Friday, October 10, 2014

Freezer survey

I've just done my freezer survey, I have a lot of pork. It's portioned up. If I'm cooking I'd probably use one. M usually uses two of the marinated ones

M curry for work o o o
Meatballs o
Fancy sausage pack of six o
Stock O o o (that means one big and two small pots)
Bolognaise tiny pot, and rice, tiny pot. Clearly needs to be a lunch one day!
Lasagne o
Soup o o o o o
Pastry o o
Quorn chorizo o o (not really sure what to do with this, maybe on a tart made with some of the pastry!)
chicken tikka masala o
Beef mince o o
Stewing beef o o
Turkey mince o o o o
Marinated pork portions o o o o o o o o o o
Chicken portions (boneless thighs mostly) o o o
Pork ribs o
Pork ( joint or chops) o o o o o o o
Chicken (whole) o
Wraps (forgot to count)
Sausages pack of twenty o o
Puréed veg sauce (for use with mince to make lasagne etc) o o o o o
Quorn 'mince' o
Quorn 'chicken' o
Mixed frozen veg o
Peppered slice (m will prob take to work) o
Curry sauce??? O
Fish fingers pack of ten o o
Pot of cooked chicken o
Daal o
Mashed bananas o
Ice cream
Ice pops

And there you have it, the delights of my freezer! ( well, freezer and freezer shelf in fridge)
Coming soon. Contents of my cupboards!

Ten Ten Fourteen

Well, I appear to have failed to blog every day in October, but I am getting back into the swing of blogging, so that's gotta be good,right?  Assuming anyone is out there reading!

Having done a couple of hops this week, preparing for Sophie's party tomorrow, I'm feeling that the bank account would appreciate a little less spending in the next week or two, so I'm having a minimal spend challenge for myself. And I welcome your support keeping me on track, or if anyone else wants to challenge themselves and comment or blog about it, that would be fantastic too.

I'm probably going to make the rules up as I go along, but so far I'm thinking
I'm allowed to buy
Milk
Bread (though I will be making my family eat wraps from the freezer, healthy muffins for breakfast instead of bread, and I may try to make some - I think I have some bread flour in the cupboard)
Loo roll. Nuff said!
Nappies
Baby wipes/tissues if we need them. I have a fair number in the cupboard upstairs.
Petrol
Any medication etc needs thst come up.


I need to do a freezer and cupboard survey,and I will post them here. So recipes/meal ideas welcomed! I know I have a lot of pork in the freezer, much of it marinated cuts like belly slices and chops.

Any thoughts?

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

October eighth

Blank mind.
Tired
Busy week
More busy to come - Sophie's party on Saturday, need to cook/decorate various things.
Ought to go to bed, but playing on iPad.
This is a nothing post, written cos I don't want to miss another post!

About October seventh

It was Sophia's birthday yesterday and then we had our first life group at our house which Menard and I are helping to lead. So it was a bit busy to post.

I did take photos from the day, but my iPad doesn't like talking to blogger, so it will have to wait until I can get on a computer.

Highlights of the day:
Sophia declaring it was the worsest birthday ever after being told off for hurting her brother a nd then daddy told her she had to put her shoes on to go to school (she really loves school, she just didn't want to stop playing with her presents!)

The hello kitty cake toppers I ordered late on Thursday, arriving on Saturday, meaning I could use them to put on top of cupcakes, which a) was like what Topsy and Tim had for their birthday, and b) softened the blow that the big hello kitty cake is being made for her party (so there are lots of people to eat it) and not for her birthday day.

Soph declaring it was the bestest birthday ever, after playing  with her hello kitty toy kitchen, play tent, and hoopla hoop all at once, and eating her hello kitty cupcakes!


Monday, October 06, 2014

October sixth

Tomorrow my Sophie baby turns five.those five years flew by! This time five years ago I was in labour, either on my way to hospital or sat on a birthing ball, or maybe the end of the bed, eating sausage and mash for the second time in a few hours. I hadn't eaten much all day, so they made me eat some more!

Tomorrow she'll go off to school as normal, and she's excited about taking sweets to give her friends at the end of the day. We'll do presents and cupcakes, and then on Saturday we're having her party with lots of friends coming over. She's very excited about the Hello Kitty cake I'll be making (I'm still working on my plans of exactly what I'm going to do!)

