Milk
1 jar of Olives


I plan to try and make as much as I can from scratch and as low cost as I can, I am budgetting myself £120 per month to include all food, toiletries and cleaning items.. It is going to be tight but its do able.

Will update my blog everyday with menu plans & cost..Might even chuck in a few pictures

Wish me luck.... :0) x

My latest Charity shop buys & things I have made....

 Nipped into a local CS today and fell instantly in love with this cute little jug for £1

 Here he is with his new family :)

 Whilst out walking with Jack the other day, we came across some acorns, so got a pocketful  (also making sure I had left some for the resident squirrels) within 20mins of being back at home I had made this... so pleased with it I tried it with some conkers, they looked fab for a start but over time they have shrivelled up a little so next time I must leave them a few days before tying the wire...

 After... A good scrub and a lick of paint works wonders..!

 Before .. a dirty old greasy herb rack that was given to me by my friend....

 Bought a cork Noticeboard from Tesco last week for £2.20, Jazzed it up with a lick of paint, a Tea towel, Rick rack & a pretty butterfly ... Think it looks very nice & come in very handy (Notice the Money off vouchers ready to be used :0) x

 Another CS buy, I loved this as soon as I saw it ..Liked it the minute I saw it.. when I got home whilst washing it I noticed the Hornsea makers mark underneath it ... Not bad for £1.25

 My lovely husband is the only one who can drive in our house so instead of ferrying me around all the time he decided to make me my very own mode of transport... LOL x
He did a grand job and it looks blooming brilliant in the flesh , will look even better on Halloween night in my porch... and it cost him nothing to make...Clever man!

 

3 lovely plates I got from the CS too all for the grand price of 30p!!

Not done too bad have I ? x