Meal Plan and Shopping list for the week

In an ideal world I will include some recipes with this so you can use a similar meal plan if you so desire.
It is Sunday night and I plan to go shopping on Tuesday.  I still have a fair amount of meat and other meal bases in my freezer, so hopefully I can do a relatively small shop and fit it in the bottom of the pushchair and walk home after mainly music!  (hopefully that thunder storm comes another day!!)

Meal Plan
Monday:  Mexican Meatballs (Destitute Gourmet $15 meals book, pg 52)
Tuesday: Sausage + something + roast veges Pie (left over sausages and roast veges)
Wednesday: (Paul going out)  Chicken Stew with Spicey Sausage and Dumplings (DG $15 pg. 55)
Thursday: (Paul Elders Meeting) Pulled Pork on buns with coleslaw or maybe with mash potato (pulled pork in freezer given to my by a friend when I was sick, but she made far too much...sucker!?!! ;) )
Friday: Sausage Loaf with mash potatoes etc (I have leftovers that my sister-in-law brought to a potluck dinner...and then left behind!! Sucker! )
Saturday: (Me out probably all day) Lunch - Fam should come and buy sausages from Bunnings
Dinner - Nachos (left over taco mince in freezer, just add tomatoes and beans)
Sunday: (Paul and I both involved in Church Service) Lunch - Hot Dogs
Dinner -Chicken and Camembert Pie (left over cooked chicken, flakey pastry sheets in freezer and left over camembert)
Monday: Spag Boll (left overs in freezer, use up wine)

Last week of school before holidays.  Have a fair amount of birthday party food lefts overs to get through.  A little for lunches, a little for afternoon teas, a little for desserts.

Plan for holidays...
-"tramping 1 night"
-"Trains weekend"
- Working 2 or 3 days - easy no prep meal for those nights
-
Shopping List:
Franks
Hotdog buns
Sour Cream
Fetticini
cabbage

SO that's the plan for the week...can I stick to it... probably, I think it looks pretty easy.  Not too much cooking from scratch actually.  I wonder where I am at with the grocery budget this month anyway!

Part 2 - Using Up Leftovers

One of the easiest ways to save money on food is to just use it again!  No not regurgitating it and putting it back on the plate...but instead of throwing away the stuff that doesn't get eaten, save it and make it into something else. 

The first rule to using up leftovers is making sure you save some when you are serving up the “real meal”!!  Sometimes you might just want to add an extra 100g of mince or maybe use 4 chicken breasts where you would normally use 3.  But other times it's all about the way you serve it.  I have made a special effort in recent months to not serve the kids up quite as much food as I had been, not because I am being stingy, but because it is often such a struggle to get them to finish it...maybe they didn't actually need that much food and I am being a bit too mean by forcing it down them!!  

Not all meals work as leftovers, but with the ones that will work make sure you put aside some when you are serving up.  Sometimes it will work as a repeat meal sometimes you can just take some of the meal or a specific vegetable and turn it into something else.  Add more rice, veges and/or sauce to the meals to make it go further (hey that is a good idea for next week's post!  making meals go further... yes will start that soon!) 

 

Ham and Vege Strata - This could be made with left over meat (doesnt have to be ham) and left over stir fry or roast veges - also uses the stale bread that no one wants to eat anymore!

I have a bunch of meal plans that rely on leftovers…I’m not sure where to start…with the meals that I save the leftovers from or the recipes I use the leftovers for.

….ummm..

Maybe I need to mix it as I go….

Last week I gave the recipe for Roast Chicken Casserole, from the roast chicken leftovers…obviously not so much for the night following…but it freezes well.

I always try to save as much chicken as possible from a roast chicken meal.

