Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vhalla1478 · 29 January 2015 at 10:23PM

Well Folks, what did you think of 'Eat well for Less'? My impression was that they even after the 'swaps' a lot of the food was processed, but maybe they were both working and didn't have enough time? I missed the first 5 minutes. Even when I was working full time I used to cook. Without being unkind I don't think that it takes much longer to prepare a meal from scratch and I'm always surprised when people can't cook. If you can read you can cook, surely? When I think how little some of you are spending on food and how nutritious and most importantly how delicious your food sounds I think we all deserve a pat on the back. £260 a week? How many of us spend that in a month? how many of us can afford to spend that in a month?!

meritaten · 29 January 2015 at 10:30PM

I didn't see it - but £260 a week??????????????? I don't spend that in a month. and OH and I eat like royalty. honestly, I don't stint on food - OH loves his grub! and the grandkids eat here a lot too.

vhalla1478 · 29 January 2015 at 10:39PM

I'm still labouring sorting out my recipes and just came across this one. It uses sea bass which is expensive, but I only buy it when it's reduced which seems to happen quite frequently in my local Morrisons, but I can't see why it wouldn't work with any fish. Apart from being very tasty, it's quick.

Grilled Parmesan Sea Bass - for 4

4 sea bass fillets, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 40 grams grated parmesan, 50 grams softened butter, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, a dash of tabasco, salt and pepper to taste.

Pre-heat grill. Place fish on a greased baking tray and brush with lemon juice. Stir together cheese, butter, mayonnaise, tabasco and set aside. Grill fish for 4-6 minutes until it can be flaked with a fork. Remove from and spread cheese mixture on top of fish. Grill for an additional 30 seconds or until the topping is browned and bubbly. Great with broccoli and potatoes, equally nice with a mixed salad

sashanut · 30 January 2015 at 12:19AM

dianasnan wrote: »

I am sure you have, but have you checked that the front part of the machine doesn't have a storage compartment for the feet.I have a Brother machine and they are stored near the bottom of the machine.

I have just purchased a 32 item set for approx £15 from Amazon which came from China within a week and mine are really good quality (I was very surprised) and fit my older Brother machine beautifully.

Thanks Dianasnan for the suggestion - it does have a little compartment but there's nothing in that - I will give it a check again though to make sure I haven't missed anything. Feel sure it has got knocked off & is somewhere in the pit of Doom that is DDs room, have had a quick check in the area it was in but can't see it. I will get a set of the universal ones & see how that goes!!

Have been busy trying to get all the little bits of things done, inspired by you all on here. Have done lots of sticking......and tomorrow am going to tackle the one (small) piece of wallpaper that I stripped off way before Christmas, where the dog had scratched it ....about head height on the bottom of the stairs (big dog). Procrastinated for ages, kept looking on the bay of E for a match or a border - its a discontinued LA pattern but the hall stairs & landing are all papered the same and a massive space...finally found a part roll tucked away. Then stripped off the piece, only to find the excellent decorator had lined the walls, so had to strip off the lining as well....tomorrow it is going to be finished!! Right I have said it now so have to do it, have all the tools & bought wallpaper scissors & paste in £land, no excuses :rotfl:

cheerfulness4 · 30 January 2015 at 12:33AM

Ziggy- sorry to hear you had such a rough 2014 but its a brand new year and we can all have some fun with a bit of make do and mending together, can't we? I find it so relaxing and you sound like that is exactly what you need.

Well done on paying off that mortgage, too. That has to be a lovely feeling.

About the Eat Well for Less prog, I've said it on another thread but I really enjoyed watching. The whole family got on board and was open minded but honest about the swaps.
It must be easy to overspend on groceries if you're a 'foodie' and can afford it, which it seemed they could. However the fact that they knew the money would improve their boys living space was enough to motivate them to change. I love that.

