The Five Fs blog

Meal Planning Monday - the nearly February edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:01:00 +0000

As you may have guessed, I don't much like January and this one has been particularly long, due to a payroll error. My meal plans have been as thrifty as possible as a result. When I'm short, I always revert to Aldi because it is so much cheaper, even than Asda which is my regular haunt. It's lovely to stock up with a few things, have a trolleyful and still feel like I've not been extravagant.

Payday is this week but the shopping was done yesterday so I'm still being careful. Today' meal is made from leftover from Sunday roast. Wednesday is going to be a trial for a few weeks; the children already have swimming lessons after school, but until the middle of March, they also have to be at indoor cricket nets 15 mins away at 6.30 when Monkey's lesson finishes at 6! I have therefore decided we are just having pizza, and I can if necessary reheat some of it when we get home if they want more.

So here's our week in meals.

Monday - Twice baked potatoes filled with chicken
Tuesday - Mushroom rogan josh
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday - Corned beef and beans
Friday - Fish and chips (oven baked)
Saturday - Haggis, neeps and tatties
Sunday - Chicken pie and mash

Don't forget to visit Mrs M to see more marvellous meal plans!

Meal Planning Monday - the dull mid-January edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:20:00 +0000

Not much to say about this week - just another week marking off to January payday.

The plan has a lot of stuff I've already got in to keep food costs down.

Monday - Chicken, ham and mushroom pasta bake (based loosely on that dish)
Tuesday - Burgers
Wednesday - Roast parsnip and parmesan soup
Thursday- Cauliflower cheese
Friday - Gnocchi and sausage bake
Saturday - Quiche lorraine
Sunday - Roast or pie, whatever is on offer at the supermarket later.

Short and sweet this week. Don't forget to join in at Mrs M's

Meal Planning Monday - the starting 2016 edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 00:01:00 +0000

Let's not even talk about how long it is since I wrote one of these. Honestly, I started doing them to get into the habit of meal planning. That habit is well-embedded as I cannot function without a plan before I do a food order (thanks to Asda delivery pass, I only pop in supermarkets to do top up shops - or buy the things Asda couldn't supply!). But the writing of this post is not.

This week is back to school and work for all - two weeks for the kids and me, and husband has now been off for a total of 10 days over that time. And it's my birthday, so Wednesday is blank as I don't intend cooking, whatever we do. (Still not sorted). Apart from that, it's nothing special as weeks go.

I'm making use of my new toys, as I ask husband to buy me this for Christmas and it's been in almost constant use since. It can slow cook, roast, bake, saute or steam - so far, I've used the slow cooker function, the roasting and baked a potato. The main difference is the heat source is at the bottom so you do have to watch it although it comes with a little rack to raise things up. Still finding my feet with it but I. Love. It! It's definitely going to get lots of use, especially as thanks to an error with my pay, I'm a bit brassic this month.

So here's my plan. Everything is already here as my food delivery was booked for Sunday afternoon.

Monday - Pulled pork buns (done in slow cooker with leftover roast pork)
Tuesday - Baked potatoes
Wednesday - not cooking, yo.
Thursday - grilled cheese sandwiches (one of my new favourite easy meals)
Friday - Corned beef and beans pie
Saturday - Cheat's cassoulet
Sunday - Roast chicken

What are you having this week? Don't forget to check out At Home with Mrs M for more delicious meal plans. And I will try to blog my meal plan a little more regularly!

51 things I learned from breaking my arm

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 22:10:00 +0000

So, I broke my left humerus on 1 August. This is what I learned.

1. Breaking a limb can be done in a split second. I was putting things in my car for a run to the tip, turned to go home, tripped, crashed into a wall, put my hand done and it was done. I still don't know what I tripped on.

2. Breaking arms hurts. Like, really bloody hurts. In fact, it hurt so much, poor husband could not get me up and had to call an ambulance. I've given birth twice and I'd do that again not to endure the pain I felt.

3. Gas and air is marvellous stuff. They gave me some in the ambulance and I remembered why I loved it so much when I was giving birth. I was GUTTED when they took it off me at A&E and wouldn't give me any more.

4. When you break an arm, they put a slab on your arm for the first few days. (I knew this anyway). It's a rough plaster on one side covered in bandages. Putting it on was the MOST painful thing and the plaster technician said I went white when it was done. I remember saying "please finish soon".

5. Putting a slab on can make things a lot more comfortable but not for every type of fracture. Nope, not mine.

6. Getting into a car right after you've been strapped up to the nines is bloody uncomfortable. Well, it is when you're getting into an Aygo.

7. Any movement at all after breaking an arm is torture. Standing was painful, sitting was painful. Lying back was painful. Bending over was painful.

8. It does gradually get better though. Although movement can still be painful, the overall pain (for me) went away about a week after. I haven't taken strong painkillers since that point, and I was only ever on dihydrocodeine. I didn't feel the need for morphine based pain relief and didn't want to have side effects when left alone with children.

9. Sleeping is a nightmare. If you can't lie back with broken arm, you either have to sleep propped up or in a recliner. I took the recliner option for about 6 weeks.

10. Sleeping in one position most of the night causes other problems like pinched nerves in your legs that set off shooting pains and numbness. Lovely.

11. Fractures of the humerus can be treated with a brace. This is like a plastic cast. Mine was custom made for me by the marvellous occupational therapist at Chorley Hospital. It took a whole hour. It's made of plastic mesh, lined with fluffy stuff and secured with velcro straps. It's removable but not in the early stages.

12. The first two weeks are the worst. Around that week, things will start to feel better, even if your next fracture clinic appointment, they are not sure if it's healing and you might after all have to have surgery.

13. Upper arm (humeral) braces are usually checked weekly by the occupational therapist, relined and they wash your arm. Occasionally, they remould it.

