Frugal food- menu planning

I've been in lots of seasons financially- I've had enough money to be comfortable and I've had very little and struggled. Either way I managed somehow to keep my little brood happy, healthy and well fed. The secret to such, isn't spending lots of money, but rather carefully planning so as to minimise waste and maximise leftovers.

So, on a particularly bad week, I would feed five (including a toddler) of us on £35 a week. Looking back, I wonder how on earth I did it, but as a future reminder (with student days approaching) and to those who may find it useful, this is what a general week of meals looked like:

Monday

Breakfast- toast and yoghurt

Lunch- pasta salad (I'd make a big batch of pasta and mix with passata, herbs and onion and then store in the fridge)

Dinner: roast chicken, roast potatoes and veggies (if chicken thighs were cheaper I'd roast those instead of a whole chicken)

Tuesday

Breakfast - cereal and bananas

Lunch- ham salad sandwiches and crudités

Dinner- chicken curry (using leftovers from Monday) and rice with naan bread.

Wednesday

Breakfast- porridge with cinnamon sprinkled on top

Lunch- salad with ham and eggs

Dinner- spaghetti bolognaise

Thursday

Breakfast - toast with jam or butter

Lunch- pasta (that I made earlier in the week) and green salad

Dinner- chilli con carne (I'd add red beans and baked beans to the left over bolognaise and some chilli flakes and then serve with rice or tacos)

Friday-

Breakfast- cereals and yoghurt

Lunch- ham salad sandwiches (with mustard if you're a grown up) and apple slices 

Dinner- stir fried vegetables with noodles and sweet n sour sauce.

Weekends were usually laid back planning wise as back then I didn't work Sunday's, so we would often go to lunch at my parents or grandparent's house. If desserts were made throughout the week, it would have been simple things such as jelly with fruit pieces or a quick microwave syrup pudding that my Grandma taught me to make (it's incredible and takes around 10minuted from start to finish!) Also, if there were ever any leftovers, I would take them to work for lunch the next day. 

A trip to the beach

Last night, baby bear went to bed all excited to wake up ready for her big nursery trip to the beach. She had her flip flops, her sunglasses and her Sunday ready to go and my girl was looking forward to building castles and jumping waves in the water.

This morning we woke up to a grey and unpromising sky. As we loaded the car, it started to rain, but when she glumly asked if we'd have to cancel the beach trip, I told her that the sub would probably burn the little cloud dusting right up. 

Alas, it did not. It rained all the way to the beach but seemed dry when we arrived. Just as we got unpacked, it naturally started to rain again. My girl was unfazed. In fact she had sheer joy all over her face as she built castles with wet sand, sunk her toes in the rock pools and ran in the rain.

Her giggle is infectious and when she asked me to join in, I couldn't refuse. We ran along the shore with a ride that came in incredibly fast, she shrieked with elation when my converse got soaked and the sea washed over the jacket I'd placed down on the sand.

To be honest, it was pretty fun. It reminded me of the phrase 'some people feel the rain, others just get wet.' My girl is vivacious, she loves life- every facet of it, and it positively affects everyone around her. It would have been so easy to have a bad attitude about today's washed out trip, yet she had a blast! I'm thankful for a stark reminder to really live in the moment, to feel the rain and not just get wet.

Cakes, chaos and a dose of compassion

I knew today would be hectic- first making lunches, getting hair brushed, shoes on and faces clean and then a rushed breakfast before hurriedly taking the big girls to school and then little one to playgroup. All before heading to check in on my grand mother before going off to do a shift at work. 

Whilst at work, I remembered the trip money I'd not handed in, the reading book that was still in the car and the shopping list I didn't get to buy. I wouldn't finish until school pick up time so it would just have to wait yet another day. Work went by quickly thanks to a busy spurt and so before I knew it I was at the school gate waiting for my girls.

