meal planning monday.

as i mentioned yesterday, bb and i stuck pretty close to our meal plan for last week which i am SUPER pleased about. also, neither of us bought lunch all week! i think that probably saved us nearly $100 for the week!
hopefully we can do the same in the week ahead.



tonight, i'm whipping up this salad again! bb loved it so much that he has requested we have it EVERY week! i honestly thought he was joking when he said it, but it was the first thing he said when i asked what we should be eating this week!
for lunch today, we'll be having leftover roast pork from last night. bb cooked extra vegies and everything, full roast lunch here we come!

tomorrow night, i've got some lamb chops to cook up, with a big whack of salad. tuesday will be the first of a big string of 40+ degree days so i'm going to try and avoid putting the oven on all week!
lunches will be salad leftovers.

wednesday night, i'm off to ncb! i've missed it so! bb has a steak to cook for himself, and i'll grab something while i'm out!
for lunch, i'm going to whip up some sweet potato fritters while i cook the lamb chops on tuesday night. they should be great with some salad on the side.

thursday night, i'm planning to cook up some meatballs. pasta and fresh basil and they should be perfect!
more leftover salad from monday for lunching i think.

friday night is my late night at work, so i think i'll put together this recipe in the slow cooker. i think if i reduce the liquid (beef stock) it should go ok in the slow cooker... we'll see!
leftover meatballs for lunches!

saturday, we're heading to a friend's place for a bbq to help them warm their new home. i can't wait as i haven't seen them in ages! so much to catch up on!

and sunday, bb is planning a roast chicken. should be delicious!

what are you eating this week? how are you planning for the heat streak ahead if you're in melbourne? what's the weather like where you are?

little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

home-made pizza will ALWAYS put a smile on my face.



bb and i have had a really great week of eating this week. taking lunches to work, eating home cooked meals, sticking pretty closely to our meal plan. and THAT will always make me happy!

sunday morning snuggle sessions.



he looks so blissed out in this photo, but in truth, he HATES hugging like this. he always wriggles away within a couple of minutes and is none to happy to be there in the meantime.
i got a friendly little nip on the nose just after i took this photo!

beautiful fresh flowers.



or maybe not fresh... these were marked down at the greengrocer but they're still damn pretty to look at!

this week, i brought home some new prescription sunnies from work.



my old ones had an older prescription in them, so i can see much better with these newies! oh, they're also gorgeous!

working on getting the last few ends woven in on the scrappy heart blankie.



it's nearly complete! huzzah!
i'm super thankful as my fingers are literally itching to start something new! so many things to make, not nearly enough time!

what little lovelies have you stumbled across this week? do you have a non-snuggly kitty too? what are you making at the moment?

my creative space.

this week, i've been putting in a few extra hours at work, getting done all of the things that we can't get done with a store full of people... but i haven't let it cut into my wooly time!

i've got two projects on the go at the moment...



my scrappy heart blanket.
i had run out of wool for this, but took advantage of a sale bendigo woollen mills were having before christmas and bought what i needed.
at the moment, this is my veging on the couch, watching tv project and it's lovely to snuggle down with after dinner.



this guy thinks so too. as soon as i pulled it out, he was there on my lap!
he loves a crocheted blankie!

the other project is a little more portable...



a murano milo!
i carry it around in a little tote bag and get little bits of it done while stuck at traffic lights, while waiting for the elevator, on my lunch break... you get the idea!

i'm not working on much of either today though... last night i picked up a pan that was just out of the oven and burnt my hand! it didn't tickle and meant i didn't sleep much at all last night.
today i'm mooching around home, soaking my hand in cool water and just looking wistfully at these two projects...

what's happening in your creative space at the moment? do you hurt yourself in stupid ways too?

green love.

i haven't shared in a couple of weeks... but there's lots going on!

i moved this little window box of strawberries (it's previous position became completely overgrown with raspberries) and they seem much happier for it!



that big red one was my breakfast the morning i took this picture and it was the sweetest strawberry i've eaten in ages!

