Menu Plan w/c 31 Jan

Mon - Fish & Chips ( fish baked in the oven, hm chips)

Tues - sausage & mash, assorted veggies

Wed - pork casserole

Thurs - mince & tatties

Fri - pasta bake

Sat - tacos

Sun - roast chicken with all the trimmings

Menu Plan w/c 24 Jan

Mon - pie & chips

Tues - haggis (Burn's Night)

Wed - lasagne

Thurs - beef casserole

Fri - chicken & rice

Sat - quiche

Sun - roast beef

any veggies used will be from the organic veg box or our garden which have been frozen

Menu Plan w/c 17 Jan

Mon - roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli

Tues - steak pie & hm chips

Weds - mince cobbler

Thurs - pork casserole

Fri - chilli & rice

Sat - pizza

Sun - roast pork,yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, carrots, green beans, leeks

Shopping less at the Supermarket

I have been looking at the meat pack which my butcher does £30 delivered

Fresh Yorkshire Chicken
Joint of Scotch Silverside
Corner Gammon Joint
1lb Lincolnshire Sausage
1lb Minced Steak
2 Scotch Rump Steaks
2 Lincolnshire Pork Lojn Steaks
2 Yorkshire Chicken Breast Fillets
2 Ind Scotch Steak Pies

Now I have worked out that if I buy 2 of these plus some extra sausage, pork cheeks and shin beef (for casseroles and curries), then some fish from the docks I can easily have the meat/fish for a month for approx £100 (we are big meat eaters); the meat/fish will average £3 per meal for the 4 of us.

Add in the organic veg box or homegrown veggies, fruit and potatoes from the farm shop if not the veg box, milk and dairy from the milkman, eggs from the farm gate and homemade bread, cakes and pastries.
We have the makings of good wholesome food without much supermarket shopping, maybe once a month or couple of months for tins, dry goods, household and toiletries.

Menu Plan w/c 10 Jan

Mon - chicken curry & jacket potato ( there is enough curry leftover from yesterday)

Tues - fish pie served with carrots and green beans

Wed - bolognese

Thurs - sausage casserole

Fri - beef stir fry

Sat - quiche

Sun - steak

any veggies used are either from the organic veg box or our garden which have been frozen

Getting Back To Normal

Well yesterday saw Dave go back to work and today has seen the boys go back to school; I return to work tomorrow.

Today will be a general catch up day, which will include the following jobs:
putting clean laundry away
baking for the freezer
putting the Christmas tree and decorations away
making a birthday card for a friend

I also hope to if I have time to make a start on some decluttering, even if only one box and will take baby steps to achieve this.

Menu Plan w/c 3 Jan

I am trying to use as much as possible from the freezer and cupboards this month, although I do need some meat and fish before the end of the month. I also receive a weekly organic veg box.

I have planned meals for basically the whole month but will only post them here weekly.

Mon - takeaway ( I save my coppers throughout the year and this pays for a New Year treat before we all go back to work/school)

Tues - pork steaks, roast potatoes, carrots,broccoli,sprouts and swede

Weds - savoury mince and mashed potatoes, green beans

Thurs - gammon and chips

Fri - tacos, salad

Sat - HM pizza

Sun - chicken curry and pilau rice

any veggies used are either from the organic veg box or our garden which have been frozen

NEW YEAR, NEW US!!

Happy New Year to everyone.

I am going to do a few things a little differently this year.

I will not be logging all our rubbish as we pretty much have it down to where we are putting the minimum we can for us into our landfill bin. We ended the year by having put out 12.67kg, so just over 1.0kg per month or for those who like to visualise the equivalent to a bag of sugar.

The garden is going to be more productive for us this year than last year as we have more time to get things planned, and we will concentrate on maximising our growing room.

Another thing I'm looking to do is to try and make more of the snacky things which the boys like to eat, not always easy I know but even though it hasn't produced much more packaging this last year, I feel I should be at least trying.

I am also going to be more stricter with my grocery budget and menu planning, especially as certain grocery items are subject to the VAT increase on 4 Jan.

Add into the above that I want to do some serious de-cluttering and get back into my card making then I think I will have a full year ahead.