50p a day til Christmas - healthily?! Weezl's next challenge...

shaz_mum_of__2

cw18 wrote: »

mine can do his own washing and cooking. didn't get him a washing basket for his 16th, but did "invite him to leave" the family home 9 months later -- so he had to learn the hard way then!! he was going totally off the rails and showing no consideration for other people or their belongings, and I'd had enough of the stress (and waiting for a visit from the boys in blue which I didn't think would be long in coming) :mad:

he lived on benfits in hostels for about 9 months, and after seeing how hard it was to survive like that / having his room broken into and belongings taken twice / talking to older chaps about how hard it was to find a job while giving a hostel as an address (and no chance of other accomodation until he had a job), he decided the Army was his best option.

have to say that although he can still be a little inconsiderate at times, on the whole he's a totally different kid now -- and I'm really, really proud of the way he's turned his life around doesn't stop me still feeling guilty about having turfed him out though -- felt like a complete failure as a mother at the time!!!!!

Sometimes you gotta be cruel and let them learn from their own mistakes........just like we did

Mines not a bad lad but needs some direction ................i think it will be good for him


Shaz

doing a stock take of stock pile today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

weezl74

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Just found this make your own paneer recipe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1143794

what does it taste like i know its strained cottage cheese but does it still taste like it ..............................we hade a disater with tofu so a bit nervous

Shaz :Gone to get Madhur Jaffrey's book to check out recipes

Hiya Shaz

It depends what you use to 'split' the milk lemon makes the end cheese taste like firmer, slightly saltier philly, or much less salty feta. Blandness is good, like with haloumi, it then takes on the flavours of the spices you fry it in. I don't like it 'split' with vinegar personally...

Loo roll, yes we're a roll a week household. Unless it's sainsburies basics which are rubbish cos they use a wider tube to make it look normal sized, the swines!

Phizzimum, that's so cool, thanks for thinking of me! :A

newlywed

weezl74 wrote: »

Loo roll, yes we're a roll a week household. Unless it's sainsburies basics which are rubbish cos they use a wider tube to make it look normal sized, the swines!

A loo roll a week!!! We are four a week :eek: But don't want to discourage the boys too much from using it

When I was at home mum always said we went through about 1 per person, per week

shaz_mum_of__2

weezl74 wrote: »

Hiya Shaz

It depends what you use to 'split' the milk lemon makes the end cheese taste like firmer, slightly saltier philly, or much less salty feta. Blandness is good, like with haloumi, it then takes on the flavours of the spices you fry it in. I don't like it 'split' with vinegar personally...

Loo roll, yes we're a roll a week household. Unless it's sainsburies basics which are rubbish cos they use a wider tube to make it look normal sized, the swines!

Phizzimum, that's so cool, thanks for thinking of me! :A

we use 4 value ones a week too

can you use long life milk for the paneer then??

writing a menu plan for next few weeks (i dont assign days but will work out 20 meals)

Shaz

BigMummaF

Meant to say before, that if you get the value chocolate from the sweetie aisle it is cheaper than the chocolate from the cooking aisle....I now keep some in the freezer to bash up with a wooden spoon to make my own chocolate chips for cooking & ice cream toppings, altho admittedly they are more like choccie chunks in places:p

NemoToad

I hadn't seen a friend of mine for a month or so, so we agreed to meet up in Harrogate on Saturday and get the bus to Brimham Rocks to go for a walk to Pateley Bridge. It was a lovely walk but the best part was there were hundreds of bilberry bushes filled with lovely juicy bilberries! We quickly decided to finish our packed lunch and fill our lunch box with bilberries (and eating a few there and then of course). We couldn't pick for too long as we didn't want to miss our bus in Pately Bridge but half an hours haul got me over 1lb of berries.

My friend is half Finnish and she was telling me loads of stories about how she spends her summers in rural Finland helping her grandma pick bilberries to store for the winter.

The berries were really tasty and are going to make a fantastic pudding, and possibly some bilberry gin. If we go back to Brimham again soon (I have lots of climber friends who I might ask if I could catch a lift with) I'm definitely going to pick some more and find some room in our freezer for them.

I was so inspired by our little foraging trip that I picked up a copy of 'Food for Free' the following day (not very MSE I know, but I get quite excited in Borders) and now I plan to route out lots more plants. I can't wait for Autumn to come because the nature reserve behind our house is full of brambles and I'm getting excited about all the yummy things I can make with blackberries. I also want to find somewhere to get sloe so I can make sloe gin (as presents for Christmas, and for myself, I'm a bit of a gin fiend)

weezl74

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

we use 4 value ones a week too

can you use long life milk for the paneer then??

writing a menu plan for next few weeks (i dont assign days but will work out 20 meals)

Shaz

yep, long life is best IMHO!

Big mumma good tip on the choccie!

nemotoad, great result on the bilberries, I understand they're like blueberries but a little sharper?

NemoToad

Yes, Weezl, they're really similar to blueberries but with a more intense flavour. I always think blueberries are a bit bland, and also really expensive. According to my friend blueberries were cultivated from bilberries. My new book says they're only really found in northern Britain though on moorland from the Peak District upwards, and of course in Northern Europe (we're going camping soon in Sweden, so maybe I'll fill my rucksack with berries to take home!)

Also, me and BF were watching an old episode of coast where they were foraging for a specific type of seaweed on the south welsh coast, apparently it tasted like salty spinach. The guy on Coast is always amazingly enthusiastic about food, and as always said it was the best thing he'd ever eaten (but he says that every week!).

Our housemate (who eats as much as me and BF combined if given a chance!) is away for two weeks, so I'm enjoying having the house to ourselves and doing exactly as we please, and cooking very cheaply! It's not as impressive as you Weezl but I think Fridays tea was about 50p each for lentil daal with aloo gobi. I was calculating this at the table and BF was shocked at how cheap it all was!

newlywed

Just reporting back on my butterbean hummous/pate as inspired by all the frugal sandwich fillers posted by weezl, and have to say it was very nice (but might use a little less garlic next time )

I used a tin of drained butterbeans (will get round to soaking the dried ones in the cupboard some day and use them next time )
Squirt of garlic puree (bit less next time though)
Drizzle of olive oil
Blitz all together

add chopped roasted red pepper and blitz a bit more.

Could have added salt or pepper or lemon or whatever, but I like it as it is

Probably a good job I like it, as I have enough for about 3 more sandwiches as well as a tub of it in the freezer.


Next on the list to try will be lentil pate

Aril

Hi Weezl!
Just wondered whether you'd done any experimenting with black treacle. I know it's high in sugar but my understanding is that it's also a very good source of vitamin A [please correct me if I'm wrong]. It's only 27p a tin in Mr T and thought it might be another way to bring in flavour on a tight budget. I use it in ginger cake but am going to investigate other recipes in due course to see what else it might be suitable for [can you tell I've got nearly a whole tin left after making my Mum's birthday cake at the weekend:D
Aril