Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vhalla1478 · 29 April 2015 at 9:40AM

Morning Everyone,

It's wet and miserable here, but, looking on the bright side, the garden needed a good soaking.

As promised here is a quick and cheap recipe, if you like spinach and ginger; I'll post some more throughout the day as I'm staying in, catching up with housework and concocting some meals out of leftovers - one more day before the end of the month!

Spinach Pasta - serves 2

sliced onion, tbsp. olive oil, 120grams butter, 250grams tagliatelle, 125grams spinach, freshly grated ginger to taste, handful of chopped coriander leaves, tsp ground cumin, 150ml double cream, salt and pepper, freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Saute the sliced onion in oil and butter. Meanwhile cook the tagliatelle until al dente. Add the spinach to the onions in the pan and cook very gently until the spinach has wilted. Add the ginger, coriander and cumin. Just before serving, add the cream to the spinach and season to taste. Serve the pasta with the spinach mixture and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

I forgot to say that yesterday when I visited my friend (temporary crown still intact - hope it stays in until my final visit in a fortnight to the dentists), we did some swapping as well. My friend bought a few items of clothes from me a fortnight or so ago - she's on DLA so I'm always happy to extend credit to her, she would never let me down - I needed a tray - mine is beyond disgraceful and it's useful to put on an upholstered stool when you're serving coffee. I got a lovely hand-painted Russian tray from her - I'm happy and she now owes me less. she's also given me a beautiful designer summer dress to try on; it's a make I like, but I'll just have to see if it's long enough on me - I hate that feeling when you're sitting down of having to keep checking where your hemline has moved to. Once I'm dressed, made up and sorted I don't want to be thinking of my clothes.

Right, this isn't getting the housework done, I'd better get on - vulpix, I know exactly what you mean about missing the day to day chatter, but this thread is a lovely alternative.

Have a good day, Everyone.

Viv xx

misstara · 29 April 2015 at 12:19PM

A busy day here - I've already done a short shift for 2nd job, now back in the flat, I've got about an hour and a half before I need to leave to go up to main job. It was absolutely bucketing down this morning but has stopped now, means I can walk up to work saving me some money (a whole £1.35 but every little helps

)

Lunch will be HM soup and a YS roll, both from the freezer. I need to make a card for my friend, it's her birthday on Sunday so want to get it in the post today using a 2nd class stamp. I also need to shower before work so I suppose I better go and get organised fairly soon.

Hope everyone is having a good day

good_advice · 29 April 2015 at 12:42PM

What a rainy morning!
Still, we have to make the best of it so = good for the newly put down grass. Good for our water butts.

Bad for going out.
Just visited Tesco for the weekly shop.
Same ish stuff = milk, bread, eggs, ham & cheese. Fruit & veg. Small meat.

I had a visitor, yesterday. First time to see inside our house say - this is nice, very tidy. Well chuffed with my spring tidy efforts.
I am getting worse or better depending on how you see it? Just now I found mysef shoving things on the kitchen work tops in the cupboards. Out of sight.

Not much news. I am going to look at the free Tesco fashion magazine.

celtic_moon · 29 April 2015 at 3:29PM

Hi All!

This new layout it better for mobile use but really bright!

I hate the whiteness of things - my computer screen is on the darkest possible setting!

Val, I have pinched the brownie recipe for a friend's post wedding party on Saturday. Making it tomorrow so will let you know how it goes down

Thanks again Cheerfulness for putting all the links on the front page - made it so easy to find!

I have to admit, that recently our MMMing has been up and down

The positives first - we fettled half a pig carcass into 2 HUGE pans of stew and broth and the freezers are now groaning. The trading season for DH business starts in earnest this weekend. This is the time where we spend every weekend in a field - looking at this weekend's weather, I am VERY glad we fettled that pig and have numerous tubs of stew, 4/5 bird roast, hog roast, chilli etc in the freezer. It means that we just fling it in the caravan oven at the end of a long working day in the freezing cold and I am not living on burger van burgers every weekend for the next 6 months like last year :T

The negatives - we have spent far too much money on shopping this month (£70 for 2 adults and one small cat :eek: ) and I am not totally sure what we bought differently..... We have had a couple of takeaways too - although we were given a little bit of cash to 'treat' ourselves.

As has been said by others, it's ok to treat ourselves every now and again. It's not possible to maintain such a strict regimen else it becomes wearing on your soul and therefore self defeating - in my opinion anyways!

We are having to MMM due to our circumstances and we are truly discovering what is 'worth it' and what isn't. Ironically, we are also discovering who our friends really are - not something I expected tbh! I am VERY blessed to have some absolutely amazing people in my life - even if they are are a little 'kooky' :rotfl: Of course I am completely normal!!!!!! :rotfl:

I am really enjoying this thread and everyone's different take on things - it gives me plenty of food for thought

I hope everyone is feeling better and operations go well - think the sun showing its face every so often helps!

