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

Thrifty tip... Use up every last drop

Hi everyone, not much to say at the moment, so I thought I would start sharing my thrifty tips and ways.

Thrifty tip number 1:

Use up every last drop

This means from any bottle, jar, tin or tube. I turn my sauce bottles upside down, I add a little water to tinned tomatoes to swill out what's left, I add water to the end of shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/anti-bacterial soap/washing-up liquid bottles, I cut open tubes of toothpaste or creams to scrape out every last bit. All of these containers end up in the recycling box completely empty so nothing is wasted. 

You have paid for a whole bottle, tin, jar or tube, so it's worth spending a little time getting at it all.

          ..............................

My meal planning has gone well and we've had some really tasty meals from my new Mary berry book. I've also done a little bit of baking...

Homemade coleslaw 

Fish pie 

That's it for now, but you can find me on Instagram mandymand95

Thanks for reading 

Mandy xx