Our weekly meal plan! 24th - 30th August! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was a really good one and it was a proper family weekend with us all being home together. I can't remember the last time that happened with the girls being out with friends or working, so it was really nice to have everyone home at the same time. We enjoyed some good food, watched TV: The Voice UK, the Grand Prix and football, had plenty of chats and just enjoyed each other's company.

Last week's meal plan went really well. We ate everything I had planned, although not necessarily on the day that I had originally planned it for. It worked out pretty well because we ended up eating the hearty comfort food like the cottage pie and sausage casserole on the days when it was raining. Yes, we've actually had some rainy days! Not rain all day, every day but enough to give the garden a good watering and make us want something warm and filling for tea.

Over the weekend, I didn't bother doing our usual grocery shop. Stu is off work all of this week and he has said he will help out with the cooking too. So, rather than going out and buying loads more food, we're going to make a proper effort to use what we already have in the freezer and there is plenty in there! I had a bit of a look through and found things that I had completely forgotten about. We've got cauliflower cheese, chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries, diced onions, mixed vegetables, fish fingers, frozen chips, mushrooms, chicken breasts, garlic bread, minced beef, battered fish fillets, roast potatoes, mini corn on the cob, potato waffles, chicken pies, sliced peppers, beef burgers, sausages, garden peas and tubs of leftovers and probably more if I dig deeper. This seems like a great opportunity to clear some space in the freezer while also saving ourselves a bit of money.

This week is going to look a bit different as we've got quite a lot going on. Ellie has another job interview and is still waiting to hear back from a couple that she went to last week, which is exciting. Stu and I need to go into town to buy some birthday bits for Ellie's birthday and of course we have a meal out planned. I need to help my dad with a few things on the computer and there are a few jobs around the house that need doing too. So, instead of planning meals for each day, I just have a list of meals that we can have depending on what we are doing that day. If we're out and about, we'll have something quick and easy. If we're home and have more time, we can cook something that takes a little longer.

On the menu this week we have:

A meal out for Ellie's birthday!

Of course, we have to eat out and celebrate the birthday girl! I won't have to worry about cooking, washing up or deciding what everyone is going to eat. I can just sit down, we can all order what we fancy and enjoy some family time, maybe with a glass of wine or two.

Fish, chips and mushy peas.

This one is completely from the freezer, which makes it an easy tea! We've got battered fish fillets, frozen chips and of course, we'll have mushy peas with them. It's one of those meals that doesn't need much planning at all.

A day of the tubs of leftovers.

This is probably my favourite meal of the week. We have a few tubs of leftovers in the freezer so we're going to have a bit of a lucky dip and see what we fancy. I think there is chicken curry, sausage casserole, pea and ham soup and maybe some Bolognese.

Beef burgers with potato waffles, baked beans and fried eggs.

This is a bit of a random meal but I think it will go down well! We've got beef burgers and potato waffles in the freezer, plus baked beans in the cupboard and eggs.

Chicken breast, cauliflower cheese, sweet potato fries and mixed vegetables.

This is going to be our little roast dinner of sorts. It should make a nice filling meal without actually having to make a full roast dinner.

Sausage, onion & pepper tray bake.

This is one of those meals where I'm going to make it up as I go along. We've got sausages, diced onions and sliced peppers in the freezer, so I'll throw them all together and see what happens. I will add some potatoes of some sort too.

Chicken pies with mash and peas.

There is something very satisfying about a chicken pie with mashed potato and peas. It's simple, filling and definitely one we all enjoy!

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 15th - 22nd August Week 34 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. Ours has been really nice so far. We had a family night in front of the TV last night. It seems ages since we have done that. The Voice UK is back on TV, which is one of our favourite shows to watch together and it means that the new season of shows is starting. I know Big Brother is coming soon and Strictly Come Dancing won't be far behind that!

Today is going to be all about sport. It is the Dutch Grand Prix this afternoon and then Newcastle have their first match of the season against Liverpool and it's going to be an emotional one as it's the first one since Kevin Keegan has passed away. He was a big thing for both Newcastle and Liverpool fans.

Now for a photo every day!

227/365 15th August

This is the photo I didn't add last week because we were having a family day out. The first stop was lunch at the all-you-can-eat place. I do love how you can put whatever on your plate. I had plain noodles, fried mushrooms, Coca-Cola chicken, prawn toast, gammon and a couple of pieces of Doner kebab.

228/365 16th August

This was the only photo I took on Sunday. I used it in my Friday Favourite post but it will have to do for here too. Stu's birthday cards off the girls did make me laugh out loud.

229/365 17th August

Becky got Stu this T-shirt and it applies to both of the girls. lol The T-shirt sums up their relationship perfectly because they both have him wrapped around their little fingers. He can try to pretend otherwise but we all know the truth!

230/365 18th August

My cherry tomatoes are finally turning red and I have started picking a couple every day but these beasts are still growing. I hope they ripen soon.

231/365 19th August

See the water on the ground, it's rain! There were actual little puddles and it was wonderful to see. It has rained a little every day since Monday and we needed it. There's still a hosepipe ban and the grass in the garden still looks burned but my plants got a good soaking!

232/365 20th August

I couldn't wait any longer. It looked like my sweetcorn was ready and after checking it several times, I decided it was time to pick one. I gave it a wash and ate some and, thankfully, it tasted like sweetcorn! I am taking that as a win because I have finally succeeded in growing sweetcorn. I have tried before and not had any luck, so growing some that I could pick and eat made me feel like a proper gardener. I will leave the rest to grow some more.

233/365 21st August

My dad has a new vintage car in his garage and it's an old one. This was the tax disc from when it was last on the road, 1979!! That was the year I was born. Apparently it has been sitting in a garage, hidden away all this time.

