Our weekly meal plan! 4th - 10th November. #MealPlanningMonday

Last weeks meal plan went well despite me swapping a couple of days around. Our favourite meal by far was the Hearty Beef, Carrot & Mustard Pie! The whole of my family thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted more. It's one that will be going on our list for again and again! I have finally found a meal that I wasn't that keen on, the Creamy Pork Meatball & Mushroom Tray Bake. It was just too creamy and a bit sickly and the meatballs were not that nice. It's not bad, out of all the Gousto meals we've had there was this one and the gnocchi that we had ages ago that we were not keen on which really isn't bad going.

This week we're having a break from Gousto, all the meals I was going to pick were one's we've had before and I can easily make myself as I have the recipes some of the ingredients already in and the fresh one's I just bought with the weekly food shop.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Stu is cooking and it's going to be a surprise as we have no idea yet. Something out of the freezer probably but I don't mind, I'm having a night off from the cooking.

Tuesday - Chicken and bacon pasta. My family is having this, I'm not. It's too cheesy and has broccoli in but they have asked for something like this and I found this recipe. I will have a ready meal out of the freezer.

Wednesday - Oven baked pork belly & winter veg pot roast with mashed potato - It's a Gousto meal which is basically pork belly, carrots and parsnips cooked in beef stock. You are supposed to cook it in the oven but it's a good one for the slow cooker.

Thursday - Sesame Pork & Mushroom Udon Noodle Stir Fry is another of our favourites from Gousto! This was the meal that made Ellie love mushrooms. She was trying to pick them out and in the end gave up and realised she like them. lol

Friday - Fish and chips with mushy peas.

Saturday - Red onion and bacon tart with potato salad.

Sunday - Minced beef, onions and mushrooms in gravy in giant Yorkshire puddings with carrots and mashed potato.

What are you eating this week?

Week 44 of #Project365 27th Oct - 2nd Nov! A photo every day for a year!

Hello Sunday, I hope you are having a nice relaxed day! I feel like I am in full Christmas mode at the moment. I have been doing some Christmas planning, buying gifts, drinking lots of hot chocolate, cosying up watching Christmas movies and putting the Christmas tree up did cross my mind yesterday. I didn't, I am holding off until the end of this month at least.

We have nothing planned for today. we're going to have a lazy one and I need to catch up on the washing. The girls always seem to bring down their baskets of dirty washing at the same time. Hmmf.

Now for a photo every day!

301/365 - 27th October

Sunday means it's time to play The Sims 4!

302/365 - 28th October

Tis the season for mince pies with a cuppa as an afternoon snack.

303/365 - 29th October

A new nail colour, in real life they look more purple than red. I've ordered some new gel colours for my birthday later on in the month to make a change from all the red looking one's.

304/365 - 30th October

Isn't Dobby just the cutest! I finally got around to doing my Lego set! I seem to have created a Harry Potter shelf in my house. I have Dobby, my Lego Hedwig and some other Harry Potter ornaments.

305/365 - 31st October

Baileys mini muffins! They are so nice. They may look small but one is just enough for a sweet treat. 

306/365 - 1st November

The sky was so pretty just as the sun was setting, the clouds were so fluffy! I seem to be catching the sunsets each evening now when I am cooking tea.

307/365 - 2nd November

I am getting organised with my Christmas film watching, I made a list of all the one's that I want to watch and where they are, Disney+ or Netflix.

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

This week my Word of the Week is:

I'm not using a single word this week, it's a phrase. Christmas planning! It's November so we are allowed to talk about all things Christmas now. hehehe

Sometimes I get my best ideas when I am just dosing off to sleep, sometimes I don't remember my ideas but this time I did and I think it's pretty genius! Becky is working over Christmas and starts a run of night shifts on Christmas day which means she will be sleeping all afternoon and getting up at about 6pm which would leave little time for her to enjoy the Christmas dinner so I've came up with a plan of having our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve! I asked my family about it and they all scoffed and said it's weird until I explained that I cook most of the Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve anyway so it's not much more work for me and Becky will be able to enjoy her Christmas meal, have a few drinks and not have to worry about work. Then on Christmas day we open our presents as normal and then have the rest of the day free to relax and we will of course have the leftovers from Christmas dinner to eat! They all agreed and said it is a pretty genius idea. Hooray!

