Menu Plan (10th October 2016)

Hi Everyone,

I didn't do a menu plan last week as I was working away for most of the week and Craig would not have stuck to it anyway. I do get a little worried about what and when they are eating when I am away as the first words out of their mouths on my return was not 'Mum, we missed you' but 'Mum, what's for dinner?' and this was at 6.30pm. We have normally eaten by this time when I am home.

Craig is out every night except Wednesday so meals are child and Slimming World friendly as I am determined to get to goal long before Christmas. I haven't lost any weight since I got by Club 10 award in July and I only had 4 1/2lbs to go. This happened when I was at Weight watchers where I lost a stone in 17 weeks then it took over a year to lose the last 1/2 stone. I am determined to make sure that doesn't happen this time. If anyone has any tips on how to get over a plateau in weight loss then please let me know.

The meals for this week are
Monday - Homemade pot noodle (so Syn free as just dried noodles, chicken, chicken stock, sweetcorn and peppers)
Tuesday - Pasta and homemade meatballs and tomato sauce
Wednesday - Slow cooker Chicken curry and boiled rice
Thursday - SW sausages, mash and peas
Friday - Steak and Salad
Saturday - SW Singapore Noodles (homemade not the ready meal) Recipe here
Sunday - Chicken in a Mushroom Sauce.

Linking up to Organising Junkie as usual.

Hope you all have a good week. Thankfully mine is a lot quieter and I am looking forward to having more time to cook.

Deborah

What I have been doing in September

September has been quite a busy month for me but it has all been good.

As a back to school treat I went to Manchester and took Emma and Matthew to Richmonds Tea Rooms. It is somewhere I have been wanting to go to for a while and I knew Emma would like it because of the Alice in Wonderland themed decor. The food was also really good. We didn’t go for the afternoon tea, instead Emma had a chicken sandwich, Matthew had pancakes with Maple syrup and bacon and I had Eggs Royale. I do want to go back and take Craig. He doesn’t do afternoon tea because he does not do cakes but I think the Gentleman’s afternoon tea will appeal.  The toilets were a source of amusement as they were unisex toilets so we were laughing when people went in and came out straight away to check the sign if they saw somebody of the opposite sex in there.

Obviously the 5^th was back to school for Matthew who is going into Year 6 as Head Boy. So proud!

The first Masquerade Ball of the month happened on the 9^th. It was a charity fundraiser for St Rocco’s Hospice in Warrington. It was a very enjoyable evening and I came away with a cake slice and cake stand on the raffle and a make-over consultation from the silent auction (which I never expected to win).

It was an early start the next day as I was going to the Stitching and Hobbycraft show at Event City. I went with the intention of buying Christmas crafts and because I had to take Matthew to a party that afternoon I knew I couldn’t linger. I am looking forward to starting these.

My haul from the show

September is a busy month for birthdays, It starts mine, on the 18^th is my sister in law to be, then Matthews, my Mums and my nieces. Also Emma’s boyfriend was 18 as well as one of her ‘adopted’ sisters and my friends daughter.

It was a bit nerve wracking on the 18^th as I was doing an abseil down the Bell Tower at Barton Square which is part of the Trafford Centre. I was doing it with a group of work colleagues for Macmillan. It was something I was looking forward to doing EXCEPT when you have to climb over the edge of the ledge and put your feet onto a wooden block BEFORE they fasten you on. I gripped the ropes attaching the blocks for dear life until I was secure. After that I loved it and wanted to do it again.

The 24^th was another fully packed day. I had a trip to Skipton with the ladies from my WI. I have never been to Skipton and was looking forward to the visit. There were some really quaint shops and I bought my first Christmas present from there. The market was on so it was very busy and as there was a group of us we didn’t get to see as much as we would have liked as the coach was picking the ladies up to take them to Grassington for afternoon tea.

 Unfortunately I had to miss that part as I needed to get back for the second Masquerade ball. This one was being held by Craig’s lodge as a fundraiser for the Masonic charities. It was another enjoyable evening and I am looking forward to the 3^rd in December.

Oh we also have booked the holiday for next year. Because there is a group it took 5 hours to sort out and involved a trip to the Trafford Centre on a Sunday afternoon which for me is normally to be avoided like the plague.

I have to admit I am looking forward to a quieter October before everything starts gearing up for Christmas.

Menu Plan (26th September 2016)

Apologies for a lack of a menu plan for last week as I didn't plan one.  There were too many things that may or may not have happened so it was a case of decide on the day. Back to normal this week, if a little late. I am going to stick to not planning specific days as that seemed to work better.

Definitely back on track with Slimming World now as I want to get to target so I don't have to pay any more and use that money towards the holiday for next year which we have now booked (yippee!!)

So the meals for this week are

Meatballs and Mash potato
Homemade Slimming World burgers and Chips
Turkey steak wraps
Slimming World KFC Fakeaway 
Fish Pie
Risotto
Sunday Lunch with Roast Beef.

Have a good week.

Deborah

Menu Plan (12th September 2016)

Last week was the best week for a while with regards to sticking to what was planned meal wise but I did swap a few nights round. There were some nights where I just didn't fancy what was planned for that night and a couple of nights last minute things cropped up. I think I prefer planning the meals, but not saying which night as I didn't feel as frustrated as I have done in the past. The food was eaten so does it really matter when.

So going forward I am just going to list the meals and not the days. 

Lamb steaks, cous cous and spinach
Gammon. Slimming World chips and Egg
Spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread ( courgetti bolognese for me)
Homemade pizza
Homemade pot noodle (Slimming world frozen meal for meal)
Jacket potato (with chosen toppings) and salad
Steak and Sweet potato fries.

