Our weekly meal plan! 21st - 27th September! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! We had a great one. I was out on Saturday night with friends. We went for a meal and then went to a country night at the pub where they had a singer on. It was a lot of fun! Yesterday we all had a lazy day. I spent most of it in front of the TV while doing some blogging, which is pretty much my idea of a perfect Sunday these days!

Last week's meal plan went well. I did swap a couple of meals around but we ate everything. Our favourite meal was of course the leftover roast dinner pie! I put all the leftovers from the Sunday dinner into a pie dish and pastry on top and it was so good! I love using leftovers to make a different meal. I really enjoyed using the Gousto boxes last week, so we have another one this week with some of our favourite meals!

This week is going to be a strange one with Ellie working! Eek! Everything is up in the air at the moment as she doesn't get her shift pattern until later today. I can see myself being on edge all day, until she is home and I can hear about how her first day went. It feels like such a big thing when your children start a new job, even when they are grown up. I am going to keep myself busy and have a big tidy up in the garden. There is always something that needs doing out there and I have been putting quite a few jobs off. Stu is talking about having a tidy in the garage but he can do that himself. I do not like all the creepy crawlies in there! I am quite happy to leave that job to him.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - No idea!

Stu is doing the cooking tonight, so it will be a surprise. I don't think he knows what he's planning to cook either but I think it will be something out of the freezer. I quite like nights like this because I don't have to decide anything. I can just turn up and eat!

Tuesday - Gousto meal - Mushroom Wellington With Onion Gravy And Mash!

This is one of our favourite meals from Gousto which is surprising considering my family are meat lovers. I think the first time we ate this I didn't tell them there was no meat in it. Hehehe This is a plant-based Wellington and you almost forget that it's supposed to have meat in it. Puff pastry is stuffed with mushrooms, sage and walnuts and served with mashed potato and covered in delicious onion gravy. It is one of those meals that sounds a little fancy but is actually really easy to make!

Wednesday - Gousto meal - Crispy Chicken Katsu Curry Burritos!

This is a fun twist on chicken katsu. Crispy breaded chicken and shredded lettuce wrapped in tortillas and topped with the most amazing sauce. Wrapping it all up makes it feel fun and it is a nice change from having katsu curry served in the usual way.

Thursday - Gousto meal - Sausage Meatball & Tomato Sauce With Fresh Orecchiette!

This is another one of our favourites from Gousto. My family would eat this every week given the chance. This one is sausage meatballs cooked in a tomato sauce, served with fresh orecchiette. Those little bits of pasta are brilliant at holding onto sauce. Every time I tell the girls we're having this, they look puzzled until I say the pasta, which is like the Skips crisps. lol

Friday - Chip shop tea!

We are back to having a chip shop tea this week and I am looking forward to it. No cooking and no fuss. The biggest drama is deciding what we fancy. Fish and chips? Sausage and chips? A burger? Kebab? Maybe a pie? There are so many options. Last week Stu and I had fish and chips and Ellie had her usual Doner kebab wrap.

Saturday - Pizza!

I don't know if it will be home made, fresh from the shop or frozen but I know it will be enjoyed.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plans for Sunday at all. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy and use up bits from the fridge, freezer and cupboards. There is always something that needs using up.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 13th - 19th September! Week 38 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. I was glad for the weekend to roll around. It was a hectic week with sorting out Ellie and her new job! You can read more about it in my Word of the Week post yesterday. It's only for 4 weeks, a temporary job but at least it's something. I am hoping for a nice little lie in this morning after being out last night with Becky and some friends. Today I am going to plonk my behind in my armchair, do some blogging and watch another Harry Potter movie!

Now for a photo every day!

256/365 13th September

Cooking a roast dinner is brilliant until you realise just how many dishes there are to wash afterwards! This wasn't even all of them! We don't have a dishwasher, so in our house the kids are the dishwashers and dryers. Hehehe! As much as I would love a dishwasher, we don't have the room in our kitchen and sometimes I do actually like standing looking out of the window and washing the pots, just not on a Sunday.

257/365 14th September

This looks like vomit but it was actually the leftover roast dinner pie filling! It wasn't the nicest thing to look at but it tasted so good! It had chicken, carrots, stuffing, parsnips, pigs in blankets and gravy, all mixed together and then I just whacked some puff pastry on the top. It was one of the best pies I have ever eaten, again! I say that every time that I make it. lol

258/365 15th September

I know it's far too early for Christmas things but I love the Merry Munch from M&S and Becky was very kind and treated me to an early tin. I couldn't resist opening it either. Christmas food seems to start appearing earlier and earlier every year and I am not complaining! There are milk chocolate coated salted peanuts, milk and white chocolate coated popcorn, salted pretzels, sugar coated milk chocolate peanuts, almonds in a salted caramel flavour coating and dark chocolate coated salted pretzels!

259/365 16th September

Just when I think my garden is finished giving me flowers, another one appears. This time it was another California poppy and it was such a lovely bright colour. It was so bright it was practically glowing!

260/365 17th September

I spotted the Pumpkin Spice Latte instant coffee sachets in Asda and couldn't resist giving them a try. They were £1.50 for four, which I thought was a pretty good price, especially when you pay around £4.50 for one from the actual Starbucks store. If they taste as good as the ones from Starbucks, I will be saving myself quite a bit of money. I haven't got around to trying them yet, I want to have one when I can sit down and really enjoy it.

261/365 18th September

On Friday I shared a photo of the biggest tomato from my garden which hasn't yet turned red and on Friday I think I found the smallest tomatoes growing in my garden! They are about the same size as small grapes. It amazes me that even in the middle of September things are still growing.

