Winter nights.

I haven't posted in ages; I never feel like I have anything to say. However, I only have 2 days left in employment so I will need to re-address everything in our current lifestyle, whilst I am searching for another job.

In other news, these are things I have eaten/made lately:

 

You cannot beat berries in vanilla yogurt. The simple things in life, and all that.

My first attempt at soda bread:

Pretty pleased with that result - we're having it with a sausage, chorizo and bean casserole for tea so I'm hoping it goes down well! 

And lastly, something to pop in OH's lunch box:

  

These are Hugh FW's energy booster bars

which include lots of seeds and dried fruit.

Keeping on plodding, at any rate!

N xx

November blues.

This is what I have eaten for lunch today, as I am at home ill. Got a horrible cold which has spread to my chest and I just can't stop coughing. I'll make an appointment at the doctors if it doesn't seem to be getting better soon. 

N xxx

Obsession.

I feeling that I am beginning to develop an obsession with cinnamon porridge.

Accompanied with green tea. 

I guess there could be worse things to be obsessed with. 

N xxx

It's been a while.

It's definitely been a while. I just never know what to write about, my life is not exciting.

Here's a picture of a recent attempt at pizza, homemade. (does anyone know why my baking tray has gone like that? it won't come off!) OH liked it.

N xxx

Friday times.

I'm having one of those days today, where I feel totally fed up and down for no reason at all. Cue watching rubbish on the tv and generally not doing much. 

Picture of my lunch today; ham salad and a slightly naughty hot chocolate from a well know coffee chain. A little treat to myself :) 

Here's to the weekend. 

N xx

holiday relaxation.

Me and OH have recently been on a holiday to Tunisia for a week, and it was lovely :) We certainly did a lot though! 

This was the view from our balcony. 

This was a preserved amphitheatre. 

Lots of rocky hills, where locals build their houses into the rocks. 

We went on a camel ride in the Sahara desert - here are the camels waiting. 

Waiting for the sun to rise about 5:30AM. 

The sunrise. 

We also went off roading in the desert which was amazing! 

Some of the sand dunes. 

Camels in the desert! 

And finally, some raccoons snoozing at a nearby zoo. 

We had a lovely time and it certainly feels cold in England as it was in the 40s every day. 

N xxx

Life's just peachy.

So, bought a few more bits and pieces today, so will update that in a second.

Firstly, I had a very yummy breakfast today. Well, it was around 11AM, so I'm not sure if that's not technically breakfast, but still. 

Porridge with the last of the blueberries, sliced peach and a glass of grapefruit juice. 

I love the fruit you can get in the summer; blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, melon - delicious! 

I popped to Sainsbugs this afternoon for a few things:

- one white loaf - £1

- 4 peaches - £1

- one blueberry muller corner - 61p

- salad bag - £1.50

Total: £4.11

So, the grocery total for this week now stands at £17.38. Not too shabby! 

I've spent the afternoon with a friend helping her clear her garden, and spending time with her gorgeous little boy in the sunshine.

Summer 2011 is turning out to be pretty good, so far. 

N xxx

Week Three.

Things have been so hectic lately, I've not had a moment to think! 

We're on the third week of trying to keep our food budget under £30. This week is slightly different. The haddock we had for tea this evening was given to us by my grandparents, with leftover veg. We're going to a friend's house for tea tomorrow, so haven't needed to buy anything for that. Wednesday and Thursday I'm doing a fruit juice detox, which includes only fruit juice, green tea and water for 48 hours, so I have only had to buy some fruit juice. This weekend we are going to a family wedding, so are away Saturday and Sunday, so it's left us with very little to actually buy!

So, our receipt for this week:

- bottle of water - 60p

- 2 quiches - £3

- Grapefruit juice - £1.60

- Tomato and mascapone sauce - £1.26

- Pizza - £2

- Blueberries (reduced) - 87p

- spaghetti - 78p

- 5 bananas - 76p

- Cucumber - 40p

- 1 x white loaf - £1

- Skips - £1

Total : £13.27

Amazing!

Our food menu for the week looks like:

Monday (today) - haddock with roast vegetables with an orange and honey sauce

Tuesday - out for tea :)

Wednesday - pizza (oh), juice (me)

Thursday - quiche with salad (oh), juice (me)

Friday - meatballs with spaghetti and tom sauce (oh), soup (me, from cupboard)

Our tea was very nice, especially as the fish was given to us for free!

