Getting Organised:- DIY magnetic meal planning.

Becoming more organised is a topic that is never far from my mind.  It's that thing I know I need to do but for some unknown reason I just can not seem to manage.  I sometimes think I expect too much too soon and set myself unobtainable goals ultimately setting myself up for failure.

One of the key areas I know I need to work on is putting together and maintaining a weekly meal plan.  On the occasions I do get my act together I have found that

1. We save money on our weekly food bill
2. We cut the amount of food we waste
3. I don't end up scratching around at the last minute racking my brains on what we are going to eat.
4. It's easier to maintain a more balanced diet
5. We have a more enjoyable week with fun after school activities without me being stressed out about dinner.

However I have found it can be time consuming and often I will end up with a mental block. Hence I put it off until we hit Monday morning when the whole saga of the school week starts over.  Ultimately we end up with a handful of meals which are my regular go to's.

So I created a series of our regular meals and made them into magnets which are now stuck to the front of the fridge, combined with a weekly planner I can now quickly meal plan for the week and on those days where things change or don't go to plan I have a bank of meals I can quickly choose from.

You can download my regular meal set here.

To make your own you will need.

• Printer
• 1 sheet of magnetic paper
• You can either create your own meals in something like word or publisher or you can download my meal sheet here
• Spray Lacquer
• Scissors
• Weekly Planner.

• Download and print off the meal sheet onto the magnetic paper being careful not to handle it too much to prevent smudges
• I found that the ink didn't dry properly so once it was touch dry I gave it a quick coat of spray lacquer to set the designs firmly in place.
• Cut them out and voila a set of magnetic meals for easy meal planning.

I hope you find these as helpful as I do.

Serious Kitchen Dreaming

Ever since our dishwasher packed up last week I have been thinking about a kitchen re-design.  I often think about redesigning it but I have never actually put pen to paper until now.

Current Inspiration:

Eco House Book Terence Conran

Bright Bazaar

Living Etc March 2015

We have a galley style kitchen with units on two sides, with double doors into the garden.  The problem I currently have is the back of the house faces virtually due North which means we only get a tiny bit of sunshine in the kitchen at the height of summer.  Additionally the set up at the moment provides us enough space for a small dinning table at the end but it can make things a bit tricky if you have more than 4 people to dinner at anyone time. 

What I would really like to do is to extend our kitchen out along the back wall creating a glass box with either large doors with a flush threshold or bi-folding doors.  Hence flooding the kitchen with natural light.  I like the idea of the internal external relationship, bringing the outside inside of being able to stand at a central island in the kitchen and almost feel that you are outside.  Or being able to sit in the kitchen under the night sky.

The reality of my plans may be a bit pricey as the whole of the back wall of the house would need to be supported plus the cost implications of so much glass will probably be out of our price budget at the moment however I have a starting point from which to move forward.

Whilst I am dreaming here is some serious kitchen lusting

I love the glass roof extension on this kitchen and the way the path leads into the house as if it is all one element.  The transition from the interior into the exterior is almost imperceptible.

Azman Architects.

Here I like the industrial look of the exposed brickwork and the raw timber roof supports.

Lush Home

Pinterest 

Harvey Jones Kitchens

Azman Architects.

Blanket Love

One of my favorite past times is curling up on the sofa in front of the TV with a cup of tea and my bag of knitting.  It is so satisfying when you complete a project.  My husband laughs at me because when we go anywhere in the car my knitting always has to come too.  Having knitted a fair few projects for the girls I seem to have accumulated an abundance of wool oddments.  Not wanting to throw them away I decided to embark upon a crocheted granny square blanket. 

Some 70 odd squares later I am nearing the end of this project.  Once I find time to sew all the ends in (the bit I hate) I will post some pictures.  In the mean time it got me thinking how much I need a decent blanket or throw in my life.  Over the winter months putting this blanket together made me realise just how cosy they can be.  I felt like a granny with it draped over my knees but boy was it warm.  Until I had children I never really had the need for a blanket and thought it was a bit weird when I was given one for my 16th birthday, now I rarely go anywhere without one. They are so useful, for that impromptu picnic indoors or outdoors, the odd trip to the beach or a tired baby in need of a little nap.  Maybe this should be one of my key investments for 2015.

Here are a few of my favorite blanket picks.

Sunset Sky Throw Anthropologie £68

Johnstons of Elgin reve en vert £215

Lambswool Blanket Brora £69

Tweed Emphasize Throw Mourne Textiles The New Craftsmen £285

Blanket Northerly Selvedge £241.95

Cashmere Woven Blanket Brora £499

   

Interior Love Affair #5

This weeks interior love affair has been inspired by our need to replace our dinning table.  

We picked the enamel sign up on ebay for the bargain price of £20 and I absolutely love it.  It works so well in the space but being the size it is anything we put in the along the back wall of our kitchen needs to work with the sign. 

I know that this table would be far too big for the space we have available to us but I love the industrial feel of this reclaimed wood table with matching benches.  Such & Such £600

1 Vince Round Walnut Table Habitat £295 

2 Mid-Century Expandable Dinning Table West Elm £594 

3 Stockholm Walnut Veneer Table Ikea £400

4 Emmerson Industrial Expandable Dinning Table West Elm £999

Cool Blue

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Everywhere I look at the moment I keep seeing the colour blue.  From TV programs with far flung destinations and magazine adverts with beautiful tropical blue waters to cushions, throws, clutch bags, vintage inspired crockery, and denim.

It evokes happy memories of the gorgeous blue waters of Aitutaki - It is hard to believe it is 11 years ago that we visited these beautiful Cook Islands as part of our round the world trip.

Moresque Chair Anthropologie £398.00

Cob Weave Welsh Blanket Decorators Notebook £50.00

Toulouse Floor Tiles Fired Earth £8.99 per tile

Indigo Drop Serving Bowl Decorators Notebook £29.95

Indigo Shibori Throw: Ripple Decorators Notebook £70.00

Lila Tableware Toast £16-£35

Half a Dozen Egg Crate Anthropologie £12.00

Burleigh Blue Regal Peacock Earthenware Teacup & Saucer Liberty £26.95

Libby Beaded Clutch Bag Collection John Lewis £39.00

Women's Waterproof Hooded Jacket French Navy Joules £69.95

Malounie Print Rubber Boots AIGLE £59.00

Denim Culottes Zara £29.99

Oversized Denim Jacket Zara £39.99

Black Board Wall

Last week I finally got round to painting one of our kitchen walls with blackboard paint.  It is something I had been meaning to do for a while.

Having previously painted a section of our kitchen wall in the old house I still had nearly a whole can in the shed so it didn't cost me anything other than my time.  Although the paint is supposed to be magnetic I found that it isn't particularly strong but for the purposes of my wall it didn't matter.  I just wanted to create a wall that the girls could draw on with their chalks.

Because the paint is really thick and the magnetic bits sink to the bottom the paint needs a really good stir before starting.  Using masking tape to ensure that I had a nice neat finish I covered the skirting boards, coving, door frames and all plug/light switches.  Despite the paint being relatively quick drying I waited until the girls were in bed one evening before painting the wall.  I just knew little fingers wouldn't be able to resist touching it.

The girls love it and there is always some sort of art work on the wall.  It also works well as a family notice board and or a good place to keep a running shopping list.  The best bit is that with a damp cloth it can all be wiped away for a fresh piece of art work.