14. Ah, washing. The brace not being removable means you can't shower properly. Someone has to help you shower and then it's cursory. Say hello to greasy hair.

15. When you're first braced up, you feel extremely vulnerable when you are walking outside. I was and am still terrified of falling again.

16. A boil water notice just five days after you've broken your arm is a royal pain in the you know where. Especially when it lasts 3 weeks.

17. Breaking your arm in school holidays is not ideal for fun, but at least when your children are 10 and 9, they can help you a bit.

18. Frozen chopped onions, frozen garlic and frozen mash are bloody useful when you only have one arm to cook. I may never go back to normal onions.

19. Not all fractures take the same amount of time to heal. Mine is in a "tricky position" (I am sick of that phrase - apparently quite distal, which means it's low down) which means it's prone to not healing. But it is healing. Slowly.

20. Not being able to drive when you have a broken limb is very boring but also isolating. If you know someone with the same predicament, do pop round, offer to do things or take them places. They will love you for it.

21. Working part time from home in a flexible pattern makes it easier to keep working. Typing one-handed initially makes it very sloooow.

22. Being able to take your brace off for the first time is liberating and having a consultant tell you you can shower is exhilarating. The arm snow shower you start by taking it off is not.

23. And only more exhilarating is that first shower - even if you can only wash your hair with one hand.

24. It takes at least 3 of those showers to finally rid yourself of that underarm sweaty smell. Even though it's been washed weekly by the lovely ladies of the occupational therapy department. Poor ladies.

25. When your arm has been in the same position for 10 weeks, you will need physio to get back your strength and range of movement. I start this week.

26. Getting your hand and wrist moving hurts but only stems from stiffness so the pain can be endured. Prepare to start each day feeling like the stiffness has returned.

27. Taking your brace off part-time is quite scary. Even though your children think you look "normal" again.

28. When you take your brace off, your arm feels solid. And weird to the touch. And that's not the dead skin.

29. With your brace on, some people will think you look like a stormtrooper.

30. People assume you were under the influence of alcohol when you broke your arm. This really pisses me off. I probably would either not have hurt myself had I been drunk or worse, caused myself a head injury.

31. It's easier to put clothes on when you've got your brace off. Except for doing up bras.

32. Non- wired bras are best when wearing a brace. Wired ones are rubbish when you cannot move your arm properly. You men are lucky.

33. When wearing wired ones again, having to undo it because your husband has gone to bed an hour before you is a challenge of Crystal Maze proportions. (See 31).

34.Your iPad will keep you sane. And so will late night sport when you're sleeping in a recliner and can't sleep. (Or is that just me? Anyway, thank you US Open tennis, USPGA, world athletics and world swimming championships).

35. Eating with one hand is messy. You will change clothes daily because of this. Even now with movement in my left hand, I can't fully get my left hand to my mouth but my weird brain, favouring my left, keeps making me put my fork in my left hand, so I have to swop to my right to shove it in. And loaded burgers are interesting.

36. When you break your arm, you become super-aware of others doing the same. Or maybe there is an outbreak of broken arms - I know 2 children with broken arms at present, and an adult with brace that holds his elbow joint in position. When we were on holiday in Devon, we saw two other women both with broken arms within half an hour at the same place.

37. Online supermarket deliveries are your saviour. Except when they introduce the carrier bag charge and don't supply it with carrier bags. Usually I wouldn't mind but I can't carry those big trays by myself. A bag full of stuff I can carry.

38 You realise how much packaging is bloody impossible with people who have problems with their hand and wrist. Ring pull tins are the worst. I can manage the can opener now.

39. Never ever take your arms for granted. 10 weeks down and although I can now use both hands, it is not perfect, I can't sleep in my preferred position (yep, lying on my left side), turning over in bed has to be done awake, and the break is not fully healed.

40. Yes, you can take a brace off before it's fully healed. Reading up on it shows you can get your arm moving and what the xray doesn't show is what is going on inside.

41. The highlight of your week(end) is a trip to the coffee shop, usually on the way home from hospital for the umpteenth time.

42. I'm better at frothing milk for a cappuccino with only one good arm. Weird, eh?

43. Fracture clinic can be the most frustrating and slow experience. Only once have people been seen to time. My first trip to fracture clinic took 4 hours, although an hour of that was having my brace fitted.

44. My children have hidden reserves of patience I didn't know they had. (See 43). They have mostly been stars except for the time Monkey said being asked to tie my shoelaces was "depressing".

45. The letters the consultant or registrar writes to your GP are hilarious. One of them refers to me as a "pleasant lady". My occupational therapist told me she was once referred to as "comfortably padded". I got off lightly.

46. Our local fracture clinic has a Costa attached to it. Useful although you can't hear them call your name.

47. Fracture clinic admin can be frustrating. They promise to ring you with an appointment time and then send a letter to confirm it. With a new appointment card every time.

48. Checking you in on arrival takes a lot longer than it should do and involve approximately 487 clicks and keystrokes. This may be an over-exaggeration.

49. People park in the drop off points at hospital. The clue is in the name, people. Jeeeez.

50. People on trains are very helpful when you've got this massive thing on your arm. Apart from the woman next to me who insisted on taking up so much space to send important emails and make confidential calls that my arm was right up against the side of the window.

51. You find out who your friends are when you are when something like this happens. Some have been nothing short of bloody marvellous. (You know who you are). Others have been conspicuous by their silence and absence. They too know who they are. Let's hope it never happens to them, eh?

Meal Planning Monday - the Easter holidays edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 23:01:00 +0000

Nickie checked in with me on Saturday to see if I was OK as I hadn't blogged since January. Oops. Life just got in the way really - I'm working extra hours, the children have things most days and I keep forgetting on Sunday to blog a meal plan. Monkey turned 10 (heck!), I hurt my back (it's better now) and I went on a school trip to the Manchester Arena to take part in a Young Voices concert with Missy Woo.

