Time to get organised - Housework

I know and I can hear the groans - yuck housework - however its one of those things that has to get done whether you enjoy it or not.  Everyone has a different standard or interpretation of housework and for me this standard has had to evolve up or down, over the years.  I thought i'd write about what I do as I have struggled to find a happy medium between living and housework...

I would love to live in a show home.  I would love for the glass and windows to be spotless, that there was no dust anywhere, silverware and ornaments all shiny and clean, no spec of anything on the floor, everything in its place, the air always filled with sweet aromas and the cushions plumped and neatly arranged. I would love that hovering would normally mean moving all the furniture out and in all the crevices. However there is absolutely no way I could achieve this without driving myself and family insane or without moving out after the housework was completed.  We live far from my ideal but that doesn't mean we live in a filthy pigsty...

I like to try and do a full clean once a week, as I found when spreading it all out I just don't feel it is clean.  I prefer to do it at the beginning of the week.  I then do the adhoc bits throughout the week.  I used to have a set day for doing it all but atm life doesn't allow for that so I have to be flexible on the day.  There are lots of pinterest boards on how to keep your house clean in 15/20 mins a day, if you are after some tips.

I have found over the years I have been a slave to the house - ie prioritising a cleanly house over other things in our life.  I know this might sound odd to some but I feel real unrest if the house is messy or dirty.  I hate the idea of having people over if the house is not done.  I can become really irritable.  However, having a clean and immaculate house comes at a price.  This means devoting your time to keeping it that way.  Having a show home, house does not work with our large family (they demand a lot of my time) and I have had to compromise on what I'd like, verses what has to be done.   

Sometimes the week doesn't allow for housework ie sickness, new babies or children in general etc so I can hold out till the following week (survival mode) to do it but anymore and it really does effect me. 

I have prayed about it and I'm a lot better now than I was.  Housework may seem like a weird thing to pray about but I felt trapped by what I wanted it to be and what I could achieve.  I would feel guilty that it wasn't as good as it should be for a stay at home mum.  By nature I am a perfectionist and have an idea in my head of what the perfect home should be so I am often quite hard on myself when I can't achieve it.  I am also quite sensitive to comments on my housekeeping due to this perfectionist ideal.

The power of prayer does work as I do have the freedom to leave it and the acceptance that in this season, this is not my priority.  I can have people over if I have not done a full house clean without the worry of their judgement.  I know I have done what I can and I don't mind if they really wish to do whatever task they have found in need. 

I had to really look and think about what a house is and what makes a home.  I think that this is different to everyone.  We live in our house (the building) but its the people that make it home.  It has taken me a while to work out the balance between having a lovely home that we want to be in and spend time together creating memories verses an untouchable controlled home fit for photo's only.  Discussing with my husband to find out his views on what's important to him and finding out how others run the housework in their homes has helped too.  I still get a bit envious about entering a very clean show type of home but I keep reminding myself that it all comes in seasons and right now I have different priorities, the time to have my home just the way I want it, will come one day.  After all I am more than just a house keeper!

This months food bill...

Well food shopping has certainly been rising so feeding our family of 6, household bits, toiletries and a cat (especially when we are on the last dregs in our food cupboard) needs planning to keep us on track...

1. 2 week rotating menu - check
2. Online monthly shop - This month we are shopping at Tesco. We can then collect points for a trip we are planning for the summer holidays.  Tesco may not work out the cheapest but collecting the points for tickets to a theme park will save us £100+ so for us, it is worth it. For all our months staple ingredients £207.00 spent.  As buying it all in one go we save on additional delivery trips.
3. Weekly milk deliveries £33.44 spent
4. Weekly lidls fresh fruit/salad £60.00 (3 weeks as fresh coming with main shop from Tesco £20 per week) Free parking and its just down the bottom of our road. We shop here as we go through a lot of fresh fruit etc and this is the cheapest and better tasting produce. bread flour is almost £1 cheaper here too.
5. Iceland shop, shopping for our frozen and some cupboard store produce here instead of Tesco has saved us £15.68 this month. £40.00 spent

This means total cost for a 4 week month shop is £340.00 which works out approx. £85 per week. The milk prices have gone up and nearly cost double compared to most of the supermarkets so it looks like I may have to start adding milk onto our weekly Lidls trip in order to reduce the bill.  This month we also spent max food shop delivery charge of 6.00 for a weekend delivery as we were running out of food and I didn't organise myself properly (another opportunity to reduce for next month).

