Meal Planning Monday - 26th August 2013

Another week gone, the weeks really are flying through and before we know it it'll be the big C word! - Crazy.

Just another quick post this week as the little ones napping and I've got to get some things done whilst she's sleeping or they'll never get done.  We're having a period at the moment where she's back to waking up through the night again.  I"m not sure if it's due to her crawling, climbing and learning so much more every day that she's regressing again throughout the nights or what but it's hard getting up again throughout the night for an hour or more until I can get her back to sleep.  Ulg... lots of caffeine is needed!

So here's what we're having this week: -

Monday - Omelette's & Waffles
Tuesday - Chicken Stir fry & Noodles
Wednesday - Sausage, Beans & Mash
Thursday - Pizza
Friday - Chicken & Meatball Subs & chips
Saturday - BBQ/Stag do
Sunday - My parents/Hubby's parents

I'm going to give it a go making my own pizza dough in order to try and make a bit of a healthier pizza.  It may be a complete disaster but sure, got to give these things a whirl.

I was struggling with Saturday/Sunday as what to have and then was reminded by hubby that I'm down at my mum and dad's on Saturday at a BBQ they're holding (lets hope for some good weather) and he was meant to be joining me but it's his friends stag do that night so he'll be out with his friends instead.  Which also means that on Sunday we'll be having separate lunches as well.  My family live approx 30 miles away so there's not really much point in him travelling down just for lunch and then having two cars driving home again, so we'll both be at our respective parents houses.

On Sunday morning I'm meeting up with some of my friends and their little ones!  A girl who I've known since P2 lives in Scotland now, she's home for a holiday seeing her parents so I'm heading over whilst at home myself to see her and meet her little one.  Her cousin, who also has a little baby is coming over too and her sister as well.  It'll be nice to see everyone again and hopefully get a group picture of us all now with our babies.

Hope everyone has a nice week.  I'm sure some of the schools are back again this week which no doubt parents are glad of!

I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not click on the badge above and check out what everyone else is having this week.

Meal Planning Monday - 19th August 2013

Another Monday rolls round and we're edging closer towards September!  September, where has the year gone so far?  This time last year I was 7 months pregnant and waiting for the arrival of the little one in November and now we're nearly at her first birthday! - Arggg.

Just a quick post before she wakes up.

This week we are having: 

Just noticed I've spelt broccoli wrong in the picture but it's Monday morning and I don't have the heart to do it again!

The baked pasta dish is a freezer batch from the last time I made it..It makes about 5 batches of the sauce and then you just make the pasta each time which is handy!  I must get another batch made soon.

Chicken, Broccoli Pasta (I can't remember what it's actually called), is a recipe my mum found years ago on the side of the Campbell's condensed soup tin.  Basically it's chicken, carrots, broccoli, pasta, condensed chicken soup, milk, stir, simmer and Bob's your Uncle a yummy tasty dish that can be served with crusty bread.

Salted chilli chicken is rather tasty and simple to make too.

I must point out that it looks that we're being rather unhealthy with chips two nights in a row.  We make ours in the actifry, which is meant to be the healthier way to make chips and so therefore it's possible we may have them two nights in a row.  Hubby and I are both trying to be good, cutting down in portion sizes, no cakes, buns and plenty of fruit etc, but were somewhat disappointed when we weighed ourselves at my mums yesterday only to find that there was hardly any progress and we've been doing it for a good 4-6 weeks now.  Bahhhhh.  Hopefully we'll not lose motivation though.

Have a good week!

Meal Planning Monday - 5th August 2013

Morning all, Monday again and into August.  I can't believe that we're closer to this Christmas than we are last Christmas (yes I did just say the C word twice!), over half the year gone and I've really no idea where it has gone to as it's gone by in a flash.  I must be getting older when I'm talking about time passing by so quickly.

Last week is a bit of a blur, we didn't get out much as the little one was wanting to nap and was a little grouchy I think due to teething.  Hopefully we'll get out a little this week just to get a change from the same four walls.  One of my friends is coming up tomorrow with her wee baby girl so will be lovely to see them and have some lunch.  Hoping to get round this week to see another friends new wee baby boy.

Oh!  Also, we go our photos from the photo shoot on Saturday - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  So excited, I love them but just can't decide now which one to put up on the wall.

I love this one but just one of the photos to choose from

Anyway, on to this weeks meal plan.  Last weeks went pretty much to plan but Saturday went out the window as I forgot to leave the chicken out of the freezer and so we ended up with a chinese instead - whoops!  This weeks meal plan isn't that exciting either but sure!

So this week we are having.....

So what are you all having this week?  Have a good one, whatever you're up to.

I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not click on the badge and find out what everyone is having this week.

Weekly Meal Plan - 29th July 2013

Hope everyone had a good week.  It's terrible, I'm sitting here trying to remember what we actually did last week and I can barely remember!  Memory isn't what it used to be....  The sun dipped in and out and heavy showers came on quickly so we stayed around the house and tried to get some things done.