So, my plan is done for the week and as I don't have work this week, I'm making myself write a blog. I generally plan on a Sunday so I can shop on a Monday but since discovering Asda's midweek delivery pass is £2 a month, I've been shopping online and getting a Tuesday delivery. That doesn't stop me planning on a weekend - it's actually better to do it on the weekend so I can get the slot I want.

As I'm off this week, as is the husband and the children, you will notice that there are a lot of easy meals. I make no apologies. I need a break too! I could make pizzas for The Voice final next weekend, but hell, I can't be bothered.

So, this is what my plan looks like this week.

Monday - Thai pork and peanut curry (made with leftover roast pork from yesterday)
Tuesday - Chorizo and butternut squash chilli
Wednesday - Chicken kievs
Thursday - Burgers and fries
Friday - Salmon and butterbean mash
Saturday - Pizza!
Sunday - Steak pie, mash and veg

Obviously, there are two weeks of school holidays over Easter. However, next week, the children are going away with their grandparents staying in a caravan for 4 days so I am planning that we might eat out a few times, so if I don't blog a plan next week, that'll be why. It may also be to do with the fact that April is year end deadline month for me at work and I get very, VERY busy!

Don't forget that Mrs M hosts the Meal Planning Monday linky here.

See you next week (maybe!)

Meal Planning Monday - the mid-January edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 23:33:00 +0000

Er, yep, I'm late.

This week is busy - kids now have activities after school every night except Friday but thankfully, two days are after school activities so I don't have to pick them up til later. Cricket nets start again this week and I'm off to London Wednesday for the day. And at the weekend, assuming the weather is OK, we've been invited to a party in Huddersfield

So this is this week.

Monday - Sausage and mash
Tuesday - Slow cooker mac n cheese
Wednesday - Beans on toast
Thursday - Curried parsnip and pear soup
Friday - Chilli con carne
Saturday - Chicken chow mein
Sunday - Out out.

And although I missed blogging last week's plan, I just had to share this recipe with you. It's awesome (and no chicken!).

Don't forget Mrs M has the Meal Planning Monday linky over on her blog so do take a look.

Meal Planning Monday - the into 2015 edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 00:01:00 +0000

Er, yes, I do have a blog. Yada yada, I've been off, Christmas happened. I meal planned but it didn't make it here.

So, this week, the kids are off and so am I. Husband is not - he's working every day except Thursday. We've (mostly) got rid of the Christmas leftovers after I made an awesome soup on Sunday with leftover veggies. This week is reasonably back to normal but we are continuing the tradition we started last year with having a fondue at New Year. This time, we're doing it New Year's Eve.

The rest of the week is fairly normal for a week of school holiday - nothing to dash to, a few trips to the gym. No fancy day trips or anything. And you won't find me shopping, the thought of all the traffic and stuff sends me cold.

Monday - Slow cooker chicken with cashews and noodles
Tuesday - Savoury bread and butter pudding (again in slow cooker)
Wednesday - Swiss fondue
Thursday - Slow cooker casserole and dumplings
Friday - Lamb baked sweet potato
Saturday - Vegetarian chilli
Sunday - Steak and chips

Don't forget to go visit Mrs M for more Meal Planning loveliness. Assuming I remember to link up, I'll be there too.

Meal Planning Monday - the breathing space edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 00:02:00 +0000

Lord, it's been a month. (Nearly). Don't ask. Too much to do, too little time. From today, life gets a little easier for a while. Well, maybe. At least I have time to blog my meal plan.

Of course, an easier week doesn't mean we're doing nothing. Oh no! Parents' evening tomorrow, although I am going early afternoon. The children have stuff every evening except Tuesday (when I take them to the gym anyway) and Friday, when we do homework. Saturday, I've got cake club but determined not to get cakeache. Just no meetings in the evenings. No trips to London. No do three things in a day, going from one to another and just making it.

So this is what our week looks like.

Monday - Chicken chow mein
Tuesday - Kale hash
Wednesday - Curried pumpkin soup
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Cottage pie
Saturday - Baked potatoes with some kind of random filling
Sunday - Roast dinner

Don't forget that Mrs M has the Meal Planning Monday linky going on here. Join in and get inspiration from others!

Organic foods - are they worth the premium?

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 23:01:00 +0000

This post has been brewing in my head for a while. I'm probably going to upset someone by posting it but I always try to be honest on this blog. It's about organic food.

I used to buy organic. I still do occasionally but only when it fits into my pocket. The simple truth is I can't afford it these days and so I've had to be pragmatic.Occasionally, organic is the same price or cheaper than non-organic products so it's a no-brainer.

My pragmatism has altered over time into a faint cynicism. The aims of the organic movement are laudable but the fact is, getting certified organic is expensive for small independent producers. I'm guessing there are a lot who follow organic principles but can't sell it as such.

This came about because Waitrose asked me to provide some recipes for their Organic Month in September and sent me a giftcard to go shopping for organic products. Unfortunately, my shopping trip was a bit of a disaster. But that is not relevant to the thrust of my post. And I do want to say that I LOVE Waitrose - I shop there a lot, although mostly for particular things I can't get elsewhere and top up shops.

What shocked me most was the variation in price - some things, like yogurt, were only a little more but milk was double the price for the same size bottle. Ostensibly, they are very similar products. Why?

The organic food industry is huge and we are sold the benefits of it. Meat production has better welfare standards.Everyone goes on about fewer pesticides. I used to be convinced that carrots tasted better, but what I bought was grown locally and delivered fresh to me by the grower. I fully accept now that it might not be the fact it was organic that made them taste better.

The health benefits are to me, not clear. I'm a big fan of Ben Goldacre of Bad Science fame (I heard him speak recently, he was great) and he's written a whole post on organic food and the FSA's findings that there are no measurable health benefits which you can find here. This echoes = and has informed - my own feelings on the subject.

