food Archives - At Home A Lot

Meal Plan – Missing Shopping

March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 athomealot

I had a bad week last week and to be honest, I don’t know how we managed with our missing shopping. but we did. I did my online shop on Sunday like I normally do and fell asleep halfway through. Urgh, it’s something that happens to me frequently. I’ve even been known to continue typing on my laptop after falling asleep. My husband or son will take it away until I wake up.

Anyway, I had managed to save the shop and even check it out before nodding off, I think I knew it was going to happen. So, it was still there and all I had to to was finish it off. Only, despite being awake this time I didn’t complete checkout and was only sent my first half of the order, the rest of my shopping was missing.

It took a day or two to realise that I was missing shopping that I was adamant I’d bought, but as I don’t put the shopping away I hadn’t noticed. So, meal plans went out the window and we managed with what we already had. In fact we managed fairly well and I even stuck to my No Take Away plan.

This week I went to log on to my usual Sainsburys but they had zero spots for Monday delivery. It was the same with Morrisons. So I went to the Asda site and managed to get a slot. Then I booked a slot for Sainsburys for Tuesday. It takes so long to shop somewhere new. And now I’m not sure that I’ve not replicated shopping in both trolleys despite my constant checking. I’m beginning to think that I shouldn’t be allowed to do the shopping at all!

This Weeks Meal Plan – with no missing shopping

Monday – lasagne/bolognese
Tuesday- fajitas or enchiladas
Wednesday – gammon and chips
Thursday – pasta bake
Friday – fish/chicken and chips
Saturday – curry
Sunday – lamb roast

I’m currently £50 under budget so that will help if the meals are not welcomed. But it will be a trip to the local supermarket.

I wonder if I can make it through to the end of March without buying a take away…wish me luck! Lining up with Katy Kicker’s meal planning linky See what everyone else is cooking this week

My previous meal planning post

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Getting back on track with a new planner

February 8, 2020February 8, 2020 athomealot

I bought a planner…bit of a plug as I’m an Avon Rep and I got this lovely magnet planner from my Avon Store. It was just what we needed and it also comes with a magnetic pull off shopping list book.

We argue a lot about food in our house, it’s one of our biggest problems. It’s difficult finding food for four adults and three children. Life used to be so much simpler.

Anyway, now I can jot down the meals on this planner and if anyone has an issue they can rub it out and replace it. I don’t mind so long as everyone is happy.

Breakfast is pretty much the same every day, a choice of toast, crumpets, croissants or cereal. Whatever they fancy, they generally get it themselves. The lunch section on the planner will probably only be used when the kids are off school.

Then there is a snack section on the planner, which will be handy to keep a track of the goodies that can be all eaten in one day if I’m not careful. Seriously, I can have doughnuts, cakes, biscuits, crisps etc and they’ll all be eaten within a day, or maybe two.

Anyway, let’s get on to this weeks meal Plan.

Weekly Meal Plan

Saturday – Curry (usually from a jar!)
Sunday – Lamb roast dinner
Monday – pies and mash (or roasters)
Tuesday – chorizo and Mozzarella Gnocchi Bake
Wednesday – fajitas
Thursday – Brinner (fry up)
Friday – Something light as we are going out (pizza maybe?)

With the option of wiping off and swapping around on the planner I’m sure this will be happening a lot. I always have a back up food in the freezer for those days. It’s generally chicken or fish and chips!

Linking up with Katy Kicker’s Meal planning linky.

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Weekly Meal Plan – Sweet and Sour

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 athomealot

I think sweet and sour sums up last week too. I was so bored of the same meals that I wrote my meal plan with the idea what I already had in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. We did stick to most of it, and my shopping bill was only £130. Also, I didn’t spend much during the week either. So, I might have been bored of food but it was cheap. The only meal I swapped was on the Wednesday, I’d put fish or pork, and we ended up having toad-in-the-hole.

This weeks Meal Plan

I’m doing a sweet and sour this week as my son has been asking for months. I love it made in the slow cooker, it’s so easy, just through it all in and let it cook. Then make some rice to go with it. I’m thinking about making some battered quorn or tofu and straining off some of the sauce for my daughter. She likes the sauce but won’t eat chicken or most of the vegetables.

