Mud Cakes and Wine

I have not really got my head round the fact that Easter is next weekend and that means the children are off school from Thursday pm. We are doing really well with not wasting as much food and thinking about items to use up. Friday - Ravioli for the boys. Fajitas for myself and Mr MC&W Saturday - Fish and Chips for the boys. Lamb burgers for Mr MC&W, using up some beetroot I had from the roast chicken last week Herby lamb burgers with beetroot mayo Sunday - Roast Pork for us all. Monday - New Potato and blue cheese salad. Macaroni cheese for the boys. Warm new potato salad with bacon and blue cheese Tuesday - Chicken Curry for us all and yes I will be using a jar of sauce Wednesday - Soup and bread as a change, thinking a lovely vegetable one from covent garden. tomato soup for the boys. Thursday - Pie, Mash and green beans -  it has been a long time since we have had pie. Again this will not be made by me as time is not on our side this week. I will be ...

Last June Mr MC&W and I planted a lot of climbers against a fence to the side of the garden. The good news is that they are still alive and have not died, I am am really rather good at killing plants. As you can see they are growing well, with a lot of new growth since they were planted. Planting climbers I have decided not to prune them this year, instead I have been very busy weaving them and getting them to grow where I want them to. With in reason, climbers seem to have minds of their own. There are quite a few areas of the fence that have very limited cover so my mission is to get them to grow covering those areas. As you can see at the moment they are pretty easy to tie and weave into the fence and I can carry this on as they grow more.  Lesson learnt, cut your twine before you go out and secateurs are no good for twine cutting. Hopefully soon the Clematis Montana Tetrarose will be flowering and providing us with lots of flowers and ...

We had a few changes to last weeks meals, no chilli as we had roast beef left over and with my new drive to cut down waste we had stroganoff as I had some sour cream and I just got a few extra mushrooms from the farm shop. This week we do not have anything to use up which is good. Friday - Scampi and Chips for Mr MC&W and I the boys will have fish fingers Saturday - Spag Bol using the minced beef meant for the chilli Sunday - Roast Chicken Monday - Cauliflower cheese, Spinach and pasta bake - not sure how I will do this for the boys Cauliflower cheese and spinach pasta bakes Tuesday - Lamb Tikka Samosas Lamb tikka samosas Wednesday - Omelette's and Chips these are a pick and mix of cheese, ham and mushrooms. Thursday - Spicy Honey Salmon and roasted tomatoes. Boys will have jackets with sausages and beans Spice and honey salmon with couscous

Last week was great and I do not have any waste in the fridge other than a rather old feta that I found near the back. This week we only have some sun dried tomatoes that need to be used in the next couple of weeks. I am really happy with how this went and am trying to put a little more time and thought into the meals we have. Friday - I discovered Whitby cod Goujons and they are lovely so will be having them as fish finger rolls with lots of tartare sauce and wedges for us all Saturday - Boys will have main meal at lunch and we will have Sticky chicken Sticky chinese chicken traybake Sunday - Mothers Day and Mr MC&W will be cooking roast beef  Monday - Spicy Cheese and Tomato Bake - This will be using some of the sun dried tomatoes I have and the recipe I will alter to be able to do this. This is for us all Spicy cheese and tomato bake Tuesday - Prawn Laksa boys will have the noodles and veggies and will try some prawns Prawn and coconut laksa Wednesday - C...

It has been a tough week with the weather being so cold and then the snow. I had been watching the weather forecast, a massive shop arrived at 7am on Monday 26th February with enough planned food for the next 7 days. It was the right decision as well.  I am trying not to waste as much food so we have a few meals that will use up bits from last weeks meals. I am ed up of finding half a used feta that I have to chuck it is so wasteful. Friday -Fish, Chips and Peas all from the freezer Saturday - Frozen Pizza with tomato salad Sunday - Lamb Shanks got them on the Monday and froze them. These will be slow roasted with lots of veggies Monday - Bacon and Mushroom Pasta - this will use up the leftover pesto. The boys with have pasta, bacon and tomato sauce Bacon and mushroom pasta Tuesday - Crispy Greek Style Pie to use up the feta cheese. The boys will have some little parcels based on the below. Both served with salad Crispy greekstyle pie Chicken mozzarella pesto filo...

Wow what a week of weather we have had, from the first real snow in 8 years to the wind which made you shiver to your bones. The boys had never experienced proper cover your boots snow and it is safe to say they loved it. As you all know I was so happy with my winter container plants and border, lots of wonderful colour for the cold grey days and then the snow came and came and came. We were very lucky we missed the most dreadful weather and school only closed for one day. The snow has gone a little and the plants now have wilted and look like this With more snow on its way will they pop back to life or has the cold snap finished them off. Mudpie Fridays