 

The only problem is I love roast veg, and can never judge the portion - oops! Still, definitely got our 5-a-day today. 

N xxx

healthy steps and a freebie!

So, yesterday I had chicken soup for tea, which wasn't particularly exciting, so didn't take a pic of that. Today was slightly better, as all these ingredients went into our evening meal:

We had veg stir fry, which was served with some rice [not shown]. I was going to take a pic of the end result, but then forgot as was busy eating! =D

We were also lucky, as we got given some free veg yesterday in the form of a small courgette and some broad beans (in their pods):

The courgette was a nice addition to the stir fry, and I shall have the broad beans as a snack tomorrow, as OH doesn't like them! These were from a friend's garden, and were very much appreciated :) 

And, a walk on a lovely evening is good for blowing away the cobwebs :) 

N xxx

small comforts.

One of my favourite meals in the world is chicken fajitas. They are pretty simple to make, fairly cheap and really yummy.  In fact, I would eat this every week, if I could get the idea approved by my OH :) 

Here are my two fajitas on the plate, waiting for salad to be added. Inside these are just chicken, some onion, orange pepper and spinach, along with the seasoning - yum! 

Also this evening I have baked a tea loaf from ingredients in the store cupboard; this will be used for snacks/puddings for OH. I'm hoping not to eat any, as I'm trying to lose weight. I'm not promising anything though! 

Day one of this week has gone well - I haven't spent anything today.

N xxx

the food receipt, week one.

So, first week trying to stay within £30 on the food budget. We popped to do our food shopping today, and we got the following:

- 1 tin chicken soup - 74p

- 4 x branston beans - £1.50

- 2 x peach barley water - £2

- 2 x white onions - 48p

- salad cream - £2.09

- 2 x carrots - 14p

- 2 x orange pepper - £1.60

- 2 x baking potato - 79p

- broccoli - 70p

- baby spinach - £1.25

- bananas - £1

- 2 x chicken breasts (value) - £2

- mushrooms - 84p

- cashew nuts - £1

- crispy chicken - £2

- fajita mix - 59p

- tortillas - £1

- 2 x hovis loaves - £2

- pepperoni pizza - £1.79

Total: £23.51

Now, some of the things on that list will be used in different weeks - for example there are 4 pieces of crispy chicken, so there will be 2 left over for another week. Also, the salad cream will last longer than this week. The branston beans were on offer, so they'll last us a while. The pizza is for the other half, when he's at work late, so it's something easy for him to pop in the oven. If I were better at this, I'd have pizza dough ready made in the freezer, but I'm not. Likewise the bread, other half has 2 sandwiches a day for his lunch or tea, and again if I was better, they would be in homemade bread. But, I'm only just starting out, so baby steps. 

The menu for the week looks like this:

Today (sun) - lamb chops (from freezer) with mustard mash, carrots, with a red wine (left over) and mushroom sauce.

Monday - chicken fajitas with salad 

Tuesday - Meatballs with tomato sauce and spaghetti (him), soup (me)

Wednesday - Veg stir fry with rice

Thursday - Pizza (him), soup (me, from store cupboard)

Friday - crispy chicken, chips and beans (him), egg on toast (me)

Now, the salad, meatballs, spaghetti, rice, soup and eggs are all things we have in already, but that's part of the challenge. Another thing to aim for is that we never chuck any food out, and incorporate leftovers into the next day meals - so we're doing that. 

Overall, pretty pleased so far. Just realised that I forgot to get tomatoes though! D'oh!

N xx

a healthy breakfast.

Most mornings, I have a smoothie of some sorts.

Take some fruit and chop up. In this case, banana with strawberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.

Add some milk.

Whizz up :)

Ta-da!

A yummy, fairly cheap, filling breakfast. A good way of getting some of your 5-a-day too :)

N xx

an eighteen birthday party.

I went to a garden party yesterday for a friend's daughter's 18th birthday party :) there was lots of lovely food! 

There were 5 quiches, pictured are two pea and feta quiches, and an asparagus quiche. 

The pea and feta one was SO nice! 

A whole poached salmon, which was lovely too :)

The best potato salad in the world! 

Bulgar wheat with mango, radish, cucumber and herbs. 

Almond macaroons with chocolate mouse filling and cupcakes :) 

Ginger cake filled with cream and some berries. 

A pink cupcake! 

which was also pink inside :) 

I ate quite a lot yesterday, but it was really worth it - plus I was there for lunch and tea!

The detox starts tomorrow ;)

N xx