Leftovers

 Do you find it hard to eat, or even have inspiration to eat when it is hot? I do. I really struggle to eat in this weather. I love the sunshine but I don't want to eat in it. I have a daughter who is the same, I end up having to find fast simple meals that will entice her to eat as much as me!

The other day I cooked a roast chicken and we had some left in the fridge that needed eating so I made today's dinner using it.

I also found this box in the cupboard.I'm not sure where it came from, I don't even remember buying it. It was quite easy to make, you dissolve the powder into a little water, coat your chicken in it and fry until cooked. Nice and easy, just what was needed today.

I coated my chicken and then popped it in the air fryer for ten minutes. I just needed the coating to crisp as the chicken was already cooked. Whilst this happened, I chopped a quick, simple salad and added some tortilla crisps which were open in the cupboard.

Plain, simple and tasty. Just what was needed on this hot day.

There was still a little of the chicken left. I decided to make a treat for the dog with it. A simple pate, if you were making this for humans you could use butter, maybe garlic and little lemon juice to liven it up a little. As it was for Smudge I kept it plain as he has a sensitive tummy and he will stink us out! Haha

Chicken and a little water and into the blender until smooth.

I should have used a little less water maybe as it was a little runny. It will be fine though as I will be spreading it onto his licky mat and freezing it as a cooling treat another day.

There is no chicken left now so I will need to decide on something else quick and simple for tomorrow's dinner. I'm thinking maybe some pesto pasta.

Dining Room Update

Ok so I have lived in this house for 5 years and have never been able to decide what to do with the dining room. It always looks dark, cluttered and uninviting. 

Then a fortnight ago I came across this awesome wallpaper, I absolutely loved it.

I found it on Ebay, thought perfect I'll put the paper in the recess next to the chimney breast, paint the chimney breast and the other 3 walls. It'll look fab. I ordered two rolls, and had £5 off voucher for ebay so cost £18. Perfect. I thought I have some white paint in the shed so I'll get started whilst I wait for delivery.

Pulled the wallpaper that was on the chimney breast off ready to paint and was left with this:

1 very untidy, needs a replaster chimney breast. Definitely not a quick paint with white emulsion job. I don't have the skills or the money to fix this, especially as this is a rented home and I plan on moving in a couple of years as I aim to buy my own home. (long term plan, details coming soon!)

This means a change of plan- I'll just wallpaper across all of the area you can see in the picture above.

I forgot to take before pictures of this room, that's how much I disliked it! In the alcove on the left of this picture is where I had my freezer (kitchen is too tiny to fit a fridge/freezer in it. The alcove on the right is where I put my dining table and 6 chairs. The opposite corner to where the freezer is, so behind me and to the left where I stood to take this picture is where I had the fridge/ freezer, then the opposite corner to the table, so on my right and behind me when I took this picture is the bookcase and my desk. There never seemed to be enough room and it was not a comfortable space to use. So the whole room ended up a dumping ground.

Whilst I was painting I came up with a cunning plan to fix this. 

All the walls that were not papered were painted white to allow for the room to appear brighter, the wallpaper has potential to make it look dark so I wanted to balance this out.

This si the finished room:

I absolutely love it. I have spent all my time in here/ the garden since I finished it. I smile everytime I walk in. I love how I have laid the space out and it feels less cluttered. I haven't taken any of our stuff out, it's just better organised.

It's not the easiest room to photograph, but hopefully that gives you an idea of how much better it looks.

I did have to buy a third roll of wallpaper, as I was one drop short after having to paper the chimney breast as well as the alcoves.

Total costs:

Wallpaper- 3 rolls= £30

Gloss for woodwork- tin £8- I used half so £4

White emulsion- I used half a of a huge tub which cost £12 so £6

Wallpaper paste £1.

I have used all of our own furniture and didn't buy anything new. I have the light fitting from a previous room decorating.

Total cost for project: £41.00

I'm very happy with that as it has given us a fantastic looking room that we are all now using properly.

home improvements

I have been slowly getting organised to improve the decor in our home. both children's bedrooms have been transformed now it is the turn of my bedroom. When we moved in I said that I could  live with the downstairs decor but upstairs needed changing first. Obviously over time I will change all of the rooms to make them our own. I have bought a tub of paint a month over the last couple of months so that I can decorate my room without it being a large expense at once. Yesterday I bought the final tin- the gloss and came straight home to get started. I have now completed 2 coats of gloss on all the woodwork  in my room, except the door which I want to lay flat to decorate preferably in the garden. I need to sand it down before I can paint it but the sander has just had an emergency repair. The velcro part that the pads cling to came off with the sand paper. I have used my trusty glue gun in hope that I can make the 14 year old sander last a while longer. Once the glue has had time to dry then game on- I will be getting this room finished.
A sneak preview of what it was like before (and partly is now!)

A wonderful wallpaper totally not to my taste! Accompanied by 

Bright red walls. Not quite the tranquil and calm place I envisage my bedroom to be. With the help of my ancient steamer the wall paper was down in a jiffy. Once the woodwork is dry I will fix the walls.

First with several coats of this boring white paint to hopefully hide the red. Then a splash of this;

The colours I am hoping to instil from accessories which I will buy as money allows I am wanting nice purple items, I shall be on the lookout in charity shops and budget shops to find these.

I am in the process of trying to decide whether or not to lay the old blue carpet (new carpet is out of my current budget) or to keep the floor boards bare. They are in very good condition and look good. Just a little sanding needed as there are small paint splashes from previous decoration. I haven't quite decided yet. What are your views on this? 

