Weekly Grocery Haul + Meal Plan

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I love watching grocery haul videos on YouTube, but I do really enjoy watching the most mundane things on that platform. I decided to share with you our grocery shop for the week, and the meals I’ve planned out for us. My goal this week was to keep the shop under $150, and I even went so far as to cash in some of our Flybuys points for money back on the shop (which ended up taking $30 off of the total for the week – not too shabby). The grand total came to $109.61 which was under what I had budgeted for the week and I’ll be carrying across the excess $40.39 for future shopping trips. Here’s my meal plan for the week –

Breakfast
Monday – Friday: Gluten free weetbix w/ lactose free milk

Lunch
Monday: Leftover spaghetti bolognese
Tuesday: Out
Wednesday: Toasted cheese sandwich
Thursday: Noodles
Friday: Slow cooked beef massaman curry

Dinner
Monday: Chicken w/ roasted sweet potato & steamed broccoli
Tuesday: Burritos
Wednesday: Moroccan seasoned lamb w/ cous cous & roasted carrots
Thursday: Chicken schnitzel w/ mash & steamed broccoli
Friday: Homemade pizza

Snacks
Monday – Friday: Strawberries / carrot sticks / gluten free crackers

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Thoughts of the week…

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01) Guess who tore his other ACL? Ben did, and he’s due for surgery next week. Please send him all the good and health doggy vibes you have free!
02) I started making YouTube videos again.
03) Speaking of YouTube, my favourite channel for the week is BudgetGirl – who has inspired me SO MUCH in regards to budgeting and eliminating debt. I have a new budgeting goal and plan that I’m going to share with you all soon.
04) Speaking of YouTube, a fellow (ex)beauty blogger who is living the dream and writing novels for a living, is also posting some informative videos and vlogs on her channel. Head on over and subscribe!
05) I had never made this connection before, but wow.
06) I’m sure this is all too familiar for many of us.
07) They released the dollar figure that Jeremy Clarkson will be earning (a year) over at Amazon video… 26 million. Wowza.
08) I’ve started drinking coffee again. Help.
09) If you’re interested in joining me and some other book lovers in a monthly book blog, be sure to head over to Look At All These Books to vote for next month’s book.
10) I’m planning on starting a bit of a “use it or lose it” project to try and clear out a lot of my beauty products. Let me know if you’d be interested in joining in!
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Product Review: Tresemme Cleansing Dry Shampoo

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I’ve always been a “wash my hair every day unless I don’t need to leave the house or see anyone who doesn’t already love me a lot” kinda gal. Lately however, I’ve become time-poor in the mornings (cold weather = me not wanting to leave the bed) and it’s thrown a spanner into my daily hair washing routine. I’ve been forced to become an every-other-day washer. I know, right? Who even am I. Anyway, not washing my hair every day has left me with a flat and oily hair situation. I work in a professional environment, and I can’t afford to look completely disgusting when I rock up to the office. Which is a pretty accurate description of how I look when I don’t wash my hair. Enter DRY SHAMPOO. I’ve tried quite a few dry shampoos in my time, but honestly this is the best I’ve come across so far. It smells nice, it helps (to a point) control oiliness, and it adds a decent amount of much needed texture to help battle the flatness of my annoyingly fine hair. Another plus is that when you spray it into your hair and rub it into your roots, it doesn’t leave you looking like you’ve got a bad case of dandruff. It’s also budget friendly, which for me at the moment is hugely important. The Tresemme Instant Refresh Cleansing Dry Shampoo retails for $10.99 and is available for purchase from Priceline (please note: product was supplied for consideration for review).
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My Current Gym Routine

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A doctor once told me that it’s a bad idea to have your partner as your gym buddy, because it causes relationship strain and a whole lot of other problems. Thankfully, that is not the case for Sebastian and I. Having set times that we go to the gym (together), has made it so much easier to work exercise into our weekly routine. The other thing that has made the whole process feel a lot easier is having a set routine in place for when we actually get to the gym. I much prefer having this routine in place, rather than faffing about on all of the equipment I actually know how to use (fun fact about me: I really hate asking people for help at the gym). So here’s my current routine, which will change over time as my needs and fitness levels change (my goal is to improve on one thing each gym session – extra weight, etc). Oh, and we’ve been aiming for around 3-4 gym sessions a week.

Warm Up – 10 minutes on cross trainer
3 Sets x 15 Reps on Pin Loaded Press (weight is currently at 35kg, but will increase soon)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Fitness Ball Wall Squat
3 Sets x 15 Reps Donkey Kick (lol)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Chest Press (current weight is 20kg)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Support Row (current weight is 20 kg)
3 Sets x 15 Reps Basic Curl
3 Sets x 15 Reps Reverse Curl
Cardio – 10 minutes on treadmill or bike (currently at 1:1 ratio)
Cool Down + Stretches

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Thoughts of the week…

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01) You may have noticed the change in design here at The Belle Lumiere, and I’d love to know what you think! All of the handdrawn artwork here and over at my other site ‘Look At All These Books was done by Stevie Ann Clarke. Isn’t it beautiful? You can check out her Etsy store here.
02) Guess what? There is just over a month until I have three months off of work. Can you believe it? Oh, AND IT’S NEARLY CHRISTMAS.
03) This is my favourite Jessie Baylin song at the moment. I’m obsessed.
04) I have a new favourite youtuber.
05) Jimmy Kimmel and Mumford & Son’s Boy Band
06) This is incredible.
07) This tumblr takes horror movies and turns them into Goosebumps covers.
08) The science behind why reading is so good for the soul.
09) They’ve announced the actress that will be playing Anna in the Girl On The Train film adaptation, and I think she’ll be perfect.
10) If you’re feeling particularly flush with cash this week and are in the mood to do a good deed, perhaps you could head on over to Jessica’s page and donate whatever you can spare. Thank you to all that have donated already.
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