Hubby and I got to go on Friday night to view the pictures from our photo shoot last Saturday.  I was anxious if they would be any good as it was an exceptionally warm day and the little one hadn't really napped so it was just a bad combination.  I needn't have worried as they were beautiful and of course it made it extremely difficult to decide which ones to pick.  We eventually decided on 9 photos that we're getting on disk so we can get prints, wall art etc ourselves.... I hope it arrives this week as I'm chomping at the bit to see them again.

We stuck to the meal plan last week, although the little one refused a few dinners.  Don't know if she is getting too independent and wants to feed herself all the time and so is refusing when we spoon feed her, but if I leave her to her own devices she doesn't get an awful lot in her belly.

This weeks meals are pretty uninspired, finding it hard to find things that we can all have together without it being repetitive every week.  There's a few meals on the plan that she won't be having and instead will be having Chicken, Vegetables and potatoes, Chicken & Summer vegetables and Tuna Casserole....hopefully they'll all go down ok :s  Any ideas of what to give her would be gratefully received.

This weeks meals are as follows:

The baked pasta dish is a batch I already have in the freezer and am trying to use up before it's been in there a little too long.  By Thursday I was completely uninspired so am just going to stick my head in the freezer and see what there is, there's bound to be something in there that needs used up anyway.  The smoky philly chicken is scrumptious and we haven't had it in a longggg time, so will be good to have a change with it.

I'm linking up with Mrs M, so why not stop by and have a nosey at what everyone else is having this week.

Have a good one :)

Meal Planning Monday - 22nd July 2013

Don't fall off your seat reading this, I am alive and well!!  Yes, it has been a little while since posting anything but I have still been Meal Planning behind the scenes.

Things just got really busy with the little one and with the glorious weather it made it difficult to get the little one to eat, sleep, want to do anything so I just didn't have the time to get blogging.  I also had a wave of what's the point?  Does anyone even read this and is interested whether I'm actually here or not? and so before you know it it's over a month without a single post being written and very few being read.

I still find time very limited to get reading/writing posts, as it is the little one is asleep now but I should really be doing something productive before she wakes up again.  By the time she's settled in bed for night, things are cleared and tidied up, a brew in hand and some chilling time, it's time for bed!  I'm in awe of all you who seem to be so much busier than me and still have time to blog.

Anyway, so we're back (for this week at least) and hopefully I'll get back into the swing of blogging and find time to be able to just share my thoughts if nothing else.

So in my absence on here, we've had some progressions....weaning is still going well and now I'm trying to find meals that we can both have together instead of having to make separate dinners.  Any thoughts on meals that could be made or ideas of lunches would be greatly appreciated as I'm running out of ideas.

Also, about 3 weeks ago JD started crawling forward!  She had reverse gear, side to side and complete about turn but could never seem to get forward.  Now there's no stopping her, it is more like an army crawl but she can fairly shift and now I need eyes everywhere!

On to this weeks Meal Plan....

I'm linking up with Mrs M, so why not click the link and take a look at what everyone else is having this week.

Weekly Meal Plan - 10th June 2013

Last week was beautiful here, we had lovely sunshine nearly every day and pretty warm temperatures...  On Saturday JD and I, along with a friend and her wee boy, took part in a World Record Pram Push attempt for the most prams moving at one time.  We had a gorgeous day for it, almost too warm as we had to walk from the top of Stormont, down to the bottom and back up a hill.  Unfortunately with the good weather I think people didn't turn out for the event and so whilst we didn't break it, we did have a fun morning/afternoon and in total the event raised £15,000 for TinyLife Charity.

Sunday we ditched the meal plan, grabbed a disposable BBQ and headed to Newcastle for the afternoon.  It was lovely just chilling, having our BBQ, letting the little one roll about on the blanket and just having some family time together.  We headed for a walk into the town and then up to see my brother & sister in law and nieces who have a caravan up there.  It was great seeing the cousins play together and they love our little one so much.

So some meals from last week will be reappearing as we didn't have them last week.  The sun has also gone this morning (Tuesday) so there probably won't be any meal changes.  I think our week of sunshine was summer, well it was nice when it lasted.

This week we are having:

Not entirely inspiring but tasty all the same.

I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not click on the badge and see what everyone else is having this week!

Have a good one.

Weekly Meal Plan - 3rd June 2013

It's June, JUNE!  Can you believe it?  Where has 6 months gone?  Dare I say the dreaded words...before we know it it'll be Christmas!  In a few weeks we are about to have the longest day and then slowly creep back into the darker days but yet where has summer been?  I hope it stops hiding and comes out soon!  In saying that we have had a day or two which has been lovely, bright and sunshiny but at the same time it'd be nice if it stuck around for a while longer.

Last weeks meal plan got juggled around a wee bit.  Tuesday I just couldn't be bothered and so we ended up getting pizza (not good for my waistline, hips or jelly bottom - but none the less super tasty!). Another night we swapped and had what we were meant to have on Tuesday.  Saturday we bought chicken and cubed potatoes from the butcher and made our own sweet chilli chicken and on Sunday we had the chilli as we're at my cousins wedding today and will probably get a roast dinner so thought it best not to have two in a row.