Sunday, October 05, 2014

October fifth

Had a lovely afternoon. Menard was at work, but Sophie was being my kitchen helper. She mashed up some bananas which were very ripe, so we could freeze them. She helped me wash up and put things away, and helped me peel onions and chop green tomatoes for making chutney. She and I both cried from the onions! But that's another job from the to-do list ticked off, and gets the bowls of green tomatoes off the counter, and possibly that will be a step forward in the fight against fruit flies, which are everywhere today. If anyone has any good ways to fight them, let me know!

About October fourth

Yesterday we went to visit my mum and dad and to do the 'jumble trail' around their local area - people could sign up on a site to say they would be putting out a stall to sell all sorts of things, aka jumble. Americans would probably call it a yard sale trail.

Unfortunately it rained and some of the folks obviously decided to call off their stalls, but the hard ones were out with gazebos or similar make-do shelters!

I picked up quite a few bargains...
Two kids scooters to live at nana's house (unless our current ones fall apart) £3 each
Books. Which will probably be Christmas presents £1.50
George pig top for JJ 50p
3 in one puzzle set 50p
Plastic divided kids plate 50p
In the night garden figures 25p for six!
Dressing up outfits 25p for fireman jacket and another outfit, can't remember what!
Duvet cover and pillow case with cars and trucks on for JJ £2
Wonderful tiger hat and mittens 30p
Christmas tin we'll use to put sweets in to give as a gift 10p
Another book-hardback collection of stories 30p
A shapes pairs game 20p
Foam sticky letters and foam smiley faces 40p
A make a doll kit with ribbons, buttons etc to make the clothes. Retailed £15, lady sold it to me for £3
Plus for free - carrier bag of clothes for Sophie, two pairs of shoes, cars for JJ, two clip on lights
And there may have been something else, I just can't remember what!

Had a lovely time anyway. And didn't get too wet, well, I dried out afterwards!



Friday, October 03, 2014

October third

All I can think of today is oh. I want to go to bed!
It's Friday, we made it to the end of the week!
Unfortunately, M is working various shifts this weekend, so I may be happy when it's got to Tuesday and he's off again!

Sophie and JJ make me laugh. When I collect JJ from preschool he tells me all about it, well, he says "i play SAND, CARS!". But then when we collect Sophie and she's telling me about her day, he will continually interrupt with "me talk 'bout my school too mummy, my school!"

Thursday, October 02, 2014

October second

Right now we are going through a terrible twos tantrum stage with JJ. He'll be three in December, so I hope they finish soon.

But the big thing around here this coming week is that my baby is going to be five. That teeny tiny baby grew and grew and grew and grew some more (seriously! She's in age 7-8 clothes, and many of her clothes are 9-10!).

My Sophia Louise is turning five on Tuesday. Wherever did that time go?! She started in proper school (rather than nursery or preschool) this September, she's learning to read! (still at learning sounds stage, but she's getting better and better), she loves books, playing schools, and a whole big bunch of imaginary play.

Over the years she's had an imaginary friend called Sophie (as confusing as you might expect it to be), she's had imaginary dogs, including one called pink dog, who was, you've guessed it, pink.
There's been Ollie, and he's still around. In fact the other day, Sophie's imaginary friend Ollie went to preschool with Jaiden. How's that for confusing?!  I love my Sophia and her imagination, although sometimes I wish she would stay in the real world a little more often when I'm asking her to put her shoes on or get dressed for school.

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

October first

Today was the first day where Sophie was at school all day and Jaiden was at preschool all day.
I have to say, I think Wednesdays are shaping up to be good days!
I did some chilling, some cleaning, some tidying, some walking with friends, a meet and great with Sophie's school parents association (now known as friends of... To be more inclusive to all adults who want to get involved)
And collecting Sophie (M got JJ. Collection is the only potential tricky point of wednesdays - collecting them both from opposite directions, with only a few minutes to get from one to the other. But it will be fine if M is not on a shift!)
Now we're sitting watching fireman Sam - JJ's choice! And I'm being critical of all the silly reasons they're calling Sam out for!