One of the items I did buy on my shopping trip was an organic lamb joint as it was on special offer. When I cooked it, its texture was lovely but in terms of the taste, we didn't feel it tasted any better, but then it had been a few weeks since we last had roast lamb. Maybe that's the thing - the premium tricks us into thinking because it cost more, it tasted better.

If you are going to buy organic, I would recommend saving it for key ingredients like meat, poultry and eggs as they are a more ethical choice. Some things will never be organic - think seafood, think fish that is not farmed, think foraged items - so there is no point in looking for them. No-one will ever be able to eat 100% organically unless they restrict their diet. Waitrose has one of the most extensive ranges of organic items in a UK supermarket. A quick search of their online shop suggests they have over 800 items (including cat food?!) but that is still a drop in the ocean; supermarkets stock thousands of products.

The conclusion I have come to is this - organic food is a lifestyle choice and it makes money, a lot of money. If you want to buy organic, and you can afford it, by all means go for it. But if you can't afford it, then you will be fine and nothing bad will happen. It's more important to be able to feed your family.

(This post was inspired by an approach by Waitrose, who have a big range of organic products. They sent me a giftcard to buy organic ingredients. They also sent me a box of some organic products.)

Choosing secondary schools - the start of the journey

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 00:23:00 +0000

So Monkey is now in Year 5 (and Missy in Year 4) and we started the job of visiting secondary school open evenings in the area. Some people have expressed surprise at this but I am not alone.

The window of opportunity is narrow - applications open in September as the open evenings start, then close at the end of October. We've only just been to the last open evening although there are some next week. Had we been starting in Year 6, that would give us two weeks to make a final decision. If you want to arrange revisits, half term is last week of October so you only have a week to go back. A friend of mine is in this position - they only looked at a couple last year and is feeling the pressure a bit this year, no firm decision made and hurriedly trying to look at all the options and come to a conclusion.

Perhaps if you live in a town with only one choice of school, there might be no need to rush and you can do it all in Year 6. What I can't get over is the fact that although a school can look great from the outside, visiting it can be a completely different proposition and what if you don't like it when you do finally look? I know from when we looked at primary schools, the school I thought I'd love, I didn't. And one I thought I wouldn't, I loved. And that's what we chose. Our instincts proved right.

Where we live, there's an embarrassment of choice. In the district, we have 6 secondaries, all rated good or outstanding by Ofsted (I'll come back to Ofsted later). One is too far away, and two are faith schools, with one offering no chance of a place unless we had been regularly attending church since LAST year - yes, at the start of Year 4 - and could prove it. In the neighbouring town, there are 4 more, one outstanding, the rest good or heading that way. Three other neighbouring smaller areas have a school each and there are four others I could consider if I felt I needed to but are probably too far away. Oh my - that's seventeen! That's even before, as some are considering, private schools (which are not for us), or schools further afield - like a private school that became a free school last September.

Obviously, we have to consider if we have a chance of getting places, which is why the field is much narrower than all seventeen. There are so many faith schools here - I can rule out five immediately on that basis because we wouldn't meet the criteria and three more where we would have a chance but may not want to. Take away the ones we think are too far and we got down to five - two in the local town, two in the next and one other, all less a 5 mile journey from home.

The difficulty compared to primary is that dammit, the child has an opinion this time! The worry is that they will just try to choose the one that their friends go to. I understand that, I really do, but I know from talking to parents of older children, that although they don't realise this, they will probably have a totally different set of friends at 16 as they will at 11.

So, off we trekked to five open evenings. I've tried to keep Monkey on track and asked him to think about what he wants a school to be what the school would be like on a normal day, not when they are offering food in nearly every room. We went to one school where he ate sweets (lots), paella, shortbread, three different types of cheese, bockwurst, pain au chocolat (apparently seven bits, just to be sure), pretzel, stollen (two bits), croissant, orange squash, shortbread and lasagne. After tea!

I've tried to go with an open mind and have got better at planning our trips after our first when we unexpectedly arrived late due to traffic forcing a detour, listened to the speeches then only had about an hour to see round a large school (impossible, don't try it - allow at least 2-3 hours to see everything, especially if you want to hear the speeches). I'm very much into the "feel" of a place. This article, by a teacher, confirms I'm right to consider that. It's also why I don't just look at the schools at the top of the league tables or rated outstanding. Why? Although results tables are a guide, basing our choice next year solely on the results that will be published soon from summer 2014 doesn't seem right when Monkey will not be taking GCSEs until the summer of 2021, some seven years later. Schools can change a lot, for good or bad, in that time. And Ofsted? Well, I have my own views but it's hard to compare apples with apples when some were inspected recently and others not inspected for five years - again, a lot can happen in that time. It is just a snapshot of what the inspectors found on those two days. They are a guide but I won't let it put me off until I've seen it with my own eyes.

Getting a general feel for a place can be hard to do when there's a lot of people there at open evenings (and trust me, there can be LOADS; one was so popular, it created traffic jams) but we've been talking to the teachers, pupils and observing how the two appear to get on. We've also caught up with a few former pupils from the children's primary school when we've seen them to see how they're enjoying it.

The first school we went to see is our favourite. And you know what? We went to see an "outstanding" school last that I thought I'd like and I didn't like it that much, just like last time. Nor did the husband and neither did Missy, who has come to all but one. However, Monkey decided, having agreed with us, that the last might be his favourite after all! I think it was because there were an awful lot of people visiting who he knew. A lot of his friends are likely to choose there because of where they live. It's our nearest school but we are outside the priority area (for which read catchment) so our chances aren't as good.

We are planning a trip back to the first school (which we saw a month ago) to remind him what it was like, see it in the daytime and see the parts we missed on open evening. I'm certainly glad we are not doing this next year. Our second favourite looks like being a currently unfashionable school but was lovely, friendly and welcoming to visit. Monkey has also been there in the daytime on a school trip. We only went to the open evening because of this and were pleasantly surprised.