We do eat well plenty of home cooked food and try to incorporate all the food groups, protein, dairy, carbs and plenty of veg/fruit.  We also have treat food/puddings, selection of cereals and sandwich fillings.  This is the menu based on the shop;

DATE	BREAKFAST	LUNCH	DINNER	PUDDING	SNACKS
SUNDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	ROAST MEAT VEG POTS	HOT PUD ICECREAM	FRUIT
MONDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	LASAGNE AND VEG	TREAT BOX	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
TUESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	TURKEY CASSEROL	HM CAKE	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
WEDNESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	SAUSAGE MASH BEANS	TEA CAKE/SNOWBALL	FRUIT/CRUMPETS
THURSDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	HOTDOG PASTA	TEA CAKE/SNOWBALL	FRUIT/RICE CAKES
FRIDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	FISH VEG NEW POTS	DIGESTIVE CHOC BAR	FRUIT/CRACKERS
SATURDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	PIZZA GB CORN SALAD	ICE CREAM & SAUCE	FRUIT

 

 

 

 

 

DATE	BREAKFAST	LUNCH	DINNER	PUDDING	SNACKS
SUNDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	ROAST MEAT VEG POTS	CREAM PUD	FRUIT
MONDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	BBQ MINCE AND TORTILLA	TREAT BOX	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
TUESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	BEEF CASSEROL	HM CAKE	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
WEDNESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	LAMB CHOP, VEG AND POTS	WAGON WHEEL/CAKE BAR	FRUIT/PANCAKE
THURSDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	CHEESE PASTA	WAGON WHEEL/CAKE BAR	FRUIT/RICE CAKE
FRIDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	FISH PIE AND VEG	DIGESTIVE CHOC BAR	FRUIT/CRACKERS
SATURDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	INDIAN CURRY AND BITS	ICE CREAM	FRUIT

 

Money Saving on Food

Feeding a large family, we always look for ways to save some pennies but to still eat nutritionally well.  These are some of the tips we look to save money.  It does mean spending a bit more time on your weekly shopping but it depends how much you want to save.  Please feel free to share your tips and cheap family recipes with me too!

1. Meal Planning. This really helps to save money - buying only what is needed and making a list.
2. Shop around for the best price - www.mysupermarket.co.uk type your shopping list in here and it will show you which supermarket is cheapest for you across Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Ocado, plus it also works out how you can save money by switching brands or if you have missed any multiple offers.  At the end you can transfer your trolley to the store or you can choose to print out your list, or a comparison list to get the best deals across all the supermarkets.
3. Making your own bread. Yes it takes a bit of time but you get much nicer bread for cheaper which is not stuffed with nasty's.
4. Milk deliveries, to stop those sneaky add on mid week shopping trips
5. Making meals from scratch, whilst can take longer it is healthier.
6. Bulk buy, on really good deals
7. Join supermarket loyalty schemes
8. Use google to search for discounts/online free delivery codes
9. Use branded credit cards to collect additional points and pay balance off at the end of the month.
10. Check and compare against lidls/aldis/Iceland/99p store.  Maybe shop at each different supermarket per week to make sure you stock up on their deals/discounts on the food you normally use.

There are bound to be lots of other ways to save money and i'm always looking for tips (living with all these males, food disappears quickly).  Please feel free to forward me your tips too!

A family Favourite

In keeping with food topic I thought I'd share a family favourite dinner recipe.  This is what my hubby and boys like to eat.  It is a really simple, easy to cook meal which works well during the week.

Cheesy pasta night (2 adults 4 kids)

To make it quickly;
500g pasta
300ml cheese sauce (can get bisto cheese sauce granules or use low fat cheese spread gently heated with milk)
garlic clove (frozen puree squares for speed)
mushrooms (frozen chopped for speed)
onions (frozen diced for speed)
grated cheese
pesto

Boil big pan of water and cook spaghetti/pasta as per instructions.

Make up cheese sauce as per bisto instructions or heat cheese and milk in pan till dissolved.  (Alternatively make a white sauce using flour, butter and milk.  Mix tbsp. flour into melted butter then slowly adding milk and stirring.  Then add grated cheese with tsp of mustard).

Fry onion, garlic and mushrooms in a pan.  One cooked add cheese sauce plus 1tsp of pesto.

Serve pasta with sauce on top and sprinkle grated cheese.  Add more pesto if desired! To increase your 5 a day, add spinach to the sauce or also serve with salad.

Sometimes we add chopped up bacon and peas.

