Our weekly meal plan! 10th - 16th November! #MealPlanningMonday

We had a nice weekend. We didn't really get up to anything exciting. We stayed home, watched TV and a couple of Christmas movies. I did think about getting the Christmas decorations out of storage but talked myself out of it, I stick to the plan and will wait until after my birthday.

Last weeks meal plan went OK, we ate most of the meals but skipped a couple. Life got busy, plans change and it was easier to grab something quick from the freezer. I’ve actually been trying to use up what’s in there anyway because with Christmas creeping up, I’ll need all the space I can get for festive food and treats. You can’t exactly fit a turkey and three packets of stuffing balls in there if it’s still full of mystery leftovers.

This week I’m keeping things flexible again with a nice mix of Gousto meals, a couple of easy freezer nights and some proper comfort food. I don't have much planned for this week, in fact I have nothing on at all which I am looking forward to. After this week things get busy! My birthday and then all the prep for Christmas!

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - A help yourself evening.

Everyone’s fending for themselves tonight which is great for using up odds and ends from the freezer. The girls are quite creative when it comes to pulling together random meals. One will probably find a portion of leftover pasta bake and the other might cook a few of chicken nuggets and some waffles. It’s chaos but it works and it saves me from cooking which is always a win on a Monday!

Tuesday - Gousto meal - Chinese-Style Chicken Curry With Egg Fried Rice And Chips.

We have had this before and it was so good, probably one of the best curries I've ever made. I hope it's just as good this time around.

Wednesday - Gousto meal - Beef Bourguignon With Mash.

This one feels a bit fancy but thinking about it, it's just a French stew. It seems perfect for this time of year, filling and warming!

Thursday - Gousto meal - Sausage Meatball & Tomato Sauce With Fresh Orecchiette.

I love a good pasta night especially when I know that this one will go down well with everyone. I might even make some garlic bread on the side.

Friday - Something out of the freezer with chips.

Friday nights need an easy tea. By the end of the week I’m usually done with cooking. It could be anything from fish fingers to pies but whatever it is it will be with chips.

Saturday - Burgers in buns with onion rings.

A classic Saturday night tea for us! I’ll set up a little burger station with cheese, lettuce, tomato and all the sauces so everyone can build their own and there will be onion rings because burgers and onion rings go so well together!

Sunday - A roast dinner of some sort.

Sunday wouldn’t feel right without a roast dinner of some sort. It could be a carvery from the pub or something I make at home. I will see how I feel at the end of the week.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 2nd - 8th November! Week 45 of #Project365

Week 45 seems awfully close to the end of the year! Christmas decorations are coming out, there's festive drinks in the coffee shops and there are mince pies being sold everywhere! I’ve had a bit of an up and down week but it finished on a much brighter note. Friday and Saturday were lovely. I spent Friday with the girls and of course went to see my dad. He was busy but took time out to have lunch with us which was nice and yesterday was a day of pottering about the house and doing a bit of blogging. We have absolutely no plans for today. I think I just want a cosy day at home.

Now before you judge me when you scroll down I promise I don’t eat this many sweet treats every week, I’m blaming Christmas! There are so many festive goodies out already and I can’t resist trying them all. Some of these things are only around for a short time and it would be a shame not to make the most of them. That’s my excuse anyway, and I’m sticking to it!

Now for a photo every day!

306/365 - 2nd November

I missed a photo but I’m sneaking in a dessert photo from my Sunday lunch. You might wonder how I’ve got a photo if I missed one, well I had the exact same dessert on Saturday evening when Stu and I went out for a meal so this will have to do! The chef tempted me with freshly made Bailey’s cream profiteroles which he was trying out for Christmas and I couldn't say no! When I saw them again on Sunday I just had to order them again as they were that good!

307/365 - 3rd November

I treated myself to a truffle yule log from Cooplands Bakery. Tis the season! hehehe

308/365 - 4th November

My garden is still surprising me! Do you remember those little black buds I shared a few weeks ago? It turns out they are Cosmos flowers! Jane and Joyce commented that they thought that’s what they were and you were absolutely right. I love that even in November, there’s still a bit of colour popping up outside.