262/365 19th September

I had a look outside and it looked very grey. I was sure it was starting to rain too but the weather forecast says it should only last until lunchtime and then it will be dry until mid-week!

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This week my Word of the Week is: Progress!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

What a week! It seems to have flown over but at the same time dragged on. One minute it was Sunday morning and I was thinking about everything I needed to get done and now here we are at the weekend and I am wondering where the week went! I am very glad that it's the weekend. I think I need a bit of a breather after this week because it feels like there has been something going on every single day!

The big news from this week is that Ellie has bagged herself a job! At the moment, it is only a temporary one with four weeks of work but there is a possibility that it could lead to a temporary position afterwards. So, of course, we are keeping everything crossed and hoping that it works out for her. It is a start and after all the applications, waiting, interviews and stress we're very happy! Hopefully, this job will give her some experience and confidence too. If nothing more comes of it, she has at least 4 weeks worth of wages, something else to put on her CV and another reference. As well as getting everything sorted for her new job, Ellie is doing an English course to get the equivalent of the GCSE that she didn't pass. She has also had appointments almost every day this week, been sorting out all the paperwork and other things she needed for work and somehow still managed to find time to see her friends. I don't know where she gets the energy from. She did make me chuckle this week when she was filling out some forms. She hadn't written very much by hand since she was in college and she was sat there struggling. Not because she didn't know what to write but because her hand was aching! She did have quite a lot to write though. It sure did make me realise how much we have all got used to typing everything. I can't remember the last time I sat down and wrote more than a shopping list.

Monday was busy for me too. I was helping my dad and brother out with some admin stuff for their business. They don't usually have that much admin to do but the powers that be have brought in some new policies and there have been a lot of hoops to jump through and forms to fill in over the last month or so. It's not hard work but it is annoying. Over the last couple of weeks, the powers that be have been sending letters out which are fine but the emails are stupid! They are automated with reference numbers on them but no actual details about what part of the business the reference numbers refer to, which is not helpful! My dad rang them and managed to speak to an actual person but the person he spoke to was just as clueless and said to ignore the emails and hope that letters are sent with more details. That doesn't seem very professional to me. If you are sending people emails about something important and giving them reference numbers, surely the email should actually tell them what the reference number is for. It has made everything more difficult than it needs to be. I was back at my dad's yesterday and there was more admin to do. We seem to be making progress with it though. I know paperwork is just part of running a business but it's like this paperwork has been created just to make life more difficult than it needs to be.

I had planned to go shopping on Tuesday with the girls but by Tuesday it felt like I'd had a week of it already after spending most of Sunday cooking the roast dinner and being at my dad's on Monday. lol I just wanted a day to myself to catch up on things. I did miss out on a trip to TK Maxx and M&S which I am a little sad about, so I am going to have to drag Stu out sometime. I will need him to carry the bags. hehehe.

Looking back progress sums up my week. Ellie has got herself a job for now, started her English course and is getting into a new routine which feels like a big step forward for her. I've also made progress with my dad and brother, getting through the thick of all that admin even if there is still more to do!

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!

What I have loved this week! Week 38. #FridayFavourites

Happy Friday! I hope you've all had a good week. We have had a really great week with lots going on. I feel like things are getting busier and busier at the moment. Things seem so busy here at the moment and I feel like I have a never ending to-do list and there are never enough hours in the day to get through it all. I have a few things that have made me smile this week and, of course, I am linking up with Erika and Andrea to share what I have loved this week!

Big Brother UK!

The new series started this week and I am hooked again. There is a good mix of housemates and there is already more going on than I expected. Usually everyone is on their best behaviour in the first few days but there have already been blazing arguments! Eek! At the moment, I can't pick a winner or even think about who might make it into the final three, as I like more of the housemates than I dislike. Give it another couple of weeks and I will probably have completely changed my mind about half of them. I think the only people I am not keen on are Rochelle and Johanne as they have been rude and argumentative to each other and other people!

Google socks!

These made me laugh more than they should have. My fella brought a pair of socks home from work! He works for a phone company and they always have brands like Samsung, Motorola and Google Pixel going in holding little events, doing demonstrations, showing off their new products and they always bring gifts. Samsung are always the best. Last time they were in, they brought an ice cream van and big Stanley-type cups for everyone and this time, Google gifted everyone a pair of socks. lol You would have thought it would have been Apple bringing things in and giving stuff away at the moment, especially with their new phones being launched but no, they are meanies. They never seem to send goodies or even reps out to show off their phones.

Gousto Boxes!

I got our recipe box delivered over the weekend and we have been really enjoying the meals this week. I forgot just how easy a Gousto box makes things. There is no shopping for loads of different ingredients for each meal because everything I need is delivered. I just need to follow the recipe and make it. We've had some really nice meals this week, which you can see in my meal plan and I have already ordered the meals for next week too.

This tomato!

I am so chuffed with how big this tomato is but it's the middle of September and I feel like it should be turning red already! I keep checking it every day to see if anything has changed but it is just sitting there, being very green and taking its time. I had a quick look on Google and it says they take 20 to 30 days to turn red once they reach their full green size. This must be fully grown now because I don't think it can get much bigger!

A little job!

My youngest has got herself a job. It's only a temporary one for 4 weeks but we are hoping it could lead to a permanent position. She went to the interview early in the week and they rang her an hour later after interviewing other people and offered her the job. Yay! She knows it could just be 4 weeks worth of work so she's still applying for other jobs but it's also 4 weeks worth of money, something else to put on her CV and another reference, which is of course a big positive!

What have you loved this week?