I think I'm coming to two conclusions - the first is to go to see schools, even if on paper they don't seem like the best choice and the second is to start at least a year early. If you're not happy after open evening season, you have time to cast the net wider before crunch time. Most schools are happy to show you around on a normal day. I'd ask why not if they don't.

And I've just thought of a third conclusion - you can definitely get open evening fatigue! I'm very glad they're all over but I least I have an idea of what's coming next year. I was going to say "know" but a lot can happen in that time.

PS If you are looking at grammar schools, you might want to start even earlier; some schools have open days in the summer term because of the need to take tests etc. At least check the school's website (and the local authority) for details so you don't miss out.

Meal Planning Monday - the I am really rubbish edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 23:01:00 +0000

I cannot believe it's 3 weeks since I posted a plan. I swear I had posted since but obviously not. September was stupidly busy. I'd like to say October is calmer but it's not. Next week, I have something every night until Friday. This weekend, I was away in Birmingham with work, I went to London the week before that and a few days before that, we went to Devon and back!

Trying to make up a plan that fits around everything is nightmarish. Monkey is taking part in a school football tournament after school for 3 weeks; he's done one already and so we have two more Mondays to do. Missy has rejoined choir, which is on at the same time! Luckily, someone is taking him to the tournament for me tomorrow so I will pick up Missy later and go watch them play their last matches. On Tuesday, I've started going to a gym class after school but straight after that, we're going to a secondary school open evening. Wednesday, the children have swiming and I have a meeting later (and it's Bake Off final - argh!) and on Thursday, we are going to one final, FINAL secondary school open evening. Phew.

Meals are therefore a mixture of things that cook very quickly, things I can leave (like in a slow cooker) or things I know the kids will eat quickly plus I'm on an economy drive so it's nothing fancy, I can assure you. And we have nothing planned for next weekend - total, total bliss!

Monday - Chinese chicken and sweetcorn soup
Tuesday - Slow cooker chilli with tortillas and guacamole
Wednesday - Sandwiches
Thursday - Cauliflower cheese
Friday - Slow cooker barbeque chicken wings and drumsticks with roasted veg and "stuff"
Saturday - Slow cooker sweet and sour pork, rice and prawn crackers
Sunday - Slow cooker gammon in cola

Hmm. That slow cooker is going to get a hammering!

Don't forget that the lovely Mrs M host Meal Planning Monday on At Home with Mrs M,

Now, unless the world falls in, I PROMISE I will definitely post again next week. Ha.

Quark cooking sauces - a light touch and a saving grace!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 23:01:00 +0000

You know that feeling when you get home from a holiday and all you have in the house is bread, milk and butter? When you've nearly lived on sandwiches and other bread-based foods for a week, bread is NOT appealing. That was me last weekend when we arrived from Devon.

As I drove for the last few miles, my mind tried to figure out what Saturday tea was going to be. It could be Chinese take away from the reopened one around the corner. It could be pizza. Or it could be a supermarket dash to get ... er, something.

Then we got home and I found a missed delivery card through the door, and I realised that a parcel had been left round the back. I sent Monkey to get it but he said it was too big for him to pick up. Husband was dispatched to get it whilst I emptied bags and checked post.

What came in was a massive hamper containing Lake District Dairy Quark cooking sauces and the ingredients to make a number of dishes. It was like someone knew! I had no idea it was coming and I hadn't seen any emails about it. Lucky we were coming home that day.

The cooking sauces are designed to be lower in fat and higher in protein than other sauces but a great way to make a meal quickly. The recipes I received with it were nice and simple and tea was ready within about 15-20 mins.

First, I made baked gnocchi in the tomato and basil sauce. After initial moans from the children, they decided it smelt nice cooking and it delivered on the taste front too.

The following day, we had spaghetti "quarkonara" with a garlic and herb sauce. I added mushrooms to this so there was a bit more cooking but it was a case of cook spaghetti, drain, add sauce and ham. I found the recipe to be quite dry and kept adding leftover cooking water. I certainly didn't enjoy it as much as a regular carbonara - it was too garlicky for that. The kids loved it but they love pasta, full stop. I think I prefer the egg yolks to be honest. They compared to making it with cream cheese but I have never made a carbonara with cream cheese! I didn't get a photo of this, it went too quickly!

We did however all really enjoy the chicken tikka and quark rice. The children are scarred by me overspicing Indian dishes so were dubious but they needn't have worried - the sauce was not too hot but flavoursome. The dish was more a biryani style - I was sent pre-prepared rice but I think they should have sent uncooked rice so I added some myself, otherwise it wouldn't have been enough. Adding the raisins and the almonds added a nice contrast to the dish. I did get sent some coriander but the day before I made this, my fridge went into overdrive and froze some of the contents, which destroyed it! Monkey doesn't really like it on his food anyway.

The quarkonara aside, I liked these sauces. I would definitely make the chicken tikka again and I think the gnocchi would also work well with the garlic and herb sauce. I often forget gnocchi as an option for a meal and they are all even quicker to cook than pasta so it was a timely reminder to build them into more recipes particularly when time is short of an evening and I want to cook a fairly healthy option.

Meal Planning Monday - the yes I am still blogging edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 23:01:00 +0000

So I haven't blogged in a month. I've still been meal planning although I didn't on our week's holiday. Time has just ran out on me on turning my plan into a blog post.

Not this week. Hurrah, I hear you cry. Well, I can dream.

This week. There's only 5 days on the plan because we are going to a wedding in Devon on Saturday. And yes, we got back from Devon only 9 days ago. That's how it goes sometimes. Apart from that, it's a normal school week, peppered with swimming on Wednesdays after school now - I thought I'd got them in at exactly the same time, until Monkey went to his first class with the new teacher and she decided he was so good he has to move up again and now has a lesson straight after Missy. We're also now looking at secondary schools, although we don't have to apply until next year, but I think there are none to go see next week.

