A month in review: February 2013

The end of the month, again! February has definitely gone fast. It's been up and down again this month, though work is getting slightly easier, so should see that as a positive! I keep toying with different ideas, work-wise, but it would take an awful lot of courage and lots of planning, so I think it'll have to sit on the back burner for now... 

My aims for February were:

- Lose 4lbs

- Overpay £700

- Put £300 in Emergency Fund

- Have 16 No Spend Days

- Make a new type of loaf

I've lost 2lbs this month. Now, again not as much as I'd hoped, but I am getting more into the healthy eating again. I've given up chocolate, crisps, sweets, biscuits and cake for Lent, which is certainly helping! 

We've over-payed £640.40 this month, so a bit short of my target. However, I think that's still a fantastic amount to overpay, and we've done a lot in the house during the month, so that fact we've still managed to pull off a big number is big achievement. 

I've also managed to put £300 into the emergency fund, which just shows that we can do this, if we plan accordingly. I keep changing my mind about what I want our emergency fund to contain, between 6 months, 9 months or 12 months, and then whether it's just mortgage payment and council tax payment in there, or all bills, or all outgoings. Hmm. 

I've had 16 No Spend Days this month, just. Today marks the 16th one. I am finding that not taking my purse to work helps enormously, as I just don't have any money to spend!

I haven't made a loaf of bread, not even though about it to be honest. 

I managed to get a free book today, on freezing food, of all things! It looks interesting....:

There are some interesting recipes in here, which I will have to attempt soon! 

Look what I have!

It arrived in the post today!

I ordered it at the weekend using some vouchers I had, and it arrived in the post today. I can't wait to sit down and read through the recipes, drool over the pictures and be inspired to cook. 

Can anyone suggest any good recipes to start with? 

Planning for the week ahead.

This morning I have been so relaxed. I've eaten a (fairly) decandent breakfast, browsed online, wished for things, and then pondered others. 

I had this for breakfast

This is garlic mushrooms on toast. Mushrooms and garlic cooked in butter on toast. Lovely stuff.

I have been watching these all week, watching them turn colour:

Think they may have to be turned into something else soon. Banana loaf perhaps?

And, I've been having a cuppa and browsing through these, trying to decide what I want to make first...:

It's a hard life! 

In other news, the lighting in the kitchen in our new house is awful, as these pictures show. I'm having a hard time finding somewhere to photograph things so that they come out okay. I'm working on it, but they're pretty rubbish so far. It makes me want a nicer camera.... 

I will go and do some food shopping later, and decide on our weekly menu. Anything to take my mind off the fact that I'm starting a new job on Monday, and I'm starting to get quite nervous.... 

N xxx

Long time no see.

I'll be honest, I did think about deleting this blog. I have nothing to write about - life is not particularly exciting. But then I thought about all the nice things I get to do, all of the things I get to see, all of the things I experience, and I thought to myself that I want to write about it, so I can look back on the good times I've had.

So, the most obvious thing to say is that I am obsessed with peanut butter on toast. 

With some red grapes on the side to add a bit more health to the plate:

And, clearly the best combination is this:

Peanut butter on toast with sliced banana on top is amazing. The peach on the side was just an added bonus...

The blueberries added a nice touch too.

So, to add a bit of variety to breakfast time, I did try another experiment which resulted in this.....:

This is cinnamon porridge, with warmed summer berries on top and a big spoonful of peanut butter. The cinnamon porridge was an amazing base by itself, the warmed berries added a certain sweetness and then the peanut butter melted into it all creating an amazing bowlful of goodness. I'm not gonna lie, I was sad when I finished it!

I have also tried a pumpkin spice latte:

and a salted caramel hot chocolate, which was very nice:

I have also stocked up on these:

as they're currently £1 in a well known supermarket with green writing ;) and as the use by dates aren't until June 2013, thought it was too good to miss! 

I have been reading:

and I've been walking here:

This blog is going to take a shift in direction soon, as I focus on the next stage of our life, so watch this space....

It won't be so long next time, promise!

N xxx