I save it in small containers to throw into various meals including

Pizza – meatlovers, satay chicken pizza, chicken Camembert and “brie”

Hawaiian Pizza (opened tin of pineapple and bits of ham left over from Christmas...or something else!)  and Chicken Satay Pizza (- cooked chicken and left over satay sauce)

Kowhai Chicken – My favorite yummy casserole dish

Chicken Sopa – Another great Mexican chicken dish (save some tortillas from the burrito meal too I like to buy the 15 packs from Countdown, best value for money…only problem is, that I usually shop at Pak n’ Save…so making the special trip to Countdown for one item isn’t that good of a money saving technique)

Fettuccine “Cabonara” – a handful of chicken at the last minute…or one of the minutes near to the end at least.  (Any left over meat is good for this one – sausages, other roasts…not so much mince though)

Leftover Nacho Mince:

A “handful” for a Mexican inspired pizza

Spread over the bottom of a casserole dish and make Cowboy Casserole or Cornbread Pasta something or other Bake

Whenever I make meatballs I always set aside a few to use on pizza.

So to end this…before I have to spend the whole rest of the week writing up recipes on the recipe page…I will say Pizza, Pizza Pizza…. If you are trying to save money on meals, make a quick base or a fancy base or a bread maker base and top it with left over anything!  (Oh and make sure you save a bit of tomato based pasta sauce for the base topping!!)

(by the way, I am going to try to take more photos of my leftover meals and will add them to this post in the next week or so, and the recipe links are coming soon too!)

This month we are taking our budget seriously!! (part 1)

Ok, SO it’s been a while since I last wrote a post.  It’s quite hard really to think of things I have to say, that someone might be interested in… but maybe you might be interested in this one… it’s about budgeting.

There’s always something in the media about budgeting, it seems the latest and greatest budgeter at the moment is the facebook woman…or man who was on NZ Best home baker, for one episode apparently… How to feed afamily of 6 for under $20.  It’s all good, a lot of help for people who don’t know where to start.  I personally am a huge fan of Sophie Gray….the Destitute Gourmet.  I think I have all of her recipe books….apart from one, which mum has, so I share it with her!!!  Because I am on a budget!!

Last month we had a bit of a budget blowout.  It started with our 10 year wedding anniversary celebration trip to Queenstown, 

Me screwing up my nose to look so beautiful

which was getting paid for by money that hadn’t yet come into the account!!  And ended with 2 plumber call outs, a new lawn mower, me backing into someone’s car and paying up front for a trip later in the year.

So this month we had to somehow make up for some of that.  Rules include: no takeaways all month (apart from Mother’s Day!) and try and empty out the freezer and halve the grocery budget!

So I have been getting creative.  I was lucky, in the fact, that there were a few good bits of meat in the freezer that hadn’t already been planned into meals, and both our freezers were somehow chocka! 

1. I think one of the best ways to save money is thru planning.  Write a meal plan and stick to it.

Example of a meal plan that I havent been sticking too and is longer than 1 week (what not to do!!)

  I like to plan 1 week at a time.  I used to plan for the whole month, but then I would just end up forgetting things off the list….. or changing my mind ….or things would go off.   It just wasn’t working out for me, so I decided to try fortnightly and then weekly.  This is working really well for me, and 4 months in a row, I have managed to come in right on budget, or a few dollars below.

1. But because this month is tighter than before. I did my initial week and then I have added to it.  So now I have a 12 day meal plan, that should take me thru to next payday.  I think I shall put the meal plan next….in an ideal world I would link to the recipes that I can or to the book you need to buy.
2. As it worked out, there were a number of meals that had a reasonable amount of leftovers, so I have frozen it and planned it into another meal.  E.g.  After the Roast Chicken there was heaps of gravy and stuffing left.  (I had used the left over chicken for other things!) So I have a new meal waiting that is going to be a roast chicken casserole.  I also found a couple of extra drumsticks to use as the chicken.  And I did the same for Corned Beef (and Corned Beef Casserole)

Money Saving Tip Post

I am a real stinge so when it comes to saving money I think about it a lot.  Although, now, with 3 young kids I am also in the predicament of wanting to save time as well, and often the 2 things don’t go hand in hand.

But one thing it can work out for school/kindy lunches.  If you get ahead of the game you can save time without spending lots of money on packet snack foods from the supermarket.