Here's the plan.

Monday - Quick prawn, tomato and coconut curry
Tuesday - Lentil shepherd's pie
Wednesday - Cheesy cannelloni
Thursday - sandwiches (it's traditional!)
Friday - Sticky sesame chicken wings with roasted mini corn cobs
Saturday - wedding
Sunday - travelling home

Don't forget that Mrs M has the Meal Planning Monday linky. Go see her, she's having a tough time right now and I'm sure a visit and a friendly comment will give her a bit of a boost.

Til next week. I hope!

Meal Planning Monday - the ever so slightly too busy school holiday edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 23:01:00 +0000

I didn't post last week (or the week before - oops!) but I can assure you I meal planned as I cannot live without it. This is probably the midpoint of the holidays and it will be the second week that the children have gone to a great summer camp during the day which is near husband's work. They went for the first full week of the holidays and it really helped me get some work done; I'd like not to work in these holidays but a quarterly deadline hits and I really can't leave it until September. They had a ball last time so I'm not too worried about them going - they get to play and do loads of things I can't necessarily do with them. And it gives us all space - I find that even if husband is home, they ask me for EVERYTHING!

So, this week, I'm planning on powering through with some work and getting ahead of myself for the following two weeks of the holidays. We're also having a new boiler fitted, already postponed from last week when I took Monkey to Old Trafford.

We had roast beef on Sunday so the first two days are based on leftovers.

Monday - Sloppy Joes (made with leftover roast instead of mince)
Tuesday - Beef hash
Wednesday - Cheesy lentils
Thursday - Savoury bread and butter pudding
Friday - Chicken pasta bake
Saturday - Fish in lemon and herb sauce, mash and peas
Sunday - Roast chicken et al.

Having shared my week with you, may I remind you to visit Mrs M's for more lovely MPM posts.

See you (hopefully) next week!

Monkey's first test match

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 23:20:00 +0000

It may be summer in Manchester, but we all know Manchester and rain is inextricably linked. Going to cricket at Old Trafford is therefore a big risk, but last week, I won two tickets to the first day of the England vs India test match on Twitter and hastily rearranged a few things so I could take Monkey. I'd never been to a first class cricket match, let alone a test match and cricket is Monkey's new obsession - he plays for a under 9s team and has even talked Missy Woo into joining in too.

The weather first promised rain, then it didn't. Even early morning, there looked like no rain in the forecast but as we drove down the motorway, the sky didn't look promising at all. We got on a tram and sure enough, by the time we got to the city centre, Manchester reverted to type and it was raining. Thankfully, all it did was delay start of play just enough for us to queue up for our tickets and find our seats, Monkey having mugged me for a commentary radio on the way in.

The sun came out, but then the dark clouds gathered again. It tried to rain but didn't further delay play. As the teams came out with India batting first and play begun, I took another picture.

Anderson to Vijay

Within minutes, England had a wicket. It tried to rain. We got another wicket. And another. And another. Half an hour in, I texted husband to say "Monkey is loving this - 4 wickets in 6 overs!"After that, things settled for a while - apart from Monkey wanting constant food and me buying draught Diet Cokes from the bar which blew their tops off whilst I was waiting for the over to finish.

Another wicket arrived before lunchtime and the weather finally picked up so we decided to go on a wander around, mainly to find more food for Monkey. Waitrose came up trumps with some great freebies in the shape of pork and picallili pies to sample and goody bags filled with a free box of chocolate cookies. We also bumped into this guy. He's so Lanky I chopped his head off! (and he came to cricket practice recently!)

Having bought some lunch and looked at most of the stalls, we came back for afternoon session. A few balls in and Anderson took the wicket of Jadeja, who had been roundly booed by the crowd on his arrival at the crease. The wicket was Monkey's best moment of the day. Not long after that, I got a text from our neighbour and mother of Monkey's best friend asking us where we were as her son was looking for him. He went down to the front to try and spot him, whereupon he then apparently said hello to Stuart Broad when he fielded a ball down on the boundary and he said hi back - Monkey's second best moment of the day.

We encountered this fellow spectator.

We then had to go see his friends who were taking a walk around, playing the bowling games and I got conned into buying a Team England shirt. We missed two wickets then went to go back in via a trip to the toilets, whereupon we heard another wicket and the final wicket I saw through someone's legs waiting to go in between overs.

Monkey then decided we were going to sit down by the boundary.

And watched the start of the England innings. We managed to say there for about 2 hours, and I actually got to listen to the radio I bought. We saw two England wickets but we also got to see some great batting from Ian Bell and Gary Ballance (Monkey points out Ian Bell uses the same model of bat as him!).

And the sun shone!

Monkey is a little obsessed about journeys and worries we will miss trains, trams etc or have to wait ages for them so we left before the end to get our tram back to our car before the crowds got there too.

A day that started with rain ended with sun along with 13 wickets - even though we missed 5 of them - and a very happy 9 year old who'd been to his first test match.

A big thank you to Lancashire Cricket Club for the tickets to the match, which I won from their #TestMatchThursday Twitter competition (and to Jimmy Anderson because he was the correct answer to the question!) for making a 9 year old boy - and his mum - very happy. As we drove away from the station, Monkey turned to me and said "You know, this was the best day of my life".

Can't say fairer than that.

Meal Planning Monday - the end of school year edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 23:01:00 +0000

And it can't come soon enough. Just so many things have been going on - last week felt like a omplete whirl of events and commitments. Now, we're just down to the last 3 days of school. No school commitments other than getting them to school and back, no more dancing lessons - only swimming lessons for one more week and cricket throughout the summer. Hurrah!

My week kind of looks like end of year, in a kind of stumbling over the line way too.

