Our weekly meal plan! 26th Oct - 1st Nov! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! We had a great one here with a lot of staying inside where it was nice and warm. We had some rotten weather with lots of rain and wind from Storm Boelo but thankfully it wasn't too bad where we are. I've spent some time in the kitchen over the weekend doing a bit of baking and now it's time to get organised for another week of meals.

Last week's meal plan went great!! We ate everything and on the day I had planned too! The Oven Baked Normandy-Style Chicken Thigh & Apple Casserole worked well in the slow cooker and it was different from the usual gravy based casseroles that we usually have. The cheeseburger macaroni was the biggest hit of the week, it always is! My family go crazy for it and were fighting over leftovers.

I've had to change a few plans for this week because Becky has training at work. She isn't happy, she was given Sunday night off work and is in 6 hours today and 6 hours tomorrow. She doesn't usually mind doing the training but those are her only days off work this week. It's a good job she didn't have anything important planned. I'm hoping to get into town at some point this week. I've got a list of things I need to buy. Nothing exciting just random bits and pieces like hair dye, tights, a new candle lighter and spatulas as all but one of ours have gone missing!

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread!

We're starting the week with a family favourite. This is one of those meals that I've made so many times over the years that I'm pretty sure I could make it with my eyes closed. It's easy, filling and always goes down well. We'll have it with garlic bread which comes straight out of the freezer. My family can't even agree on which type of garlic bread is best. Half of us prefer the slices, while the other half like the baguettes. I usually buy a mix so everyone can have what they like and it saves them complaining to me.

Tuesday - Gousto meal - All In One Hearty Beef & Mushroom Pie!

We've had this meal before from Gousto and it is delicious! I think the surprise ingredient of Marmite really adds to the flavour, usually I would never have anything with Marmite but in this dish it really works! The beef and mushroom filling makes this a proper hearty meal which is exactly what we need when the weather is cold out!

Wednesday - Gousto meal - One Tray Sticky Sweet & Sour Pork Meatball Tray Bake

This is another meal we have had before and really enjoyed! The sweet and sour sauce gives the pork meatballs plenty of flavour and I like that it's a tray bake. Anything that keeps the washing up to a minimum is a winner in my book!

Thursday - Gousto meal - Smoky Cheddar "Mummy" Sausage Rolls With Garlicky Wedges & Salad!

This sounded like a fun meal with Halloween coming up! Sausage rolls always go down well in our house and adding the smoky cheddar sounds like a tasty way to make them a bit different. I will be skipping the cheese as I don't eat cheddar, it gives me migraines.

Friday - Pizza!

It has been a while since we had pizza on a Friday so I think it's about time it made an appearance. They will be shop bought as I am always busy on a Friday. I got a pizza deal a few weeks ago and I think we might get that again. You get 2 pizzas, 2 sides or pack of drinks and a dip for £10 which I think is a great deal considering the pizzas alone would usually come to £10.80.

Saturday - Scampi, chips and peas!

This is another easy meal that doesn't need too much effort from me which is perfect for a Saturday. I have always said if I was to have a last meal, this would be it! 

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plans for Sunday at all. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy and use up bits from the fridge, freezer and cupboards. There is always something that needs using up.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 18th - 24th October Week 43 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. It has been a bit of a stormy one here in England. We've had plenty of wind and rain so it has been nice to have an excuse to stay inside and keep warm. I did a bit more baking yesterday, making apple crumble and chocolate chip cookies. Baking is such a cosy thing to do. It warms the kitchen up, makes the house smell lovely and gives us something nice to eat.

Today is supposed to be dry but still windy, so we'll have a little look outside to make sure there hasn't been any damage and once that's done the rest of the day will be spent chilling out. I am planning on watching the live action remake of Moana this afternoon and we have the United States Grand Prix on TV tonight. I'm looking forward to it. It will be different watching it in the evening instead of the afternoon but I'm not complaining.

Now for a photo every day!

291/365 18th October

It felt like a good time to start watching some Halloween films. Hocus Pocus was first on my list. It's such a great film and one I always enjoy watching at this time of year.

292/365 19th October

Tis the season for fluffy socks. It has been chilly here and I know if my feet are warm the rest of me is too. Fluffy socks are one of those little things that make the colder months more bearable.

293/365 20th October

A new plant in my garden. According to my plant app it is a Common borage also known as: Beeplant, Cover Crop, Starflower, Borage, Cool tankard and Beebread. The lovely Anca tells me it's edible and she uses it on salad and cakes, according to Google it tastes just like cucumber.

294/365 21st October

Ellie and her "friend" did some crafts and made a pumpkin hand print canvas. I thought it was so cute. Of course, I had to cover the names and dates with the little heart before sharing the photo. They have lots of plans for more crafty things that they are going to do in the run up to Christmas.

295/365 22nd October

I stocked one of the sweet boxes up this week. Sainsbury's had an offer on some of the bags of chocolate and sweets for Halloween, with a few being half price. It would have been stupid not to buy them. I like keeping the sweet boxes stocked up because it means there's usually something to choose from when we're watching TV or fancy a little treat.

296/365 23rd October

I made an apple pie with apples from my dad's trees. When my dad gave me the bag of apples, he told me to look out for wasps because there had been quite a few around the trees and in the apples. Eek! That's not the sort of thing you want to hear when you're given a bag full of apples. I was very careful and there were no wasps.

297/365 24th October

Pringles have brought out their new secret flavour for Christmas! I spotted these and had to give them a try. To me, they just taste like sage and onion stuffing. I couldn't really pick out anything else, so that's my guess for now.

