Tag Archives: menu planning

Time To Think

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Sometimes I have a precise menu plan for the week and other times I make it up as I go along.  Today I had not even taken anything out of the freezer so spent a little time while I was on the train this evening planning what to eat for dinner.  I decided on grilled sausages with vegetable patties and fried mushrooms.  Of course we have home-made tomato sauce with the sausages.  This was all prompted by knowing that there was some leftover sweet potato mash and some leftover cooked rice in the refrigerator.

Leftovers

I picked some bok choy from the garden.

Bok choy

I chopped and lightly stir-fried the bok choy before adding it to the mash/rice mixture.

Stir-frying

I added some herb salt, black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin to the mixture along with a small egg and some chickpea flour.  The mixture was very soft so it was a matter of placing dollops of it into the pan and frying both sides.  Finally, I fried some mushrooms and dinner was ready.

Dinner

A filling dinner and the verdict from The Duke was, “Yum”.  You can’t ask for much more than that.

How do you deal with leftovers?

Party, Party, Party……..Now For *STOPTOBER*

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We have been home for 2 weeks now and life just seems to have been an endless whirl.  I feel as though my feet have barely touched the ground.  The whirl culminated yesterday with taking Miss O and Izz to a friend’s birthday party, then we headed off to a picnic for a belated celebration of Belle’s 30th birthday and finally dinner with our neighbours.  These were all enjoyable but now it is time to stop and take stock.

There are jobs to do at home which have been neglected so now is the time to get organised.  The everyday stuff that keep the wheels running smoothly – making sure the washing and ironing is all up to date, menus planned so that we have meals ready for when we arrive home from work, gardens prepared for summer vegetable growing and so on.  My sewing and other creative pursuits are waiting for me and I am itching to get back to them.

I also read this post from Frugal Queen and I am definitely joining in *STOPTOBER*  While I am not sure that I can spend NOTHING for the whole month I intend to spend the absolute minimum, stop and think before I spend and generally make do with what we have. To keep me accountable I will post each day about my success (or otherwise) of not spending and keep a tally of how much I spend and what I buy.

I am really looking forward to this challenge and sharing with you.  Please consider joining in (you can make your own rules) and let me know how you go.

Freezer Finds

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My freezer is one of the most useful appliances I have.  I am able to buy larger quantities of some items and avoid going to the shops as frequently as I would otherwise and of course it is wonderful to be able to store excess produce.

I have 2 freezers – one is the bottom 1/3 of my refrigerator in the kitchen.  It has a narrow shelf at the top and 2 large pull-out baskets.  The second freezer is the size of a bar fridge and lives in the study.

Since we are going on holidays in 3 weeks I have been trying to use up some of the food that is in the freezers with a view to being able to empty and turn off the stand-alone freezer.  The first thing to do was to make an inventory of everything that is in them so here is the list.

Ground coffee
Pineapple (fresh, very ripe so will be juicing it)
Refried beans (homemade) 500g x 4 packs
Ice-cream – 3/4 of a 2 litre tub
Grated cheese – 4 large containers (I buy 2 kg block of cheese from a local factory and grate it)
Spreadable butter blend (homemade) 500g x 2
Grated zucchini – 400g packs x 2
Beef curry – 6 serves
Lasagne – 2 serves (lunch sized)
Chili con carne – 2 serves
Beef & vegie casserole – 6 serves
Tomato/pasta sauce (homemade) – 750ml x 2
Lasagna sheets (homemade) x 12
Fettucine (homemade) – 2 serves
Gravy beef – 500g x 2 packs
Chicken breast fillets x 4
Sausages x 2
Bacon (shortcut) x 7 slices
Sausage rolls (mini) x 5 – thawing for lunches today with salad
Sweet pastry (homemade) x 1 quantity
Savoury pastry (homemade) x 1 quantity
Baked sweet pastry (was tart shell which broke)
Sliced white bread (homemade) – 7 slices
Gluten free bread (1/2 loaf)
Breadcrumbs (soft and toasted)
French stick (sliced and in a bag)
Fruit muffins (crumbled in a small container)
Mashed pumpkin (to make pumpkin soup)
Lemon zest
Lemon juice (2 litres)
Lemon juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen)
Lime juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen)
Sliced limes – 2 containers
Orange juice – single serves x 3
Banana x 1
Passionfruit ice cubes x 15
Turkish bread rolls x 4

Bag of meat scraps

The freezers are a constant dynamic as shown by the following changes in the past 36 hours since I made that list.

Lasagne – 2 serves (lunch sized) – now 1 serve
Fettucine (homemade) – 2 serves – used
Chicken breast fillets x 4 – now x 3
Sausage rolls (mini) x 5 – thawing for lunches today with salad – used
Lime juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen) – now 3 dozen
Orange juice – single serves x 3 – now 8 serves – 2 used and 7 more added after juicing the remaining oranges from the tree

I have also added another 2.5 litres of lemon juice.