unfortunately, a possum found the rest on new years morning (i caught him in the act when we got home at ridiculous o'clock) and not only are the rest of the berries gone, so are all the leaves! SO frustrating!!!

in less frustrating news, the asparagus spears i shared a couple of weeks ago are looking a bit different...



they've gone all ferny!
i think they look super cute!
i noticed this morning too that another little spear has poked it's head up to say hello, so there should be more ferns on their way!

i only realised on the weekend, but my poor lemongrass has been COMPLETELY overgrown with regular grass!



i'll have a little weed pull whenever i'm watering the plants over the next week and hopefully there's still some lemongrass surviving under there! oops!

what's growing in your patch at the moment? weeds accidentally over-running things? possums destroying entire plants? or perhaps you're just growing lots of things?

that christmas knitting...

for christmas last year, i had grand plans to hand-make some or most of the gifts that i was to give...
i started out strong, with this gift, and this. there was this one too.
but there were a couple that didn't quite make it for christmas...



the above beanie did actually get finished before christmas, however it barely fits my little pin head! it's intended recipient has a much larger head than mine!
raveled.



because the first beanie i knitted was too small, i'd pretty much given up on the hand-made gifting idea and i felt i could take my time with this second one...
it is still quite small despite casting on an extra 12 stitches!
oh and this one was finished on the train on the way home from our nye celebrations... at 4:30 in the morning!
raveled.

there is some more good news with the planned christmas knitting though...



these mitts were knit up for my brother's friend.
she's over from canada for a few months so i wanted to make sure she had something lovely under the tree on christmas morning, and i think these fit the bill!
raveled.

i also managed to finish the socks i had planned for my brother! finished up at 2am christmas morning and they were definitely the WORST wrapped present under the tree! oh well!

did you get some gift knitting done for christmas last year? did you leave it too late like me?

meal planning monday.

last weeks meal plan, went more or less to plan... the plan to take lunches to work everyday however, did not go quite so well!
thankfully, i had yesterday off from work and had the opportunity to get well and truly organised for the week ahead! phew!



tonight, i'm going to cook up this thai chicken noodle salad for dinner. and last night i cooked these corn fritters for lunch today. thanks for the inspiration beth!

tomorrow night, i want to try a one pot pasta meal. saving dishes is always going to be a good thing. and for lunches, leftover salad from last night!

wednesday, i'm thinking chicken parmas. it's been a while and there's chicken in the freezer to use up! leftovers again for lunching.

thursday, i'll whip up a fish curry. and for lunches, i'll cook up some beef and throw together a salad.

friday night, i'm working late, so slow-cookering will be happening. chicken drummies again this week, but using this recipe this time. the recipe last week was not exactly a resounding success... quite dry and far too overcooked! not the fault of the recipe though... it was all me! there should be lots of fish curry leftovers for work lunches too.

saturday night, i'm going to throw together some pizzas. one of bb and my resolutions was to stop buying pizza (the convenience to order online, and the value always seems to get us) so home-made pizzas will fill the junk food craving, but be heaps better for us!

sunday night, i'm hoping to cook up a big roast! the plan is to restock our freezer with meat on saturday during the day, so hopefully we'll find a nice joint to slow cook all day sunday. yum!

what are you cooking this week? do you make pizzas at home?

little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

cocktail drinking on nye.



i was gifted this wee jar of christmas-spiced gin from a co-worker and boy it was delicious. and strong. quite strong.

on new years day, i spent a little time getting myself organised for the new year.



this is my third year using the frankie diaries and i do so love them!

earlier in the week, i spotted this little guy...



a raspberry! i am beside myself with excitement!

and speaking of excitement,



i had a veritable handful of blueberries for breakfast the other day! they were a little tart, but still super delicious!

and finally, last night bb and i got out and about in the city. spontaneous date night!



we headed to the cricket! t-twenty only though... i'm not the biggest fan of cricket, but in the shorter format, i can get around it... as long as i'm allowed to bring my knitting that is!

what little lovelies have you noticed this week? what has made you smile?