I have the Christmas food shop delivery booked, I was lucky and was online doing my weekly food shop when they became available so snagged one for the date I wanted and the perfect time too. I have nothing on the list apart from 5 bottles of Bailey's, just to get it over the amount that I needed to book. 

The wine, lager and some things for the freezer were delivered yesterday and it all feels like it's all free. All year Stu saves his bonuses up from work and in November we start converting the points that he has saved into supermarket vouchers. Last year we thought it would be the last year for these vouchers as his company said they were stopping a lot of the bonuses but somehow Stu has earned 50,000 points which converts to £500 which is much more than we need for the Christmas food shopping.

I have bought most of the girls Christmas presents already, every year I say they are getting less now that they are older and this year I am sticking to it. Well I say that now but things might change closer to Christmas when I wrap the presents and think that they don't have enough. lol Now I need to think about advent calendars. Ellie is sorted I have ordered her a Hello Kitty one from Shein. Can you believe Hello Kitty is an in thing again? Becky used to love it when she was little, she had Hello Kitty everything but by the time Ellie was old enough it wasn't cool but now it's back in fashion, you only have to look in Primark and Ellie is a big fan! The rest of us I have no idea about. Stu and I will just get chocolate one's but I want a fun one for Becky but I don't think I will be able to top last years, she loved the rubber duck one. It started her obsession with ducks.

I am going to spend the weekend watching Christmas movies, tis the season even if it seems to come earlier each year. hehehe

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

What I have loved this week! Week 44. #FridayFavourites

This past week has flown over and I am glad to be almost at the end of it, I'm tired. This week always feels like hard work after Ellie had a week off from college for half term. I am here today sharing my favourites from the week and of course linking up with Erika and Andrea.

The darker evenings!

I am loving them at the moment, it's dark early but still light when my youngest is coming home from college. The sunsets are so pretty and I catch them every evening while I'm in the kitchen cooking our evening meal. I love shutting the curtains, putting my pj's on and getting cosy. I am losing all track of time though with it being darker earlier which means by come 8pm I am feeling like it should be bed time. 

Christmas food shopping!

Each year I save up my Tesco Clubcard points for Christmas and this year I got £29.50 which I didn't think was too bad considering I haven't used Tesco that much throughout the year!

Now is the time when I start buying Christmas food and drinks. I've started by buying wine and some lager it was on offer so I had to take advantage. I've ordered some things for the freezer. Stuffing, party food and some pigs in blankets, 48 of them. hehehe. Next week I will start on the snacks. Things like crisps, nuts and biscuits.

November!!

It's November, my favourite month! It's always a busy month for us and this year is no different, we have lots of exciting plans. It's my birthday in 3 weeks and the Christmas preparations are in full swing. I said I would wait until November to start watching Christmas movies and today is the day! Hooray!

Dobby Lego!!

Isn't he just adorable!! I got this Lego set for Christmas last year and I have just got around to doing it. I think I was putting it off thinking it would take hours but it only took about an hour and a half. I love it. Every one of my family said where's his sock, they weren't looking close enough, it's in the book as it should be. 

A Shein order!

I made a big order with Shein, the girls gave me their final Christmas lists and I have placed the order! There's everything from clothes, make up, ornaments, Funko Pops and a pair of boots in the order. This means that the majority of my Christmas present buying is done. Phew!

Hearty Beef, Carrot and Mustard Pie!

This was our favourite meal from the week, the Hearty beef, carrot and mustard pie! All the ingredients went in but I ignored the cooking instructions and put it in the slow cooker. It was amazing, perfect for a chilly evening! I think the secret, super ingredient was the wholegrain mustard, it's something I rarely use in cooking but I will be in future. It added so much more flavour, even my mustard hating girls loved it!

What have you loved this week?