Helloooo, we're back ! Did you miss us? I didn't actually plan to totally abandon the blog for a fortnight (apart from a couple of scheduled posts) but we were having far too much of a good time on holiday in ALASKA ! It was amazing and I'll be sharing a few posts about our adventures very soon, but I need to start off by figuring out what we'll be eating this week. Our return home was a total nightmare - before even opening the front door, I commented on the pongy bins. Once inside, the lights weren't working so I ran to get a ladder, flipped the mains switch and electricity was restored. Phew ! Then one of the kids opened the fridge and yelled "ewww Mum, it's all mouldy". Yep, the power had been off for at least a week, maybe anything up to a fortnight, and all the food in the fridge and, above all, freezer was totally defrosted and bloated. After pulling open one of the freezer shelves and getting a big splash of melted blood on my foot (things were just going from bad to worse), I switched it back on to refreeze before clearing the whole mess out on Monday when the bin men come. The fridge was totally mouldy, smelly and just basically disgusting so we dealt with that yesterday, throwing literally everything out (even the ketchup bottle was mouldy !) and taking out all the shelves to wash and disinfect them all. Welcome home, huh ?! So ... this is a bit of a strange menu plan because, apart from a few cans and dry goods, we have absolutely nothing to work with until I hit the shops and stock up on all the basics again. Things can only get better, right ?!
Sunday
lunch - I'll grab a roast chicken and potatoes from the local market (and stock up on fruit and veg)
dinner - Mac & Cheese, straight from the box we brought home from Alaska, and/or salad (bought at the market - but there's no ham, cheese or anything to go with it !)
Monday
dinner - spaghetti bolognese
Tuesday
lunch - leftover bolognese sauce in tacos (with salad, sweetcorn, tomatoes, cheese, maybe some rice)
dinner - chicken fillets with herbs/spices, mashed potatoes & carrots
Wednesday
lunch - leftover bolognese sauce in tacos (with salad, sweetcorn, tomatoes, cheese, maybe some rice)
dinner - chicken fillets with herbs/spices, mashed potatoes & carrots
Wednesday
lunch - baked potatoes, topped with cheese/beans or tuna/sweetcorn/mayonnaise
dinner - pork chops with leftover rice & veggie bake (oooh I haven't made one of these for ages - carrots, courgettes, cauliflower, potatoes if there are any leftovers, onions, mushrooms ... usually whatever needs using up from the fridge ... boiled then mixed in with cheese sauce and popped in the oven with grated cheese on top - hmmmm)
dinner - pork chops with leftover rice & veggie bake (oooh I haven't made one of these for ages - carrots, courgettes, cauliflower, potatoes if there are any leftovers, onions, mushrooms ... usually whatever needs using up from the fridge ... boiled then mixed in with cheese sauce and popped in the oven with grated cheese on top - hmmmm)
Thursday
lunch - probably leftover veggie bake, with baked ham fillets
dinner - lasagne with salad
Friday
lunch - leftover lasagne
dinner - pizza
Saturday
lunch - chicken, roast potatoes, veggies, gravy
dinner - sandwiches, salads or leftovers
dinner - lasagne with salad
Friday
lunch - leftover lasagne
dinner - pizza
Saturday
lunch - McDonald's or similar
dinner - sandwiches, salad or fridge clearout
Sunday
dinner - sandwiches, salad or fridge clearout
Sunday
lunch - chicken, roast potatoes, veggies, gravy
dinner - sandwiches, salads or leftovers
Oh no! What a shame about the wasted food etc but at least you've had a lovely trip to Alaska! Thanks for linking up and I hope this coming week is a good one for you.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed ! Well, just had the insurance people on the phone and at least we're covered. Could be worse, I guess !
DeleteWhat a welcome home! I remember I cleaned out my fridge freezer once before going on holiday. I gave it a good clean and left it switched off, but it still stunk when we got home? I don't they are meant to be turned off empty or full. I can't wait to hear all about your trip to Alaska.
ReplyDeleteWell, ours smells of bleach now but I can put up with that - it's definitely better than it was ! lol
Deleteoh no what a horrible ending to your holiday. Sensible idea to refreeze it all, I would not have thought of that to be honest. I do remember coming back from a few days away over 20 yrs ago to find my house had been broken into sometime while I had been away and they had unplugged my fridge freezer in the process and it was all defrosted so we binned it. My insurance company gave me the costs along with the rest of my loses. Look forward to hearing about your holiday, and quite right to enjoy it rather than blogging
ReplyDeleteOh no ! Just had the insurance on the phone and we are covered so that's something at least !
DeleteOh gosh! What a return home you had. No power and a stinky fridge is not what you want. It sounds like you had a good time away though.
ReplyDeleteI hope you manage to get to the shops soon! x
Fridge restocked - just off to clear out the freezer, yuck !
Deleteoh noooo reality hit you very hard after what sounds an amazing holiday. Glad your getting back to some sort of normmality and hope it gets better x
ReplyDeleteThanks, it certainly wasn't the nice relaxing welcome back home that I was expecting !
DeleteOh no, what a home coming! (Especially when you already have the dreaded holiday wash loads!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not ideal ! It's all cleared up now but there's still a horrible undercurrent of mouldy smell when you open the doors ! :-/ Hoping it will go !
DeleteYuk, what a shocking welcome home! We had exactly the same many years ago, when we went to Austria for a week with little Sash, and I must have switched the fridge off, when unplugging all the electrical goods in the kitchen. The smell was revolting.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed this post, only just seen a reference to it in the Menu post from yesterday.
Oh no, what a nightmare ! I think it must be even worse when it's your own "fault" - at least I had nothing to do with this one ! ;-)
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