Meal Planning Monday - the busy pre-bank holiday edition!

Yes, I know - we seem to be busy all the time at the moment but this week, we've had some added complications, which I'm sure you'd know about if you followed me on Twitter. On Monday evening, Monkey broke his arm. Well, we think it's broken - the hospital aren't actually sure but he's got his arm in a cast until at least this Wednesday when he returns to fracture clinic for his temporary cast to be removed, be x-rayed again - without swelling this time - and then they will decide if there is a break and if so, he'll have a proper cast put on which will probably be easier than the one he's got on at present. Needless to say, I could have done without a 3 hour trip to A&E on Monday, and having been there with Missy, I know that fracture clinic can eat up a day very quickly. On top of that, I'm spending most of the day at school today as I'm one of the governors on an interview panel to appoint a new teacher, plus I'm still working extra hours. And it's nearly half term, how did that happen?

The only positive I can find so far about Monkey having his arm in a cast is that he can't go swimming, meaning Thursday afternoons are a little less fraught right now.

I gave everyone an opportunity to choose food and only Monkey came up with something definite - his favourite dish, something we haven't had for ages so that was allowed. Later, husband chipped in with a choice of a risotto. You'll note the chicken stew is on there - I completely forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer on Thursday night and then spent a good chunk of Friday morning in school (see above) so we ended up with steak pudding with chips all round! I WILL get it made this week, I truly will. Missy vaguely said she wanted some pasta and that stew will go with it.

After much waffling from me, here is the meal plan for this week.


Monday - Salmon with butterbean mash (as it can be done in 10 mins flat)
Tuesday - Honey mustard pork with mash
Wednesday - Prawn and pea risotto
Thursday -  Sandwiches
Friday - Chicken, pancetta and mushroom stew
Saturday - Corned beef and beans pie
Sunday - Slow cooker lamb and sweet potato curry

That is the plan anyway, assuming that children stop breaking limbs, of course.

I must be going, I have too much to do! Go see what else lies in store meal planning wise by visiting Mrs M's, by clicking on the badge above.

Walkers Hoops and Crosses - what the XOXO are they?

This post is sponsored. 

A box arrived in the post the other day. The contents didn't last long - in fact, I didn't even get a chance to get a photograph of the box before things got grabbed.  This is all I have left to show you (child not included):

The other thing was a pack of a new snack from Walkers called Hoops and Crosses. These are wholegrain corn snacks, that are baked not fried, and therefore meant to be a healthier version of a potato type snack, because it has 30% less fat and helps towards your wholegrain intake, which is lacking in most people, especially children.

A pack of Hoops and Crosses contains only 85 calories, but they are lighter than most packets of crisps in that they contain 18g instead of 25g or 28g. They are far from a low fat product but an average serving only contains 3.8g fat.

Tastewise, we were sent the Roast Beef flavour, mysteriously in a yellow packet (I get confused by variations in colour coding of crisp flavours!). Tastewise, they tasted just like Monster Munch to me, which is not my favourite thing but not unpalatable. They also come in Prawn Cocktail - Missy Woo's favourite flavour - and Salt and Vinegar. A packet lasted approximately 4.9 seconds but that was everyone getting a look in. I suspect they wouldn't last in a lunchbox for too long and I wonder just how filling the wholegrains make it as a snack. The children enjoyed them and keep asking for them in the supermarket.

Personally, I'd prefer Cheese and Onion but that's my favourite flavour.

Obviously, they are shaped like noughts and crosses but I suspect your games would get eaten quickly if you tried to play the game with them!

(This is a sponsored review as I have been paid a fee to cover my time to review this product. I was sent a packet to try along with the cuddly toy to keep. All opinions are my own and genuinely held.)

Meal Planning Monday - the lacking in enthusiasm edition!

Yes, I'm afraid that is me! Every now and then, I really struggle to put a plan together. I do it, because I know the benefits for me and the rest of the family but this week, I think I'd really rather have not. Still, the children offered a couple of suggestions (although "sandwiches for Thursday" wasn't that helpful, thanks Missy Woo!) I had a carry over from last week, and one dish filed away to try but then I struggled, and struggled, and struggled. Being hungry towards the end of this probably didn't help. I wanted everything and nothing. I know, I'm odd.

I put this apathy down to a busy week and hopefully next week, my enthusiasm will return as we have a far more normal week this week although it is the school summer fair on Saturday.