'Speak' again soon

xxx

vhalla1478 · 29 April 2015 at 4:24PM

Hello again, All,

And welcome back, celticmoon. I'm so pleased that you're trying the brownies - when didn't chocolate go down well?!! I sympathise about eating fast foods when you're in a field - it always smells amazing, or at least the fried onions do - absolutely fatal for the waistline - when I was doing antiques fairs I had to be like you and get organised over food or I would have been as big as a house.

Here's a great dessert, quick and easy.

Plums in Yoghurt - try it with other fruit as well.

1lb ripe plums, quarter pint double cream, quarter pint yoghurt, egg white, 2 tbsp. sugar.

Halve the plums and transfer to a serving dish, retaining all of the juice. Beat the cream until it is stiff and fold in the yoghurt. Beat the egg white until stiff and fold in the sugar. Add to the yoghurt mixture and spoon over the halved plums and chill.

I managed to whip through the house today, feed the garden in between showers and go through the freezer- I've still quite a bit in there even though we're nearly at the end of the month. I think now is the time to do a menu plan; I'm away for a few days next week. The friend who I used to share an antiques shop with has invited me to Horncastle. Sadly her husband has deteriorated badly with Alzheimer's so I'll probably do a couple of dishes to take with me.

Trying to catch up on giving you recipes - if I've time this evening I'll find another one.

Viv xx

silvasava · 29 April 2015 at 4:42PM

Celtic - if you are able to have a hook up for your 'van a slow cooker is a godsend when you've been out in the cold all day.
Been battling a cold but managed to get a good night's sleep in last night so feeling a bit more human today. DH has lit the wood burner the last two evenings because I'm freezing! Even the cat on my lap wasn't enough lol.
Just been pottering & sorting out c**p got rid of some glass jars and my old weight watchers stuff on free cycle. At least I feel I've achieved something!
DS1 has just let me know that his bicycle has been stolen! Whoever it was had to go to the shed at the bottom of the garden & no - he hasn't got a lock on the shed :eek: He's reported it & put it on FB etc. Hope he gets it back but if not he can have DH's that hasn't been used for about 4 years lol

kittym · 30 April 2015 at 6:12AM

Morning peeps

Hope all goes well for all of you with op's and dentists.

Sorry to hear about your DS1's bike being stolen Silva, hope someone comes across it on FB, fingers x.

Weather has been pants, cold and wet, however It has forced me to do the pile of mending that was getting ever bigger. Finally finished last night and felt like I had achieved a small victory.

Glad you didn't hurt yourself to badly cheerfulness and hope your friend makes a full recovery.

Welcome to newbies, the more the merrier, and Vhalla thanks for the spinach pasta recipe. I love spinach and put it in almost every curry and tomato based sauce I make.

Managed to get some YS bread buns and croissants last night, so that's the freezer half full for the start of May's budget. Gosh were are these months going, when I was wee it took for ever to get to your birthday or summer holidays, now I feel I just blink and there upon me.

Today is pot luck for tea, which means what ever is lurking in the bottom of the freezer, fingers x it's something nice.
Hope you all have a lovely productive day. xx

vhalla1478 · 30 April 2015 at 9:51AM

Good Morning Everyone,

It's not such a nice day here - not raining just overcast and dull, although I do have a wonderful view of a field full of rape at the bottom of my garden, which is vividly yellow at the moment and cheers everything up.

I've just put my clothes washing in and have managed to leave a nine day gap between the last time I washed clothes. Not, I hasten to add, because I'm dirty, just that we're getting into lighter clothes now the weather is sort of improving and I'm managing to get more into my washing machine.

I've also kept to my word and cut back to a couple of coffees (ie one scoop) in the morning and to be perfectly honest, I haven't missed it - it was just another thoughtless habit and I can always use that money for something a bit more tangible.

Talking of finances, I read an article this morning that said that most housing (less than 1%) in London was now unaffordable to the average wage earner, and even in my part of the world where housing is among the cheapest in the country, only 42% of housing is affordable - and we're supposed to be better off!

My DB texted me last night. He was delayed by 5 hours on his flight to Prague yesterday and the (cheapie) airline gave him a voucher for £3 as compensation! He gave it to a lady with two children (who didn't get any vouchers!)

Right, I'll get off my soap box and get cracking. After my little spend on Tuesday I got myself motivated to get on with my rug; I won't start my new project until the rug is finished or neither will ever get done. And whilst I've been typing this the sun has come out so hopefully I won't have clothes hanging around the house.

Kitty, pleased you like the recipe - I'll post another one later.

Have a good day, All.

Viv xx

janb5 · 30 April 2015 at 11:04AM

Celtic- you only spent £16 pw which sounds pretty frugal to me. And you managed takeways too!

Skintoap · 30 April 2015 at 3:15PM

Hi, as my name suggests, I'm a pensioner who is finding that, as the years go by, my pensions don't stretch as far as they used to. I've been lurking on this thread for a while, and you have all given me some wonderful ideas. I will be reading with interest and putting ideas into practice. Meanwhile, I've just started turning all those oddments of sock wool I've accumulated over the years into bed/ wellie socks. (No one but me will see them).

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Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

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