How I decide what's for tea...

Hi everyone, I hope you're all well.

I thought I'd share with you how I decide what to cook for tea.

I have tried proper meal planning, looking through my recipes and writing a shopping list. This doesn't actually work for me because I often change my mind! I have actually found a way that suits us better now...

As I use something up, I write it on my shopping list that I keep on the fridge. When I'm actually shopping, I look out for bargains...reduced items, roll back items and offers on things that I can make a meal out of. I particularly look at the meat for a base for our meals. When I'm unpacking the shopping, I split meat into smaller portions and freeze it. 

Each day I look at my fresh foods that need using up first. I will get the meat out of the freezer that night to thaw for the next day. This way I make sure I don't have any waste. My lovely hubby works very hard and we still spend quite a lot on buying good quality food, so I owe it to him to not throw any away. 

Sometimes we just have leftovers. On Monday there was plenty of cold pork and roasties and veg leftover from our Sunday roast, so I did cold pork and bubble 'n' squeak. I used up what we had and had an easy day of cooking!

Yesterday a made a chicken dish...it doesn't have a name...I made it up as I went along! I knew I needed to use up some peppers and we fancied chicken. I looked through my recipe books for inspiration, but decided to cook a 'throw it all in' kind of meal...

First I browned the chicken with a chopped onion and red and green peppers.

I then added some frozen mixed veg and a can of sweet corn. This kept on cooking while I made a sauce...

Now this sauce is a bit of trial and error. I started off with a carton of passata, I added a little soy sauce (too salty for Daisy) and 2tbsp runny honey. I stirred in 2tbsp soft brown sugar too. I always add sugar to passata as it is quite bitter without. Then it just needs adjusting to taste...I added a little more honey and gradually added it to the chicken and veg. 

I continued to simmer until the chicken was cooked and cooked some rice. 

This was the finished product! It was nice...although I chose to add a little more soy sauce at the table.

Does anyone else eat 'throw it all in' meals???

Hopefully I'll be back soon!

Mandy x

I'll be back soon...

As the title says...I'll be back soon.

Thank you for your lovely comments and waiting for me to return.

Mandy x

Charity shop goodies and a message for Jane

Hi everyone,

On Saturday I went out with my lovely daughter Charlotte. We had lunch in the tearoom that's within Brackley Antique Cellar...

Then we had a mooch around the shops. Sadly, only one out of the three charity shops we found were open. This was a small but very friendly shop with some good bargain baskets. I picked up a few bits for Daisy here...

Daisy is really into rabbits and ducks, so I do collect different ones for her to cuddle. These were all in bargain baskets.

I also picked up some clothes for her...

The little dress is from baby gap and I paid 50p for it. The photo didn't come out very well, but it's a lovely navy blue with white edging. I also got her a long sleeved purple top and a winter hat, both were in the bargain basket...30p each. 

I can't wait until the Carboot  season starts again!

Other news... I want to blog but I need to be careful, so I don't see the point at the moment. 

There have been fencing repairs because of the weather and our cooker broke beyond repair, so not a very thrifty time for us :(

I can't wait to be able to bake again and start building my new blog. Hopefully soon.

Finally a message for Jane...

Thank you... pretty awful. I'm also going to sort out my google mail account if you'd like to 'chat'???

Thanks for reading

Mandy x