Monday - Cheesy lentils
Tuesday - Slow cooker lamb and mango pilau
Wednesday - Sweetcorn and ham salad
Thursday - Smoked cheese, onion and mushroom quiche
Friday - Cheesy beans and bacon quesadillas
Saturday - Chicken wings, sweet potato and coleslaw
Sunday - Roast pork

Happy holidays everyone! Don't forget Mrs M has the MPM linky.

Meal Planning Monday - on Tuesday!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 23:19:00 +0000

Yes, yes, yes. I know. Don't ask.

I didn't make last week at all as we were out one night and on Thursday, we went to Wimbledon which was uh-mazing.

I have a plan for this week but just not got round to it due to some stuff I need to sort out this week. This week is Missy Woo's 8th birthday. Oh my God! We're also planning to go to see the Tour de France although Monkey currently wants to play cricket on Sunday. Oh and it could be Sports Day on Friday but rain is forecast.

So, that's two days sorted!

Here we go.

Monday - Tangy Asian meatballs (these were fab, try them!)
Tuesday - Warm new potato and smoked mackerel salad
Wednesday - Ham with maple mustard slaw
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Slow cooker barbeque drumsticks
Saturday - out for tea
Sunday - out

Don't forget Mrs M's blog is now here

Meal Planning Monday - the World Cup edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 23:01:00 +0000

OK, so I know that not all of you are interested but in this household, we are. I say that but generally, it's husband and me. Monkey says he is, starts watching then wanders off. Kids!

So, this week, I decided to have a go at a round the world World Cup menu to fit in with teams playing that day. You may not agree with all of these but this is what I came up with.

Monday - Benachin/Jollof rice with grilled meat (Nigeria / Ghana)
Tuesday - Chicken Kievs (Russia - Wikipedia says they're Russian or Ukrainian so ner)
Wednesday - Spanish omelette with "Russian" salad (Spain)
Thursday - Butties (England!)
Friday - Pizza (Italy)
Saturday - Empanadas (Argentina)
Sunday - Rice pot (S Korea)

So, that's our international menu. What's yours? Don't forget - MPM is hosted at Mrs M's blog, which has recently moved house.

See you next week.

Meal Planning Monday - the quiet week edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 23:06:00 +0000

The title of this post is hopeful rather than truthful, I think. But then again, after last week, it IS quiet. I had something every night last week, and a school fair to boot. This week, I have only the classes I want to go to in the evenings. And maybe the odd bit of football. I'm hoping that this is the sign I can ACTUALLY have a quiet week and catch up.

Don't expect any fancy cuisine from me, it's nothing too complicated.

Monday - Shepherd's pie from leftover roast lamb
Tuesday - Falafel burgers
Wednesday - Sausages, cheesy waffles, mushrooms and beans
Thursday - Chimichurri steak sandwich
Friday - Slow cooker BBQ chicken
Saturday - Mexican lasagne
Sunday - Father's Day so probably not cooking

That's me, what are you having? Don't forget to visit Mrs M - who has moved to athomewithmrsm.com - for more Monday meal plans.

Meal Planning Monday - the getting into June edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 23:01:00 +0000

Hello.

I'm just in the process of getting over the half term holiday. In fact, it's not quite over yet - the children have an INSET day so don't go back until Tuesday. We've had a busy week, with trips to Edinburgh, cricket, cricket and more cricket, haircuts and a spot of stuff done in the garden - our garden fence is looking particularly lovely.

My menu this week is based on stuff I've found in this month's Good Food which landed last week and a carry over I didn't even get on the menu last week. I was that organised! This week, it's busy AGAIN! I have two evening meetings this week and the school summer fair on Friday evening (which I also have to bake for). And the children going back to school means that they are back on their regular schedules with dancing, swimming and cricket. So much for June being quieter!

This is it then.

Monday - Chicken wraps with sweet potato, salad leaves and tomatoes
Tuesday - Cheesy polenta with sausage ragout
Wednesday - Smoky mushroom burgers with roasted garlic mayo
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - not cooking; school fair
Saturday - Meatball masala curry
Sunday - Roast lamb

Don't forget there are more meal plans like this over at Mrs M's place. Badge top right will take you there.

Meal Planning Monday - yes I am still alive edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 26 May 2014 23:04:00 +0000

I can't believe it's been over a month since I blogged. I have been doing meal plans, but I've not got around to committing it to paper. It's been insanely busy - end of year to manage at work, a big fundraiser, a trip away, all sorts of things happening with the kids, you name it, we've had it.

I'm even late for Monday but I did actually do the meal plan on Saturday before a trip to the supermarket, in an effort to get myself sorted for this week. The children are off school and I'm off work. We've still got lots of things on but it's a bit more relaxed. Today has been a day doing stuff in the garden and I made stovies from leftover roast beef. On Tuesday, Missy is off to a party so we are not doing much teawise, and on Thursday, I'm taking the children on the train to Edinburgh so there will be no cooking at all. Monkey is off to his second party of the week on Saturday. (He went to one last Saturday).

This is the rest of our week.

Tuesday - pasta
Wednesday - Chicken and mango pilau
Thursday - no cooking
Friday - Italian pork burgers with tomato salsa and sweet potato chip
Saturday - Chicken drumsticks, corn on the cob, coleslaw, baked potato
Sunday - Roast chicken

That's it for now. I'm sure I've missed something but it will have to do. Don't forget - the Meal Planning Monday linky is at Mrs M's which you can discover by clicking the badge top right.

Meal Planning Monday - the oh heck I haven't blogged yet edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 23:51:00 +0000

This Easter lark has thrown me out. I have a meal plan, I have a shopping list but I forgot to blog about it. This therefore is a very rushed post.

We're back to normal as of Tuesday, although it is husband's birthday on Thursday although we are only getting pizza in as we are away the May bank holiday weekend and want to save our pennies for there.

