Menu Planning Monday.

It never rains but it pours. Today we've seen the third collapse of our house moving chain (not our house this time, so waiting on the agents to repair it), the return of the rats which initially prompted us to consider moving, and then to top the day off I managed to gain weight at my WW meeting. Needless to say the gin is open and the gloves are off as of tomorrow...

Monday - Jamie's sausages and lentils with a tomato salsa

Tuesday - the tuna Nicoise we didn't have last weekend

Wednesday - pasta with bacon and aubergines

Thursday - he is out, I'm having chicken liver salad

Friday - the Grand Opening Ceremony for a new family tradition, curry night! It was The Husbands birthday last week and I bought him the Hairy Bikers Curry cookbook (not for me, honest guv!) and since we all love curry this is our new Institution. Starting with beef phal, bhindi bhaji and naan bread, will make a seperate beef dish sans chillis for the wimpy kids;)

Saturday - home-made real pizza

Sunday - might blag a roast off my mum, or see what's left in the fridge, or go to the pub....

As usual, linking up with MrsM for other meal planning ideas.

Silent Sunday.

Menu Planning Monday.

Not hugely inspirational this week, but it's planned which is a good start!

Monday - bratwurst with roasted aubergine, red onion and mushrooms (Lidl special, never had bratwurst before!)

Tuesday - chicken noodle soup made with leftovers from last weekends pot roast 

Wednesday - something with prawns

Thursday - going to attempt an omelette again

Friday - The Husband believes we are having tuna Nicoise but actually me and the kids are taking him to the pub as a belated birthday treat - so probably something hugely unhealthy washed down with copious amounts of booze;)

Saturday - the tuna Nicoise we didn't have last night!

Sunday - whatever bargain we can get in Lidl, accompanied by whatever veg is left in the fridge

Celebrating this week with a 2.5lb loss at the scales (totally unexpected as I blew the points this weekend) and the receipt of our mortgage offer for the new house. Oh, and the sun was out tonight so lovely to spend a nice hour out walking as a family, enjoying some warmth!

As ever, linking up with MrsM for more ideas. 

Yikes, what have I done?

After spending most of my adult life sat on my bum, when I lost weight a few years ago I also became a lot more active. Each year, I now set myself a physical challenge to keep me motivated enough to carry on being fit. The first year I taught myself to run and completed a 5k race. The year after that I threw myself into Weymouth harbour on Christmas Day in sub-zero temperatures, swam across it and raised £500 for Camille's Appeal. Last year was Nightrider of course.

I then ran out of ideas. To kick myself into making a decision, I decided that if I didn't complete a challenge this year then I would do the Harbour Swim again, something I swore I would never do again after it took months for my fingers to thaw out.

So, this week I finally committed myself. Luckily my sister has agreed to do it with me, although she is mega-fit and sure to beat me by a country mile - literally! But we are going to do a Triathlon, with a 400m swim, 20k bike and 5k run. To say I'm cacking myself already is an understatement! My home town hosts a series of tri events and I've seen some of the athletes compete, seriously scary in terms of their fitness levels and amount of expensive kit possessed. But we've found an entry level one so shouldn't be too intimidating.

So, now got 6 months to prepare and train for it. I started this week with a 15 minute run, not far but more than I thought I could achieve given that I haven't exercised in months. And I actually enjoyed it! Will be using this blog as a training diary, sorry to bore y'all;)

Menu Planning Monday.

Getting in early here as I've been pretty lax for a coupla weeks!

Monday - gammon steaks with caulie cheese
Tuesday - aubergines stuffed with tomato, spinach, chorizo and ricotta
Wednesday - fresh tuna steaks and salad
Thursday - pork schnitzel and salad for me, kebab for The Husband
Friday - the whole family are eating out at our local Indian restaurant with friends; always an awesome evening as a) the food is good, b) it's bring your own booze so a cheap night out, c) we have 4 kids between us and they all get on brilliantly, and d) the restaurant has a terrace outside where the kids play after dinner and a waiter goes out to watch them for us while us adults drink inside. Happy Days.
Saturday - roasted gammon joint with mash and courgettes
Sunday - The Husband is deserting us all day as he's spending the day cycling with mates as his birthday treat out, so me and the kids will have roast chicken and all the trimmings

Shocking week on the diet front, culminating in a full roast beef dinner followed by treacle tart and custard today, was a rare whole family get-together so worth celebrating! Worth the splurging but will get back on track with my meeting tomorrow.

As always, pop over to MrsM's to see what everyone else is enjoying this week!

Things for free.

Everybody loves a freebie, I'm sure! And there are lots of ways these days to blag a little extra, or claim a discount, or just get stuff without paying. Aside from quizzes, competitions and questionaires, I've discovered three things that work for me so thought I'd share them.

1) Quidco. It's very simple; sign up and every time you make an online purchase, click through the Quidco site to get cash. Yes, that easy! It's free to sign up although they take £5 a year from your account (your account with them, not your bank account) if you make more money than that; if you make nothing, you don't pay at all. Some websites pay you a percentage cashback whilst others give you freebies. They also have a comparison tool for things like insurance which is very handy. I've had all sorts of payments from them over the last 3 years, from 30p for buying a clock from Argos, £3 for sending our mothers a Mother's Day bouquet from Bunches, up to £30 for buying car insurance and £100 Love2Shop vouchers for simply switching our utilities. You cannot go wrong, as the price you pay is exactly the same as if you went direct.

2) BzzAgent. This is a relatively new one for me; they describe themselves a a word-of-mouth marketing company, and basically send you free stuff to try and review. The information then gets fed back to the manufacturer/provider who can then evaluate where they are going right - or indeed wrong! Again, you just sign up for free, fill out loads of online surveys so they can establish more about your life and buying habits, and then wait for the freebies to roll in. So far I've had vouchers for milk, butter, stain removal powder and moisturiser, and received a £60 electric toothbrush. All you have to do in return is review the products and spread your findings on social media, blogs and amongst your friends and family.

3) Beauty Bible. Not strictly free, but still worth mentioning! Two ladies who publish a book for beauty-conscious consumers, and need testers to review the products.Again, you sign up, receive your products and have to write a review of each item after you've road-tested them. You do have to pay £30 for delivery of your parcel but most people I know have received goods worth in excess of £200. My parcel is apparently on it's way and I'm looking forward to trying things I normally wouldn't buy!


Any other tips for free stuff? Tesco Clubcard is a good one if you do your weekly shopping there, and I'm keen to find out any others!