We stopped buying fruit juices in favour of the whole fruit a bit ago but I found the facts on juices and breads interesting.
Savers cornflakes were rejected by DH some time back (as were Kelloggs) but we'll give those another try in case the recipe has changed or DH has!

I totally understand about over buying the bargains and offers. I think I 'needed' to shop and I thought it was permissible because I was buying cheap. I just never stopped buying cheap!
Food was everywhere, I had little storage for anything else and some of the bargains got wasted because we weren't all that keen but I couldn't cope with throwing it out because deep down that would mean I had failed, so it got shoved to the back and buried under the other bargains, never to surface and mock me.

Isn't that silly, I felt guilty because I tried to do the right thing and it wasn't successful always. It was just a learning process after all. Never mind, I know were I went wrong for us and I seem to be on the right track now. Hence this challenge.

I'm loving these recipes. I want 2015 to be full of new menus, new skills and lots of new ideas for how to make the budget go further.
I am so looking forward to actually doing the things I am constantly planning and posting on here is making me follow through on those plans.
Like tonight, I was tired and I was tempted just to eat the pilchards on their own and be done but no. I said I'd test that recipe so I did. I'm proud of that. I'm learning a new skill, not to be lazy!

No spends today again! :j:j

DAY 29

Money Spent Today - £0 Vouchers Spent - £0
Money Spent in Total - £80.68 Vouchers Spent in Total - £5
Money left in purse - £6.32 - Float left- £0/£15
Jan non-foods left- £0/£15

Tomorrows dinner is HM Sausage Plait found at the bottom of the freezer (can't remember making it so doesn't bode well for its age :eek: ) and we'll have baked beans with that as no potatoes left.
Out of:
coconut
SR flour
eggs,
sugar (tiny bit for cereal tomorrow)
hot choc
potatoes
carrots
and only one loo roll left.

Not absolute essentials but things I am never without hoards of. Forcing myself to be more resourceful.

:D

[Deleted User] · 30 January 2015 at 2:10AM

I always snaffle the laces from my DGS trainers when they have outgrown them and bung them into the WM in one of those little net bags that come with some washing powders.I then save them as come September there is always one of the boys who needs laces for 'conkers'

:)
I too thought that there was a lot of processed food in that show and for the chap to say he was the 'foodie chef ' made me smile as there seemed to be little fresh friuit or veg and a lot of beefburgers and sausages.You can make pretty good burgers yourself with some decent mince and as for sausages I always look at the pork content on the packet anyway I'd rather pay a little more for a good banger and eat less, than pay less to eat more. I only have two sausages with lots of fresh veg when I have them. Those processed ones looked pink and disgusting to be honest I wouldn't feed the dog on them. The little boys were super though and a lot less fussy than their parents

Effyb4 · 30 January 2015 at 7:56AM

ziggy2407 wrote: »

Please could I join, Id really like 2015 to be my year!!

2014 was not a great year for me - I had a heart attack (massive shock at 44 with no real health worries apart from depression) followed by numerous chest infections and then to end the year - whooping cough. We are a 3 person family - me, hubby and son (aged 11), we have no mortgage (we managed to work hard and pay it off before we had our son), no debt just normal every day bills, we have one wage and child benefit - this year I'd like to make do and mend more than ever and spent last night reading through the whole thread and cant wait to get started. I regularly

order books from library (rather than buy)
craft (have lots of craft supplies)
can knit
can bake (but tend to stick to same recipes)
love comping
do lots of little "small things"

I am positive that I still have lots to learn

My last confession:
For Christmas 2013 I was bought a lovely sewing machine - it hasn't been used yet :(:o

Sat watching the BBC programme about eating well for less, hoping I might learn something new.

Thank you for all your inspiration

Welcome to the thread Ziggy. It's a great place for ideas. I had a heart attack in 2013, followed by emergency bypass surgery. I was 40 and previously healthy. I have had to halve my hours at work due to heart failure, which has made money tight but it really has helped me to look at my priorities. I enjoy the small things in life now.