One thing I haven’t managed to progress to is packing the lunches the night before, that would make the mornings a lot easier…but on the nights that I remember to think about that, I just feel too tired and really cant be bothered leaving the couch.

5 things I do to make packing lunches easier

1.         Firstly I make a list of options, so I don’t have to think so hard each morning.  This is my list:  Feel free to cut and paste and change it as is useful to you

Tuck Small/handful snacks in muffin cases e.g.  orange/ handful of raisins  - 1 sandwich / 1 muffin  - 1 yoghurt - fruit roll up  - chocolate biscuit always water bottle, sometimes a little juice packet or something

IN LUNCH BOX

- 2 fruit

-2 bread/starchy

-1 dairy

- 1 healthy treat/snack

-1 treat

Drink/water bottle

FRUIT

•Fresh or canned fruit – fruit kebabs, chopped fruit in a tub or fruit salad, easy peel mandarins, vegetable soup in a flask,

 •Dips/Hummus with vegetable sticks like celery, carrot, cucumber

 •Celery sticks with a thin spread of peanut butter topped with sultanas.

 •Jelly and fruit

* Cherry Tomatoes

* Cucumber pieces (with a little salt?)

STARCHY/BREAD

•Slice of Raisin toast or bread, pikelets, pancakes or scones with a little margarine or fruit spread

 •Lightly spread muffins and crumpets

 •Rice cakes topped reduced-fat cream cheese, vegemite or sliced banana

 •Small pita bread or wraps (spread thinly with cheese spread or peanut butter, grated carrot, sprouts and roll up to serve).

 •Wholemeal crackers with a slice of low fat cheese

 •Mini Wheats breakfast cereal

 •Handful of home made pita chips (cut pita bread into triangles, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake 180ºC for 15 minutes until crisp).

*Left over rice/pasta dishes

*Sushi

*Corn thins

*Muffins

*Cold Noodles?

HEALTHY SNACK

 •Popcorn with a few dried apricots or sultanas

DAIRY/Protein

 •Slice of low fat cheese with carrot and celery sticks.

 •Low fat cheese cubes or sticks.

+Cheese toasties

+ Franks/small sausages (cut octopus legs and little eyes)

+ Yoghurt with a handful of muesli on top

SNACKS

*Pretzels/Popcorn/Pikelets/Crumpets

2. I buy a loaf of bread per child, sometimes more… then I spread the whole lot with spreads of their choice e.g. My son likes honey, jam, peanutbutter and mixtures of the lot, but my daughter only likes marmite (sometimes marmite and cheese)  So I make up a whole loaf slitting the spreads between the lot then putting the sandwhiches back in the bread bags labelled for each kid

If you wrap your sandwiches in glad wrap, you could do that now too, otherwise it pays to put something in between each sandwich to stop them from sticking together, e.g. Small pieces of baking paper.  You can reuse baking paper over and over again.

Then in the morning I just grab a sandwich from the bag and throw it into the lunch box.

3. In the holidays or at some other “fun” time I will make pikelets or scones or another form of baking snack, we will have a few for out lunch or morning tea fresh and then the rest will be frozen in bags ready for lunches.  Make sure the items are not going to stick together when you freeze them so that you can just pull out 1 or 2 or how ever many you need each day. 
4. I am lucky enough to have a dehydrator so I will often buy the bulk lot of bruised apples or other fruit and spend a day, peeling, slicing and dehydrating apple pieces, grated apple, or purred apple into fruit roll ups.  (This is also good when I need some fruit for a slow cooker meal or a dessert base)

So now that I have shared all these ideas and thoughts on making easy, healthy and most importantly cheap lunches for the kids…I should really get off the computer and go and make some!!

How to Upcycle and old Men's Shirt into a baby Sleepsack

When my first little guy was born I had a few sleep sacks, this was great, being a winter baby, the warmth was good once he got too big for the swaddling wraps. …but then summer came and I found, even though it was too hot for it, he wasn’t keen to sleep without it.

