What's in my fridge and freezer!

This month we are doing both the 100 days of real food mini pledges and Good cheap eats pantry challenge. These go very much hand in hand as each week we get a different challenge with 100 days so this enables us to eat the food in our pantry that may not meet each weeks challenge. With our pantry challenge this month we are hoping to keep to a budget so by using our pantry and freezer to the max we are hoping for a low spend. Once we have a pantry that isn't quite so full we we hoping to be able to restock on more clean foods.

Starting with our fridge. On the top shelf we have butter, mustard and  some chopped garlic. The next shelf down we have some cheese sticks, some jam that has now been used up and a couple of innocent drinks. We then have regular full fat cows milk and almond milk. At the bottom is a bottle of seasoning that my husband likes to use on meat occasionaly.

In the main bulk of our fridge on the top shelf  we have some BBQ sauce, some nandos sauce, tomato pasarta, not from concentrate orange juice and some maple syrup. There is also a couple of small Greek yogurt pots. In the plastic tub we keep things like cheese and lunch meat. We currently have some chorizo and German ham.

Next there is some wine from when we had guests the other day. I don't drink alcohol and my husband does very rarely but it seems a waste to throw it away. There are two tubs of yogurts, some left over sweet potatoes in the bowl and a bagged one in the back. Behind the bowl is a box with some Healthy truffles. Also there is a pot of soup.

On the bottom shelf there is some leftover chicken in a Tupperware box and also some cut up pineapple in the red one. There are some wrapped bacon lardons in the back. There are strawberries, hard boiled eggs and some salsa.

In the drawer there are apples, carrots, brussle sprouts, onions and peppers.

Our freezer is a jumble sale right now! We have a selection of meats, a couple whole chickens, beef mince, meatballs, pork joint, some fish, pork chops and some diced chicken.

In our other three drawers we have a selection of frozen fruit and vegetables. Homemade chicken stock, a couple different bits of leftovers and a couple of ice lollies.

Do you know what's in your fridge and freezer. Later I will be posting about what's in my pantry.

Egg muffins

Here is a great on the go breakfast idea. We make these most weeks and vary what we include.

You will need:

• Eggs I used 3 which made 12 muffins
• Bacon
• Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Salt,pepper and garlic

You can use any ingredients you like for this. Start by cooking you filling on the stove top. 

Once these are cooked add them into a bowl with you beaten eggs. Oil your muffin pan or use cupcake cases if you like and spoon the mixture evenly into them. I have a fan assisted oven and I cooked these for 15minutes at 180 degrees. Cook these until a knife comes out clean. Once cooked place on a wire rack to cool if you are not eating straight away. These can be stored in the fridge for a few days or frozen and taken out the night before you want them. Let me know if you try these. Claire

Pantry challenge update

So it's been almost a week since we started Good cheap eats pantry challenge. Since them I've done two small shops both at aldi.

I can't seem to download the photo of my first shop but if I'm able to I'll insert it below. This shop came to £7.80 and I brought two boxes of eggs, cream eggs, dried apricots and some garlic granules.

My second shop is below and came to £7.20. We only had apples left and no salad which were my main reasons for going. We use almond milk for our porridge but I personally enjoy drinking cows milk which is why I purchased this too.

After my Shop at waitrose last week I was left with £79 in our budget for the month. We have £64 left. Later on I will be uploading a post showing you what I have in my pantry.

Last weeks food

Here are a few pictures of some of our meals from last week.

What did you eat this week? Have you done a meal plan?

Meal plan 12/01/15

We kept to our meal plan last week fairly well which I'm happy about. We are planned on stacking our food challenges so again this week we will be trying to add two servings of fruit or veg at each meal.

This is our meal plan for this week:

For breakfast I plan on making a batch of egg muffins and Slow cooker porridge. As we both work early mornings this really helps us when I'm organised as we won't grab anything unhealthy.

Lunches again tends to be pretty random. If we have leftovers we will have them. Alternatively I have some chicken stock from yesterday's roast chicken so I may make soup.

• Monday - we have friends over for dinner so will be doing a big sausage casserole or pasta bake with salad. I think we will have a dessert this day but I'm not sure what yet. 
• Tuesday - homemade chicken nuggets and chips with frozen veg mix
• Wednesday - I had eggplant Parmesan on the menu but it didn't arrive on my online shop so I may improvise with what we already have indoors and change this
• Thursday - leftovers. I'm hoping there will be some leftovers this week. 
• Friday - quinoa veggie burgers. This is a new recipe I'm trying and looking forward to it. 
• Saturday - basil pork chops and veg
• Sunday - slow cooker roast chicken. 

What are you having this week? 

