Mud Cakes and Wine

  The meal plan is a little subject to change depending on what we have left and what has been used up. We have entered tier 4 on Boxing day and to be honest, I am trying to stick to my online shop only apart from a trip to our farm shop. So this week is a little boring but will be tasty and will limit any food waste. Sunday 27th December - Ham and Turkey Pie I do love this meal and will get some ready-made pastry in and make a white sauce to bring it all together Monday - Turkey Curry well you have to have one  Tuesday - Singapore Turkey Noodles with lots of veggies Wednesday - Fish in sauce with new potatoes and Greens Thursday - Nachos and Party food Friday - Beef Pies I will buy in with mash and lots of green veg Lunches will be lots of leftovers in the form of sandwiches, omelets, and pasta salads.

The sun came out for the afternoon and I needed to get outside, I am avoiding doing anything on the borders at the moment. We have clay soil and any walking on them will compact the ground. I have a few weeds poking their heads up but it is not too bad. The main job was removing the molehills that have appeared again. I need to get the molebulbs on order as they worked last time really well. It is not a fun job as in winter you end up with very muddy gloves, cold and wet hands. The rest of the time was just observing. I do like to just wander around having time to think.  This is a small border I have never really done anything with. I have a leggy rosemary bush, one rescued lavender, a small oregano, and random bulbs that despite thinking I have removed them more pop up every year. It is such a pretty border it needs some attemtion. I think I am going to have to get rid of the rosemary but that's as far as my thought process has got. Lavender is featuring strongly in my plans but ...

  Wow, it is Christmas week, the children and Mr. MC&W have all broken up form school and work. We are having a week of our favorite meals I always do this as it makes everyday feel like a treat. Friday - Ready meal for MrMC&W and me as a treat. The boys have requested cheesy pasta. Saturday - it is our youngest 5th birthday so Dominoes for us all. Sunday - Spag Bol for us all Monday - Fajitas as everyone loves them Tuesday - Scampi chips and peas the boys have fish fingers. Wednesday - Meatballs with spaghetti Thursday - Curry this is a traditional form Mr. MC&W house and we love it Friday - Roast Turkey with carrots in honey and orange juice, roasted potatoes, and parsnips, baby brussel sprouts with bacon and chestnuts, red cabbage with port and pears, and some broccoli and peas. Topped with a huge amount of gravy. Saturday - leftovers with baguettes

 I am putting lunch down as well for the next couple of weeks as I like to be organized. We can easily change them around but I know we are fed lunch and dinner every day.  One more week left at school and we are so ready for the break. We will be watching a recording of our youngest nativity this week and another mum and I are planning to have bubbles and whats app each other as we watch it. Friday - Pizza and Salad for the boys, We are having a fish mornay I found on the Ocado app along with green veg and some potatoes. Saturday - Peri Peri Chicken with chips, coleslaw, and salad such a huge dinner but lovely. Boys have asked for nuggets, chips beans, and peas as they do not like the spice. Sunday - Lasagna I have got a massive one from M&S really good price and will feed us all. Monday - Take Out we have pre-ordered two burgers from a local restaurant as it is my birthday. Boys having tortellini. Lunch will be hoisin wraps again it is my birthday and I love hoisin. Tues...

  Good afternoon everyone, the tree is up we have lights twinkling outside, and it's cold. School even with covid is draining our bank account. Must be Christmas time.  Friday - Ham, Egg, and Chips Saturday - Chicken Curry ala Tesco Sunday - Sausages in giant Yorkshire puddings Monday - Chicken Burgers Tuesday - Smoked Mackeral salad with roasted potatoes and cooked beetroot. Wednesday - Sheppards Pie Jackets Shepherds pie Jackets Thursday - Pizza pasta bake - this is made up but think pasta passata with peppers, mushrooms mozzarella and pepperoni 