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

This week my Word of the Week is:

This week has been a nice week with lots of good things that I wrote about in my Friday Favourite's post and I feel I have just been plodding along with life quite happily. There has been nothing big happening. I had this whole blog post almost finished and then my plans all yesterday. I had more time than I thought I did

I got a bag full of apples from my dad on Friday, he always has plenty as he has three big trees. I had planned on just baking today but had some spare time yesterday so made an apple pie and it was so good, we had it with custard after tea. There are still some apples left so might make a crumble this afternoon. Ellie has also requested that I make chocolate chip cookies too which will be a nice treat for her when she gets in.

This coming Tuesday I was supposed to be going for afternoon tea with Becky and a couple of friends. It would have would have been lovely but Becky has to do training at work. It's not all bad though, they gave her the Sunday 12 hour nightshift off and she's in 6 hours Monday and 6 hours on Tuesday We are going to have to arrange it for another time as it's been far too long since we were all together. The last time was back in April so it is well overdue. I was looking forward to spending time with friends, having a good catch up and probably putting the world to rights over a cup of tea. I just hope we can get in before the end of November because I really want to try the pumpkin pie, toffee apple crumble and cinnamon swirl cheesecake. Yum!

We will also have pumpkins to carve over the next week! I'm doing one myself and Ellie and her "friend" are going to as well. They are into doing crafty things at the moment. They made pumpkin hand print canvases during the week and I will be sharing a photo tomorrow. I thought it was such a cute thing to do together and they are already planning more things to do. Baking Christmas cookies, building a gingerbread house and making personalised Christmas baubles! I love that they are finding things they enjoy doing together especially when it involves getting creative rather than just sitting around scrolling on TikTok! I am quite tempted to join in with some of their Christmas crafts.

Ellie is planning on getting the last of her Christmas shopping done next week, she is so organised. She is going to town with her "friend" and will hopefully get some ideas of what to buy him too. I need to go to town sometime soon too, to buy some hair dye! My roots are coming through thick and fast and I have plenty of colour but none of the blonde lightening dye. Eek!

Then we have Halloween. The girls both have plans and they are very excited about dressing up and I will have to make a point of getting some photos! It has been years since they last dressed up for Halloween. Stu and I have plans too, we never usually do anything for Halloween but this year we are and that's all I will say about that for now.

November is going to be the busiest month by far. Stu and I have a night away planned, it's my birthday and of course we have Bonfire night. I will be hiding indoors, I am not a fan of fireworks at all but the girls have plans with their people. They will be going to a display, spending too much money on fairground rides and probably eating hot dogs and burgers. I would much rather stay home in the warm. hehehe I think one of the best things about getting older is realising that you do not have to enjoy everything everyone else enjoys.

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 44. #FridayFavourites

Happy Friday! I hope you've all had a good week. I've had a nice one and have a few things that have made me smile, so of course I am linking up with Erika and Andrea to share what I have loved this week!

Taking surveys!

Since I got my photo ID last week, I've decided to put it to good use and sign back into Prolific. I'd not been on there for about a year because they'd asked me to verify my identity with photo ID, and at the time I couldn't do that. Now I've got that sorted, I thought I'd see what I'd been missing. Prolific is an online platform where you can take part in studies and surveys. These are created by all sorts of people and organisations and use the answers to their questions for research, so you're helping them out while earning a little bit of money. The payment varies depending on the study. Some might only pay a small amount, while others pay much more for your time. I've seen studies paying around 20p for a minute of your time, others offering £5 for ten minutes, and some paying even more depending on what's involved. I've been cashing out every day and so far I've made almost £60! Not bad for the little time I've spent sitting at my computer. It's not going to pay for a round-the world trip but it's a nice bit of extra pocket money.

One thing I will mention is I know all about tax and when it needs reporting to HMRC. Also, just to be clear, I'm not being paid to mention Prolific and I don't receive anything if anyone signs up because of this post. I'm just sharing something I've been enjoying this week.

Sunshine!

It's got so much colder here and we've even had the heating on. When the sun has been making an appearance, I've been trying to make the most of it. Even if it's cold outside, a bit of sunshine always makes me happy. I've managed to get some washing out on the line this week. I'm sticking to the towels and thicker things because I don't trust the weather. One minute it could be sunny the next we have rain. I've also been having the odd wander around the garden when I've had a spare moment. I'll take any excuse to get a bit of fresh air at this time of year. Before long it will be grey and too cold.

Yes Man!

I thought I'd seen pretty much every Jim Carrey film there was to see but apparently not! Netflix suggested Yes Man to me and it looked like the perfect film for a Sunday afternoon. The film follows Carl, played by Jim Carrey who has got himself into a bit of a rut. He's lonely, has a negative outlook on life and says no a lot! After meeting a friend who introduces him to a self-help programme, he makes a commitment to say yes to everything for an entire year. Of course, saying yes to everything leads to all sorts of funny situations!

More tomatoes!

While I was out in the garden having a little mooch about something orange caught my eye. I had a closer look and discovered even more tomatoes! I thought they had finished doing their thing but they had other ideas. I don't know how they'll do in the colder weather but we'll see.

Christmas music!

I know, I know. It's October but it happened, I was listening to Christmas music on Saturday! I was pottering around the house and realised I wasn't enjoying my usual music, so I decided to put the Christmas channel on. I'm not even sorry, I had a great time singing along and feeling festive. I always forget how much I love those songs. It was just a one time thing, no more Christmas music until the end of November.

Flowers!

The flowers in the garden are still doing their thing and it looks like there are more getting ready to bloom.

A quiet week!

Things have been so busy here but this week has seemed quieter, which is of course a good thing. My fella has had a week of early finishes from work, which has meant we've eaten earlier, Becky is back at work after her week off and Ellie has slightly less on her plate to deal with at the moment. It has been nice.

What have you loved this week?