309/365 - 5th November

I poked my head out of the back door and snapped a photo of one of the many fireworks going off. I thought they would have stopped by now but there was a ton going off Friday and last night too. Ugh!

310/365 - 6th November

Bucks Fizz Popcorn from Tesco! This was an experience. It’s got a fizzy orange tang which is weirdly addictive but I can’t decide if I loved it or just found it interesting. It’s the kind of thing you try once just to say you have, I won't be buying it again.

311/365 - 7th November

Ellie got the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula cream from the tattooist when she got her tattoo and I have been pinching a bit here and there and I forgot how good it is. I always get dry skin at this time of year so it has came in very handy.

312/365 - 8th November

Bacardi Breezer drinks! I feel like I have gone back to the 90's. These were all the thing, on a night out when I was about 20 years old. I bought myself a couple of bottles just for the memories and I forgot how much it tasted just like fizzy pop! Eek!

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

This week my Word of the Week is:

I’ve had an OK week. Nothing to write home about but not awful either. It has been one of those in-between ones where everything feels a bit flat after the excitement of the week before. Last week everyone was off work and school and we even had a little night away so I suppose this week was always going to feel a bit meh!

The week started off great. The girls headed out to town with their friends so Stu and I decided to have a meal out, it would have been rude not to with the pub doing 2 steak meals and a bottle of wine for £30. Bargain! We sat chatting over our meal, enjoying being just us for a bit. Afterwards we wandered off to another pub that had a live band on. It was one of those random, unplanned evenings which turned out better than anything we could have planned. We were back home by 11pm, feet up and watching wrestling on the TV! It started earlier than usual because our clocks had gone back but America’s hadn’t so for once we weren’t staying up until the early hours to watch it live. What a treat! The girls had great nights too with their friends and didn't roll in until half past three in the morning. Eesh!

Then came the rest of the week and my mood dipped slightly. There were a few frustrations that had me muttering under my breath and rolling my eyes. My phone network decided to be stupid and for some reason, it started texting me my balance every ten minutes for hours at a time. At first I thought it was just me but after scrolling through social media, I saw loads of other people were having the same problem. Apparently if you spoke to customer services they could switch the messages off. I spent 50 minutes on hold listening to the worst music before finally getting through to someone who couldn’t have cared less if she tried. She told me the problem was because I’d been using social media and using my data. Except my data was turned off and even if I had been on social media it would’ve been over the Wi-Fi! Her advice was to top up my balance and the messages will stop. What a load of nonsense. At that point I’d lost all patience, I told her she was useless and hung up which wasn’t my finest moment but she really was about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

I had another situation during the week where the poor woman on the other end of the phone was trying to help but her hands were tied by ridiculous rules and then of course on the one day Ellie absolutely needed to be home on time from college, the road was blocked and she ended up having to walk into town to get a different bus which meant she didn't get home until much later.

Wednesday evening rolled around and I decided to stay indoors hiding from Bonfire Night or as I call it the night I turn into a nervous wreck! I’ve never liked fireworks. This year seemed worse than usual too, there were fireworks going off in every direction. I totally get how pets feel now. I turned the TV up, shut all the curtains and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. The girls went to the local display with their friends and had a brilliant time right up until they realised Becky’s girlfriend had lost her bank card. She did the sensible thing froze it and reported it lost straight away and it turned out she’d done it just in time. A notification popped up not long after showing someone had tried to use it. £63 at a sweet stall! £63, the cheek! I hope whoever it was looked very silly when they tried to pay for their mountain of sweets and the card was declined. Some people really have no shame.

By Thursday I was ready for a bit of calm and something to look forward to. The Celebrity Traitors final! I’ve loved this series and wasn’t sure if the celebrity version would work but they’ve been so serious about it which made it even more fun to watch. I was so excited for the finale until I accidentally saw the spoiler online. It had been released early on a Canadian streaming service and before I even realised what I was clicking on the show was ruined. I still watched but it wasn’t the same knowing what was coming.

