Menu planning and budget

 My goal over the next 4 weeks is to heavily reduce costs and eat our way through as much of our fridge and pantry items as we can. We have been evicted and need to find a rental asap. 

I am attempting to sit aside enough to pay for a removalist on top of everything else to make the move a bit less stressful. I am guessing the cost will be approx $700 or so for removalists. 

Ideally I'd like to pay for a house clean upon leaving too, which will be another $500 odd. 

So our easiest way to reduce cost is our food budget. I have a pretty well stocked pantry so can make our way through that, the freezer and fridge have minimal so will need to top up meat and veg each week. I've gone back to doing the butcher, asian grover and green grocer to save also, its made a good difference. 

I am also planning to sell as many things that we no longer need as I pack the house too. To help towards the costs. 

Right now it feels really overwhelming, but we've got this! 

MENU PLAN

 

Pulled beef tacos

Baked potatoes with pulled beef.

Tofu and veg green curry

Salmon and salad

Chicken curry

Lentil shepherds pie.

Thai beef salad.

 

 

Lunches

Shashushka

Leftovers

Toasted ham and cheese sandwiches

Noodles

Fish fingers/frozen stuff

Pies

Baked beans/spaghetti. 

Pho

Hello 2021

 ah it's so lovely to see you 2021. 

I think it's reasonably fair to say most are happy to see the backend of 2020. The year of covid19, the year for us in melbourne where we lived mostly in lockdown for approx 8 months of the year. The hardest part was a 8-10 week period from early August, where we were restricted to within 5 kms of our homes, and not allowed anyone over. I understood the need for it and the result was we hot zero cases and stayed that way for nearly two months, but it's messed with so many people's mental health, including my own. Oh and we are trying to move house, as they've sold our rental. 

This year has been challenging to say the least. 

I can definitely think of some positives for 2020 though, I completed my social work degree in October and am looking forward to graduating and beginning finding work to keep me growing and learning. I have had a job the entire way through covid, though that job has caused an enormous amount of stress also. 2020 saw me get my new car back in Feb (reminder to self it is due a service, actually overdue). A 2019 Kia Sorrento which I love, though am still adjusting to how big it is. 2020 has seen me place more and more boundaries in my life, farewelling some past friendships that would be considered more negative. I didn't take up any new hobbies, gosh i tried, but honestly, 2020 was too darn busy and far far too stressful. 

I have just returned from nearly a week in Eildon at the bus. It felt so needed. I was yelling at everyone at home, feeling super grumpy, extremely tired and burnt out. I return to work in 2 days and I'm not ready, I still feel insanely burnt out. So my plan is to increase my self care, significantly, hold and place boundaries in my life and nurture me. I plan doing the yearly budget this week, compare to the previous years and hopefully get some savings in the bank that will actually stay there and grow. I want to make a list for all the things that need doing at the bus, to make the place even more comfy, as well as a few furniture items will need updating this year both at the bus and at home, so these will need to be budgeted for. Oh and I am going to start prepping for Christmas 2021 early, like really early.

I want to menu plan regularly, I have done this weeks which I will share below. I have made sure we have 3-4 vegetarian meals. I need to increase my exercise, I have gained a fair bit of weight and its causing some health and physical issues, so I am not dieting as such (not right now, too much other stress) but plan to just work on less take away, less wine, add some exercise. I am also going to really focus on self care. The first thing I have been doing is reading, I am a third of the way through a book, like an actual novel How it feels to float and have set myself a goal to read a book a month or around that this year. 

MENU PLAN

 

Chicken and chorizo paella.

Minestrone soup

Fried rice.

Schnitzel wraps.

Dhal and cauliflour curry.

Brocolli, corn and haloumi fritters with salad.

Creamy chicken (bacon/mushroom)

 

Some other meals I was looking up and will list them here to remind me for next week are - vegie noodle stiry fry (with tofu) - sour soup, vegie sausage rolls, pumpkin mushroom and leek risotto, turkey san choy bow, chicken pizziola. 

 Back again. 

Doing a menu plan last week has helped. We still had take away one night, and I did uber eat lunch twice, so the budget spent on food for last week was probably close to the $550 mark, far too much (even for 6 people and 5 pets). 

The pulled pork was a bit hit and spread easily over two meals for the whole family and I had some for lunch on one day also. 

This week I checked the cupboards and actually wrote a list before heading to the shops. I am wanting to really make an effort to improve the food i am eating, eat less crap. So I have planned some things to cook for lunches also, since not many of us are sandwich eaters. 

This weeks menu for dinners - 

• Thai beef salad
• Pulled beef tacos (a recipe my daughter wants to me that she found on tik tok). 
• Chicken kievs and veg
• Chicken curry and rice
• Chicken wraps
• Fish and veg
• Salmon and cauliflower salad (new recipe to try out) 
• turkey burgers or turkey san choy bow - have ingredients for either. 