How do you decorate and add your own personality to a home  on a budget?

Learning to budget

My children have never had just what they want bought when they want it, yet recently they seem to think nothing of asking for this or that when in the supermarket and sometimes I have given in a bought it other times I say no. They seem to be worse at the moment and then teenager sulks when he is told no! My gosh he never reacted like that as a toddler he'd just shrug it off and move on to the next thing.

So I have decided for their own good (and mine!) it's time to stand firm. So last night I called them to a room with me armed with this little lot

An inventory of items in the freezer and all the cash I had. That is £28.00. I asked them what they would like to have for dinners this week- the only catch was it has to use what is in the freezer. This is the menu they came up with

Sunday- Quorn curry
Monday- trout and pasta
Tuesday- meatballs in tomato sauce
Wednesday- Bolognese/ jacket potatoes
Thursday- tuna pasta
Friday- home made pizza
Saturday- lasagne/ jacket potato

We then looked at the extra ingredients we would need- what do we already have in stock. What do we need for lunches etc. We wrote the shopping list, worked out a rough costing and decided we could afford what the children had chosen.

So this morning armed with just the cash- I left my main purse with cards in it at home, and a shopping list we did a weekly shop. I had a can I get a new pair of play shoes from Stephanie,  and I'd really like some more cartoon socks from Dylan as we started to head in the door. Can you afford your food and those items? I asked. harrumph from the big one and off they set with the shopping list. Stephanie seemed to  enjoy the challenge of finding the best deal, Dylan was dead against as we wandered around. I used the calculator on my phone to add up the total as each new item was added to the basket, with the intention of telling them if we got close so that they could make a choice if needed. As it happened the shopping came to £20.76 so a fair bit under the £28 I had given them.

So we bought a £1.50 bunch of flowers to pop on my Mum's grave after we had had a bit of a tidy up there.

I plan on doing this with the children for the rest of the month, I am hoping by them having to make the choices and see how much of our money goes on 'just this little thing' it might stop impulse buying and the I want's as we do our shopping. Friday night is going to be the set the menu and work to the budget evening for the next few weeks at least.

Menu planning

As part of my determination to stick to a budget I have been menu planning. I thought I would share with you my planned meals for the next week. The above is a picture of the whiteboard I have hanging in the kitchen for this.
On the menu for next week the bulk of the ingrediants are already in the freezer, Monday and Tuesdays chicken dishes will be made using leftover chicken from the roast we will be having tomorrow. I don't plan for breakfasts; Stephanie eats hers at her childminders, Dylan will make toast/ have cereal bars and I have fruit/cereal bars. At the weekend I will sometimes make pancakes/ dippy eggs etc depending on what we are doing and what the children want. Lunches when we are at school tend to be very predictable- the children always want the same ham/cheese sandwich fruit and a cake. I'll make mine with whatever in the fridge needs using first.
Underneath you will see I have my shopping list for the week, as the meats/fish are already here I should be well able to stick to my £40 food budget- if there are any good offers in the yellow label section when I go I pick them up and pop them in the freezer when I get home for use another week. You will see on the shopping list 2 items not usually there- yeast and bread flour. I have been inspired by Astra to have a go at making my own bread. Wish me luck.

Shopping budget

Just 'popping in' to say how the shopping challenge has gone this week.

If you ignore the fact that Stephanie chose pizza hut for her birthday tea treat, costing £33, I have spent £3.55 on shopping this week. If you don't ignore this fact then I have spent £36.55 meaning I am UNDERBUDGET!!!

I have been very strict due to spending so much on the birthday treat. All I bought was;

• 2 packets of ham on offer so total cost £3.00
• 1 packet of mixed salad, reduced to 30p
• 1 packet of tomatoes reduced to 25p

These items have been the main part of our lunches this week. Everything else has come out of the freezer and cupboards. I am feeling very proud of myself this week. It hasn't been easy, I have really ancied a pack of crisps all week, probably because I haven't got any in! I resisted the pull towards the shops, I have not been near one since going to the petrol station on Sunday where I purchased the above items. Oh I am sorry a small fib there- I went on Tues eve to get a gift for my Childminders daughter as it was her birthday and I forgot. I got her a present in the reduced section at the local outlet centre, it was a very pretty silver handbag for £4.

 I am going to do a strict menu plan for next week before I go shopping to see how well I can do, I have been so pleased with this week it has spurred me  on to keep going.

budget setting

I have had a reduction in income which has given me the push I need to re-assess my finances. I have been procrastinating about this for the past few months and thinking I need to do this, but then I procrastinate and think of things I need to do first which then pushes the start date back.

I am taking today as Easter day the symbol of new life etc etc to be my first day. I have written a list (surprise surprise regular followers will know I love a good list!) of my regular outgoings a month. I have read my gas/elec meters so that when my quarterly bill drops in the email in box during the next few weeks I know they will be accurate bills. After all bills etc are gone I have decided how much of the left over income goes into the new car savings pot and have left myself a weekly allowance for grocery shopping.

I have allowed for £40 per week for the 4 weeks between pay days April- May pay day. If I find I manage easily on this amount I will reassess and alter the budget for spend the following month and save more.
There is enough food in the house that I will only need to buy some fruit/veg/milk in the next 2 weeks before payday. This week we are away for a couple of days and then the children are at their Dads, so as it is only me home I don't need to buy anything as there is plenty in for me.

   Wish us luck!