Let’s get on to this weeks meal plan

Saturday – Take out
Sunday – Stir Fry
Monday – Sweet and Sour Chicken
Tuesday – Sausage ragu (or sausage pasta bake)
Wednesday – pies and mash or chips
Thursday – quiche / salmon parcels.
Friday – pasta with spinich and stilton.

We are already on Sunday and we started with a Take Out because Graham went out and I didn’t feel like cooking, plus we had kind of ate everything we had.

Today, Sunday, we are having a stir fry because I really fancy it. I cook the chicken, noodles and vegetables and keep everything seperate. Then everyone can choose what they actually want in their stir fry and it takes a minute to fry it up with their chosen seasoning or sauce. Star doesn’t eat noodles so I’ll make her a little mash and she can have chicken and vegetables with mash instead.

I’m a bit worried about the sausage ragu, but we’ve had sausage pasta bake before so I’ll just make sure it’s got ingredients that will please everyone. I’ll add the pasta last, so Star can have mash again.

The sweet and sour can be served with rice, or noodles or even chips (star doesn’t eat rice either!)

I’m actually beginning to look forward to food again and I love all the inspiration I get from reading the other weekly meal plans in Katy’s meal planning linky.

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Weekly Meal Plan

July 21, 2019July 21, 2019 athomealot

Last Weeks Plan and what was Eaten

Last weeks meal plan went okay although we may have swapped the days around. Thats not a problem though, so long as the meals get eaten and I don’t have to fork out on Take Outs…Yay, we managed no take out’s last week. With our holiday looming closer I’m looking to saving as much as possible and take outs for 7 are not cheap!

This week I have to budget in kids lunches, we’ve had a talk about this and some of the things we have come up with are, chicken dippers, fish fingers, pasta, noodles, enchiladas and savoury pancakes. Not a bad start, I’ll see how we get on. I’m treating them to a chip shop lunch tomorrow as I will be in hospital all day and their Dad is taking them to visit his mum. Our evening meal will have to be quick and easy because I can’t do much when I get home from hospital, so it’s probably going to be pizza.

This Weeks Meal Plan

Saturday – Curry, rice and poppadoms
Sunday – Meatballs and spaghetti
Monday – Pizza
Tuesday – Peri Peri Chicken (from a kit in our Degustabox)
Wednesday – Tacos
Thursday – pasta bake
Friday – Fish and Chips

The Peri Peri Chicken is a 3 stage cooking kit from Simply Cook which we had in last weeks Degustabox. It looks quite interesting but I doubt I would buy it again unless it became available in my regular supermarkets. I guess we’ll see how it goes. I do like the Nando’s peri per sauce though.

I’m not sure what kind of pasta bake I will do yet. I need to finish my shopping first so I’ll be looking for inspiration.

Next Saturday is Boo’s birthday and she’s having some friends over for a tea party. I’m hoping to extend the food into something we can all have for dinner. My older kid’s complain about party food, just like they do about BBQs saying it’s not enough and doesn’t feel like a real meal! I believe we eat twice as much as we normally would. I mean when would you ever dish up a burger meal with more than two burgers, a hot dog, a kebab stick, corn on the cob and salad? (which is the average amount eaten by them at a BBQ)

I can’t wait to read what everyone else is cooking this week on Katy’s link up.

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This Weeks Meal Plan

June 22, 2019June 22, 2019 athomealot

Last weeks meal plan went ok, again apart from the slow cooker lamb curry which as I speak is in the slow cooker! I also have some naan bread, although I didn’t make it, I’m being lazy again, but although I love making bread it can be time consuming and you can buy it ready made so cheaply.

Also we swapped our tacos for Chicken Souvlaki which were really tasty. I didn’t make my own pitta bread though, I bought some flat breads from Sainsburys. I have made pitta bread before though.

Instead of the curry we just had burgers and that’s why the curry is on the list today.

Bread

I’m keen to have a go at making some bread in my breadmaker. I bought it a while ago and as with most new kitchen gadgets it got used all the time at first, but now it’s gathering dust. I’m thinking of maybe a nice desert type of bread, chocolate and orange maybe? I’m off to look for a recipe now.