We’ve got no big plans for the weekend and that suits me fine. After the chaos of the week a quiet couple of days sounds perfect. I’ve stocked up on some tasty snacks for while we're watching TV tonight: Bucks Fizz popcorn, maple honey roasted nuts and Pigs in Blankets flavoured crisps from Tesco’s festive range. I’m such a sucker for all the Christmas snacks that start popping up this time of year.

It hasn't been a bad week, it has been a mix of little annoyances and nice moments. How has your week been? I hope you have had a good week. 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 45. #FridayFavourites

This week flew over despite me not getting up to much. I’m here today sharing the little things that I’ve loved from the past week and of course I’m linking up with Erika and Andrea to share them.

Other people having phone problems!

My phone decided to go rogue this week and started sending me text messages every ten minutes for hours on end telling me my account balance. I thought I was losing my mind. I’m on Pay As You Go and pay £5 a month for unlimited texts and calls so my balance doesn’t exactly change unless I add extra credit or the payment comes off. At first I thought it must just be me, I even started questioning whether I’d somehow signed up for balance updates but then I had a quick scroll on Twitter, X or whatever it’s calling itself this week and other people were having the same issue. I could’ve cried with relief! There’s nothing worse than tech playing up and thinking it's just a you problem! I did ring customer support, but they weren’t exactly helpful. I still don't know what's happening but my youngest girls phone has been doing the same since Wednesday so it really isn't just me! I am glad other people are having problems too, it's not a big problem, just an annoyance.

Mini Adventure Golf!

This didn't make it into last weeks favourites as we had a night away on Thursday. We went and played mini, adventure golf and had the best time. I'm sure we didn't play it properly by making up our own rules but it worked. It's a great family activity, Myself and my fella loved it and my girls too! I don’t know why we don’t do things like that more often because it was such a laugh. I have a whole blog post about it next week but it is something we want to do again!

Being home alone!

My family are back at work and college after having last week off and it has been nice to have the house mostly to myself again. Becky has been sleeping after working night shifts but it's like I am home alone. All I have done all week is catch up on the housework that I didn't do last week, nothing at all glamorous, just washing, tidying and pottering around at my own pace. It’s been lovely though! No one hovering behind me asking What’s for lunch or leaving mugs everywhere. I’ve even had the TV to myself which was a real treat!

Gilmore Girls!

I finally finished Gilmore Girls and oh my goodness how did I not realise there were four extra episodes? I must’ve stopped after the end of the seventh season the last time I watched it and just never knew. What a treat! I went through every emotion watching A Year in the Life. I laughed, I cried and I got way too emotionally invested in fictional characters yet again. Even though I’d love to know what happens next I was actually pretty happy with how it all wrapped up.

Steak!

I’ve never really been a steak lover. It’s always been one of those meals I never chose as I felt intimidated about the choices and how much to have it cooked but a few months ago I had a steak and onion baguette at the pub and the taste won me over! So when our local pub had an offer of two steak meals and a bottle of wine for £30 I knew we needed to give it a try. A meal is usually around £15 and a bottle of wine is about the same so it felt like we were getting one meal for free! It was amazing! Proper juicy steak, chips, peas, mushrooms and tomato!. One of those meals that I'm still thinking about almost a week later.

Bonfire night!

That is not my favourite, I am not a fan of the fireworks, it sounded like a warzone here but my girls went to the local display and had a lovely time. They weren't too fussed about the fireworks, they only went for the fairground rides and food vans. It makes me happy when they do things together and get along. Now that bonfire night is over it means I can start getting excited about Christmas.

Stranger Things!

With the new episodes coming later this month I decided to start watching Stranger Things again from the beginning. I forgot how young they all were when it first started, they were just little kids and I love spotting all the small things I missed the first time round. It’s such a good series to rewatch but I can’t wait for the new season. It feels like ages since we’ve had fresh episodes!

What have you loved over the past week?