234/365 22nd August

I put the football on, Hull v Man United and I did not expect to see our local team Hull winning! They were only just promoted to the Premier League, so it was not expected. It is half-time now as I write this and they are now winning 2 - 0. I do hope they win!

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This week my Word of the Week is: Holidays!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Happy Saturday and I hope you have all had a good week. I have had a great one with lots of family time. We had an early birthday celebration for Stu on Saturday and I have a blog post all about it next week as we saw and did lots of out of the ordinary things. He had a great birthday and this week also saw more rain this week than we've had in months. I'm not complaining, it's a good thing!

Holidays have definitely been a big theme in our house this week. Becky took two days holiday from work and ended up having a whole week off. It was just the way her shifts worked, and it means she is onto her third weekend on the trot off too. Not bad at all! She has been back to work this week and then I think she has about three shifts in before having another two weeks off for more annual leave. She always takes a chunk of time off around Ellie's and her birthday. Stu also took last Friday off and ended up with a four-day weekend. He has all of next week off too, which was originally the time he had planned to decorate the bathroom but he started and finished earlier than he planned. It wasn't the big job he thought it was going to be and everything going to plan helped. He did have to go into town on Monday to get some more filler but he ended up finishing it off that afternoon. So now he has a week off with no bathroom to decorate. I am sure he will find something to do and if he doesn't, I will. hehehe

Thursday was GCSE results day and despite Ellie leaving school a few years ago, she was still waiting for her English result. Unfortunately, she still didn't get the grade 4, which is the standard pass or what would have been an old C. I am not trying to make excuses for her because she needs the qualification and she knows that too but I do feel that she didn't always get the support she needed with English lessons at college. I made my thoughts known several times, including one rather awkward phone conversation with a member of the wellbeing staff. I didn't realise the English teacher was actually standing next to her when I was talking about the English lessons. He had no comeback. Ellie isn't letting the result get her down. She has already signed herself up for an English course and should have an English qualification, equivalent to the GCSE by the end of the year.

When the girls were little, the summer holidays were a huge thing. Six weeks felt like forever and there were days out, fun activities and trying to keep them busy on rainy days. Now they are living their own lives as adults and the summer holidays mean nothing now, since Ellie has left college. In past years by now, I was usually stressing about getting everything sorted, like uniforms, bus passes, new shoes and everything like that. Now there's nothing and after almost 20 years of following the school holidays it feels strange. The good thing that has come from it is the extra money in my bank account. This would have been the week I would pay for the college bus pass. lol

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!

What I have loved this week! Week 34. #FridayFavourites

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a good week. I have had a great week with lots of nice moments. We've had plenty of family time, some birthday celebrations, good food and rain which I never thought I'd be excited about! I am of course linking up with Erika and Andrea to share all the things that I have loved this week.

A family day out!

We had a lovely family day out this week to celebrate my fella Stu's birthday. The original plan was very simple. We were going out for a nice lunch and that was pretty much it. We decided to have a wander and see where our feet took us. We didn't really have anywhere we needed to be, so we could just take our time and have a look around and we ended up seeing some very random things! People dressed as octopuses, elderly people doing keep fit, an Irish singer performing in a bar and came across England's smallest window! I took lots of photos and have a whole blog post planned about our day because there were just too many random little things to squeeze into this post.

Stu's Birthday!

Sunday was Stu's birthday and according to him, he had the perfect day. He spent most of it playing games on his PC, which was exactly what he wanted to do. The girls and I left him alone and he thought that was the best birthday present ever. hahaha He was really pleased with all his cards and presents too. The girls cards did make me laugh out loud because they know him far too well. We also surprised him with his favourite cake, which is a Victoria Sponge which I always think looks so basic but it's very underrated. For tea, we had takeaway pizza, which felt like the perfect birthday food and as a bonus, there were leftovers for lunch the next day!

Rain!

In my Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, my random thought was about how we hadn't had any rain for what seemed like months and then, of course it rained Sunday and Monday night. It absolutely chucked it down and I couldn't have been happier. The garden desperately needed it. I've been watering my vegetable plants regularly but there is only so much you can do when the whole garden needs a good drink. I didn't even mind that it meant I couldn't get my washing out on the line on Sunday afternoon. I know I'll probably be complaining about the rain again when we've had weeks of it later in the year.

A cosy afternoon!

It was raining on Wednesday afternoon and it made me feel like I wanted to get cosy, so I popped tea in the oven, a cottage pie, which is one of the best comfort foods, had a very early shower and by 4pm I was in my pj's. In the winter, it feels totally acceptable to do that with it getting dark so early but we're still in the summer and it felt a little bit naughty.

This flower!

I Googled it and it is a Cosmos bipinnatus flower, also known as the garden cosmos and when I read about the growing conditions it did make me chuckle. It thrives best in full sun with poor to moderately fertile, well-drained soil, making it highly resilient and drought-tolerant! It sounds like it was made for my garden. lol! I've been watering my vegetable plants really well but I haven't been quite as good at watering the flowerbeds, they have mostly had to fend for themselves.

Football!

Football is back! The new season for the lower leagues started last weekend and we ended up watching a match at the pub. It was my old hometown team playing against a city near where we live now, so that made it a little more interesting. The Premier League season kicks off today, which means my weekends are about to become a little more exciting. I already have a list of matches I want to watch. Starting tomorrow, we've got Manchester United against our local team, Hull and on Sunday, we've got Newcastle against Liverpool which is going to be a special match! This will be the first time the two clubs meet since the sad death of football legend Kevin Keegan who was such a huge part of both clubs as a manager and a player.

What have you loved this week?