Blooming heck!!

Cannot believe its been nearly a year since I last posted on here..Eeeek!!

Sooo whats been happening since I last updated?? well quiet alot really
We have moved home, hence the reason of my lack of blogging, The house was in such a state when we moved in that all my spare time I've been either scrubbing or decorating! phew it took some bloody hard graft but we are very nearly there.. just the bedrooms & bathroom to do but they will wait till after Christmas.
our new house is situated in a small friendly village, the house is much bigger than the old one, room sizes & garden! which is perfect for us, its also a 1940's whereas our old one was a new build and to be quiet honest from the min I moved in our old house I hated it! everytime I tried to hang a picture on the wall half the plaster would come off lol
plus I find the older houses are easier to keep warm in the winter...we are very happy and I can soooo see myself & family living here for many years to come.


anyhow, after months of neglect my cook books and cooking utensils have finally come out, I now have a HUGE walk in pantry that needs filling with lots of Jam's, chutneys & pickles to keep us going through the winter.

Its great to be back :)

using up stale bread...

I bake a loaf every 2nd day, it used to be 1 a day but I found we had a never ending supply of bread that was going stale before we got round to using it (there is only so much breadcrumbs and croutons I can keep in my freezer!) .. anyway instead of a stale loaf needing to be used up I only have a few slices so thought I would treat my hubby with a bread & butter pud!

Spread the leftover bread with spread, cut into chunks.. 

Layer it in the dish sprinkle 2tbsp sugar and an handful of sultanas/mixed fruit between the layers, (I used 2 dishes as I have 4 slices of bread that needed using up) In a jug mix one egg (freshly laid this morning ..Thank you Dottie) with half a cup of Milk then cover the bread mix with it, I did have to add another splash of milk to these as the bed was really chunky.

Then sprinkle the tops with Brown sugar then leave to rest so the bread soaks up all the liquid, these will go in the oven later today..  One for pudding tonight and the other can go in the freezer for one day next week.... x

Take one pack of diced beef.....

I nipped in Tesco the other night to pick a few bits up and whilst browsing I noticed that they had big packs of Diced Beef on offer @ £2.94 a pack so I decided to get a pack, Rewind a few yrs and I would have not thought twice about using the whole pack on a stew or a curry .. Makes me shudder the amount of food & more importantly MONEY I have wasted over the years! ..

Anyhow today out came my pinny and my oven went on...

 I made some Cornish Pasties last week Recipe was out of my war time recipe book and they were lovely so I thought I would make some Peppered beef and mushroom ones this time as my Husband used to buy the Ginsters ones ( before our pennypinching days )

 So I cubed a few pieces of the beef up and added some beef stock and let it thicken ( whilst it did that I made the pastry ( Will post recipe further down the page)

 I then cut large rounds out of the pastry using a breakfast bowl, placed soem of the filling into the centre of the rounds, moistened the edges and pressed them together on top of the filling then pinched the edges in ( if that makes sense?! ) I did get 6 pasties but dropped the 6th one on the floor!1 was not impressed!

 So then I moved on to a curry, Again this recipe is out of my Eating for victory book .. I took another few pieces of meat and browned it with 1 small onion, added some mushrooms, 4tbsp Flour, 2tbsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder, 1tsp salt and 170ml water or stock (I used water)

 I had alot of Veggies that needed using up in the fridge so I thought I would do a beef casserole in the slow cooker, I love casseroles, especially now the weather is rapidly changing .. Just added a few mixed herbs, a cup of water and a splash of red wine .. Mmmmm the smell is gorgeous!

 Which then left me with this little bit.. I could have just loaded the casserole up but the money saver in me just could not justify it as I knew I could make another meal out of it so I chopped another onion, browned the meat with the onion, added some beef stock and part boiled a few potatoes .. Popped it in a casserole dish and covered it with pastry I had left over from the pasties.

This is what a £2.94 pk of diced beef got me. (casserole will be cooked over night tonight )

The pasties will make 2 dinners for me and my hubby and one for his Lunch
The casserole will make 2 dinners for the 3 of us
The curry will do 1 dinner for the 3 of us
and the Meat and potato pie will give us 1 dinner plus a small portion for my hubbies lunch


Because I try and cook everything myself and family eat  I have managed to totally get Christmas sorted this year a whole 3 months early!! and am well on my way to sorting out paying our bills early so that I can relax and enjoy the magic of Christmas instead of worrying about the bills that will be arriving after the Christmas period.



Pastry recipe:

8oz Plain Flour
1/2tsp Salt
4oz fat (I use half lard / half stork)
 cold water to mix

Sift flour & salt into a bowl
cube the fat and add to the flour
rub fat into flour using your fingertips (lifting the mixture up and letting it go)
rub until it looks like fine breadcrumbs
add just sufficient water to bind it together, mix with a knife
dust the worktop with flour handle pastry as little as possible
then roll out until you get the thickness you want (I make mine really thin as the pastry goes further)

I am now off to start the mass clean up in the kitchen after my cooking session :0) xx

Running all late...

