Our weekly meal plan! 27th July - 2nd August!! #MealPlanningMonday

How are we heading into August already? I keep saying it but this year is flying over! Before we know it, we'll be buying Halloween sweets and then it'll be Christmas! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was a nice quiet one and just what we needed. Our weekend was mostly spent gardening, watching TV and nothing much else. It was nice though.

Last week's meal plan did not go to plan at all and only started going to plan on Friday. lol All our plans changed at the start of the week and we never really got back on track. All was good though. We didn't eat badly and we ended up having ham salad one night because it was quick and easy, chicken fajitas because everyone fancied them and some leftover Bolognese from the freezer, which was one of those meals that saved the day.

This week we have a few nice plans that I'm looking forward to. Becky is planning on doing a little baking. It all came about because her partner couldn't get their favourite banana bread from the shop, so she said she would bake some. I bought the bananas with the food shop late last week so they will be almost overripe when she comes to use them. Stu also has a day off work this week, which doesn't happen all that often, so we're going to make the most of it and do something as a family. Everyone is free and it has been a while since that happened.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Pork and apple sausages with potato wedges and mushrooms and peas!

We're starting the week with something nice and easy. I really like pork and apple sausages as they just seem a bit more interesting than plain sausages and the apple gives them a lovely little bit of sweetness. I'll pop the potato wedges in the air fryer until they're nice and crispy, the mushrooms fried and we'll have peas on the side too.

Tuesday - Chicken dippers in wraps with salad!

This is one of those meals where everyone can make their own wrap just how they like it. I'll cook the chicken dippers in the air fryer and everyone can fill them with whatever they want. Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and whatever salad bits we have in the fridge.

Wednesday - Cheeseburger pasta bake!

We're having something a little different in the middle of the week. We had this cheeseburger pasta bake before, many moons ago and I fancy making it again. It has all the flavours of a cheeseburger but mixed with pasta and loads of cheese on top. I'll probably serve it with some garlic bread because this meal feels like it has to have garlic bread!

Thursday - Quiche and salad!

After Wednesday's pasta bake, we're keeping things nice and simple on Thursday! Quiche is an easy tea and it's perfect at this time of year with plenty of salad. It will be shop-bought quiche, probably cheese and onion or cheese and bacon.

Friday - An all day breakfast!

We'll be having sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans and chips. I know some people would prefer to have hash browns but we've always preferred chips as they seem more filling.

Saturday - Chinese takeway!

We haven't had a Chinese takeaway in what seems like ages, so I think we're due one. I usually go for sweet and sour chicken balls with fried rice but I will be pinching bits from everyone else's meals too. That's the best thing about a takeaway in our house, everyone shares.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plan for Sunday. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy and use up bits from the fridge, freezer and cupboards.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 19th - 25th July Week 30 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. I have had a great week with lots of time outside, which is always a good thing when the weather has been so nice, warm but not too hot! We've had another quiet weekend so far and I don't have much planned for today apart from watching TV, catching up on some blogging and eating lots of nice food.

Now for a photo every day!

200/365 19th July

I didn't want to like the half-time show during the World Cup, it seemed like such an American thing but I loved it! My favourite part was definitely The Muppets appearing. I was not expecting that at all and it made me laugh. 

201/365 20th July

Mine and Ellie's little adventure on the sculpture trial started with brunch! We decided to have something to eat before heading off and it was a lovely way to start our day. The food was only OK though. The sausages were too undercooked for my liking and the bacon was overdone. We didn’t let that spoil our day and we definitely walked off all the calories afterwards.

202/365 21st July

I don’t think my cherry tomatoes are actually cherry tomatoes! They are carrying on growing and growing but they are not turning red yet. I keep checking them hoping to see them changing colour but not yet. I do love growing things, even when it doesn’t always go exactly to plan.

203/365 22nd July

It seems like years since I have had a butterfly cake! Ellie brought me one in and it took me straight back to being a kid. They were always a Sunday afternoon tea treat and a favourite at parties. It was a lovely little surprise and definitely brightened up my day.

204/365 23rd July

I love the sunflowers in my garden. I always thought sunflowers moved to face the sun but mine are doing their own thing and pointing in all different directions. I read that young sunflowers do follow the sun but once they mature they usually face east. There's a little fun fact for you.

205/365 24th July

The farmers around here have been really busy harvesting their crops over the past couple of weeks. We've heard them at all hours doing their thing. It always amazes me how quickly it all happens. They were busy on Thursday and I passed by the field while they were combining. I ended up getting a mouthful of dust from the machines but I still had to stop and take a photo because it is such a fun part of living in the countryside.

