Sunday prepping.

 

Back from a lovely break and feeling very refreshed for once :)

Sundays are traditionally a day of rest. We like to spend it as a family. I also use this quiet day to start getting ready for the next week so Monday can start off relatively peacefully.

Laundry has been done and put away, beds have been changed, schoolwork has been printed and prepped, menus plans have been finalised, budgets have been set, shopping has been done etc.

Finances are extremely tight for the next few months, everything seems to have exploded at once and needs paying for. This year is going to be very busy but joyful, lots going on.

 

Started off baking some munchies for the up-coming week. Oats were 49p per kilo at Lidl. For good, wholegrain Scottish Oats. I bought 12 kilos (yes 12! My daughter is a porridge fiend). So decided to make some flapjacks!

I have found the perfect flapjacks recipe! Tried a few and they either fall apart or are too crunchy, these are gorgeous. Next time I bake them I will take pics and post the recipe.

 

I also found a marinated chicken in Lid's reduced freezer 30% off which made it £2.69 for a 1.6kilo bird. Stuck it straight in the slow cooker when I got back for dinner. Wasn't sure what to put with it but you can't go wrong with a slow cooked, seasoned chicken. The men-folk of the house are all full of cold and were craving chicken.

 



Making more of an effort to run out and grab the reductions. The most variable bill we can reduce is the food bill, to try and save up for up-coming payments. The oats are from Lidl's half price weekend offer. Will do us several months of porridge and flapjacks.

Sainsburys had 1.1kilos of haddock fillet down to £3.50, there were 4 whole large sides of haddock inside and I have a sack and a half of potatoes left from the Morrison £2 12.5kilo offer a few weeks ago. So home-made fish and chips for tomorrows tea with mushy peas.

Tesco didn't have much in the chiller or veg sections but there were tonnes of bread products being marked down. I got a loaf of toastie bread, a pack of giant English muffins, 2 x 6 packs Warburtons sliced cobs, and a pack of Warburtons square wraps, for a total of 98p.

Its actually worked out cheaper than making my own from scratch.

 

 

When it came to dinner time we didn't fancy any stuffing or roast-type dinner. So I made some home-made seasoned potato wedges and some roasted red onion and pepper.

This is my new toy, I've had it for a few months now. A lady down the road was selling her twice used halogen oven for £10. Its taken some getting used to but I've just about cracked it. And it uses about 60% less energy than a conventional oven! I don't need to heat up an entire oven just for 1 tray of potato wedges anymore.

 

For awesome potato wedges:

Pierce and microwave your scrubbed potatoes first! For about 10-15mins. Not enough to make it into a soft jacket potatoes, but enough to make it slightly soft throughout. Cut into wedges, then season and oil. The microwaving dehydrates it slightly and creates a slightly glue-y surface as the potatoes start to release starch. It means it stays fluffy inside and crisps up quicker on the outside, and the seasoning sticks better.

 

Busy but satisfying day. My sink is all shiny ready to wake up to in the morning and I've got ahead on the housework and laundry. Ive got leftover chicken in the fridge and stock in the slow cooker overnight for a risotto later in the week. Got off to a good start for the upcoming busy week.

 

Turkey broth....

 

 

Lunch today :)

 

The turkey broth I made, with onion, garlic, carrots, peas, orzo pasta, half the shredded turkey and topped with a handful of spinach. Served with bread straight from the breadmaker :)

 

 

All the stock is gone but I still have this much shredded turkey left and frozen. Should be enough for a risotto for the 4 of us. 



turkey carcass broth and leftovers......

 

 

Woke up to gorgeous smelling turkey broth this morning! :D

Drained off the broth, look at the colour! This is the half the carcass that hasn't been roasted, just chucked in raw and left overnight.

 

Spent about 10mins picking off all the shreds of useable turkey meat:

 

 

Full bowl full left of turkey meat to go into the soup! :D

No space in the fridge so since its snowing the broth is outside with Clingfilm cooling down, then ill scrape the layer of fat off the top. Meat shreds are in the fridge for now.

 

This is the other half the carcass that I roasted. This one has already been picked clean last night once roasted and I got the same amount, 1 full bowl full of shreds for this soup too :)

The roasting is meant to produce an even darker and richer broth. So into the slow cooker it went with another onion, carrot, bit of garlic (which I forgot last night!) salt, pepper and bay leaf:

 

This will stay on all day on high then ill drain it off and discard the carcass, then sort out wether I will freeze them separately or make up the soup and freeze.



