WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ ETC :PART 6!!!

[AngryBeaver]

Wow! Part 6...got to be a record.

MN Towers, where's our prize?!

We don't use fans in the evening or at night either.

Wow AB that Waiheke house is great. Lovely views.

We have some convection heaters from the Warehouse that are still working fine after a few years... not saying they'll last for ever of course.

We spend about $200 a week on food.

Been up north since Thursday which has been amazing. No shouty neighbours like littlest but lots of paddling, boogie boarding, rockpool exploring, sand dune sledging and dd1 worked out how to stand up and balance on her boogie board in the water (and I took about a million photos of her doing so)

Menu planning starts again here this week. Partly for the cost (it was so so expensive when my folks were here, not being able to just chuck stuff on the table & say "like it or lump it") and partly to do something about the size of my & DH's waistlines!

xMinerva - DD2 fine, thanks. Other than a day or two of cramps & funny tummy she never seems particularly put out by these episodes. Last time she got hives on her arm she was busy pointing at them & going "dis" (aka: what are these?)

AB: we were down your way today and I gave you a mental wave as we went through town. Was a pleasant day, but oy, 4 hours driving to have a picnic in a park with MIL & 20 minutes at her house.

WSS- did you go to Te Paki? We went but I was too tight to pay $15 each for the board when DD would last 10 mins anyway. She's told everyone at nursery she went to the desert and they all think she is bonkers.

Oh no justa, I could have warned you about the warehouse for knitting stuff!

Spotlight is the only option really for that sort of stuff (although if she still has time here to want to do some more knitting, just give me a shout saying what she needs & I'll see if I have it in my wooldrobe )

littlest. No we were at Mangawhai Heads, there are some biggish dunes there and the bach we were in had a sledge that we used.

Been down to Rotorua today, csme accross a place called Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park. got to pat lion cubs.

still not home yet as we travelled a bit further than planned lol.

This weeks menu

Sunday Roast Chicken etc
Monday Chicken/Mushroom pie with leftover chicken
Tuesday Spag Bol (made with half a 8/900g pack
Wednesday Jacket Potatoes with tuna/beans & Cheese
Thursday Lasagne (with other half of mince)
Friday freezer tea, this week fish portions, mash, mixed frozen veg
Saturday Homemade pizza (just buy bases and use up any leftover cold meat/veg in fridge.

I buy 6 tins of chopped toms, put in large pan on the job and add frozen onion, garlic, black pepper, mixed herbs and a couple large handfuls of mixed frozen veg. Once cooked through, I blitz it all in the blender. That makes enough sauce for 3 meals so this week, the spag Bol, lasagne & pizza bases.

Only buy fresh veg on offer, this week I got 4 large corn on the cobs for $2. Along with carrots, green beans and a head of broccoli for .99c. I always keep a huge bag if mixed frozen veg in too.

I've also been buying large packs of porridge and making flapjacks for treats along with fairy cakes, jelly (one pack makes about 8 little individual pots if you add some berries in with it)

Naval Oranges are featuring in our menu a lot at the moment as they're cheap.

Sorry bout typos, typing in dark while driving.

NO, not while I'm driving, I'm typing in the dark, dp is driving.

Your menu sounds lovely justa

I'd love to use lentils to bulk out mince a bit more but dp hates them, can't stand the texture. Homemade soup is a good one to use leftover veg up, we do that quite often. Never used mung beans and tbh I've only really started "proper" cooking since ds1 started weaning so I'm not really any good at the whole spices (getting the right ones together etc) without following a recipe. Good recipes seem to use loads of expensive ingredients though so we stick with good old tried and tested food with an experimental one once a fortnight or something.

I did once make a gorgeous lentil Dahl but dp had to make himself something seperate so kinda defeats the object of being cheap lol.

Ps: we've had 3 toasters since we've been here. 2 expensive ones and a cheapy one from warehouse, the cheapy one is the only one still working.

I love this Jamie recipe for chili- uses chickpeas and beans and lots of veg so reasonable healthy and cheap. One pack of mince does us 3 meals.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/good-old-chilli-con-carne

Ooh, I'm taking notes.

I'm so jealous of seeing lasagne on the menu. I love lasagne, and had perfected a really nice one. But with dairy off the menu... I keep planning to experiment with oat milk for a white sauce, but I do worry that it's absolutely vile, there'll be a huge waste of food.

I'm sure I posted again.

I was going to suggest rice milk too. We used it for white sauce when dairy free, it wasn't great but it wasn't horrible.

Thanks for book rec justa looks fab.

Loads of good menu ideas.
Mine:
Mon: dino shaped pasta with homemade tom/veg sauce (courgettes etc from veggie garden) and pepperoni.

Tue: cod in breadcrumbs (from freezer ) and peas and broccoli

Wed : pizza night. I make my own base, it's SOOOO easy. Get back of plain basics flour, scoop out a cup, rub in some olive oil, then add some lukewarm water and mix to a dough. You don't even have to let it rise, although it's prob better if you put in a covered bowl for a bit.
and that's it! I use the leftover sauce from mon and either do just pepperoni and cheese or ham and pineapple.

Speaking of ham frick we buy a big cooked ham, and carve it up into lots of bits, sort into freezer bags and freeze. Works out cheaper.

thurs :maybe chicken and toms and cucumber (veggie garden again) nd bread rolls.

fri: dh and I will have chicken curry and chapatti, the kids will have spag bol.

sat: usually a barbie, I make homemade burgers, filled out with breadcrumbs and flour.

sun: maybe lentil soup with bacon butties

Other things I chuck in are chicken(on special) wrapped in bacon, with beans and mash.

And cottage pie (don't use that much meat) is always a winner, I pad that out with loads of carrots and onion and gravy made with oxo and cornflour.LOADS of mash and cheese ontop.

Also get breakfast sausages from Pak n Save whe non special, and do with Countdowns Basic hotdog rolls

Love sharing mealplanners:

This week is likely to be:

Sunday -Pot roast pork, carrots, green beans, mash (not very summery but very over salads)
Monday - left over pork pasta (if not heaps of meat I add tin of mixed beans)
Tuesday - fish, salad and boiled pots or home made chips (boys and dh caught fish at weekend)
Wednesday - spag bol (cook batch and freeze half)
Thursday - fish rissoto (more fish caught at weekend)
Friday - this week dss are both going away for weekend so dh and I will probably have fish salad (buy some mussels to go with caught fish)
Saturday - out this week otherwise probably chicken, corn and salad

ds1 hates meat and ds2 hates fish so have to mix it up during the week. Last week we had chilli beans and rice one night, sweetcorn fritters and salad on Friday, are eating heaps of corn on the cob (which I have also frozen - boil for 7-9 mins, throw in ice for 7-9 mins) then freeze - fingers crossed this will work - I was buying 8 for $3 so have done 24, figure I will lose $9 if it doesn't work)

Worth a try sibble, good idea. How goes the job hunt?

Can I just say, looking back at mine, it seems really stodgy!
They do eat tons of veg and fruit, too!