Dear reader,
Lisa May Walters and Counting Pennies are my new followers. Hi there and welcome to my blog.
We travelled back from rainy, cold Kent yesterday afternoon and are back in snowy Buckinghamshire. We woke to a blanket of white this morning and it is still coming down heavily. I can't believe it is April in a few days!
I decided to have a stock take of my big larder, cupboards and fridge freezer this morning and create a meal plan and shopping list around that.
I have an extensive collection of packet sauces, stir fry sauces, Thai curry pastes, bolognaise and beef stew mix. Also several Maggi so simple BBQ sauce roasting bags, cookie and muffin mixes, onion bhaji mix, a lot of dried noodles and a lot of cous cous. This is my Approved Food stash and a large sack of onions.
I also have the usual dried pulses and pasta. Red lentils, casserole mix and rice. Lots of tins of tuna, tinned tomatoes and some mandarins. Porridge oats, bread flour, plain and self raising. Some part cooked bread rolls, mini naans and a hoisin wrap kit.
The fridge is pretty bare, eggs x 5, cheese- cheddar and mozzarella, milk and condiments and lurking at the bottom a pack of beet root.
The freezer, however, is packed after a large shop at Lidl the week before we went away.
Chicken breasts x 15, the same of portions-thighs and drumsticks. A joint of ham, a joint of gammon, veggie sausages x2 packs, meat sausages, fish in a light sauce, River Cobbler fish, minced beef, a homemade lasagne, chicken Kiev, homemade faggots, a portion of M&S mash (50p) some frozen veg and frozen raspberries.
I am going back to making our own bread, so dusted off the machine today, ready to go tonight.
My menu plan is as follows. Breakfasts will be porridge and/or toast. Lunches will either be the extra from the precious night that I will cook or sandwiches with some fruit and chocolate biscuit bar.
23/3 leftover pizza-BBQ pork belly, potato wedges and veg.
24/3 sausage, egg and toast-Gammon joint, veg and mash.
25/3 ham sandwich-Fish in sauce and veg.
26/3 ham sandwich-Chicken stir fry and special rice
27/3 Leftover stir fry-Spaghetti bolognaise
28/3 Leftover bolognaise-something on toast
29/3 River Cobbler fish in a light batter or breadcrumbs and h/m chips
30/3 BBQ chicken, wedges and veg
31/3 H/M pizza-roast chicken, Yorkshire pud, veg, roasties
1/4 cooked breakfast, eggs, sausage, tomatoes-chicken curry, bhaji a, rice and naans.
I should just have to buy fruit, vegetables and potatoes this week. We have loads of milk and hopefully the bread making will go ok. We have enough to eat, I just need to be organised.
Do you menu plan or just see what you fancy?
I make a plan based on what I have...but I tend to swap the days round a bit..so something I planned for Friday is already eaten by Tuesday, - it's more a plan written in sand than carved in stone ;o) but it stops things going off as they're "on my radar"
ReplyDeleteWe are the same Kitty, sometime you don't know what the day will bring but at least there is always a planned for alternative x
DeleteSame here, this is just my plan so I make the most out of what I have. We usually fancy something else on the night so I juggle. It makes it easy for me to use what we have.
DeleteThe first time I did an inventory of food stuffs I was shocked to see it written down just how much we had. We have been really strict with the budget this year and are managing to eat very well for under £50 per week. I always menu plan, even if the days get switched round we usually manage to stick to it weekly. Its so much easier on the shopping as well as the finances and most weeks I have 6 no spend days. My hubby says I'm sometimes too organized for my own good lol, he never says that when I'm dishing up a nice meal though, but he does give me a kiss and say thank you :-)
ReplyDeleteWe made the Sweetcorn Fritters today...yum :-)
Karen x
I was shocked today. The freezer is actually bulging and I can hardly shut it. I have just discovered some stewing beef and an organic steak under a large bag of peas!
DeleteAh yes the sweetcorn fritters. We had them again yesterday for breakfast. There are lovely.
DeleteYour menu sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI'm like Karen; when we did an official inventory of everything I was stunned to see how much we had. I spent January just trying to serve from what we had (with small fresh additions) and we did very well.