Linking up with Organising Junkie to get inspiration for the future.

Have a good week.

Deborah

Trying to save money

We are looking to book a holiday abroad next year, our first since 2013. Unfortunately since then, our outgoings seem to have increased so we need to look at how we can save some money. All our bills are paid via direct debit so those are covered.  We have looked at these and cancelled any which are no longer essential. We have also reduced our TV/phone/broadband package as we do not really watch that much TV, so that is a saving of about £35 per month on those outgoings.

We shopped around last year when our insurance was due. We changed our home insurance and we saved about £30 a month. I don’t think we would be able to save much this year. We do regular checks on our utilities and we really can’t save much more on those.

One of the biggest areas we can save money on is on food. Although we would not qualify for ‘Eat well for Less’ we can still make savings. Craig is terrible in the supermarket. I ask him to call in and pick up 3 things and he comes back with 3 bags full. He is a sucker for special offers and not all of those get used and end up being wasted. I need to keep him out of the supermarket and that would surely save us money. The other way is to do the ‘click and collect’ option where you order online and then just pick it up from the supermarket. My nearest supermarket is less than a mile away so it makes no sense to pay for delivery. Doing the menu plan helps me with the list but if I go I do tend to pick up extras as well which I don’t do when ordering online.

I must also be more organised with the actual meals themselves and remember to pull the meat out of the freezer to give it time to defrost. This wasn’t to bad when we had a microwave oven because I could just use the defrost option, but since we have no longer got a microwave I have to be better at remembering, especially seeing as though I  do not tend to have alternatives that can be cooked from frozen. Perhaps it might be worth investing in a microwave rather than falling back on take-aways which would be cheaper in the long run. I know the kids would be happy if we had a microwave.

One thing I also do a lot is impulse buy. I read somewhere that if you see something you want then you should wait 72 hours before buying it. There is a good chance then that you either forget about it or decide that you don’t really want it. I think this is something I need to implement to save us money. An example of this being successful is when I decided I could do with a new camera. I wanted one because I could not find the cable that connects the camera to the computer and a bit of plastic at the bottom of the camera had split and kept getting caught on things.  I had an idea of which one I wanted but decided to wait. During that time I analysed how I use my current camera, I found the cable and glued the plastic back down. As you may guess, I decided I didn’t need a new camera.

I have heard a lot about the Kon Marie method of decluttering and organising and I like the idea of sorting by category and putting everything together. This should help me save money as I know that I  have ended up with duplicates due to my disorganisation. It might also help me with my stationery addiction once I see just how much I have got.

Before I go and buy any new clothes for winter I am going to analyse what is in my wardrobe and look as to whether I actually need anything. I know I will need some jeans and a couple of jumpers to replace ones which are now to big due to losing weight, but in winter I do not seem to be as bothered about clothes as I am in summer. I am quite happy to live in jeans and jumpers at the weekend and trousers and jumpers for work. I know I don’t need a new coat or boots this year. I am also going to look at all my formal dresses and wear those rather than buy new. I am not going to be the principal Lady this year so the attention is not going to be on me so I can get away with it.

I am not one of those people who would do a car boot sale to get rid of the stuff (been there, done that, hated it) but I do know somebody who could sell the things for me on Ebay and on a car boot. I won’t go along so that I can’t change my mind ( or buy anything).  Anything that doesn’t get sold will then be donated.

To ensure that we put the money away, whatever is left at the end of the month, be it £2 or £200 I will transfer the money into the savings account so that it doesn’t get spent in the next month. I also read that if you decide not to buy something to put that money away as well. I think I will have to see on that particular option but on the months where we do not pay council tax,  that will be put away as will the money we will not have to pay during the holidays for breakfast and after school club.

I will keep you posted about how it is going each month.

Menu Plan (5th September 2016)

Matthew has gone back to school today (Hooray!!) and Emma is back on Thursday, so things should be settling back into a normal routine, including meals. The Masonic season is starting again however, which means that Craig is going to be out more often. 

This week we have a Masquerade Ball on Friday so the kids have chosen the meal for that night. I have no idea what Craig and I will be eating but I am going to have to stick rigidly to the Slimming World plan for the week as I have weigh in at 8.00am on Saturday morning and after a 5 course meal there is definitely going to be an issue on the scales.

Monday - Steak and Prawn Stir fry
Tuesday - Sausage and Mash (Slimming world sausage for me with broccoli and a little mash)
Wednesday - Spaghetti and Homemade meatballs
Thursday - Cottage pie with Sweet potato Mash
Friday- Burgers and fries
Saturday - Mushroom Risotto
Sunday - Beef in Red wine and Shallot sauce with potatoes and Veg.

Linking up to Organising Junkie to get inspiration for the future.

Have a good week.

Deborah

Goals for September

During July and August I decided to set some goals to achieve during the month with regards to various areas of my life that I want to work on.

I have found this easier then just setting a big resolution as although the monthly goals are all part of the main resolutions they are broken down into smaller, time constrained and achievable targets which is the foundation of any objectives that people set.

I have decided that this month I am going to share them and at the end update you on how things have gone.

In September I want to

• Finish decorating the kids rooms
• Achieve my target weight at Slimming World (only have 3 1/2 pounds to go)
• Work towards my Gold Body Magic award
• Read 2 Agatha Raisin books
• Get back into a proper meal routine by meal planning Lunch and dinner
• Complete one craft project.

Do you have monthly goals? I would love to hear what they are.