Food Planning

Its quite easy to write your own food plan really.  We kind of eat the same foods so its just being a bit more intentional about it really.  This is how we do it;

 

Breakfast - we have a choice of cereal, weetabix, porridge, museli and malties. I don't do sugar cereals.  We sweeten our porridge with honey and sometimes add fruit to our Weetabix. 

 

Lunches - tends to be a sandwich, fruit, cheese snack and a yogurt.  We vary the sandwich filling each day but staples are ham/chicken/egg/tuna/cheese mixed with salad or a condiment.  We also have jam, marmite and chocolate spread incase we fancy toast as well as beans in stock.

 

Snacks - tends to be fresh fruit, dried apricots (as can usually buy a big bag) raisans, malt loaf, crumpets, oat cakes, rice cakes, crackers, pancakes, crumpets and scones.

 

Dinners - when I plan out the dinners I start by doing this as my base;

 

Sunday - roast

Monday - rice based

Tuesday - veggie

Wednesday - mince

Thursday - fish

Friday - casserole/stew

Saturday - Fakeaway night (i'll cook a fake take away meal)

 

There are so many different types of meals that can be made with mince/fish/veg etc so I'll choose something I fancy from there and build up a meal from there.  Rice based means dinners like paella, curry or chicken in sauce.  Sometimes it involves cooking from scratch sometimes simpler i.e. veggie can be egg, chips and beans or fish fingers/fillet meal with new pots and peas.  Fakeaway night could well be pretend KFC - fried chicken fillets or diced chicken in your own flavourings with corn on cob, coleslaw or fries/salad.  Other favourites include pizza, Indian and Chinese.

 

I do plan in treats as lets face it, they're going to happen! During the week I get little chocolate sandwich bars/cake bars/tea cakes.  I tend to make a homemade cake during the week and at weekends I try to make a dessert for pudding.  We also get ice cream and have lots of toppings in stock.  My kids also like choc ices for dessert and these can be quite cheap too.  The children have sweetie pots (which are saved sweets from party bags/Christmas/Easter) as I don't let them eat them all in one go, so sometimes they choose something from there instead.

 

I work out the quantities we need for each meal and then double it, so that I order enough food for the month.  I try and make sure whatever the base I cover the basics of nutrition ie 5 portions of fruit/veg, 3 portions of calcium, proteins (fish x2 week, this can be sandwich filling as well as a fish based meal) and carbs, fats are used during cooking ie olive oil/butter with a treat over the course of the day.  This can mean adding in extra veg.  Making meals from scratch is a lot healthier (as you know exactly what's going in) and usually cheaper.We also take multi-vitamins and omega supplement, when aged 3 and above.  We are not a super healthy eating family, we do eat lots of carbs as they are cheap to fill out our meals.

This is a basic 2 week meal plan;

DATE	BREAKFAST	LUNCH	DINNER	PUDDING	SNACKS
SUNDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	ROAST MEAT VEG POTS	TRIFLE	FRUIT
MONDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	FISH PIE VEG	ANGEL D	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
TUESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	SPAG BOL	HM CAKE	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
WEDNESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	CHEESE PASTA	TEA CAKE/SNOWBALL	FRUIT/CRUMPETS
THURSDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	CHICKEN SAUCE RICE	TEA CAKE/SNOWBALL	FRUIT/RICE CAKES
FRIDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	CHICKEN CASSEROLE	DIGESTIVE CHOC BAR	FRUIT/CRACKERS
SATURDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	FAKEAWAY FISH & CHIPS	ICE CREAM & SAUCE	FRUIT

 

DATE	BREAKFAST	LUNCH	DINNER	PUDDING	SNACKS
SUNDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	ROAST MEAT VEG POTS	FLAN	FRUIT
MONDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	TUNA BOLG	JELLY	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
TUESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	LASAGNE	HM CAKE	FRUIT/MALT LOAF
WEDNESDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	SAUSAGE AND SAV RICE WITH VEG	WAGON WHEEL/CAKE BAR	FRUIT/PANCAKE
THURSDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	CHOP VEG PASTA	WAGON WHEEL/CAKE BAR	FRUIT/RICE CAKE
FRIDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS FRUIT	CHICKEN  1 POT	DIGESTIVE CHOC BAR	FRUIT/CRACKERS
SATURDAY	CEREAL	SANDWICH CHEESE FROMAGE FRAIS	PIZZA AND GARLIC BREAD	CHOC ICE	FRUIT