I make a "sort of" menu plan. I make a list of what meals we have that I can pull together and then we eat from that list. I like the flexibility of being able to chose from the list to match what is going on that day or whatever we're in the mood for.
Hi,
DeleteI can't believe how much I have hoarded and stashed away. Apart from some fruit, veg and milk we should be ok for a couple of weeks.
"River Cobbler"?
ReplyDeleteIs that the old man who mends shoes on his boat in Bourne End?
Or perhaps another species of Dover 'sole'?
No,no I jest, but I didn't know you could buy it in the shops.
I was eating out with a friend a while back at The Papermill (A40 Loudwater) and we both ordered 'Fish 'n Chips'. ( + Mushy peas of course). "Did you enjoy your meal Sir?" the waitress inquired - "Yes thank you, it was very nice. By the way was the fish Cod or Haddock?"
"Neither, Sir, it was River Cobbler!"
I didn't like to ask where it came from! (the River here is not exactly crystal clear!)
It was nice though, but I've never seen it for sale.
I always look out for Pollock and Ling. Both cheaper than Dover sole and Monkfish! (My two really, really, really favs.)
Cheers.... B x
Hi Bernard,
DeleteHa ha, I hope it doesn't taste like old boots! We have had it before, it's rather nice and very reasonable. I get it from Asda. They also reduce their monkfish quite a lot too so I always grab it for the freezer. I love monkfish but expensive. Haven't tried Ling but we like tasting new fish so will look out for some of that. Thanks for the tip.
Have heard of the Papermill but not tried it yet.
It's from Vietnam and is also known as basa. It got some bad press a few years back but all that seems to have died down now.
DeleteAn, thanks Scarlet.
DeleteA lady goes into the local fishmonger.
Delete“I’d like two fillets of plaice, please.” she said.
“I’m sorry, madam, but we’ve sold out of plaice. How about Cod?”
“OK, I’ll have two fillets of plaice.”
“I’m sorry, madam, but we’ve sold out of plaice. Why not try a nice wing of Skate?“
“OK, I’ll have two fillets of plaice.”
This infuriated the fishmonger, who asked the cutomer, “If you take the C out of cod you get “od”. If you take the S out of skate you get “kate”. What do you get if you take the “flip” out of plaice?”
The lady thought for a moment, then replied, “But there ain’t no “flip” in plaice.“
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” said the fishmonger.
Meal planning is the way forward if you want to save money on your shopping. All the best frugal blogs do it. But they also swap meals around if they feel like it.
ReplyDeleteI plan for the whole month sometimes and we can eat for about £50-£70 per month (but I do eat my main meal at school so that makes a difference).
I think you will start seeing a difference. I'm looking forward to hearing how you are clearing debts/making savings - you will soon see it with all the fantastic life style changes you are making.
You are well supported by other bloggers and will be given a real boost when you share some of your financial success.
If I hadn't shared my mortgage reductions on my blog we would have NEVER paid it off. It makes you accountable but in a good way and people spur you on so much.
SO share your dreams-esp those financial ones (not in detail necessarily) and live those dreams!
Sft x
Thanks SFT for your advice. I need to get the progress bar sorted so I can show how we are doing. Thanks for the instructions how to do,it, will try later today. You are doing well with your pot, even on holiday. Brilliant!
DeleteS. x
Hi Sarah
DeleteI always stock take my pantry and freezer fortnightly before menu planing. I then just list 7 dinners and 7 lunches before making my weekly top up at either aldi or lidl. Last week for breakfast I made some oatbran muffins and this week Date and Walnut, Banana Oat Bars. I mostly have left overs or salads for lunch. We are managing to eat very well on £25 per head per week. All meals and a couple of takeaways or treats included per month. This month I made my last mortgage payment and it feels great. Now I need I just need to keep focused. Weight's starting to go do as well so lots of positives. Good luck with the bread making !
Hi Emma, our oat bars sound right up my street! Wonderful news that you have paid off the mortgage-a huge well done to you!
DeleteHave made another loaf, this time following the instructions and it was lovely. Have another one in now. Did you say you sent me a recipe?
When are you going to start your blog so you can list all your recipes? You can always do a trial guest blog on here if you would like? Let me know.
S. x
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