I have bought additional ingredients to make enough soup (Beef pho and a vegetable soup) to have for lunches also, and also have tuna and salads for lunch too. and if any left over, there will be beef and gravy rolls one day too, will have to wait and see as its a new recipe so not sure how far it will stretch). I'll make additional burger patties too as these are easy go to as I pre cook them and freeze them for reheating. 

Shopping was approx $390. An improvement so far on last week, though I forgot dishwashing tablets so will need to get them and will likely have to top up fruit before the end of the week and maybe a little veg. I also have additional fsh I bought and have sectioned and put in the freezer, so I have can have that when the family has the curry etc. 

 I was searching for a recipe recently and in my searches I came across this old blog of mine. What a trip down memory lane!

I spent a weekend reading through all the posts of my life. There were a few things that stood out. 

•  This blog runs from 2007 to 2012. There was a lot of time of unhappiness in my life during that period, especially 2007-2010, yet this blog is so focussed on my own self care and the things I enjoyed, and was all about me. I love that, sometimes I forget this side as it is easiest to remember the bad things (even though I didn't really document them) 

•  My life has only become busier, and quite different over the years, but this blog has reminded me of many things I truly value, and still do, yet don't follow as much. 

• My life has come full circle, when starting this blog I had young children - those children are now 16,18 and 21. Yet I still have young children, a 20 month old and a 7 yr old and this blog has inspired me to take time to share the things I enjoy with them more. 

So much has changed since I last wrote, but that is not for now. I wanted to resurrect this blog as a form of self care. So here I find myself. 

Menu planning has really gone out the window over the years, and the amount I spend on food each week is way too high, so I want to begin with documenting that, for me. 

Melbourne, presently, is 2 weeks into a 6 week lockdown due to COVID19 (aka coronavirus). This involves rules such as only leaving our house for 4 reasons, and not going any further than 5kms from our home, exercising for no more than one hour daily, and having no more than one person go out to the shops at any one time, amongst other rules. 

So this is a perfect time to menu plan right? Also a perfect time to work on bringing the food budget down. 

I am shopping for 6 of us (myself and kids aged 21, 18, 16, 7 and 20 months) as well as 3 cats (we also have 2 dogs but they belong to the older kids so they purchase their food and pay for any vet needs etc). 

Yesterday I went to the supermarket to purchase some ingredients for dinner. I ended up doing a full shop for one week. $465. Yes you read that right. It is far too much and in reality not even enough to get us through the week so will end up well over the $500 mark. I was attempting to think of things to cook for the week but i certainly was not planned properly, and I cant remember the last time I took a list with me to the shops so I end up purchasing things we already have more than enough of, or that we probably don't really need, any way I digress. Here is this weeks planned menu - 

Pulled pork rolls with coleslaw

Pulled pork tacos

Chicken noodle stir fry. 

Leftover spaghetti bolognaise (from in freezer). Fish and vegetables for me.

Chops (kangaroo for me) and vegetables. 

Chicken katsu curry.

Thai beef salad. 

My biggest downfall since we have been stuck in our homes is UBEREATS, it is seriously a killer on my budget and something I go to far too easily when i can't be bothered. So my goal this week is to not order through uber eats at all. 

menu plan for the week... I want to try keep track for new ideas and to see what the kids like and dont like.

Kangaroo steaks. rissoles sausages and salad
Tuna mornay pasta bake
Tofu noodle and vegie stir fry
Lentil and vegie shepherds pie
turkey shanks and vegies
Home made sushi rolls
baked whole fish and salad/veg

so much happening!

I'm a terrible blogger yes! I'd like to think I can get back to it but we shall wait it out and see.

News! Well I am now 38 weeks pregnant with my fourth child, first to my new awesome man... oh and only one to him too!

I feel good, though big and tired and am quite ready for him to make his arrival when ever he is ready to this world.

I'll be birthing him at the Monash Birth centre just like my last kids. Will update on that after it all happens!

Home updates are we finally had a new heater fitted the other week, just in time for summer... blech the insurance company was way to slow getting this organised!

Kids are all great, we've had some ups and downs as life goes with 5 , almost 6 children but generally life is great!

I want to focus my next few weeks on house organisation in preparation for the baby (or if all fails house organisation after baby arrives!) I also want to focus on our menu and evening especially, eating.

With the food I find it often difficult to keep 7 people happy every meal time. Everyone has different likes and dislikes so it can be hard ot keep up with what people want and will eat and find the line with what we will push them to eat also.

I also want to get back to having fish once a week (for me that willbe after bay as I just cant stomach fish this pregnancy when normally i love it!) and also go back to eating vegetarian meals 1-2 times a week, for health reasons and budget reasons mostly.

I'll try get back in here and o a menu plan over the next day or two.

finally a working oven!

after a year without a working oven (only the stove top worked) I finally (with thanks to ebay) have a new oven that works!

It's fan forced too, not something i have owned before so that will be interesting and the seals work so no more cooking everything at full blast!

Tonight to celebrate I ma cooking a roast lamb. Then once thats doen there will be a batch of home made sausage rolls ready to go in and after that a lasagna!

Looking for more oven cooking ideas to feed big families!