So I found an old shirt my brother was getting rid of and turned it into a summer weight sleeping bag.  It just reminded him that it was time for sleeping and not to try climbing around the cot and so on.  Even now my 2 yr old wears one even though he is in a bed, they get pretty savvy at being able walk in sleepsacks! 

I will have to make a new one, using a shirt my husband doesn’t need anymore…well I don’t think he does anyway… So that I can show you the steps in photos.

Step One: - Find shirt, I think a reasonably big sized one works best so that you have enough room to play around with and it doesn’t become a tight fitting piece

Step 2: Cut off collar and sleeves, Cut just below seam…if you wanted to be really fancy and neat and beautiful you could unpick it…but not me, I don’t think it would make enough difference…. if any… to bother with that.

Step 3: Cut down seam and through cuff of one of the sleeves.  This is to sew on to the bottom of the shirt to give it a little more length. 

Step 4:  Sew up the opening in the sleeve where the buttons are.

Step 5: Button up shirt and sew the bottom closed up about 5cm from the bottom, I did the first one up to just above the bottom button which works fine too, but maybe you would get the legs in easier with a little more room.

Sew the end of the sleeve cuff closed (right sides together)

Step 6: Turn shirt inside out and with right sides together join the sides of the sleeve to the bottom of the shirt.  You’ll end up with over lap where the sleeve was shorter than the width of the shirt.   (Or if you wanted it different, you could try cutting along the top of the sleeve (not where the seam is) then the sleeve will be longer that the shirt width, may make it easier…may not?

Step 6a - I forgot about doing this until I tried it on my little guy for the photo session.  While you do need a big shirt to get the length best, the width ends up being quite over the top, so I took the shoulders up a bit and the sides under the armholes in a bit, I am adding this step in now, because this is the best point the it should be done, but my photos are showing how I did it at the end so the seams were already finished and turned back.  Just take a chunk...about 3 cm from shoulder, and the same, 3 or 4cm from the armhole and taper off to the side seam

Step 7 – Sew up top of sleeve to meet the seam at the hem of the shirt, make it blend in as neatly as possible!  It can only come out wonky, but that is all part of the upcycling charm I say!

Step 8 Finishing off – Overlock/zigzag the top of the sleeve part that you just sewed in step 7, and neaten up the neck and the armholes, I think I will just overlock and turn mine under, but you could bind them, maybe cut a strip on a slight bias from the left over sleeve or buy a co-ordination bias binding.  Whatever tickles your fancy!

And I’ll just finish off with a couple more shots of my little one in the finished products, the original mostly though, because I have more cute ones of him in that! J

(The above 2 shots are before I took up the shoulders and took in the armhole, the one on the left is after i did that)

Check out the hand in the breast pocket!!  

I’d love to hear from you, let me know if any of this is confusing or you get lost somewhere….or even better if you had a great success with it!  Post a photo on my Facebook page of your finished product.  

Back from Holiday

Hello all my thousands of followers!?!?!
 I am back after a unintentionally long break!  It just got so busy and hectic and as the whole blogging thing is still so new to me, it takes a lot of concentration to get anything written!  So Christmas was looming, Christmas Wonderland was even closer....

....check out the Connections tree!  (Connections Facebook page link)  Connections is a little craft group we do during the term, come along and play!....so anyway...Christmas Wonderland came...and finished...Christmas came... 

...and went and then we went away camping 

....for just over 2 weeks. 

 I have decided to try posting a photo a day on facebook, so check out my facebook page Facebook page link to see how my life pans out this year!!

I will work at sticking to the schedual here that i laid out earlier, but as a new years resolution I am going to try to do more entries... tommorrow I am going to be working on photographing a DIY entry...a project I made ages ago, but i think it is a great idea, so I might start marketing them!!  

So see you around in 2013, a great year for business eh?

by the way, I have re-opened my online shops so remember to check for new stock

Etsy Shop for international buyers

Felt Shop for New Zealand shoppers