All things Meal Planning Archives | The Diary of a Frugal Family

Homemade Healthy Roasted Tomato Soup….

30466Leave a Comment2019-03-18+10%3A00%3A23Cassandra March 18, 2019 By Cassandra
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My homemade roasted tomato soup is absolutely amazing and I guarantee that once you've made it once, you'll make it again and again!I love the smell (and taste) of tomatoes that are sold on the vine as it reminds me of watering the tomatoes with my dad in his greenhouse when I was a child. The smell takes me right back to when I used to pester my dad to let me help with some of the watering and the memories that the smell brings back makes me feel safe and happy.It's odd what impact a smell can have on you, isn't it?I often buy tomatoes on the vine just for this reason because … [Read more...]

How I meal plan as a working Mum with NO time….

30335Leave a Comment2019-03-04+10%3A00%3A44Cassandra March 4, 2019 By Cassandra
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It's been a while since I shared my meal plan on here (or even on my meal planning blog for that matter) so I thought I'd share this week's plan with you and give you a bit of an update on a few changes we've had over the last few months.The last few months have been a bit chaotic with my new job as I've struggled a little bit to fit everything in that I usually do with the slightly longer working days that I have now. I've just about got things back under control now but I've had to change our routine a little bit to accommodate the fact that I'm getting home a bit later and … [Read more...]

Is an Instant Pot worth the money?

303131 CommentIs+an+Instant+Pot+worth+the+money%3F2019-02-25+10%3A00%3A15Cassandra February 25, 2019 By Cassandra
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I wanted an Instant Pot for a good year or so before I actually bought one but even though I kept adding it to my basket on Amazon, I always took it back out again as I really wasn't sure if the Instant Pot would be something I'd use regularly or whether it would end up gathering dust like my breadmaker is at the moment. I eventually bought one so today, I'm going to answer the question 'Is an Instant Pot worth the money?'First of all, let me tell you exactly what an Instant Pot is just in case you don't know - it's essentially an electric pressure cooker which speeds up cooking by … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto (Slimming World Syn Free)….

February 4, 2019 By Cassandra
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This recipe for Instant Pot mushroom risotto is my new favourite meal!* It's super tasty, super cheap, easy to make and as if that wasn't enough, it's also syn free so perfect for anyone following Slimming World.*(I know, I said this last week too but I'm very fickle and easy to please. ;-))Every time I share an Instant Pot recipe on here or over on Instagram, someone asks me what an Instant Pot is and I promise I'm going to write a post about it but basically it's a pressure cooker that also moonlights as a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a steamer, a yoghurt maker with saute and … [Read more...]

How to make homemade chicken stock in your slow cooker….

January 28, 2019 By Cassandra
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A few weeks ago, I made homemade chicken stock in my slow cooker for the first time in ages so I thought I'd share it with you.It's not hard to make and the results are amazing so I'm not sure why or when I stopped making it on a more regular basis but now that I've made it again and realised how much better food tastes with homemade chicken stock rather than when it's made with stock cubes then I'm pretty sure I'll be making it again... and again...When I cook a chicken for Sunday Lunch I can get enough chicken from it to do that one meal and then one other meal which just needs … [Read more...]

Batch Cooking – One afternoon, twelve family meals….

January 14, 2019 By Cassandra
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Batch cooking is something I promised myself I'd get better at this year so, on Saturday, I had my first batch cooking session in ages and now have twelve meals in our freezer ready to use - just think how much time that's going to save me. I'm so lucky to have the freezer space I do - we have one freezer as part of the fridge freezer, one under-counter freezer and one big freezer in the garage - but I really could be so much cleverer when it comes to using the space.It's not that I don't already do a lot of batch cooking but usually, I just cook more food than we need and … [Read more...]