206/365 25th July

Stu is planning on decorating the bathroom when he has some time off work next month. He has some big plans and has been ordering stuff in preparation. Instead of painting around the shower, he's ordered some PVC shower wall panels, so it'll look a bit different when it's finished. It's his project, so I'm quite happy to let him get on with it. The last couple of times the bathroom has been decorated, I've been the one doing all the work, so I'm more than ready to let him get on with it. It might be one of the smallest rooms in the house but it always seems to take the most work!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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

This week my Word of the Week is:

I hope you have all had a great week. Mine has been fantastic with a good mix of being busy, staying on top of things at home and of course, some downtime. We've had some lovely weather here this week. The temperature has been just right for me! It has been great to open the back door and have a bit of a breeze coming through the house, even if the flies did come in. Hmmf.

I've spent quite a bit of time in the garden this week. I had an afternoon out there pulling weeds, trimming things back and giving everywhere a bit of a tidy up. There's still of course lots to do but by the time I'd finished, it looked lovely and I felt very pleased with myself. Of course, now there are already more weeds appearing. Ugh. It really is a never-ending job!

The biggest excitement has been my tomato plants. I have around ten of them and they're all doing really well, although they all seem to be growing at different speeds. Some are full of green tomatoes while others are only just catching up. Every morning I go and check on them and see how they are doing. I was convinced one of the plants would already have ripe tomatoes on by now but what I thought were going to be little cherry tomatoes are actually much bigger and they still seem to be growing. I hope it won't be long until I can pick some. I have lots of plans for tomatoes this year!

The school summer holidays officially started this week where I live. It still feels a little strange, even though Ellie has now finished college. For the last 20 years, our lives seemed to revolve around school holidays and now they don't but I can't help thinking that we should be making plans, having adventures and enjoying the extra free time. Things are different now but Ellie and I still decided to have a little adventure together. We headed into town to take part in the We're Going on a Bear Hunt sculpture trail. Since I read about it online I have been dying to go hunting for the bears. I don't think either of us realised quite how much walking we'd end up doing. By the end of the day we had walked miles. One of the best things about our little adventures was that we explored parts of our little town we had never been to before, walked down streets we don't usually use and noticed little things we'd never noticed before.

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 30. #FridayFavourites

Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a great week. Mine has been a good one and I have been quite busy. I am here today sharing what I have loved this week and I am of course linking up with Erika and Andrea to share.

My girls and appointments!

My girls have had a busy week. My eldest went to view another house with her partner. They liked this one a lot more than the previous one they viewed and didn't get. It ticks more boxes and isn't too expensive. Hopefully, this will be the one for them. My youngest has been here, there and everywhere. She has had a few appointments and managed to find her way to them with only a couple of phone calls to me asking for directions when she got lost. It was a new area to her and travelling there was way out of her comfort zone but she did it!

A bear hunt!

My youngest and I went on the We’re Going on a Bear Hunt sculpture trail in Scunthorpe, the town where we live. There are ten large bears hidden around the town as well as eight little bear cubs to find. We didn't quite manage to find all of them but we found more than half, so I'm calling that a success. We walked for miles, stopped off for lunch and even got a drink from Starbucks! It was a good day!

Elle!

When I heard there was going to be a series about Elle Woods before Legally Blonde, I was a little unsure but I loved the new series on Prime! It's all about Elle’s teenage years and shows us what she was like before Harvard. I watched it all in a couple of days and loved it! Nobody can replace Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods because she made the character iconic but Lexi Minetree does a fantastic job of making the role her own! One of my favourite things about the series was the 90s setting. The clothes and the music.

Cooler weather!

It's still warm here, warm enough to enjoy being outside but not as warm as it has been and I am loving it. It has been mostly 20C today, which is 68F and that is the perfect temperature for me. It is easier to sleep, housework doesn't feel as much of a chore and I have been able to get out into the garden. I've had a proper tidy up out there. The weeding has been done, well as much as I am willing to do. It's hard to tell what are weeds and what are flowers which haven't fully grown yet!

Sunflowers!

One of my favourite things about this time of year is watching the sunflowers bloom.

Little House on the Prairie!

Surely we have all heard of Little House on the Prairie? Netflix has a new version, telling the story of the Ingalls family as they leave their home and begin a new life on the American frontier. The scenery was stunning and the costumes too. I like the characters, especially the kids and I watched it all in a couple of days. I really enjoyed watching it. It’s one of those shows that doesn't need all the flashy drama. Sometimes the simplest stories can be the best ones.

Reading challenge!

At the start of the year, I set myself a challenge on Goodreads to listen to 35 audiobooks. I imagined I'd listen to a couple a month but I have just realised it's week 30 of the year and I have just started my 30th book which means I am averaging one a week! Go me! I never thought I would be someone to enjoy books but here we are.

What have you loved this week?