Here is our week in meals.

Monday - Zingy chicken stirfry
Tuesday - Sweet potato and ginger soup
Wednesday - Fish and chips
Thursday - Takeaway pizza
Friday - Meatballs and mash
Saturday - Curry lentil stew with tomatoes
Sunday - Keeping free for now

More meal planning over at Mrs M's. Badge top right takes you there.

Pizza night with Panebello

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 22:44:00 +0000

Does every family turn TV events into mini parties? We do. Whether it's the final of the few reality TV programmes, a special sports event or a royal wedding, we're there with food.

Usually, I've planned it. But sometimes, treat nights mean a night off for me too. And for that reason, frozen pizza sometimes just has to be done. Yes, I make my own. No, it's not that hard. But sometimes, I just don't want to! Frozen pizzas are great to have around for emergencies and keep forever. And as pizza is one of the children's favourite things to eat, it is perfect treat food.

If anyone offers us to try pizza, I know in my heart of hearts that I would get into trouble if I said no and they found out. Strangely, we don't get offered it very often, but Dr Oetker asked if we'd like to try their new Panebello pizzas. So I had to say yes. To be honest, I wasn't all that keen as they were deep pan ones and I got over that phase a good 15 years ago. I prefer the tomato, the cheese and toppings. But duty calls and all that. Panebello means "beautiful bread" - I wondered just how beautiful it could be!

We tried both varieties in the new range - Pepperoni Speciale (Special Pepperoni) & Pomodoro Mozzarella (Tomato Cheese). This was good as neither Monkey nor I are huge pepperoni fans but Missy Woo and her dad are. And two pizzas are just about enough for four people, especially pizza lovers.

The only problem with the pepperoni pizza for Missy Woo is that they had red onion and peppers on it and she doesn't really like either but would just pick them off. Usually, I would like some extra topping with my cheese and tomato, but decided we would try the product as sold. Usually, I would add at least ham and possibly mushrooms or sweetcorn for any pizza Monkey is eating.

Here are the pizzas before they went in the oven. The cheese and tomato one was generously topped. I hate buying pizzas that have so little cheese on them that you want more. This was definitely NOT the case. There was less cheese on the pepperoni pizza but the other toppings were generous and cut to a chunky size. Because they are thicker pizzas, they take a bit longer to cook than most frozen pizzas - 20 minutes from frozen. That is quicker than waiting for a pizza delivery. And cheaper.

My oven is small so had to cram in both pizzas on the same shelf. The cheese pizza ended up at the back, hence looks a little overdone but that didn't affect the flavour. I also know that my oven cooks cool so I turned it up 10 degrees higher than the instructions. And I didn't realise I moved when I took the shot of the pepperoni pizza cooked. I am not an expert photographer anyway, sorry!

What was the verdict on eating? Very nice. The pizzas were both demolished in minutes, and the children were disappointed there wasn't more. The pepperoni fans declared their pizza "tasty" and the cheesy tomato pizza was just as flavoursome with flavour from basil as well as the tomato and the cheese. What did surprise me was the base. Yes, it was thick. But the crust was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. It was surprisingly light, not doughy and heavy at all as I had expected. I still prefer thin based pizzas but these really are a great alternative if you like a light, crispy texture to your pizza base.

I am not going to pretend these are the healthiest of options. But pizza night once in a while isn't going to hurt, nor is keeping a couple in the freezer for emergency meals. They cost about £3 but special offers mean they are often much less, meaning they are also a budget treat. Beautiful bread indeed.

(Dr Oetker kindly sent us vouchers to try Panebello pizzas for free. I received no further compensation for this post).

Meal Planning Monday - the real Easter holidays edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Sun, 13 Apr 2014 23:01:00 +0000

I know, I know. I didn't post last week. No idea why - just insanely busy. I did a meal plan though and we ate well. Nothing special - toad in the hole was the children's highlight of the week.

I have cobbled something together for this second week of the holidays. And we are all off. Husband is off work, I'm off work and the children off school. They spent 4 days of last week back at school at a holiday club, whilst I got through a week of year end. They had a ball but it did make them very tired as they played about 4 different sports every day. It was like a week full of PE lessons! This week is going to be quiet, home time and down time.

The plan is writ and the food is all bought, courtesy of a trip to the supermarket with Missy Woo on Sunday afternoon.

Monday - Boerenkool Stamppot
Tuesday - Chicken pasta bake
Wednesday - Beef enchiladas
Thursday - Sweet potato and ginger soup
Friday - Slow cooker bacon joint, probably with egg and chips
Saturday - Keeping free (also known as making it up)
Sunday - Roast dinner

Don't forget there are more meal plans over at Mrs M's which you can discover by clicking on the badge top right.

Meal Planning Monday - the last week of Spring term edition!

noreply@blogger.com (kateab) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 15:18:00 +0000

Yes, really. If you're not up on how this year is panning out schoolwise, a lot of areas finish this week and go back straight after Easter, due to it being so late this year. In fact, I can only think of one time when it was later as husband's 40th fell on Easter Sunday and his birthday is 24th April.

Added to that, I've got year end to contend with for the next month or so. So I'm busy at work and the end of term brings lots of things going on whilst gearing up for the holiday.

I'm late posting this but my plan came first and was all done and dusted in time for Mother's Day yesterday. This week, we're at a school event on Thursday night and I'm going to Manchester for The Cake and Bake Show on Saturday.

Without further ado, it's over to the plan.

Monday - Chicken, sweetcorn and mushroom tagliatelle
Tuesday - Slow cooker vegetable biryani
Wednesday - Pizza baked potatoes
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Chicken and sweetcorn soup
Saturday - Fishfingers or pizza
Sunday - Salmon with new potatoes and green beans

More plans over at Mrs M's. (Badge above will take you there.)