meal planning monday.

last week's meal plans started off so strong, and then ended up falling in a heap towards the end...
hello sunday night pizza.
the upside to pizza is the cute kitty photos when he just won't leave the box alone...



onwards and upwards.

i'm hoping to find some nice steaks for dinner tonight. i'll have mine with a chickpea salad, and i'll cook up some chips for bb to have with his. i have this feeling he mayyyyy just turn his nose up at chickpeas ha ha!

tuesday, i've got the day off from work, but i've got a LOT of study planned! there's two assignments i want to get 100% completed and another i want to make a really good start on... so a nice quick and easy dinner of chicken and vermicelli noodles.
haven't made them before (i honestly just did a search for 'healthy dinner recipes' to work out what we should be eating this week, taste.com to the rescuuuuue!), hope they turn out yummy!

wednesday night, a nice hearty meal of salmon and a plate full of salad! can't wait!

thursday, another day off from work for me, and another new recipe to try, chilli and lemongrass beef! i'm hoping for nice fresh, clean flavours! fingers are crossed!

friday night is my late night at work, so i'm hoping to get a curry done for dinner. i hoped for the same thing last week, but i slept in! by the time i went for a run and showered, i was off to work! hopefully i'll get a bit more time this week ;)

saturday night is meatball night! after a week of cooking relatively healthy meals (i've got healthy plans for lunches and breakfasts too) a bowl of pasta and meatballs will be just the thing i'll need!

and sunday... well i think some delicious thai food will be in order! yum!

what are you meal plans for this week?

pop over and be inspired by the meal planning queen!

the weekend beanie.

last saturday night, i cast on a beanie.
i'd had a day in bed after feeling super bleurgh and i needed something mindless to keep my hands busy.
a beanie was the answer.



by monday evening, after work, i was casting it off and sewing in the ends.

it was exactly what i needed last weekend, the perfect medicine to what ailed me.

do you use making as therapy? does crafting make you feel better?


EDIT: i forgot to mention, this beanie used 5 little scrappy balls from my stash! yeow!

meal planning monday.

last week's meal plans were a success! we managed to mostly stick with it...



tonight's dinner (pictured above) was slow cooked osso bucco. i had a hair appointment straight after work and knew that i wouldn't want to cook when i got home. i was right. it was definitely worth getting up the extra 10 minutes early...

tomorrow night, there're some chicken schnitzels in the fridge, dying to be made into delicious parmigianas! i'm craving a pub style meal. lots of salad and some crispy oven chips. yep. that'll do it!

wednesday night, i'm going to pop some chicken in the slow cooker with some herbs and spices to make creamy paprika chicken. perfect quick meal before i head off to ncb!

thursday night, valentine's day! bb and i are planning to head out to a local cafe that's recently started opening for dinner with a cool twist! can't wait to try it out!

friday night, i'm working! so i'll whip up a curry before i start. that way i can take some to work for dinner and bb will have something to eat when i get home. win/win :D

i'm working all day saturday (and sunday, my one full weekend for the month, sigh) so i'm hoping bb cooks something delicious for us. hopefully both nights. a girl can dream right?

what are your meal plans for the week? do you cook in a slow cooker?

inspired by this lovely lady!

blogiversary.

this morning, i was reading through all the blog posts in my reader, and came across two lovely posts, celebrating blogiversaries.
now, this prompted me to have a look back to my very first post and realise, today is my blogiversary too!

so today i am celebrating too!
four years of me blathering on about things, making blankies, cooking food and sharing photos of my crazy kitty!

hair stylin'

one of my goals for this month, was to style my hair differently every day.
naturally, i'm documenting my progress daily over on instagram, but i thought i'd share over here once a week too!



i think i'm doing ok so far... though i have used up two of my favourites... the french braid and the 'hide the fact your hair is a dirty mess and you've just whacked it in a bun with a pretty headband'
maybe i can use that one again if i use a different headband? ha ha! i guess i'm making these rules!