Oh, and the freezer is nearly empty so I’m hoping to defrost it tomorrow 🙂

This weeks Meal Plan

Saturday – Slow cooker lamb curry
Sunday – Lasagna
Monday – Tacos (because we didn’t have them last week)
Tuesday – chicken and chorizo paella
Wednesday – chicken and chips
Thursday – pizza
Friday – Toad-in-the-hole

I hope it goes well. I’m also hoping to do just one shop this week. Last week I did a shop at Sainsburys, but there were some things I could only get from Morrisons, so I split the shop between the two, taking forever to see which items were cheaper. I believe that Sainsburys is cheaper than Morrisons for so much more!

I still spent less than £200 though…and not one single take out. yippee!

We did go out for my brother’s birthday last Saturday and the bill for six of us was £55, which I think is amazing. We didn’t order desert because my brother had his birthday cake (Which I made.)

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My Weekly Meal Plan

May 25, 2019May 23, 2019 athomealot

I didn’t write a meal plan for the last week because I was away and since getting back I’ve been really overwhelmed with things to do, never mind writing down our menu.

Good news is, we managed our BBQ (which was on my last published meal plan) and got to use my new garden table. I’m a bit fed up of regular BBQ food though, I may have to look for some alternatives.

I’m in hospital this Tuesday for treatment so I’ve opted for something quick and easy to add to the menu, pizza!

A dish of colourful food to illustrate our weekly meal plan menu

This Weeks Meal Plan Menu

Monday – pasta bake
Tuesday – pizza
Wednesday – Hot Dog sausage rolls
Thursday – Lasagne
Friday – Fish and chips
Saturday – Curry
Sunday – pie and mash

I spent a total of £160 on this weeks shopping which I think is really good, so I’m hoping I can stick to that in the future. Next payday, I’m thinking of a little trip to a cheaper store to stock up on things like washing liquid and other cleaning products as well as cat food and maybe even a few freezer things for back up. It’s always good to have a well stocked freezer just in case no-one fancies what’s on the menu. I like a good stack of tins and packets too.

If I’m honest, we could probably manage a week or two on buying nothing but perishables (milk, bread etc.) I know my Mum used to have to do this sometimes. We do get lazy with cooking though. I also have a store cupboard of herbs and spices and it’s just a case of adding fresh meat, fish or quorn for a delicious meal. I really need to cut down on take outs because we can’t be bothered to cook. It makes such a huge difference to my meal budgeting. A take out for 7 people is very expensive.

Linking up to Katy and her Meal Planning linky

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Weekly Meal Plan

May 11, 2019May 11, 2019 athomealot

My meal plan, a photo of a plate of colourful food

This weeks Meal Plan

Monday – BBQ
Tuesday – lasagne
Wednesday – Mediterranean fish
Thursday – pizza
Friday – chicken and chips
Saturday – Take out
Sunday – Pies

Last week’s meal plan went okay, apart from not having the Mediterranean fish, so I’ve put that again this week.

We may have a move around of meals this week as we’ve been promised warmer weather and I’ve a freezer full of BBQ food. I guess we’ll have to wait for the right day though. I’ve also got a new garden table that I’m itching to use…so please weather, be kind this week.

Also, we won’t be home on Friday and Saturday. My plan is to treat the older two left behind to a take out. Hopefully it won’t cost too much for just the two of them. Friday they can stick in some chicken and chips from the freezer, or have whatever they can find. They are old enough to fend for themselves.

Shopping last week was a bit of a nightmare as I had a ‘funny turn’ while doing the online shop and had to give up. I wasn’t even sure if I’d been through the payment page, but I did and the shopping arrived on Monday…well, about three quarters of it did. We still managed up until the weekend though, then I had to do a quick top up shop at Iceland. Total shopping this week works out at £160, plus little extras for milk, bread etc. As there are seven of us, I call that a good week.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do next week as I will be away the weekend. I may have to forward plan and get the shop done early but still to arrive on Monday. I just hope I don’t forget!

Linking up with Katy’s Meal Planning Linky.

