Eating from the freezer challenge/cash on the side

Good Morning  Lovely Readers and a warm welcome to Anne-Marie and Tangled Sweatpea,


Now last night was earmarked to enjoy the contents of my secret sister swap but you know what they say about best laid plans.....


Little Sister was rushed into hospital with chest pains on Wednesday and was still there yesterday. Is it something in the air I wonder? (regular readers of my blog will be aware that there have been a few heart scares recently including my own). Anyway, yesterday lunchtime I got a text from Sister requesting removal of her car from school car park and a wardrobe of clothes from her home to be brought in to hospital plus all of her gadgets -  Sister is an unashamed technophile - Ipad, Kindle ... you name it, she has it. It is 25 miles from our house to hers! I set off with Mr Thrifty at 2pm. Arrived at her school, collected car and headed for her home to collect items requested. Left there, shopped at A**a for remaining items and got to the hospital just before 6pm. A NHS employee then told me, at the entrance to the acute cardiac ward, that visiting wasn't until 6.30 and asked if I would like to wait in the relatives' room. At this point my head swivelled much like the scene in the Exorcist and I replied (in Exorcist voice) that 'No, I would not like to wait, I would like to see her now.' 

Well, it had been a long day! She took the bag into Sister who then took control and let me into the ward. I sat with her until 8.30 crocheting and listening to the saga. She has the ward in order and has managed to change her bed because another looked better and also an alarm because hers was damaged... you have to laugh! She had even managed to get Harold, in the next bed, to give her his jelly from tea time! She is now awaiting transfer to a larger hospital in Norwich for an angiogram and possible angioplasty. She is only 45! Unfortunately there is a glut of defunct heart genes coming down from my father's side of the family. Pumpkin and Pie are safe with Nana and I departed with a large bag of washing and further instructions for purchases to be made. Sister is busy writing 'How to organise the world from a hospital bed'.....


On a more pleasant note,  I have been trying to follow the wonderful Sft's challenges all month, but have only just got around to blogging about them. You can find the challenge here:  http://sftandthe101challenge.blogspot.co.uk/


Cash on the side - the idea was to make some extra cash this month, over and above normal income:


A lucky break occurred when Mr Thrifty received a tax rebate. So we comfirtably made our £50.
I also wrote to Mr More Reasons to Shop at..... having found a 'foreign body' in a Spanish tapas dish I had bought and received £25 in vouchers.

I am also intending to sell some stuff on eBay and to do a car boot sale, but am waiting for a) some time and b) some decent weather.


Eating from the Freezer:
We have been shopping simply all month - veggies and fruit, milk, bread etc and trying to empty the cupboards, fridge and freezer. 


For some bizarre reason I can't write below the menus, so I'll sign off here and leave you (if you so wish) to read what we are eating this month. Will I get to enjoy my Secret Sister package tonight I wonder... watch this space............

Have a lovely day

Love Mrs Thrifty

xxx

The menus have looked like this: ( a bit repetitive in places but at least it is fulfilling the challenge)

Weekly Meal Planner
Menus for  May 2012 (beginning Monday 30th April)
	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner (tea)
Monday 30th April	Poached egg on toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Chilli (quorn) + rice
Tuesday	Porridge + yogurt	Cous cous salad	Spaghetti bolognaise  (quorn)
Wednesday	Porridge + yogurt	Vegetable soup + oat cakes	Veggie sausages/sausages  + mash + peas
Thursday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Oat cakes + hummus	Wholemeal pasta + pesto Chiabatta
Friday	Boiled eggs + toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Mozzarella burgers in wholemeal rolls + spelt salad
Saturday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Butternut squash soup + hot bread	Quorn provençale casserole + cous cous
Sunday	Bagels and honey	Spinach + feta tart with roasted vegetables	Cucumber sandwiches Lemon meringue pie
Monday 7th May	Poached egg on toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Quorn shepherd’s pie carrots
Tuesday	Granola + fruit	Vegetable soup + croutons	Vegetable moussaka Green salad
Wednesday	Porridge + yogurt	Parsnip + parmesan soup + toast	Spinach tortellini + tomato sauce
Thursday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Stir fry tofu, vegetables + noodles	Fish cakes, oven wedges, salsa + beans
Friday	Scrambled eggs + toast	Minestrone soup Oat cakes + hummus	Spinach + feta parcels, oven baked diced potatoes, peas.
Saturday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Spanish omelette salad	Chicken/quorn escalopes Bubble + squeak Apple crumble + custard
Sunday	Granola	OUT	Lemon meringue pie
Monday 14th May	Poached egg on toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Beans on toast
Tuesday	Porridge + yogurt	Hummus + rice cakes fruit	Quorn chilli + rice/pitta
Wednesday	Porridge + yogurt	Vegetable soup + oat cakes	Veggie sausages  + mash + peas
Thursday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Oat cakes + hummus	Wholemeal pasta + pesto Green salad
Friday	Boiled eggs + toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Mozzarella burgers + spelt salad
Saturday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Butternut squash soup + hot bread	Quorn provençale casserole + cous cous
Sunday	Mushrooms on toast	OUT	Quorn/chicken korma + nan bread Apple crumble + soya cream
Monday 21st May	Poached egg on toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Falafel, pitta + green salad (yogurt dressing)
Tuesday	Porridge + yogurt	Cous cous salad	Quorn bolognaise
Wednesday	Porridge + yogurt	Vegetable soup + oat cakes	Veggie sausages/sausages  + mash + peas
Thursday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Oat cakes + hummus	Wholemeal pasta + pesto Chiabatta
Friday	Boiled eggs + toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Mozzarella burgers + spelt/ burgers in wholemeal rolls
Saturday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Veggie soup + hot bread	Quorn provencale casserole + cous cous
Sunday	Fruit smoothie	Quorn/chicken korma + nan bread Lemon meringue pie	Crumpets
Monday 28th  May	Poached egg on toast	Vegetable soup + croutons	Chilli + rice
Tuesday	Porridge + yogurt	Cous cous salad	Quorn  bolognaise
Wednesday	Porridge + yogurt	Vegetable soup + oat cakes	Veggie sausages/sausages  + mash + peas
Thursday	Porridge + yogurt + blueberries	Oat cakes + hummus	Wholemeal pasta + pesto Chiabatta