Our weekly meal plan! 17th - 23rd August! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was a good one and we had a lovely time celebrating Stu's birthday. We went out for a meal on Saturday and had a lazy day at home yesterday. That was what he wanted for his birthday, so that's exactly what he got! We have a little break from birthdays now and then it's Ellie's in less than two weeks. I don't know where this year is going.

Last week's meal plan went really well. We ate everything on the day I had planned until we got to the weekend and swapped things around a bit. It all worked out well though. I feel all off with what day it is, as Becky and Stu both took the weekend off work, so every day has felt like a Sunday. I am writing this yesterday afternoon and it looks like it might rain, it probably won't but it's chilly compared to what it has been and we can hope!

Today is going to be a busy, productive day. Ellie has a job interview, I have paperwork to sort out, I have no idea what Becky is doing but I don't think she is home and Stu is going to do some more work on decorating the bathroom. Today also marks 17 years since my eldest had open-heart surgery to fix a hole in her heart and tomorrow is 17 years for my youngest! Those days were some of the hardest days of my life. I never thought we were going to get through the day, the week or even the month at the time. There were so many worries and so many things going through my head but here we are 17 years later and they are both fit and healthy.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Cottage pie and baked beans!

We eat cottage pie in this house, not Shepherd's pie because my family have decided that they don't want to eat lamb again. It makes no difference to me because beef mince is cheaper than lamb anyway. Cottage pie is one of those meals that everyone seems to enjoy and it's also a great one for a Monday because it's filling and doesn't take too much effort to make.

Tuesday - BBQ pulled pork in buns with potato salad.

We only had this last month but it has been requested again. I use the simplest recipe and it will be cooked slowly throughout the day in the slow cooker. We will have it in buns and a side of potato salad.

Wednesday - Sausage casserole and mashed potato!

This is a proper family favourite, especially with the girls. I keep it simple and use a packet mix, then add sausages, onions and mushrooms and let it all cook away in the oven until everything has thickened up. I’ll be making extra of this one because it freezes really well and it's great to have something as a backup in the freezer.

Thursday - Vegetable pasta bake!

This is my attempt at getting a meat-free meal onto the table without anyone complaining too much. My family hate the idea of vegetarian meals but I like to try and sneak one in now and again. They love pasta, so they probably won't even notice it has no meat. Lol.

Friday - Pizza!

Homemade or just frozen ones out of the freezer, I am not too sure yet.

Saturday - Burgers in buns!

We'll have burgers in buns with fries and onion rings. I'll put out the usual toppings and everyone can make their own. It's one of those easy meals where everyone can have exactly what they want.

Sunday - Undecided!

Sunday is still undecided! I have no idea what we are having yet. I might see what's left in the fridge and freezer and make something around that or we might have a roast if I fancy doing one. I will decide later on in the week.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 9th - 15th August Week 33 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. I am writing this on Friday evening which is early for me to write this blog post but we were out all day yesterday and I didn't want to rush through it last night. We have had a proper family weekend. We all went to my dad's on Friday. Stu had a day off work so he could have a long weekend for his birthday, so he came along too and my dad does love it when he visits. Stu is into all his cars, things he builds and mechanical stuff that I don't have much interest in, so my dad turns into a real show off. Hehehe. It is actually quite funny watching them together because I have no idea what they are talking about half the time but they are both happy chatting away.

Yesterday (hopefully) we celebrated Stu's birthday a day early by going to our favourite all you can eat place in Hull and on the way home we stopped off at our favourite pub for a few drinks. It was a really nice way to celebrate without making it a big thing. Today is his actual birthday and we have no plans at all. He didn't want a fuss, all he asked for was a lie in and not have to make any cups of tea for us all. That can be done. Hehehe.

Now for a photo every day!

221/365 9th August

Stu started work on decorating the bathroom and got most of the vinyl boards up around the shower. They are waterproof and then he got on with making them watertight with filler and sealant stuff. I left him to it as he didn't want my help. I did try but was just getting in the way and saying things like that's not straight. Oops.

222/365 10th August

More work in the bathroom. Stu has got some wood-like wallpaper but it's thick vinyl off Temu. He started putting it up and it already looks fantastic. The top is the new stuff and the bottom is the old, painted wood. I really like how it looks and it has made such a difference to the bathroom already.

223/365 11th August

I snapped a photo of a Gousto recipe for the Sloppy Joe's we were having for tea. I needed to know how much water to add to the tomato paste and didn't see the point of walking into the kitchen and forgetting and then having to come back again. Lol. Sometimes taking a photo of something is just the easiest option!

224/365 12th August

I was standing just inside the doorway pointing my phone to the sun when the solar eclipse was happening. I was so surprised to see the crescent shape, I thought it was an extra moon or planet. Lol. Google quickly brought me back down to earth. It was an optical lens flare caused by the bright light of the sun reflecting inside the camera's lens elements! Hmmf!

225/365 13th August

Every time I cook for more than just my family, I burn myself. This was off the hot oil when I gave the chips in the pan a shake. I of course ran it under the hot tap but it still blistered. It makes a change burning myself on the oil, usually it's when I am getting food out of the air fryer. It's fine now and nothing to worry about.

226/365 14th August

Did anyone else panic and get really confused when we got a Severe Alert warning on our phones? Even Ellie's phone, which is always silenced made the alarm noise. Eek! I seriously thought the world was ending, we were being attacked or something like that. It was basically telling us not to start fires, have barbecues, use firepits and things like that because of the wildfires. It has been all over the news for days, so I don't think the Severe Alert was needed.