  Oh my, we are so close to December and I am still so unorganized. A few new meals this week and some classic ones. But the meal plan is sorted. Normally now I would be doing a link to my post on Foodbank donations for December. This year we are being careful with going out so and I get all my shopping online so I will instead in early December make a donation via the foodbank website and they can get what's needed for Christmas. We will also be buying a couple of toys for our local children's charity. Friday - Pizza loaded Fries from Pinch of Nom looks amazing. Boys will have pizza and see if they like the look of this one. Saturday - Chicken Spicy Noodles for the boys and Pinch of Nom Hunters Chicken for us. Sunday - McDonald's for the boys as they had such awesome school reports. I found this pork dish that sounds lovely for dinner Braised pork chops with lentils Monday - Tortellini Pasta Bake - using extra veggies and pesto tasty and simple Tuesday - Spiced salmon Saga...

  Not sure why I have missed so many meal plans, it has been very last minute, and seems to be no time to write them up. But I need to get back into my old ways and get organized again especially with Christmas and we also have two birthdays to plan for. Being organized is the only way I make it through December. This week for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are easy meals as I have a parent-teacher chat each day and they are all around dinner time so need to be organized. Friday - Scampi and Chips for Mr MC&W and myself Fish Fingers and Chips for the boys. Saturday - Meatball Subs with mozzarella Sunday - Chicken Casserole with Dumplings Chicken red-wine casserole herby dumplings Monday - Creamy Pasta Creamy mushroom pasta Tuesday - Fish Cakes and Greens or Salad - Brought in not homemade Wednesday - Ham Pie this one we got as a mistake from Ocado so looking forward to trying it out. Thursday - Sausage Casserole with beans 

The weather is dull, cold, and grey so I have a cuppa, let's have a look back at the hanging baskets, with what worked and what did not. I had to but all my plants online this year from my local garden center this meant I had a few more petunias than I would normally have.  In baskets, there was Petunia Hot Pink, Purple, and Fanfare Red. The Pink and Purple did pretty well however the Red Fanfare was a total failure. I am not sure why, they just died. For the three-tier planter, two are Petunia Shockwave Denim and Deep Purple and Petunia Frenzy Pink. These did well to start with but then went downhill pretty fast. The bottom tier did nothing at all just sat there with a few flowers. The other two did ok but nothing I would get excited about. The wall baskets  This is the white one its Diascia White Blush, these were I am being very honest here, a disappointment this year which was gutting. I think I need to look into deadheading the Diascia as they ended up being brown sticks....

The meal plan has been pushed on the back burner for the last couple of weeks not sure why. But we are back and now with some full-on winter meals. Friday - Fish and Chips and peas for us all Saturday - Stand n Stuff Fajitas for us all Sunday - Meatballs for us all Monday - Smoked mackerel and beetroot salad for Mr. MC&W and myself the boys will have fish cakes beans and peas Tuesday - Sausage and fennel pasta bake the boys minus the fennel Wednesday - Cheick Kiev, new potatoes, and greens. Easy freezer meal. Thursday - Mushroom stroganoff with rice and sour cream. The boys like the sauce with pasta and some veggies, not mushrooms.

  I am late with the meal plan again, we seem to be so busy doing lots but achieving not much is how it feels. Friday - The middle boy has a friend over for tea as it was his birthday a week ago. So it is pizza for every one Saturday - Quorn Burgers for myself and the boys Sunday - Mr MC&W is home from his golf weekend so it is a ready meal for us and Tortellini with veggies for the boys. Monday - Ceasar Salad for us and tomato soup for the boys. Tuesday - Super smokey bacon spaghetti Super smoky bacon tomato spaghetti Wednesday - Spiced Salmon traybake. Salmon with mash and peas for the boys. Spiced salmon traybaked sag aloo Thursday - Sausages in hot dog rolls

  I missed a week's meal plan and this one is a few days late. Everything has been a little manic here with birthdays and I have not been feeling the best. I seem to be getting better and back on top of things. It is Mr MC&W birthday on Wednesday so a mid-week treat for us. Friday - Ham, Eggs, and Chips a family favorite Saturday - Mr MC&W is on call all weekend so it's a ready meal curry thanks to Charlie Bighmas and a pizza for the boys. Sunday - Toad in the hole for us all Monday - Fish cakes for the boys. A freezer fish in sauce served with lentils and roasted veggies for us Tuesday - Chicken pasta bake. I found this and it looks lovely I will change the mascarpone for simple cream cheese. Chicken pasta bake Wednesday - Steak and Chips for us. The boys will have cheesy omelets Thursday - Quiche with green veg and baked potatoes. Boys will have it with baked beans.

