Saturday 30th January

January is always a month where paperwork and accounts have to take first place as the deadline of 31^st comes looming on the calendar! But it is also the time that I look to see where I can make savings.  First on the list was BT, I decided I would see if I could negotiate a better contract and also cancel one of the telephone lines as I see more and more people are just using a mobile and with ‘what’s app’ which I have had downloaded on my iPhone for the past year is changing communication and telephones are becoming the dinosaurs in the office but we all need them for the internet service. 

I have also come to the end of my contract with EE and I am going to reduce my contract from £35 plus vat to just sim only, thus saving £20.00. It’s good to sit down and see where you can make savings, I should do it more often but my excuse is I don’t have time but time is money…

I had a meeting the other morning and on my way back I saw a parking space on a red route where you can park for free.  It’s close to a large M&S food place and I decided to pop in there to collect some lunch for everyone back at Parklands.  They had one of their offers of three chickens for £10.00 so I decided to grab that bargain and I also wanted to pick up some ‘wheat-free’ products as it’s always good to have some in the freezer for guests.  Getting back to the three chickens – I am going to do them three different ways over the course of the next few days.   

Here are some suggestions below as I have found that everyone likes eating a different dish each day and not eating leftovers – call me old fashioned – but with leftovers you can be creative, I love seeing how I can turn them into other dishes. The satisfaction of creating something from nothing gives me a buzz and the feel good factor. 

So far I have cooked:

Chicken roasted with olive oil, salt & pepper, served with potato wedges & baked aubergine

Chicken stuffed with banana & butter, dusted with salt& pepper, served with oven roasted potatoes & onion, baked cherry tomatoes, spinach & a mushroom and cream sauce

Leftover chicken used in wraps

 Chicken carcasses turned into stock for a Thai Prawn soup

This is a great way to get into a routine for cooking and you make savings!  You can always take the easy option of cooking one and freezing the others. 

I  feed daily 3-4 people lunch and dinner, so planning ahead is second nature to me otherwise, I would fall down at the first hurdle but by organising the food and prepping in advance and having a well-stocked larder makes it run smoothly.   

I would be interested to hear from anyone that bought the three chickens for £10, and what dishes they made!

PS I have one more chicken to cook before 4th Feb 2016….. will let you know what I make.