Don't get excited, there isn't much ground-breaking here and there appears to be a lot of dough in my future.

Monday - Curry lentil stew with tomatoes
Tuesday - Homemade pizza (which will be half pepperoni and half ham and pineapple)
Wednesday - Falafel burgers
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Chicken, pancetta and mushroom stew
Saturday - Slow cooker pork belly
Sunday - Chicken and stuffing baguettes

Normal service next week? I hope so.

Click on the badge above to discover more marvellous meal plans.

Meal Planning Monday - the quick and easy May edition!

I wasn't really sure what to call this. I thought I'd cobbled it together but there are four new dishes on the plan that I've never cooked before. I was going to make it an empty the freezers/fridges edition but they're pretty empty to start with and only two of the meals have major elements already in. It's all designed to be quick and easy because work is mad and it's nearly new sale day on Saturday, meaning we will probably have takeaway on Saturday night. And Wednesday, I can justify because we're going out early evening and I have a houseful of volunteers coming round at 8pm to stuff bags for said sale.

The plan? Oh yes. I was rambling slightly.

Monday - Sweet potato, spinach and goats' cheese quesadillas (recipe is similar, not exactly the same)
Tuesday - Zesty haddock with crushed potatoes and peas
Wednesday - Egg, chips and beans
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Chicken, pancetta and mushroom stew
Saturday - keeping free
Sunday - Greek lamb filo pie (made with beef mince!)

So it's looking quite good. How is your week shaping up?

Click on the badge above to get to Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday linky.

Meal Planning Monday - the largely recycled edition!

It was a busy week last week involving birthdays, a husband running a marathon and making 3 cakes. Never. Again. Much as I love baking, it was too much and some of the normal cooking went right out of the window. Some things got placed on the backburner so I have a few things to make leftover. And then, this week is busy in a different way - I am working on Saturday running some training at a volunteer training day which involves an overnight trip on Friday, which puts cooking down the pecking order. And then, it's our wedding anniversary on Sunday so we're going to go out for lunch. No less busy then! Husband has asked fora simple tea on Friday, meaning there is really only one or two other meals to choose. One of those days Monkey has a friend coming and has chosen tea.

This is how it's looking then.

Monday - Spiced bulghar pilaf with fish
Tuesday - Fish fingers, beans and chips
Wednesday - Curried squash, lentil and coconut soup
Thursday - Sandwiches
Friday - Pasta with bacon and tomato sauce
Saturday - Keeping free
Sunday - Keeping free

Maybe, just maybe, next week will be a little calmer. As I enter chasing mode at work next week and I have a day of volunteering on Saturday, it's probably unlikely. May is always busy!

After you've told me what you are eating this week, pop on over to Mrs M where she will have more meal planning loveliness from lots of other bloggers.

Fajitas, enchiladas and fish fingers

So. Husband's birthday earlier this week. A midweek birthday is always a tough one to work out what to do - when the children were younger, we'd have arranged a babysitter and just gone out for the evening, but they are much more aware these days. God love 'em - they even managed to keep a secret so well, they didn't even tell him we went to pick up a present from one of his favourite shops.

The children are not for being left out any more. A family meal out it had to be, so it was more than lucky that Chiquito Mexican Restaurant offered us a voucher to give them a try. When I lived down south, I'd been to quite a few of their restaurants but when I first moved here, there were none. In the last couple of years, we have made one or two trips to the newer local branches in the area. In the meantime, we've been to newer chains like Las Iguanas which offered greater variety of food options.

Monkey staring aimlessly at the Reebok

We went to the restaurant near Bolton Wanderers' stadium, which impressed Monkey as our table had a panoramic view of the ground . Wednesday early evening was never going to be a busy time and sure enough, it was half empty when we arrived so the service was very attentive. The guy that showed us to our table had some good banter going with the children.

Checking out the menu, I liked that they had two children's menus - Monkey has a voracious appetite whereas Missy Woo is not as hungry. The "young adults" menu was also more adventurous than the kids menu, again reflecting their respective food personalities. Whilst we demolished a couple of bowls of what I think was sour cream and chive flavoured popcorn, Monkey chose fajitas with chicken in tomato sauce, which is one of his favourite things to eat, and Missy Woo? She went for fish fingers! As it was that or their standard choice of pasta, I wasn't going to fight a battle. They both chose a milkshake as their drink, which cost a little extra than those that are part of their meal deal. The adult menu was huge - far wider than I remember it and I struggled to choose because it was like reading a book!