join in over on instagram or twitter if you'd like, just use the hashtag #hairstyleaday

what's your favourite hairstyle? do you like to hide your messy/dirty hair with pretty accessories too?

baked.

i couldn't tell you the last time the oven was on to bake! before yesterday that is...

yesterday, i decided i'd get to using the three soft and squishy bananas in the fruit bowl, before they became worm food!

i toddled off to the supermarket in the morning to get the couple of things i was missing from the recipe (yes, THE recipe. it's amazing), mixed them all up and...



voila! banana bread!

mum came over for lunch yesterday, so we purposely had only a small lunch, so we could fit in a slice of this afterwards! DIVINE!

i've also got some baking planned for this morning...



this dough rested all day yesterday, and throughout the night, ready to go into the oven this morning!
i came across this recipe the other day on pinterest and knew i had to give it a go!
it took me a maximum of 5 minutes to put everything together yesterday, and all i need to do this morning is to whack it in the oven!

i can't wait!
keep your fingers crossed it turns out ok for me?

have you been baking recently?
what have you been baking?
what's your favourtie thing to bake when you get time?

spoilt.

my brother just got back from a trip overseas, and he bought me back a special gift!

by the looks of it, he spent a bit of time looking for me!



how spoilt am i?

my brother travels across the world and brings me back yarn! he knows me TOO well!

anyone know of anything i can do with pompom or that webbed yarn that's not a scarf though?
i need suggestions!

he also brought me a calendar from this talented lady!



a year of colourful yarny projects! sure to keep me inspired for the stash busting challenge!

meal planning monday.

my best laid meal plans over the last couple of weeks DEFINITELY haven't come to fruition...
a fairly large amount of stress at work, coupled with a complete and utter lack of planning have resulted in takeaway for dinner SEVERAL nights over the last couple of weeks and a few lacklustre meals (sandwiches... mmmmm)

this week, i'm back on the ball though!



tonight, i'm cooking up some noodles! it's just myself home for dinner, but the leftovers will be fantastic for lunch during the week ;)

tomorrow night, i've got some lamb chops to cook. together with the glut of vegetables we've got in the fridge, we'll be in for a hearty meal!

wednesday night, i'll whip up some meatballs from some delicious snags we've got and cook them up in a tomato-y sauce. a bit of red wine, some fresh basil, spaghetti. perfect.

thursday night, another meat and veg meal... pork chops this time! cooked in the oven to crisp up that crackling. yum!

on friday, i'm working 'til late. i'm hoping to get a curry made before i get to work... that way i have something delicious to have at work for dinner :D

saturday night, we have a birthday celebration for one of bb's brothers. i have almost no idea what the plan is, but i'm hoping that we have dinner somewhere awesome!

sunday, i'm hoping for a nice relaxing day... with a nice relaxing dinner (and hopefully some grocery shopping to set us up for dinners next week! fingers crossed!). perhaps a sunday roast? or maybe some delicious takeaway? our local indian and thai restaurants are fairly amazing ;)

what are your meal plans for the week? are you cooking something new? or playing it safe (like me :D)?

pop over and visit the meal planning queen

february.

after posting my list for last month, i managed to follow through and got a fair amount of it done!
breakfast and taking lunch happened fairly regularly which was great!
i visited my grandma and we FINALLY bought a new mattress (the one we've been sleeping on the last 7 years was second hand to begin with...)
i got my inbox under control but didn't get another softie started...
i managed to finish 1 assignment (i've another mostly done) and well, i only really ran once... but this month! this month i have BIG plans!



and i'm using my diary again!
i am truly loving this part of my diary to make my goals for the month!
i've always got my diary with me, so i can add to the list for the next month, or cross things off my current list on the go!

my other big intention for this month is MEAL PLANNING!
i'll be back for sure on monday with a meal plan for the week!

i'm also trying to wear a different hairstyle for every day of february (it's a short month, not too many hairstyles needed ;D)
you can play along by using #hairstyleaday hashtag on twitter or instagram if you want to!

what are your plans for this month? have you written a list? are you meal planning this month?