Week 1 of real food mini challenge review

I would say that our first week of Real food mini pledges has been successful. There was only one dinner that we didn't have two servings of either fruit or veg. We also stuck to our Meal plan fairly well.

Breakfast was probably the easiest as we tend to have eggs with peppers, spinach and mushrooms or porridge with a fruit cooked in and one on the side.

Lunches most days were leftovers which we added more fruit or veg too. We also enjoy doing lunch picnic style when we are both in.

The only meal we didn't have was tacos. The mince I had brought unfortunately went bad before it's best before so we improvised and added some veggies and leftover chicken to rice which you can see below.

We've also been using fruit as a dessert. I have a real sweet tooth so I have been trying to cut back in preparation for some of the other weeks,

Here are some pictures of some of our meals this week.

How did you do this week?

Weekly food shop at aldi - including organic

Today I did a weekly food shop in preparation of our 100 days of real food mini pledges that starts today. The challenge this week is to eat two pieces of fruit or veg at each meal. We were lucky enough to receive a voucher for a local farm shop for christmas so we managed to stock up on meat there a few days ago.

Aldi has recently been stocking more organic produce at very reasonable prices. The organic product in my shopping today

• Carrots
• Potatoes 
• Onions 
• Bananas 
• Broccoli 
• Apple sauce in tubes

We didn't need them today but aldi also has great prices on organic milk and eggs. To find out more on aldis organic range see this article.We try to buy as much organic produce as possible however there is a lack available in our area. Our local aldi also does local food such as Norfolk mushrooms. I wash all produce well once I'm home from the store so that we can grab it and go. I also wash anything with a skin such as lemons and limes in case there is any bacteria on the skin. 

Meal plan 5/1/2015

On Monday we will be starting our 100 days of real food mini pledges. Follow the link for more information. The first challenge is to have two fruit or vegetables portions with each meal.

For breakfast we have a mixture of Slow cooker porridge, yogurt with fruit and mini omelettes (blog post coming soon). I don't plan these as I tend to make a small batch at the beginning of the week and a batch about half way through.

For lunch my husband tends to eat leftovers or soup. While I like to cut up a selection of foods such as carrots, cucumber and apples with cheese and crackers.

Our dinner plans for this week are,

• Monday - tacos and salad
• Tuesday - stuffed peppers with leftover mince meat
• Wednesday - leftovers and soup
• Thursday - veggie omelette and soup
• Friday - chicken, pecan and feta salad 
• Saturday - veggie pancakes with leftover chicken
• Sunday - whole roasted chicken and frozen veggies

I will post some pictures throughout next week with how there turned out. Have you done a meal plan this week? Claire

Slow cooker porridge

We love porridge in our house. The most economical way for us to buy them is by getting rolled oats however these take a while to cook. By doing your porridge in the slow cooker you can make enough to feed everyone in your household for at least a few days depending on the size of your slow cooker.

You will need,

• Rolled oats
• Milk of your choice or water if you prefer 
• Fruit - I used flame raisins and apple
• Optional- flaxseed, seeds, cinnamon, allspice 

I find using double the amount of liquid to oats is the right texture for us once it's cooked. I used 2 and a half cups of oats and 5 cups of almond milk. Place this is your slow cooked and add the fruit. If using fruit such as an apple of pear I would recommend either grating or cutting up finely. Cook on low until everything comes together and serve with honey or maple syrup if needed. 

Many different combinations can be used for this recipe so play around. Claire

Introduction. My first blog post!

My name is Claire and I live in the east of England with my American husband. With today being January 1st I thought it would be a good time to start a blog. I have been thinking about starting one for a while and thought that with it being the new year today it would be a good time to start.

This year I have some New Years resolutions that I am hoping that my documenting our progress on here will encourage us to keep them. Our New Years resolutions are,

• To be a greener family. I would consider our family to be greener that some but there is defiantly room for improvement. I will be writing blogs on things such as reusable cotton pads, mama cloth and other Eco friendly household items that we decide to introduce. 

• To eat healthier. I would say that 80% of the time we eat fairly healthily but I am wanting to improve this. We have decided to take the 100 days of real food mini pledges that are starting this Monday (http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/12/22/cut-processed-food-14-weeks/) I am hoping this year we can make some good eating habits that stick with us. 

• To spend more time outdoors. The first year that we were dating my husband and I did a lot of day trips out and this year I'm hoping that we will visit some new places. We will be getting a puppy in just over a week so I'm hoping that this year we have spend more time outdoors. With my husbands family not being close by I am hoping that by writing about our travels that are family will be able to see what we are up too. 

I'm looking forward to sharing all this with you. 

Claire