We skipped starters on this occasion and went straight to mains. It meant, along with the fact that it was quiet, that our food arrived pretty quickly after we'd ordered. Like Monkey, I'd gone for fajitas and we both received substantial portions, so I was glad I'd skipped starters. Husband chose enchiladas which he demolished fairly quickly and actually had some of my fajitas. Mine was pulled pork which was  gorgeous - the barbeque sauce was a great mix of sweet and sour. My only minor criticisms of the fajitas were that I had no plate so no place to lay out a tortilla, fill it and roll it and that my tortillas were rolled so tightly that they had all torn in the middle. That did not detract from the enjoyment of the food. Monkey enjoyed his fajitas although he didn't touch the salsa. Missy Woo enjoyed her fish fingers but they were fish fingers and chips, nothing fancy.

My fajita filling - pulled pork and veg

Knowing that there was chocolate orange cake at home, we were going to skip dessert too. However, the children's meals both included a dessert so husband cracked and ordered one too. Missy chose strawberry sundae and Monkey went adventurous again, choosing churros that he has never had before.  Both of them got substantial portions so although I hadn't ordered anything, I got to snaffle a fair bit and very nice they were too.

All throughout our visit, the service was friendly and attentive. If I were to have a criticism, it would be that because it was quiet, it was a little too attentive at times, and they did that thing where they asked us if our meals were OK almost seconds after we got them as we were served by a number of people. Apart from that, it was good and we were certainly made to feel welcome and there was no pressure to finish our food quickly so it was nice and relaxed. Being a fairly new unit, the layout is good so you're not on top of all the tables and the children love the light fitting made from beer bottles.

We left, carrying birthday balloons with full tummies and smiles on our faces. We had a great time and with the increased variety on the Chiquito menu, we will definitely be back soon.

(Chiquito kindly sent us a £50 voucher to use in one of their restaurants and were aware in advance of the approximate time and location of our visit. We were also asked to tell the staff on arrival that we had a voucher. All pictures and opinions are our own.) 

What would you do with the free time if you didn't have to be a taxi to your kids? Tell me and you could win a £25 Sainsbury's voucher

Photo credit - DJ_maxim

This competition was created by Sainsbury’s Bank Car Insurance and I'm taking part as a member of the
Sainsbury's Bank Parent Blogger Network.

Sainsbury's recently introduced the ‘Taxi of Mum and Dad Calculator’ — a fun way to see how much you could earn in taxi fares, if your children were ‘on the clock.’

It’s not all about money, your time is also precious. How would you spend the hours if you weren't playing taxi? Finish a good book, getting outdoors or just doing nothing, are some of the little luxuries the Money Matters team would enjoy.

To find out how parents would rather spend their time, I'm offering a £25 Sainsbury’s Voucher as a prize. All I need to know is 'What would you do with your time saved?'

To enter and win the prize of a £25 Sainsbury's voucher, you simply have to leave a comment below telling me what you would do with the time saved not being the Taxi of Mum and Dad.You can increase your chances of winning by tweeting about the giveaway and referring a friend to enter.The more times you enter, the better your chance of winning the £25 Sainsbury's voucher.

Whether or not you’re our prize winner, your affordable family activity ideas could also potentially appear in a future Money Matters Blog post. The winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter (which uses random.org) and announced on this page. The deadline for entering the giveaway is Wednesday 1st May.

Terms & Conditions

This giveaway is open to all readers in the UK.
Rafflecopter will accept entries for this giveaway at 12am on Wednesday 24th April.
Rafflecopter will close the competition at 12am on Wednesday 1st May
Sainsbury's Bank will run this competition via Rafflecopter.
The winner will be chosen by Sainsbury's Bank via Rafflecopter (which uses random.org) and announced on this page.
Entrants must have a UK address to enter. No bulk or third party entrants.
The prize is non-transferable, and will be sent out from Sainsbury’s Bank.
The giveaway winner will be contacted by the blog host to retrieve name and address.
The name and address of the winner will not be used for marketing purposes by Sainsbury’s Bank.
All entries may be featured on the Sainsbury’s Bank Money Matters blog post without further payment.
The winner will be contacted by e-mail, if they do not respond within seven days another winner may be chosen.
Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will be disqualified.

(Disclosure - I have received a Sainsbury's voucher for hosting this giveaway)

a Rafflecopter giveaway