 With my meal plan... This week is a no spend week so everything on the plan is what I've already got in... all bread, rolls & pizza bases are home-made

Week 4


30th July - 5th August

Sunday
Roast Chicken, Home grown Potatoes & green beans  carrots, Garden peas, stuffing & yorkie

Monday
Chips, sausage and beans  (Quick meal as we was out all day)

Tuesday

Creamy red pesto pasta

Wednesday

Chicken curry & rice ( Using chicken from Sunday lunch)

Thursday

Jacket potato, Quiche (Not sure what quiche I'll make, will depend on what I have that needs using up in the fridge) Salad

Friday

Our "fakeaway" night ..this week it is going to be a selection of pizzas with garlic bread & home made fries.

Saturday

Lasagne

Sunday 

Beef casserole, with new potatoes.

Breakfasts will be Pancakes, Cereal or Jam/ marmalade on toast

Jam is strawberry or cherry ( home made using up the left over fruit that was startign to turn in the fridge) ... very yummy it is too!

Lunches will be anything left over from previous day, ham, cheese or tuna sandwiches, soup or pasta salad

Snacks, fruit, yogurts, home made mousse, banana cake or Home made cookies.

Meal plan

Week 3
23rd - 30th July

Monday
Peppered steak with Jacket potato & salad
 
Tuesday
mushroom stir fry

Wednesday
Gammon, Oven chips, pineapple & peas

Thursday
Fish, new potato's & green beans

Friday
Tandoori chicken

Saturday
Mushroom soup & warm bread

Sunday
Chicken, roast potatos, carrots, parsnips onion, mashed swede


Lunches will be Tuna salad, pasta salad, boiled egg on toast, Ham salad sandwich and any left overs from previous day

Snacks will be  HM biscuits, yoghurt or fruit

Going really well with meal planning,  we are all managing to stick to it everyday, My son is trying new foods cos he has no alternative which is fantastic! 
I'm also sticking to what is on my shopping list so no random purchases which is saving me money! ... Can't be bad

My motivating post....

 Since I've been back doing my meal plans this has really helped as I feel so organised with my food, I know a week in advanced what we will be eating and I just sort it without even thinking really, I buy the stuff I need for the week to last us and that is that .. DONE!

This got me thinking, I wonder if I could manage to do it with my everyday life


 So yesterday myself and Shane had a test run......
I wrote down a list of things I needed to get done that day

The list consisted of everything from digging up the spuds in the garden to doing a load of washing! ... and it really did work!

I managed to do everything I set out to do and more... and I sat down last night on my sofa and was able to just sit there and relax! there was no feeling guilty cos I had sat down when I could have been doing something that I had put off earlier on in the day


From now on I think the list is the way to go!

And for that extra bit of motivation some days I might even post my list on here.

Here is today's list :

Done so far.....

Done a white load of washing
Washed the dog blankets
Put the breadmaker on
Made 2 x cheesey loaves
Put the lamb in the slow cooker
Hoovered downstairs
Polished living room
Made the beds


Still to do :

Menu plan for next week
Shopping list for next week
Sew Jacks badges onto his Beaver jumper
Make a start on the ironing
Prepare veg for dinner
Make a salad
Go for a walk with the dog
Pick some pine cones to stash for christmas Crafts
Parcel up Ebay items
Feed the dog
Bath Jack
Do 30mins of reading/writing with Jack.




I would love to eventually get myself into a routine where things are done on certain days for example,
Ironing is done on a Tues
Washing is done on a Monday
Beds changed every friday
Cooker cleaned every 3rd Thursday
Wed will be my baking day etc etc etc


I will get there :) x

Todays Tesco bargains

On the way back from dropping Jack off at Beavers I had to nip into Tesco to get some salad leafs, whilst there I thought I would have a nose at the reduced section, was just in time too as the lady had just reduced the last of the bits for the night and no one was there so I had first dibs on everything! I couldn't believe my luck cos normally its like a rugby scrum to get with 2 foot of the reduced section


This is what I got :)

Ideal for our weekly Saturday morning fry up.

If I slice it thinly I will get 2 meals out of this

Ideal for one of our "Fake-away" Fridays when I'm doing Donor Kebab .. so that will be one evening meal and just enough left for hubby's sandwiches the next day

Normally I would make my own but with these being so cheap I thought they would be great to freeze for Christmas ... So that is one thing off my Christmas food list :D

This is what I had originally went into Tesco for so really chuffed I managed to get it for less than half price!

£15.06 worth worth of food for £7.09 not bad when you think there is 4 main meals and 1 lunch there without counting the sausages wrapped in bacon.