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Weekly Meal Plan

May 4, 2019May 5, 2019 athomealot

Meal Planning

I haven’t done a meal plan here in a little while because I was doing it on Monday after the shopping had arrived and it seemed disadvantageous. I do my weekly shop online on Sunday, so now I’m planning earlier so I know what I want to buy, rather than what I’m going to cook with what I’ve bought. It’s not rocket science really is it!

This Weeks Plan

Monday – Mediterranean fish and new potatoes
Tuesday – Turkey Meatballs and spaghetti
Wednesday – Hot Dog Rolls and fries
Thursday – Pasta bake
Friday – Fish and chips
Saturday – Curry
Sunday – Chicken roast

The fish on Monday is a pre-prepared one. Graham will need a chicken alternative due to his fish and seafood allergy

The Turkey meatballs we buy ready made and I make a lovely tomato based sauce for them. I don’t eat spaghetti (yes, even I’m a pain sometimes) so I’ll have mine with pasta instead.

Quick recipe – Hot Dog Rolls

Hot Dog rolls are surprisingly delicious. I buy frankfurter sausages and ready made puff pastry. Roll out the pastry and cut it into strips just a little longer and just over twice as wide as the sausages. The put the sausage in the middle and smear with mustard and tomato ketchup (or whatever relish you prefer.) Then I slit the pasty on either side of the sausage at slight angles kind of like wings on each side. Then brush with egg wash and fold the sides alternately. Or you can just wrap them up like sausage rolls. Brush the tops with egg wash and bake until puffed and golden (About 15 to 20 minutes.)

Young’s Frozen fish is our favourite brand. We have found that beer battered fish is less soggy when baked. If you want a fish without a soggy bottom then I’ve found getting it out of the freezer 10 minutes before cooking works best.

Curry on Saturday will be from a jar, we are currently trying all brands to find our favourite.

The Sunday Roast is not a family favourite, so I’ll provide some pasta dishes for those that complain.

Shopping

We actually went to the supermarket last week, and still have some food left that will help with this weeks shop. I will be back to shopping online this week though.

One thing I picked up which I wouldn’t normally buy is cold teabags. Now I have to drink a lot of water because of my treatment and I get fed up of plain water. So, I thought I’d try something different. These are okay, a little less stronger than squash and they gave you the sort of flavour you’d expect from a bottle of still flavoured water. They were a bit more expensive but I found I could leave the ‘teabag’ in and keep refilling my bottle and the flavour lasted for about four 500ml bottles, so better value in the end.

Fingers crossed it all goes to plan this week.

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Meal Planning Monday

April 8, 2019July 5, 2019 athomealot

Meal plaaning monday image with a plate of food in the middle

This week I am joining in with Katy Kicker and her Meal Planning Linky. I’m hoping to make this a regular thing as I’m hopeless at sticking to making meal plans ot only that but my shopping habits have become a mess. I’m spending more than £200 a week on food and we are still turning to take outs at least once a week. I NEED HELP!

So, I’m giving this a lot of thought and writing down my plan before I do my online shop. Then I’ll revisit next week and see if it has helped. I’m not expecting miracles straight away, but hopefully I’ll get there eventually.

Monday: fajita pasta bake
Tuesday: lasagne for boys, scallop tagliatelle for girls
Wednesday: Chicken and Chorizo Paella
Thursday: quiche
Friday: fish and chips (chicken)
Saturday: Curry
Sunday: roast dinner

The fajita pasta bake is a fairly new discovery that we love. I can’t remember where I first saw it now. It’s just like making fajitas but instead of putting the filling into wraps you put them into cooked pasta.

The Chicken and chorizo paella is a big favourite too. My husband is allergic to fish and sea food so it’s a paella he can enjoy. It’s my husband who will have chicken instead of fish on Friday too.

chicken and chorizo paella on a plate — Chicken and Chorizo Paella

We haven’t had quiche for a while, the boys are easy and will share any shop bought one. I generally make one from scratch for the girls, but I’ve found a ‘free from’ one that we like.

I may change the curry on Saturday as we seem to have it a lot and we’re getting a bit bored. But hopefully the rest of the week will go to plan.

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