On being more organised.

In my recent post, I mentioned about how much a routine has been helping all of us but I thought I'd share a bit more about how being organised is a big part of that. I am by no means perfect at this, and some weeks I do it better than others, but there are several things that for me have become non-negotiable in terms of keeping up with family life, so I thought I'd share a few small things that have been helping us!
Weekly Reset A while ago, I bought a magnetic planner to stick on the side of the fridge which has space to show daily activity, shopping list, to-lists and boxes for notes/daily meals. Every Sunday, we clear the planner and look to the week ahead. It's so handy for when we run out of something mid-week because we can make a note straight away on the shopping list, and there's always a reminder of what we need to be cooking that day. Sometimes it changes - I don't stick to it ruthlessly - but for the most part it does stay as planned. It's also handy for adding reminders like appointments coming up, deadlines for things, birthdays etc. I use this instead of a calendar now and I suppose it's more sustainable because I'm not using paper - this should last us for years!
Meal Planning/Shopping Lists

As part of the reset, we plan our meals for the week/10 days ahead. We try and stretch our shopping beyond a week (as things are getting more expensive!) so I have become quite creative about how I do that. One of our favourite things at the moment is the ready made pizza bases from Lidl which are £1.99 for two - we add their pizza sauce which is about £1.60 and then whatever toppings we fancy. They have a long use-by date and it makes a really cheap and tasty meal for us. I can never finish mine so I have it for lunch the next day too! We don't eat ready meals as I prefer to cook things fresh, but we do have a 'freezer' night when our fresh food pile is lower. Plus sometimes it just hits the spot! Last weekend I set a bit of time aside to look for some new recipe inspiration, so this week we are trying some new dishes from Taming Twins which I am looking forward to! I try to mix it up a bit so we don't eat exactly the same thing every week and I try save the more time consuming dishes like lasagne (I make it all from scratch bar the actual pasta!) to days when I'm not working. I then write the shopping list based on our meal plan so I know exactly what we need for the week. We can then top it up in-between, usually from a local shop as we live about a 25 minute drive from the nearest supermarket. 
Slow Cooker

I recently went to a 4 week slow cooker course in my local area which was run by SureStart and it really re-inspired me to get the crockpot back out! They very generously provided us with a slow cooker, which we have used weekly ever since. I had a much smaller one previously which was never big enough for the amount I tried to throw in there!! For me, our slow cooker is one of the best things we own. It is so easy, so economical and saves so much time. I've found it's a great way to get more veg in our diet too, as that usually bulks the meals out and allows us to use less meat. I love being able to throw everything in there with minimal prep and then I know dinner is sorted. All of this saves precious time in a busy week. For example, I just prepared dinner (Honey Chilli Chicken) in exactly 7 minutes - I just need to cook the rice when we are ready to eat! Most people use them for soups and stews, but I also do jacket potatoes, curries, meat (our favourite is the worlds easiest pulled chicken) and I'm going to try out some other dishes this week. I've also seen people use it for cakes/desserts and even hot chocolate but I haven't tried that yet! I'm going to try this beef brisket recipe on Sunday. Fingers crossed! 
Overnight Oats 

I absolutely love breakfast, it is by far my favourite meal of the day. Mornings these days can be a bit more of a rush, so I have got back into the habit of making overnight oats. It's handy for when Finn's had his breakfast and is happily playing, so I can grab it out of the fridge and all the prep is done! It's also a good start to my day with plenty of fruit and fibre. I don't always use yogurt in there because I like it with the oat/soya milk and chia seeds on their own, but there are plenty of recipe ideas online if you wanted to try it. I do my first few with fresh berries and then switch to frozen berries once I've used those up. We have a strawberry plant which has done really well so it's been nice to use a few of those on my breakfast! I ordered the chia seeds in a bulk pack for £6.99 on Amazon last month and I think this should last at least 3 months, maybe more - so it is a lot cheaper than buying them in the supermarket. Plus porridge oats are usually less than £1 for a bulk bag.

 These are a few of the things that help us stay on top of things and make life a bit easier. With the cost of living as it is, I know we are all trying to find ways to reduce our waste and make things stretch a bit further. We have been shopping mainly at Lidl for the last few months and have found several things that we prefer from there and it is generally cheaper than if we go anywhere else. This week I actually came in UNDER budget which never happens and I was more excited than I should've been! I'd love to hear of any recipes you've been enjoying, or any slow cooker tips if you have any! 

Sarah x

P.s. my Honey Garlic Chicken was a huge success - so tasty and definitely going on the menu!