Start of June's meal plan

First of all I can't believe that we are in June! This year has flown by. For those of you who read my last post you would know that my husband has deployed but I have a friend staying with me so my meal plans are still for two people.

5th spaghetti bolognase and salad
6th pasta bake
7th beef and broccoli
8th our for lunch so most likely something simply like leftovers or omelettes
9th I'm at a wedding and my friend is eating at her parents
10th chicken curry
11th sweet and sour chicken
12th beef stir fry
13th and 14th my friend is away so I haven't planned any meals yet this weekend
15th sweet and sour chicken
16th tacos
17th Mac and cheese
18th omelettes
19th stir fry
20th pasta bake

After this I am off work for a week so I haven't meal planned as I am unsure of what my plans will be. Since being pregnant I'm more content with simply food such as scrambled eggs on toast or soup so even though I plan evening meals I don't always eat a huge amount of it.

Have you done any weekly or monthly meal plans yet? Let me know what your eating this month.

Claire

Sainsburys top up shop.

After my meal plan I said that we had £135.79 left in our budget but that we needed a couple things for this week. Today I brought eggs, gluten free flour, chocolate, maple syrup and some crusty rolls for my husband.

This shop came to £7.01 so we have £128.78 left. How's your food budget going this month?
Claire

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.

Food shop at waitrose

Waitrose is my favourite supermarket. I love their range of organic/free range food and also that you can find things that are just a bit different. I shop here whenever our budget allows and right now they have some great offers on.

Starting with frozen and chilled.

I got my husband some frozen fish mainly for his lunches. I love how convenient frozen vegetables are. We used to have a small fridge so I think I am still in the habit of getting these but they do tend to avoid waste. We try to live by the 80/20 rule with eating healthily so the frozen yogurt is a treat.   Again for my husband are the Rachel's yogurts and the liberte yogurts are for myself. The soup will be for lunch one day and the ham and cheese for things such as sandwiches and omelettes. We didn't really need meat this week but the chickens and mince were half price so I thought I would get them for the freezer. The bacon lardons are for egg muffins and also to go with our brussel sprouts. The burgers and meatballs are things we haven't tried before but with being organic and gluten free I wanted to try them. I also thought the price wasn't bad as they were two for £5. We didn't need a huge amount of fruit and veg this week. Between us we eat 3-4 apples a day so I got two bags as these were half price. I ribboned veg are for a stir fry one night. We don't have children but we do like to have some of the Ella's pouches on hand. I often have one in my handbag with a cereal bar for a snack or we may have one after dinner occasionally. For the cupboard we got some organic sweet corn and rice pudding. I do like to try and make my own rice pudding but this is handy for a quick dessert. The dragonfly tea is also a new thing to try. The crisps are a rare treat but were on offer. When we open a large bag like this I like to portion them out into zip lock bags to avoid over eating. Hiding in the back are some tiger bread rolls for my husband. The plastic containers were reduced to clear so I purchased these. I do keep looking at glass containers but these are practical for my husband to take to work. My shop today came to £71 and some change. A while ago I came across a pantry challenge on good clean eats blog. I will be doing a post about this which includes tracking our spending on this blog too. Did you find any good deals this week? Do you have a budget for your family? Claire

Homemade popcorn

For a wedding present we got a stove top popcorn machine. It has a handle to keep moving the popcorn so none of it burns. I don't use it very often but every time I do I always think that I should be using it more. If you do not have one of these you can still follow this recipe by using a pan with a good fitting list.

 You will need:

• Popcorn kernels
• An oil of your choice, I use coconut oil
• Salt 

Start by melting your oil in your pan. Once it's melted add a couple of kernels and close the lid. 

Once you hear that these have popped add the rest of your popcorn kernels. Add the lid again and either turn your handle or shake your pot to keep the kernels moving. Keep going until you only hear a couple of pops left.

Once the popping stops you will be left with a lovely bowl of popcorn. Add salt to taste and enjoy.

I'm hoping to find a sweet recipe that uses honey or maple syrup. I will share it if I find a good one. Claire

Planning a healthy girls night in

Last night I had a group of friends over for a girls movie night. With me wanting to stick to plan and having a few people there watching their weight. I often find that when you are trying to eat healthier that meals with friends can leave you off track. With going though our challenge right now I prefer to eat at home as I can control what I am eating.

Here was my food shop

Most of this was for tonight. My meal plan was

• Home made cheese and bacon quiche 
• Salad with leftover chicken, pecans, pink lady apple and feta cheese. 
• Carrot and cucumber sticks withhummus 
• Tomatoes and oranges on the side
• Cheese sticks
• Homemade popcorn (ingredients already in cupboards) 

With it being a movie night there were also a few treats. I have some friends that don't embrace eating whole foods so I like to offer them the choice of having a treat. I try to buy things individually wrapped rather than a whole dessert as you don't end up with leftovers you need to eat up.

Not all of these were eaten and I've put them in our cupboard for next time we have visitors. Here are a few more pictures from the night.

Do you manage a healthy balance when you have guests round? Claire

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

Healthy 'truffles'

I recently made these 'truffles' which were a hit. Anybody who knows me knows what a sweet tooth I have so I made these for my mid afternoon sugar cravings.

You will need,

• 1 cup of nuts- I used pecans 
• 1 cup of dates
• 2tbsp nut butter- I used almond but have also used peanut before
• 2tbsp cocoa powder- I use green and blacks 
• 2tbsp honey 
• Shredded coconut to taste 

Blend the nuts, dates, nut butter, honey and cocoa powder together in a blender until it forms a slightly crumbly dough. You can then either stir in the coconut and then make the dough into balls or push into moulds. Alternatively you can make into balls and then roll into coconut to give a decorative outing. 

I tend to store these in the fridge as they stay together better. The mixture also freezes well.  

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