  The meal plan is a little late this week, we have not even been that busy but everything seems to have gotten a little bit messed up. Friday - Fish, Chips, and Peas Saturday - Sticky Chinese Chicken Sticky chinese chicken traybake Sunday - Venison Steak with chips and peas. The boys have requested Pizza and salad. Monday - Fish cakes (from the freezer) with veggies for us all. Tuesday - Bacon and Passatta pasta Wednesday - Chicken and Mando Stir Fry Chicken mango stir fry Thursday - Steak Pie and veggies from the freezer and Quiche for the boys.

  I have collapsed with a cuppa after completing a gardening job I have been meaning to do for the last couple of years. This space is a small verge of scrubby grass, it is next to a layby on the other side of our fence. It always looks a mess and ends up full of peoples rubbish that they delightfully throw out of their cars. I have had a dream for a long time to try and turn this into wildflower verge.  Last weekend Mr MC&W mowed it and this weekend along with the help of my middle son we raked the whole area to remove 50% of the scrubby grass. This was a hard, exhausting and not pleasant job but I am sure worth it. I decided to water the area as it has been so dry, with the space raked and watered we were able to seed it. I bought from Chiltern Seeds 11 packets of Hedgerow perennial seed mix. Together we scattered the seeds. I know these areas are not the easiest to make work but I felt we had to give it a chance and see what happens. If we can have a verge of beautiful ...

  Another week has flown past, the youngest is exhausted and everything is a drama in the evening so it needs to be lots of simple meals and early so he has a good meal before he loses the plot. Friday - Pizza, and salad from the freezer Saturday - Ready meal for Mr MC&W and myself as he is playing golf and it is nice to have a weekend of cooking. Boys will have fish, chips, and peas. Sunday. - Spag Bol Monday - Waffles, bacon, and eggs Tuesday - One Pot Southwestern Chicken. This will be more like a BBQ style chicken taco for the boys. One pot southwest chicken Wednesday - Pesto Salmon bake Pesto salmon pasta bake Thursday - Roasted Broccoli and cauliflower tagine. Tortellini for the boys. Roasted broccoli and cauliflower with harissa-lentils

  The children are all back at school, the house looks tidy and remains tidy for more than five mins and the crisps are not eaten. The meal plan went well last week and the new salmon dish was amazing always nice when you find a new meal. Friday - Prawn Thai Noodles Saturday - Chilli Sunday - Dijon Chicken Dijon chicken with mushrooms Monday - Mango Chutney and Quorn Sliders Mango chutney chicken sliders Tuesday - Smoked Mackerel Salad. The boys will have Fish pie. Wednesday - Pasta, Mozarella, mint and fresh tomato sauce Pasta mozzarella, mint, fresh tomato sauce Thursday - Quiche (store brought), salad and new potatoes

The back border that I planted last year has been a mixture of success, failure and mind changing this year. Below this is what it looked like last year. We had such a wet winter I was not really expecting any of the perennials to come back. However, most of them seemed to. The Hellienum was a huge success to start with, producing lots of beautiful yellow bee-friendly flowers. They have in the last few weeks slowly started to slow down and we now have very few coming through. The alliums (I did wonder what they were at first) also were strong and full of bees. The astrantia and the aquilegia again produced a wonderful show.  The penestom were very poor this year, a few flowers but not many. The  Verbena bonariensis   did ok, we had more as it is self-seeded but did not have many come back. We brought this daisy-like flower, Mr MC&W chose it and I am not sure of its name, it barley flowered and looked dreadful this will be going. The hebes  Hebe Caledonia and...