Simplifying household stock and introducing routines

GreyQueen · 12 February 2017 at 7:50PM

I also do that to some extent. I make a big salad for breakfast and a smaller salad to go as a pack-up for a workplace lunch.

I have two hard-boiled eggs in each breakfast salad, and boil them six at a time, often in the base of my stainless steel steamer pan when cooking other things above. Shell them and keep them in a small Pyrex tureen.

I have another one on the go with some cooked pasta to add to salads, and some sweetcorn from a can, which will last me three days.

I have three medium and two tiny clear pyrex tureens which are great for this kind of thing as I can see what I've got in them. I also have a couple of baskets in there, consolidating other salad ingredients, so the whole thing can be lifted out at prp time, rather than rummaging on the shelves and in the crisper drawer.

Having these things already pre-prepped shaves quite a bit of time off my morning routine and means I can prep breakfast whilst in a semi-daze. I'm a morning person, but don't fire on all cylinders until properly tea'd up.:rotfl:

katkin · 12 February 2017 at 8:48PM

Thanks GreyQueen that's a great idea to hard boil eggs in the base of the steamer. I never thought of that!

I'm an awful morning person, can not get on with them at all, so I need a bit of routine and organisation to get things done, especially for packed lunch boxes and prepping for dinner later.

It does give you a wee bit extra washing up and it helps if you are a good chopper upper, but overall I find it time saving and a great way to get my 5 a day in.

Same with menu planning and lists, I love ticking off my lists x

Planning_ahead · 26 February 2017 at 7:06PM

Had a quick look at the garden and decided that a climber that flowers for one week a year, has to go. It always looks untidy and wild. I've cut it right back and the other plants around get more room. It reminded of the items we keep because we have paid for them even though they do nothing to enhance our lives. The other plants will have a better chance to thrive and I do not have to waste time and energy trying to keep it tidy. I have decided that if something has too much upkeep in relation to the benefit it provides time to get rid.

GreyQueen · 26 February 2017 at 8:17PM

Planning_ahead wrote: »

Had a quick look at the garden and decided that a climber that flowers for one week a year, has to go. It always looks untidy and wild. I've cut it right back and the other plants around get more room. It reminded of the items we keep because we have paid for them even though they do nothing to enhance our lives. The other plants will have a better chance to thrive and I do not have to waste time and energy trying to keep it tidy. I have decided that if something has too much upkeep in relation to the benefit it provides time to get rid.

Good for you!

With a similar rationale, I am in process of getting rid of two strawberry beds. This will leave two behind, but they're on notice and will probably be taken away this autumn.

I like strawberries but so does every other blessed thing which slithers, scampers, flies or hops, it seems. I end up spending a fair chunk of time on bended knee weeding the beds and am lucky if I get a couple of bowlfuls to show for it.

:mad:But I do get to see plenty of partially-eaten fruit which I could have had, had not the woodlice, blackbirds, mice, rats, slug etc etc got there first.

Compare and contrast the fruit bushes; they require minimal maintenance, just a few minutes of pruning once a year, and the picking of the fruit, and that's it. It will be less painful to buy a punnet or two of English strawbs when they're in season.

oldtractor · 3 March 2017 at 10:35AM

I started eating out of the freezer and cupboards a month ago. really reduced the things in there. much more manageable and my bank balance is healthier too.

Planning_ahead · 12 March 2017 at 6:28PM

I have sorted out the freezer, and made a list of what I am stocking in the future. The chicken Kiev have multiplied, along with suspect BBQ items these are all now in the bottom drawer if not eaten in the next few weeks I will cut my losses and feed them to the dog. The fridge is now organised,the too hot sauce has been thrown away instead of taking up room and being accidentally used and making food inedible. I now have space for a jug of chilled water, instead of using bottled water in the house.

Primrose · 12 March 2017 at 6:56PM

Interesting question, this issue of choice. Many years ago we entertained somebody who has since become a friend who spent a weekend with us from the Soviet Union at a time when there was no consumer choice st all. They could queu up for an hour to buy a jar of jam. No choice of flavour, you just had whatever flavour the allocation system provided to the shop in question, and virtually every food product Had the same restriction.

We took our visitor into a large supermarket. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. He simply could not believe the wide choices available in every category of product available and was totally overwhelmed. Eventually his comment was quite telling. "Well we queue for an hour to buy the only jar of jam flavour available and you seem to spend an hour shopping trying to make up your mind which flavour of product to buy".

The marketeers always try to convince us their specific brand is superior to all the others. In reality, most of the stuff we buy will do the job in question. We have just been seduced by the marketeers' arguments.

e4rly · 13 March 2017 at 9:25AM

Planning_ahead wrote: »

Has anyone tried hair shampoo and conditioner bars?

I have, as part of my drive to reduce the amount of plastic that I use rather than from an economising perspective (I had an overhaul last year when I became sick and tired of all the waste I generate - in part motivated by another thread).

I bought some from Lush, so they were more expensive initially than regular shampoos but they do seem to be lasting for a while. My hair is also a lot softer, which is an added bonus, and my scalp is a lot calmer (in the past it has been easily irritated). I'd definitely recommend.

oldtractor · 13 March 2017 at 9:32AM

GreyQueen wrote: »

I like this idea.

Much choice is actually delusion. Most conserves like jams and marmalades are only flavoured sugars, shampoos are pretty much of a muchness, with perfume and colours and additives to effect viscosity etc giving you an illusion of differences. Cereals are a load of sugary carp in most cases.

By artificially restricting availability, such as having refills under lock and key until the current item is used up, you may be able to train the household to be more efficient. Good luck!

^^^^^
spot on
:T

Primrose · 13 March 2017 at 10:13AM

GreyQueen wrote: »

I find bathrooms terribly fluffy places and by having only one shampoo and one bottle of bath jollop out at a time, I speed the cleaning process no end. Not endless arrays of dust-gatherers out. I use the shampoo, and wipe the shoulders and top of the bottle before putting it back, ditto the bath jollop. Takes about three seconds and ensures that I never have smeary dusty bottles around the place dragging down the mood.

..

Totally agree. Where does all this dust come from? Human skin particles? I have only to go into our bathroom 48 hours after giving everything a thorough clean and it's as bad as ever. The fewer toiletries you use and have on display, the easier cleaning becomes.

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Simplifying household stock and introducing routines

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