227/365 15th August

We were out all day yesterday and I did no blogging, so I will add Saturday's photo on to next week's post, if I remember!

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

This week my Word of the Week is:

Happy Saturday and I hope you have all had a good week. This week seems to have flown over as we have had a lot going on, all good things, so there is nothing to complain about. Apart from the heat. I am definitely going to complain about the heat!

It has been another very warm week and I am starting to wonder if we're supposed to call this another heatwave or if we're just accepting that hot, hot weather is the new normal. I don't mind a bit of sunshine, but I'm at the point now where I would happily swap it for a few days of rain. I want the sort that lasts for a few hours and soaks everything. I can't remember the last time we had any decent rain. Surely it has to rain soon?

Interview questions have been a big part of our week. Becky's partner is applying for a promotion and Becky and I were helping by coming up with questions and answers that may be asked at the interview. AI was very helpful and gave us lots of ideas that we wouldn't have thought of. Then our attention turned to Ellie. She has two interviews coming up for two very different jobs, so there were more questions and answers to come up with. It was actually quite fun sitting there trying to think like an interviewer. What would they ask? What examples would they want? What would be a good answer? What questions could catch them off guard? Hopefully, all the practice will help and they'll go into all the interviews feeling confident.

Another big part of my week has been catching up with the Lindsay Clancy trial. I've been following the coverage and thinking about it a lot. It's such a sad and difficult case and there are so many things about it that leave me with questions. Lindsay is accused of killing her three children before seriously injuring herself. The trial has focused heavily on her mental health, with the defence arguing that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and other mental health problems and wasn't responsible for her actions. The prosecution says that she knew what she was doing and should be held responsible. I've been watching the coverage of the court case and hearing about her mental health struggles, the medication she had been taking and her husband's account of what happened that day. Some of the evidence has been really hard to hear, especially the details surrounding the children’s deaths, which I thought was not needed as there is no argument about how they died. The trial is still ongoing. There are still plenty of questions that haven't been answered but three children have died in the most tragic circumstances imaginable and there is a woman who appears to have been experiencing a very serious mental health crisis beforehand. Whatever happens at the end of the trial, there isn't going to be a happy ending.

For the last few weeks, the girls and I have been asking Stu what he wants for his birthday and he has been the same as the girls, answering with I don't know. Why don't they know what they want for their birthday? I always had a list. lol He said he just wanted a family meal out but the girls have bought him a couple of presents and of course a Toblerone, his favourite chocolate! I haven't got him any presents as he said he would rather save the money and we could put it towards something for the house. I don't know what yet but next time he asks for something, I must remember he has a free pass.

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 33. #FridayFavourites

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a good week. I have had a quiet week but it has been a good one with lots of nice things happening and plans being made. I am of course linking up with Erika and Andrea to share all the things that I have loved this week.

Being over the cold!

I am back to being as fit as a fiddle! Hooray! We are all over the cold that Stu brought home from work and it feels good to be well again and have all my energy back. I have got back on top of the housework, enjoyed being back in the kitchen cooking and have been out and about more this week. I think being stuck inside made me feel worse than I actually was.

Decorating the bathroom!

The bathroom has been getting some attention this week with Stu cracking on with the decorating. I have been letting him just get on with it and not interfering because he has a plan. So far, he has covered half of the wood on the walls with vinyl roll. It looks like wood but is washable, which is going to be much better for a bathroom. He has also put the waterproof wall panels up around the shower and has been using all the filler and sealant stuff to make sure everything is properly watertight. It sounds simple but of course nothing in our house is ever as straightforward as it should be. Our walls aren't straight. It would have been so much easier if Stu could have just put the panels up and been done with them, he's had to measure, cut and adjust everything to fit our slightly wonky walls. It's looking really good so far and I will share photos soon.

Exciting news!

I have some exciting news that I can't share yet! I'm not pregnant, Ellie doesn't have a job and Becky hasn't moved out or has a place to rent. lol I know it's very annoying when someone writes something like this on their blog but I wanted to write a little note here because when everything does happen and I can finally share it, I will be able to look back at this post and say this was the week when everything started. Without being dramatic, this little thing could be life changing for my family.

2 more interviews!

Ellie has two more job interviews lined up! I keep saying it but I really am so proud of my girl. She has probably applied for around 50 jobs in the last month and has heard back from at least half of them but got the dreaded "we've had an overwhelming response to this vacancy and have decided to progress with other applicants" message. Ugh! It is frustrating because she's doing everything right but people live closer to the workplace, have more experience or are just a better fit. I keep telling her that this is probably one of the worst times of the year to be applying, because everyone who has left school, college and university is also looking for work but she hasn't given up and that makes me so proud. I'm now hoping one of these interviews turns into a job offer because she deserves that chance.

Parcels being delivered!

All the girls birthday presents that I ordered have arrived. I am not going overboard with presents this year because they have everything they need. If they want something these days, they tend to just buy it themselves and when I've asked what they want for their birthdays, the answer has mostly been I don't know. So I have picked a few things for them to open on their birthdays and then we are going to have a day out together.

The solar eclipse!

We saw the solar eclipse here in North Lincolnshire and we were not prepared for it. I hadn't even thought about needing special glasses to watch it, then Stu came up with the idea of using the welders' masks we had in the garage and it worked. It was safe. I checked online and the glass in it was strong enough so our eyes weren't damaged. It was quite strange watching the moon move across the sun and apparently 90% of the sun was covered where we were and it did get darker but not as much as I expected. The last solar eclipse back in 1999. I was on the bus on the way to work and completely missed it. I'm glad I got to see it properly this time.

What have you loved this week?