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

phizzimum

so sorry to hear your bad news munchki

ceridwen

BigMummaF wrote: »

• Shortcrust pastry that can be rolled flat, spread with.. ..peanut butter, jam, choc spread, mincemeat, honey, roast veg...wotteffa! then rolled up like a swiss roll to bake

...or possibly sultanas and sugar sprinkled on? One of the few better than "edible" things that my mother used to make when I was a kid (many aeons ago).......note to self: must remember my mother's cooking could be why I have a pretty "cast iron" stomach as an adult...;)

dorry_2

munchin

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sorry to hear your bad news

Bunny200

munchki wrote: »

Just a tiny little moan.........

The really bad day has gotten even worse today.....:mad:

Completely out of the blue, my DH got called back up to the office and was just made redundant. No warning, no nothing. Well i dont think there is much else that can go wrong today eh?

On a positive note, we have our health, full pantry and freezer and most importantly....each other. Of course I know that DH is NOT going to be in the best of moods etc tonight so think I shall be walking on eggshells and supplying lots of hugs and cuddles when needed:A

*saunters back into the darkness* Thank you for listening all.

Kath x

Sorry to hear that, happened to me last year and theres a lot of it about these days, doesn't make it any easier though. Sometimes it can be a point to review all options and decide what the next move is. Hope things go ok for you and try to keep smiling

tyadog

Hi all

Really sorry to hear your news too Munchki, here's a tip which might help a bit

When I was using a recipe for "authentic" chilli, it said to add oatmeal as well as the mince - i normally add extra water and a stock cube to a basic chilli or bolognese or anything mince based, and throw in a pile of oatmeal once I have enough liquid for it to absorb. This really bulks the meal out - by nearly double and oats are pretty cheap too..

I haven't costed the recipe, as whilst trying to cut costs, we also prefer to buy free range meat, but with bargain veg and tinned tomatoes, and bulked out with oatmeal, I can bulk a pound of mince out to feed 5 or 6 hungry adults with rice/pasta alongside (and none of them have ever noticed the oatmeal!) :T

The taste of my meals hasn't changed - guess the oats absorb the flavour of the recipe like soya mince and I reckon it improves overall texture and thickens the sauce - I just remembered this trick just now as I defrosted some chilli for dinner!

Only think to watch is that on my gas hob the oatmeal can stick to the pan base if I amn't careful :eek: - I have started putting the chilli etc into a dish in the oven to cook once I had done the basics on the hob.

Just waiting for my first batch on no knead bread to rise (I hope??)!

Tya

Brighton_belle

hello
Results of HM yogurt straining are in - straining HM yog through muslin thickened it up loads over 1.5 hrs. Trying another batch for 2-3 hrs now (got too excited to wait any longer for the first lot:o ). Battery on scales failed at the crucial moment so I can't give stats on how much weight worth of yog you lose through straining. But I like the thickness for some forms of cooking/pudding use. Oh and just reclaimed sausage maker I gave my dad for xmas 10 yrs ago and he's never used:j . Will collect next week.

Claero

Sorry to hear of your bad news, Munchki. May something give you a good surprise very quickly ((hugs)).

Sammy, I am with you on the giving up caffeine thing. Cola is my weakness, and I really need to stop and start drinking water again. I was doing so well... all it takes is one bad morning though, and you're lost

I'm still following this thread avidly, and have got a couple of friends hooked on it too. And thanks to them I got some free rhubarb which went into a nice crumble at the start of the week.

shala_moo

Hi All...

Brighton Belle - I strained my yogurt the other day for about 5-6 hours. Volume wise you lose about one third... I usually make 3 small pots from 500ml of milk but when strained it made only 2.

Tasted so yummy though!! i had the last pot today with some marmalade swirled in.. so much better than commercial stuff..

Sammy, Claero - I have 2 bottles of cola left and then i'm on to the caffiene free lifestyle.. i'm really not looking forward to the headache that comes along with it for the first few days but for reducing spending its a must, we should all attend Caffiene-aholics Anonymous!!:undecided

cw18

added another 'cheapo' meal to our regular list tonight.... a very basic one that I've not done in aaaaages!

it's been really muggy and close around us today, and I really couldn't face cooking -- even after 6pm which is when we normally eat.

so I had a look for something quick and easy to make, and spotted the huge bag of spuds I bought yesterday -- which has come with plenty in it big enough to make into jackets (which doesn't take long in my combi over -- 23 mins for 3 potatoes). as I started those cooking my son wandered into the kitchen, spotted the potatoes, looked for what else I was cooking, and was shocked there was nothing bubbling away in a pan. when he asked whether we were getting anything with them I told him I was having cheese, and doing baked beans and cheese for hubby -- and he could take him pick (I don't eat baked beans as a 'side dish'). he opted for beans and cheese.....

3 spuds (from Mr T 5kg value bag), 87g mature cheddar cheese (Mr A smart price), and one tin baked beans (Mr T, but not value. I use value when cooking into something, but hubby doesn't like them as a side dish so we go 'up a level' for that) -- total cost a smidgen over 93p for all three of us!!

and everyone cleared their plate.....

if I'd had the stuff in I'd have added a side salad to mine which would push the cost up a bit, but as I'm aiming to get my average cost for a main meal down to around 50-55p/head I have some lee-way to allow for that

In_Search_Of_Me

Just popping in to send munchkini a hug...sorry to hear re the job. Will it be easy for him to get another or is it quite specialist work? Thinking of you...very worrying...