They chatted excitedly about their days and ran off to the field to play with their friends, I rushed them along to nursery to collect littlest and then walked them to grandma's for some hand cooked chips before dropping the big girls to youth club. That's when I remembered the shopping list, so baby bear and I hit up Asda and got some fruit and some picnic supplies for the school trip tomorrow (to the beach by the way, please don't rain, please don't rain!) 

My youngest fell asleep on the drive home, so I scooped her up and tucked her into bed still wearing a gingham nursery dress. Her arm automatically reached out for floppy bunny and then she snuggled down for a night of sleep.

I still had cakes to make for the school fete this weekend, a car to clean and laundry to fold, so I got to work. Whilst the cakes cooled I showered the ducks and washed the car before the big girls were dropped off and the bedtime routine ensued- picking up dirty laundry, listening to sleepy prayers, kissing content faces. 

I cleaned up the kitchen before running a bath, extra hot and then it was time to retreat to the tub to do a spot of reading.

I've been working through '1000 gifts'  by Ann Voskamp and I love it, so soothing yet challenging, and tonight was no different.

I'd been so busy all day that I'd not realised it at the time, but I had been constantly thinking of what I had to do next, that I wasn't fully present in the moment. What if I had been? What if I'd listened more intently to the little school stories? Did I miss out?

Sometimes, being a mama is all encompassing, all consuming and often weighty. All the responsibility of those little people fall in you, so it's no wonder our heads get full of to-do lists and our tempers get frazzled. However, I am realising more and more that rushing and hurrying doesn't help. I don't often get anywhere any quicker by snapping at the heels of my girls, or encouraging them to eat breakfast quickly so that we can leave. In fact, it usually only makes me sick of the sound of my own voice, as the sweet little girls carry on chasing Rice Krispies around the bowl with a spoon and giggling at the sheer fun of it. What if I stopped to appreciate those giggles.

I know mamas who have lost babies, at varying stages of life, and what those ladies would do to hear one more giggle. Tonight my heart is tender to you grieving mamas, and I'd hug your neck right now if I could. 

It's time to stop my haste, because in living slowly, I might live more fully. In reality, will I still hurry my children up when we are running late for the school run? Absolutely, but I'll be thanking God for those giggles whilst fishing for cereal on my drive to work afterwards.

Half Term begins

It's the second May Bank Holiday in these parts, which means half term is this week too. A whole week of no school runs or lunch bags to pack! However, what this does mean is half term bored-ness to combat without spending an absolute fortune. I'm a firm believer in finding pleasure in the little things, and the kids will back me up with that. Seriously, hand a bottle of bubble mix to my three littles and they will giggle and squeal for ages out in the garden. It will brighten their day and cost you pence (especially if you reuse the bottles and make your own solution with water and fairy liquid!) 

Since I have to work tomorrow, I wanted to take my minis out for a treat. After pricing up various farms and zoos, I finally settled on taking them to a local owl sanctuary, which is conveniently located near an adventure playground.

It took around thirty minutes to drive there, during which time I gave the girls clues on where we were headed. The big girls had fun reading the road signs to try and decode my scheming but my littlest fell asleep right away.

We met up with a friend of mine and her little boy, and after a quick caffeine fix from Costa, we were good to go.

We walked the forest walk to get to the entrance and the children enjoyed skipping off ahead to race us there.

When we reached the sanctuary, we played spot the owl, since owls like to hide up high or sneak down low- the kids were enthralled and I admit I was too. They are such beautiful creatures!

You could hold the Owls below with the assistance of a falconry glove and an owl assistant, however we got there at lunchtime when there were no holdings, so we admired them from afar, before heading to the activity centre to do owl colourings and make bookmarks.

There's no entrance fee to the sanctuary, but donations are greatly received, since my girls had a blast, we made a donation before we left, but you're under no obligation and can give as much or as little as you like.

After visiting the birds we headed to the playground where I let the kids burn off all of their energy before treating them to a McDonald's ice cream on the drive home.

I think I spent around £15, but that's including ice cream and petrol, so it was a pretty cheap day out. The fact it's 7.10pm and the children are fast asleep in bed is testament to a successful family day out!