I wish you health and happiness in 2015.

vhalla1478 · 30 January 2015 at 8:21AM

I totally agree with you about last night's programme, Jackie. quality always counts in my book and however hard up you are, you can always eat well if you use fresh ingredients and start from scratch. It was interesting what they said about bread as well; but I must admit that I only like the granary, wholemeal, fancy breads because to me they taste much better than white bread. I am using my bread maker, but there's nearly always bread on offer so I do sometimes buy an unusual loaf and freeze it.

Snow permitting, out shopping today and I need to be careful - I have money burning a hole in my pocket because I got amply rewarded for doing someone's books. Let's see if I can avoid temptation; I'll report back later. I've just broken my cafetiere and I'm very tempted by a le creuset one that would be far more difficult to break than the glass ones, but they are expensive - my mantra of buying the best you can afford (at the right price) because in general top quality kitchen items last a lifetime is at the moment warring with my saving resolution!!

I must just give you this recipe; I think it's one of the best soups ever, found in a magazine someone gave me. I had a butternut squash languishing in the bottom of the fridge for ages, looking at me reproachfully because I kept ignoring it ; I was being lazy, I couldn't face peeling it - the skins are so tough, aren't they? but like you, Cheerfulness, I can't waste things I've already bought, so this was a good lesson; try new things.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 chopped onion, 1 clove garlic finely chopped, 1 kg pumpkin/squash, cut into cubes, 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, quarter teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 1 litre vegetable stock. Grated parmesan or gruyere cheese, cream or yoghurt, ground cinnamon and toasted pumpkin seeds to serve (optional). Just put the seeds from the pumpkin/squash into a hot frying pan (no oil) and shake it around until they brown.

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry gently until soft. Add the garlic, pumpkin, potato, cumin, coriander and nutmeg. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to combine. Add the stock, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for around 15-20 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked through. Puree the mixture with a hand-held blender or whizz in a food processor. serve hot sprinkled with grated cheese or with a swirl of cream or yoghurt, a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Have a good day, Everyone.

Viv xx

cheerfulness4 · 30 January 2015 at 12:17PM

effy and ziggy - what a shock you've both been through! To fell fine with no obvious signs of problems one moment and then to have to deal with that. I'm so pleased you both seem to be well now.

vhalla- that soup recipe is going in my book as its will make a lovely seasonal treat. I'm going to have another go at butternut squash growing this year.
The time I did it before I must have got my seeds mixed up in an exchange and they grew like long snakes but identical in colour and taste to the traditional ones. They were over a foot long.

:D

Beautiful sunny day today. Towels on the line, knickers basking in the sun on my airer by the window.

silvasava · 30 January 2015 at 1:21PM

:wave:Hi All

Effy & Ziggy - glad you are both OK now. DS2 had massive heart failure last year at 45 so I can appreciate how you both feel. He's doing well too. Its so shocking to hear of so many 'youngsters' having heart problems for no apparent reason. Hugs to you both.

Thanks for the soup recipe Vhalla - that's one I shall be trying!

Had a result in the Hospice craft shop yesterday. I asked if they had any very long zips & the lady said - Just a minute, I think we have, I'll look out the back. She came back with a large plastic trug FULL of zips of all sizes & colours. She said 'Dont waste time rooting through, just turn them out on the floor' which I did. I am now the proud owner of 5 lovely heavy plastic double ended zips ranging from about 1metre to 2 meters long - all for a fiver!!!
I also had a call from our local hospital asking me if I would take part in a trial of a new type of inhaler - there's no drugs involved just trying out the method of delivery AND you get paid. I suppose its part of trials by the pharmaceutical company so I've no problem with accepting payment if that's the case.
Off to make DH some sarny's for lunch with some Aldi smoked ham pieces - bargain!

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Comments

MAY GROCERY CHALLENGE £0/ £250

MAY GROCERY CHALLENGE £0/ £250

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free