Meal Plan Monday

I've seen a lot of Meal Plan Monday blog posts & I think it's a good one for me to get into the habit of doing. I always find that when I plan what I'm going to eat that I eat healthier, spend less money, waste less time etc etc, so I will be taking part.

At the weekend and on days off I will plan for breakfasts, but during the week I always have toast or porridge so I won't bother to write that down.

Monday
Porridge
Beans on toast
Chicken & leek pies (just homemade shortcrust pastry filled with beaten eggs, fried leeks, skinless chicken breast pieces and parsley) with some mash I think.

Tuesday
Cheese wrap (with spring onions, celery and cheddar - absolutely my favourite!)
Toad in the hole with selection of veg

Wednesday
Chicken salad
Lentil & rice casserole (8oz red lentils, 20z rice & 2 pints veg stock simmered for 20 mins, add 1 sliced leek, 3 crushed garlic cloves, can of chopped toms, 1tsp cumin, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 sliced red pepper, 3oz small broccoli florets, 8 baby sweetcorn and 2oz French beans, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 mins, then add basil and serve - yum!)

Thursday
Homemade (probably carrot based) soup
Spicy sausage nachos (dead easy; fry some sausages, chop them up and return to pan, add some salsa, simmer for 2 mins, lay tortilla chips in a baking tray, add half a ball of mozzarella, add the sausage mix and the rest of the cheese, bake for 5 mins)

Friday
Pasta salad
Chilli Con Quorn/Chilli Sans Carne! (healthier and cheaper than meat chilli - fry some onions & garlic in a saucepan, add Quorn/Asda mince and 75ml veg stock, 2 mins later add chopped toms, kidney beans & chilli powder, simmer for 10 mins and serve with rice/jackets/tacos)

Saturday
Poached egg on toast
Homemade thick veg soup
10 Min Thai Takeaway (heat oil in wok, add curry paste, cook for 1 min, add spring onions, pepper, green beans, broccoli, Quorn chicken pieces, stir fry for 2 mins, stir in coconut milk and veg stock, bring to boil then simmer for 5 mins, stir in coriander and serve with rice.)

Sunday
French toast
Always go to my mumma's for a roast on Sundays!

I've worked on my budgets this morning, so I hope to share some of my money-saving ideas with you soon.
Have a lovely week.

New year, new blog. This probably happens a lot; you probably see a lot of new bloggers starting out similar to me, at the beginning of every year. I’m hoping that keeping a record of my goals and thoughts will help me create the life I wish for myself, and if you join me on my journey, I would be extremely happy to accommodate you!

My long-term goals all come back to trying to create a happy life for myself. I’d like to live in the countryside; in a reasonably big house with lots of land for growing veg and owning chickens, in order to live self-sufficiently. Rather randomly I’d like to have a pantry, utility room and a conservatory, so there is a lot of storage space to bulk buy things and keep my home grown produce! Because I’m a crazy cat lady, I’d also like a cat flap on the back door for my furbabies.

To achieve these goals we need to save money, that’s all there is to it really. But it’s easier said than done.

Therefore my mid-term goals are mainly to save money while still living a fun, fulfilled life. I’m also going to try and prepare for my new life, by learning how to manage my current household, as we currently fail quite dismally. I like to live as green a life as I can, but in the most frugal way possible, as generally the “eco” products in the shops are almost double the price of the cheapest.

On a personal level, the new life would hopefully come with a big brood of children, so I want to be in the best physical shape before this happens, as I don’t want to be a frumpy, unhealthy mumma. 

I don’t take care of myself, my house or my money as much as I should do. This blog is about my journey to my new life, and to track my progresses and failures!

I’ve created a summary of my goals below, but I’d like to state that although this is all starting on a new year, they aren’t New Years Resolutions as such. It’s more a gradual shift towards a better lifestyle for me & my family. They seem like a lot of things to try and take on all at once, and I do expect to slip up, but I don’t mind because overall I will be improving.

1. Take care of myself: 

• Continue to go to yoga once a week
• Introduce walk/run twice a week to build up to running a 5K in June
• Reduce our portion sizes
• Eat more healthily
• Stay in the ‘moment’ more (only do one thing at a time)
• No social media while with friends & family

2. Take care of the house:

• Find a housework routine that works for me
• Take care of maintenance issues regularly
• Finish decorating the house

3. Take care of the money:

• Review the budget regularly
• Save for ‘emergency fund’, holidays & Christmas
• Pay off the overdrafts and credit cards

I wish you peace and happiness.