From my inventory I have made a menu plan and will be using more of the contents over the coming weeks.

I am confident that I will be able to empty the small freezer before we go away.  I will post an update of the list in a week or so.

How do you manage the contents of your freezer?  Do you keep a precise list or just a general idea with the occasional complete inventory?  What do you mostly store – excess produce, bulk meat, prepared meals or baked goods?  I would love to hear your story.

Sunday Stuff

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Today I continued with my sewing and sorting our some more of the stuff that was on my sewing table.

I have all but finished the apron I am making.  Just a bit of handsewing on the waistband and buttons and buttonholes to attach the neck strap.

2012-04-15 01This is what the neck strap and buttons will look like.

2012-04-15 02Finally, the pocket detail of which I am rather proud.

2012-04-15 03I really hope my apron partner likes it.

The next things I am working on are 2 summer tops for myself.  I know I will not need them for several months but it will be nice to have them finished and hanging in my wardrobe, rather than cluttering up space on my work table.

Now that the space is cleared I can see exactly what else I have to sew.  There are several Christmas gift bags as well as fabric for a reusable shopping bag (I am going to copy an existing one for a pattern).  I have other fabric earmarked to make a skirt for my niece, summer pyjamas for my granddaughter, a dress for Belle and a couple of polo shirts for The Duke so there is plenty to keep me occupied.

My plan is to do some sewing at least one each week and gradually work my way through the ‘To Do’ list.

On other matters, I have done a menu plan for the week for both lunches and dinners.  I have been rather slack lately and although we have not resorted to takeaway or eating out, my planning has been a bit haphazard.  I am back on track and hopefully this will make the morning rush a bit less rushed.  Tomorrow we are having leftover lasagne and salad and this is all prepared and in the refrigerator ready to grab and go in the morning.

I like to spend some time on Sundays getting organised so that I can have a headstart on the coming week.

Are you prepared for the week ahead?

Organisation and Finances

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WARNING – Long post ahead.  So perhaps you would like to grab a cuppa and snack before you start. 🙂

This is for Anna** and I.  Anna feels that she is falling behind financially and I can see that the things I need to do are fast outweighing the available time.

The first part of this post is about me.

I do not have a lot of preparation to do for Christmas with only a couple of gifts to buy and the only meal I am hosting is for 5 adults on Christmas morning.  However, there just seem to be lots of relatively minor things I need to attend to that are getting squashed into the time before Christmas (17 days).  Without the aid of a list, I am completely lost so here it is.

Ring telecommunications company re phone charges
Pick up belt from repairer
Move furniture for carpet cleaner (coming tomorrow)
Add photos to Christmas letter
Write and post Christmas cards with letter
Make phone calls re extended family BBQ in January
Set up email list for recipients of Christmas letter via email
Defrost the freezer (and do a stocktake of the contents)
Buy Christmas presents for Missy & Belle (I know what to buy, just need to do it)
Finish home-made gifts and package them up
Check on changing health insurance cover

Even my menu planning has fallen a bit by the wayside recently, although I usually have a rough idea of meals for the next couple of days in my head.  This is not ideal and I need to get back on track.  Having a written list for the week saves space in my head and leaves room for thinking about other things.

Anna feels as though she is chasing her tail, both time-wise and financially.  Does that sound familiar?  With a young family there are many competing priorities and every time you feel like you are getting ahead something else rears its ugly head.  Many of us see paid work as the only way to get ahead (or back on track) financially.  Earning money is certainly the most obvious way to make ends meet but the other thing to remember is that the time spent earning that money is time that you cannot devote to money-saving activities.  I am not about to suggest that Anna stop working but it is worth keeping in mind the things you can do to prevent leaks in the budget.

One of the most significant costs in the family budget is food which is absolutely essential.  As my post yesterday discussed, there are savings to be made in this area by making meals from scratch.  This is easy to say but can be difficult to achieve when you are working so a menu plan is definitely your best friend.  Having a plan helps to stave off the “grab a takeaway on the way home” syndrome.  Stick to simple meals and cook a couple of meals in bulk.  It does not have to be presented as the same meal but you can use the same base.  An example is bolognaise sauce which is extremely versatile.  Serve with pasta, as topping for baked potatoes or top with mashed potato for a Shepherd’s Pie.

Do not try to do everything but focus on one or two changes that are manageable and reap the rewards.  If you put a modest amount of money aside each pay (perhaps, $20 if you can manage) you will soon have a fund to start to cover the unexpected expenses and the budget will not look so bleak.

As I have shown many times before almost everything can be traced back to being organised.  We all slip-up from time to time but it is important not to a) lose heart and give up or b) beat yourself up about it.  Regroup and try again.

The most important thing is to be kind to yourself and make sure you take time out to rest and relax.  I hope you all have an opportunity over the Christmas break.

**not her real name