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

Chinese style chicken...a recipe

Hi everyone!

Yesterday's tea was chinese chicken.

1. Cut chicken into strips with scissors and brown in a little oil (I used 2 breasts for 3 adults and Daisy)
2. Add chopped spring onions and any other suitable veg you have (I used frozen chinese stir fry veg)
3. Continue to stir fry until the chicken and veg are cooked.
4. Meanwhile, I followed the packet instructions and made up a bowl of chinese savoury rice (AF use up), asda cheap chicken noodles and I heated sweet chilli sauce and hoi sin sauce (both AF use up) for dipping and pouring. Daisy's chicken and veg was removed as she obviously cannot eat processed sauces.
5. Finally, I made a little sauce to stir into the chicken stirfry - a few squirts of tom puree, some honey and a couple of dashes of soy sauce ( this was a trial and error sauce so I tasted it until it was right), this was addded to the chicken before serving.
6. We ate the meal with prawn crackers (AF use up)

I didn't like those sauces so that's why I added the final sauce (I hate dry food). They didn't like the hoi sin because it had a lot of ginger in it, so the other jar in the cupboard will be given to my son to try. The sweet chilli went down well, as did the prawn crackers!

This recipe could be adapted to what sauce you may have to use up or what vegetables need using too.

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Jane - We had a rat after the chicken food once so we keep a poison trap down that the chickens can't access. We've never seen another one since.

Daisy woke at 4am this morning then again at 6. She was really hungry at 4 and gulped down her bottle. So it seems we are not there yet!

WELL DONE DANIEL!!!

I used to teach reception children and we celebrated all achievements and hard work, academic or otherwise. We can ask no more of children than to try their best and he obviously does that. Most importantly is for children to feel safe and happy at school. Emotional well-being has a huge effect on a child's day and is paramount to learning. You providing a stable home environment for him is reflected in his recognition from his teachers. WELL DONE TO YOU TOO!!!

I just can't stop teaching (and learning), this week I have taught Daisy to show me where her ears are! She is nearly there with hair and eyes (mine). This is why no housework gets done! She's like a little sponge, soaking everything around her up. She's interested in everything and points to things so we take a closer look. She may be slow in moving around, but she chatters now and really listens, so I think she may be like her mummy - a chatterbox!

Ironing - 20 mins a day is all I can manage at the moment!

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Thanks for reading,

Mandy x