Butchered a bargain turkey.....

 

My mum picked me up a bargain turkey today! 6.6kilos. £5 down from £33.

I debated roasting the bird and shredding it, but decided instead to joint it up, with help from a very long suffering husband!

Wish I'd took pictures of this.

 

So what we were left with were:

 

2 turkey drumstick & thigh joints - I left these as whole joints with the bone in and skin on. Possibly will de-bone and use the meat, use the bone for stock or might marinate and roast them as they are.

 

2 turkey wings - Hubby had a 'giant hot wings' vision and marinated them ready for roasting.

 

2 giant breasts, boneless and skinless - I got 3 bags of cubed breasts from these, each to make a meal for a family of 4. Curries/sweet and sour etc.

 

That left the carcass with still quite a bit of meat on it. Split the carcass in half to fit in my slow cooker. First half went in with an onion, carrot, bay-leaf, salt and pepper and a pinch of herbs, covered with water. I should get plenty of rich stock and a good amount of meat once I strip the carcass in the morning to make a lovely turkey soup.

 

The other half the carcass would've gone in another slow cooker the same, except my other one broke! And the turkey was use by today. So I roasted it off in the oven. It'll give a richer flavour and it will keep another 3 days now its been cooked. When the first lot has finished ill start off the next lot.

 

Potentially 8 family meals from the turkey :)

Choc chip banana loaf...

 

 

Dead easy recipe for a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread:

 

3 x old bananas (mashed)

2 cups plain flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

100g choc bar (bashed with a rolling pin)

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

 

 

After mashing the bananas I chucked everything into the bowl and mixed it up. Pour into a large loaf tin lined with baking paper. Bake at 190 for about 50mins. This is also lovely with walnuts instead of the choc chips :)

Weekly shop & meal plan......

 

£22.50

 

Aldi:

4 pint whole milk - 99p

Double strength squash - 99p

Merlot - £3.20

Tonic water x 2 - 78p

Mature cheddar - £1.75

20 x3ply Nicky toilet rolls - £3.50

2 x garlic baguette - 68p

Bread flour - 75p

Pack 3 peppers - 89p

2 x 1 kilo sugar - £1.18

Butter - 95p

Pocket tissues - 59p

Basmati rice - £1.19

Babywipes - 69p

 

Tesco:

Cornflakes x 2 - 62p

Pepsi max x 2 - £1.98

Maltesers - £2

 

 

So the maltesers are because were going to the cinema tonight with some free tickets! And the maltesers at the cinema are double the price so were taking our own. There are a lot of drinks in there which are unnecessary but help with sanity so totally worth it. I stocked up on sugar as 59p bag is cheaper than I've seen it in ages! Pocket tissues as we've hit cold season :(

 

Meal plan:

Mon - Roast chicken dinner

Tues - Leftover chicken chow mein

Weds - Sausage & chickpea pilaf

Thurs - Meatballs and spaghetti
Fri - Duck breast & veggies

Sat - sausage cobs
Sun - Out

 

The roast chicken will stretch 2 meals (possibly 3) and ill have the stoke for the freezer. Meatballs will be made from a pack of burgers. Friday night is date night so we have a special meal once the kids have gone to bed. I haven't fully planned the weekend yet but have a rough idea and plenty in the freezer to cover it. Lunch for us is usually sandwiches/leftovers/beans/egg on toast etc from whatever I have in or have made so I don't plan them out but I know I have enough in to hate it covered.

 



leftover sausage carbonara....

 

Nothing specific planned for dinner today. Its cold, wet outside, we've had a lazy day watching films. Comfort food was needed this evening, a root round the fridge produced this:

 

 

1 1/2 leftover cooked sausages which I sliced up, half a block of parmesan and a beaten egg leftover from baking.

I decided to make a some sausage carbonara (traditionally carbonara is made bacon.) So simple and easy it took about 15mins from fridge to plate in total. Most of that was boiling the pan of spaghetti.

 

Simply whisk up some egg (I used 2) with a bit of black pepper. Pour over drained spaghetti and stir through. The residual heat will cook the egg through.

 

 

Then add a good handful of parmesan and sliced sausage.

 

Done.

 

Serve with garlic bread and salad. You could add vegetables, I probably should have but it was a lovely Saturday night treat and filled 3 hungry tummies :)