This week is looking as follows:

Last week was a bit stressful and well, upsetting for me.  Little JD started screaming the house down at every nap for a couple of days, which isn't like her.  She'd be screaming her wee heart out and it upset me that I didn't know what was wrong and couldn't get her to sleep for ages.  I felt like a bad mummy.  I thought at the start it was teething and she is drooling lots and constantly got her hands in her mouth, but the screaming only happens at nap time (generally).  I'm wondering now is it separation anxiety and that's why she's so upset.  I'm trying to be strong so she won't pick up on it but hate hearing her cry so sore.

Earlier on in the week we managed to get out for a wee date with my friend and her wee boy.  we went to one of the local parks and had a wee bit of fun on the swings and then had a big walk around the park (twice) and then the mummy's got a tea and a bun after! - Well why not!?

I'm linking up with Mrs M (probably on Tuesday after the wedding), why not head over and see what everyone else is having this week.

Have a good one!

Weekly Meal Plan - 27th May 2013

 

Forgive me but there's going to be no flash, jazz or flare to this post! Up until about 10 minutes ago I didn't even know what we were having this week.

I wasn't prepared to have it done at the weekend as he sun was shining on Saturday and we went out for the day to a local farm and then had a big walk around the lake.  

Sunday we were just chilling and visiting family but I couldn't bring myself to think about meals just yet.... On Monday JD and I went down to my mums to see my sister and leave in my brother in laws birthday present so. We were away the whole day.  Today my head isn't working and it's going to be a caffeine fuelled day to get me through.... JD keeps waking up at 5am and having a little chatter for about an hour and then normally falls back to sleep.  This morning she woke at 5am and was up chatting but then started crying so I ended up having to bring her into our bed so as hubby could get some sleep.  She went back over but it was after six she was going to sleep and awake again for 7am!! Shattered.  If anyone has any ideas of how to stop her waking at 5am I'd love to hear them! She's not waking for food she's just chatting and cooing away.

Anyway, the shopping is still to be done but I'm tied to the house as our bath is FINALLY being delivered today.....now to get it installed :s

So this weeks meal plan is as follows;

Monday - Leftover fajitas from Saturday

Tuesday - Tuna pie, baked beans and spuds

Wednesday - Omelettes and chips or hash browns

Thursday - Baked pasta dish

Friday - Burgers and chips

Sat - Chilli

Sun - A roast of some sort

It's somewhat uninspired but anyway it's all my brain can cope with this morning.

Hope everyone had a good week.  I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not head on over and see what everyone else is having this week.

Have a good one :)

Weekly Meal Plan - 13th May 2013

How's everyone this happy Monday? (You can tell I'm off on maternity leave when I'm saying that!)

Last weeks meals went pretty much to plan, however we had a panic for a few days as we thought our freezer was on the blink.  A warning light kept flashing at us which normally suggests the temperature isn't right.  I think the door might have been ever so slightly ajar, but after 24 hours when the light was still flashing it looked like it wasn't going to be good and the freezer full of food was going to have to be quickly eaten.  The strange thing was that the food in the freezer was still frozen, but anything new put in the top drawer didn't seem to be freezing... Very strange! So Saturday's tea was bumped in order to start using up the freezer.

Anyway, thankfully a day or so after the mysterious warning light has now vanished and the food still remains frozen so hopefully there won't be the need for a new freezer after all. (Fingers crossed).  I've taken it as a good opportunity to use up some of the freezer meals I have in there and get it defrosted and hopefully that will make it happy and help it to continue working.

Oh, on other news JD mastered how to roll from her back to her front last week.  As a new mummy of course I was very proud and just think she's amazing.  She's now trying to 'flap', sorry crawl, but it really is more of a flapping her arms and legs and she's getting frustrated that she can't do it. I'm sure that will happen soon enough and then I might cry a little as she's only wee and I want to keep her that way :(

Anyway, enough blethering and on to our meals this week: -

My Mum and Dad are coming up to visit us on Saturday so I'm making the Sweet & Sour Chicken fresh for them.  Hopefully I might get to making a Rhubarb Crunch, but just need to check if we have enough rhubarb in the garden.  If I make it I'll be sure to blog it as it's one of my favourite dishes....layers of yummy rhubarb and creamed rice...mmmmm.....

I feel a little lazy cooking wise with all the meals being from the freezer but hopefully it means that the weekly grocery bill will get a bit of a reprieve too.

I'm also trying to think of different things to give JD for weaning.  I'm trying to put a few flavours together but if you have any suggestions of good recipes or ideas I'm all ears!

What are you having this week?  Hope you have a good one!

As usual I am linking up with At home with Mrs M's #MealPlanningMonday.  Why not click on the badge and have a nosey at what everyone else is having this week.