Planning a staycation

Later this month my friend Amy is coming to stay for the inside of a week.  We shared a house in Leicester over thirty years ago but since then she has married and both of us have moved away from Leicester and too far apart for a day visit.  Both Amy and I are retired but both of us have occupational pensions.  Neither of us likes to waste money.  We can afford to satisfy all our needs and by choosing carefully and spending wisely we can satisfy several of our wants.

So, I’ve started planning and preparing because I want this to be a staycation for me.  One of the main things to prepare has to be food.  We will almost certainly go out for a few meals but I want to make sure I have several meals which can be on the table within half an hour of us getting home from wherever.  That reduces the temptation of takeaways or unnecessary meals out!

Yesterday I cooked some mince that I found in the freezer along with everyday value onions, chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and a few mushrooms.  Today I made it up using some lasagne which I had also found.  For the cheese sauce I liquidised a couple of tins of cheap macaroni which I had bought in a fit of misplaced frugality.  I love macaroni cheese but this was overcooked and horrid but it made a not-bad cheese sauce for this purpose.  Grated cheese from the freezer topped it all and I had five portions of pretty good lasagne.  There was more sauce than I had lasagne for so I made two portion of pasta bake.

By this time I was on a roll and I decided to fill the oven.  There was a jar of sauce for dauphinoise potatoes (haven’t a clue when or why I bought it) in the cupboard so after I’ve had this cuppa I shall make that up as well.  It’s not a meal in itself but I love dauphinoise potatoes and they elevate any meal into a treat.

So in planning my staycation I’m also making good use of the lurkers in my store cupboard.  Win, win, methinks!