Monday Meal Plan

Monday again! Soon be Christmas, eh? Doesn't seem like yesterday we were lamenting January, the longest month ever. It seemed never ending. Then February went by like a shot, I remember going out for coffee with my friend to Starbucks at the end of February, and when she picked me up she said she was worried about this Coronavirus in China, and she asked me if I was. I said no. Famous last words, huh?

Tea last night was salmon risotto, loosely following the one in the second Pinch of Nom cookbook but using fresh salmon fillet instead of smoked salmon. I made enough for lunch today for myself (Mr G not a salmon fan). Giving myself a filling lunch seemed to do the trick last week, stopped the hunger, stopped the snacking and picking, so I intend to do the same this week too.

Managed to get this week's meal plan done in record time last night, so you know it's not going to be the most exciting one in the world. The truth is, I need to use up some meat in the freezer. Having not panic bought, but instead buying a little extra most weeks, and buying in bulk from a meat warehouse to keep our shopping trips to a minimum, I've now got two freezer drawers full of chicken breast, chicken thigh and mince. So it makes no sense to keep buying more on top. This week's shop on Wednesday will be pretty much fruit, veg, bread and milk. I've tried to make this a meal plan we can all eat this week. One meal, for all five.

Monday: Chubby Cubs Cheats Lasagne
Tuesday: Homemade Beef Burgers and SW chips
Wednesday: Recipe Tin Eats Chicken Shawarma or Doner Kebab, Salad and Pitta Bread
Thursday: Pinch of Nom Garlic and Lime Balti
Friday: (VE Day) Pulled Pork, Salad, Jerseys and Pitta Bread
Saturday: (Magazine Makeover) Chicken and Hash Brown Burger
Sunday: (Birthday) Salt and Pepper Chicken, Chinese Chicken Curry, Egg Fried Rice, Homemade Prawn Toasts (AND I WILL SYN NOTHING!)

It's going to be a weird old birthday, isn't it? Usually have a house full all day, in and out. Usually go out for a meal with Mr G, my parents, and brother and his girlfriend. Usually have a houseparty on the weekend with friends, and if I'm really lucky, nine times out of ten it coincides with Eurovision. Yes, I know it's crap, but it's tradition, and we like it because it's crap, see? Add a few beers and wines, a curry and a cheesecake (and the English subtitles to the foreign language songs) and it's funny.

Also, it will be the first birthday ever since 1996 that I won't see my oldest son, and that makes me sad. I'll probably see my parents at the garden gate after they've dropped off my cards, but it's not the same.

At least I'll have my family with me, all day long. I've chosen what I want to have to eat, a fakeaway, and I believe Mr G wants me to have a cake (meaning - he wants cake). Whether he makes one or buys my favourite from the supermarket - Aldi birthday cake, the sponge one - although the chocolate one is good too - but the sponge one is awesome. Something daft like £3.50, half the price of all the other supermarkets similar birthday cakes. Trouble with that is, I will probably eat the bloody lot, left to my own devices. Not so bad when you've got friends and family visiting who will take a slice with a cuppa. But left to just the five of us? That spells disaster.

Had a really good Slimming World meeting this morning via Zoom. I got Slimmer of the Week for the first time in, God, I can't remember. I've had great weight losses some weeks, but if they follow a gain the week before, you don't get the Slimmer of the Week. The last one I can see on my cupboards is from June last year! I wouldn't have said it was that long since I had it, but seemingly it is.

I said the other week that I was going to try and cheer my friends up, one by one, with a little surprise. I sent my NHS friend chocolates and a card in the post; my friend who lost her mother, I contributed to a lovely Body Shop hamper for her with other SW ladies, and a spur of the moment kindness, the young lad who served me in the Co-op commented how much he loved the chocolates I was buying, that he hadn't even realised the store sold them, so as I was leaving I gave him a box of them.

Today, I ordered a little gift for two of my friends. I have ordered them both a white Maneki Neko (the lucky Japanese cats), which is supposed to protect health. One for my best friend, who has been transferred to a food retail arm of the company she works for, and I do worry about her because she is asthmatic. I bought her a pink one a few years ago, and she found the man of her dreams not too long after, so I hope this works the same way! And the other is for a friend whose husband is working for the NHS, and her daughter is expecting her first baby. She is stressed to the hilt right now, worried about them both, so I hope the sentiment behind the gift makes her feel better.

I can't afford to do too much, and the people I'm seeing who need a pick me up increases every day. It's not about the cost, it's about (hopefully) putting a smile on my friends' faces, letting them know that they are in my thoughts. 

Next on my list, I want to send something to another friend who tirelessly does all she can to help other people, she is so softhearted and sentimental and I know she is having a rough time right now. She needs a bottle of wine, stat.

And another friend, who has multiple medical problems but never complains. She has had to lock down now for weeks, I think three or four weeks longer than we have had to, as her immune system wouldn't be able to cope. So she (and her poor hubby) have pretty much been under house arrest, unable to see anyone. Mr G and I have tried to help out where we can, when she hasn't been able to get a home delivery, we have picked up their click and collects, and picked up a prescription and things from her GP surgery. She is really cheesed off right now, but is still such a huge support to me and others when we've been struggling. I'd like to do a little care package for her, maybe cook a meal for her and her husband to reheat and give them a night off from cooking. I can't do much right now, physically nor financially, but hopefully I can do something small for everyone who I care for, over the next few weeks... months, even, who knows?

In other news, my youngest started his GCSE studies today. How utterly depressing is that? My baby. Ok, I know he's taller than me, has to shave and that, but still. This 'getting a head start' on the two year curriculum is hard enough for them while in school, under the guidance of their teachers, but having to navigate it from home? Sheesh. I take my hat off to these kids, and the teaching staff, who have really had to pull this one out of the bag for them.

Until tomorrow, stay safe x