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

In_Search_Of_Me

aww hugs for you hwga...hope you feel more upbeat and less low soon...dont think the lack of summer has done us any good...

ok now me lovely weezilites...this here baby shower needs some organisation me thinks so I have devised a table for it and have already started co-ordinating. If you would like to contribute please pm me your email address and details of the item you want to make...I'll then check for duplicates and add you to the list. I'll also do some "research" (ie speak to weezls) about what is needed and generally try and ensure that the beautiful baby whether Fergus or Fergalinna will arrive to an array of lovely things rather than 16 baby cardi's!! Hope people are ok with this...all will go top secret/underground from now as know that our Fergus is supa dupa intelligent and dont want to ruin any surprises for him!
Amgoing to mke aloo saag (it was yummy!) and coconut rice...will let you have the recipe re the latter when its done! Weezl my indian cook book has a tea recipe!!! will report back...fingers crossed!

naturally_2

Awwww Weezl, a much belated congratulations from me. I love the geeky maths too and don't think you eating 50p a day for fergus and you would be breakign the rules one bit.

Money_saving_Diva_2

got-it-spend-it wrote: »

I love the idea of a laundry room and determined that when we convert our garage part of it will be one! OH thinks I'm mad but I'm determined. I don't think it being upstairs is any disadvantage at all, as you say much of the washing belongs up there anyway....

Oh we just converted a room into a laundry room about 3 yrs ago and I adore it!! I live in a self contained flat but just inside the front door there is a room that we have always used for bikes and gardening stuff and general storage. My stairs then come up to the main flat.

So when we finally got a tumble dryer that was the only place for it to go, but it didn't have any sockets as it is the equivilent of an indoor concrete shed I guess (the flat is an ex council flat). Luckily I had won a few singing competitions that year so we had about £1000 in our 'play' account. (This was before illness stopped me working and before my OH was forced to leave his high paying job in Exeter and take a lower paid one nearer home so he could be here with me for more time during the day...)

Anyway, at that point, we really didn't have any plans for those winnings so we had an electrician up to wire the room and once there were lights and sockets we really got enthusiastic about changing the whole use of the room, so we had it plastered (It was painted breeze blocks til then!) and decorated and turned it into a utility/laundry room!

We do now have a storage problem (the bike still lives in there til we can organise a real garden shed and everything else went up into the loft which isn't ideal) but it's worth it as we had a lot of fun planning where the utility furniture available from Ikea was going to go and then actually buying it.

The thing I love the most is the drying rack - it's amazing how much hangs off there and dries in the warmth of the room while the tumble dryer is on, and when it isn't used, it folds back on itself. I was also lucky enough at that point to have the money to be able to buy little gorgeous things for the room, like cream tin containers for pegs and washing powder etc.

I am sure you could convert a room in the house so much easier though and my OH says it's great to have somewhere to have the ironing board and iron and not have to worry about putting it away if you don't want to!

Hope you didn't mind me rambling a little..

Have a great day everyone!!

Diva.xx

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Well, I have just put the savoury meat roll together.... looks like there is going to be enough for 2, possibly 3 meals :rotfl: ....and my pastry didn't crack -yet..watch it explode in the oven later .... I'm going to stick a tray of tomatoes, aubergine and peppers in at the same time -some more for the freezer for autumn/winter.. must go utside and fetch any more tomatoes in that are starting to show signs of ripening and get them on the windowsill in a moment..

Other than that, I have been sat on the sofa knitting ..so will get some more done in a moment, then on to x stitch for a while before swapping back to knitting when the light fades

Right i had better get back and get to my knitting -have a good afternoon everyone

cw18

Son started college today, which meant dog walking is back on my list of jobs !! Took the opportunity today to head to the more local blackberry 'supplies', and there are some there and ripe. Still loads unripe, but enough to go back with a tub - and without dogs. Lots of nettles round them though, so looks like a job for wellies (so I can tuck my jeans in), gardening gloves (which I found yesterday) and secateurs !!!!!

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

At the same time, 2.5 kg potatoes went fron £1.30 to 73p, where they have stayed. Spaghetti got better too, halving it's price from 43p to 22p per 500g pack.

Good times.

So, I started trying to plan meals around pasta and potatoes a bit more, while eeking out my rice stockpile.:D

This is what we used to do during the war (Croatia in the early 1990s, I'm not old enough to remember WWII ! ). Potatoes were free from the garden (all the gardens got dug up for veg growing, leaving just a few strategically placed ornamental plants to keep up appearances), as was all the veg and herbs, and pasta was made by hand using the flour from the food aid parcels. I had an almost phobic aversion to smart price and value stuff for years, as the plain packaging looked like the boxes the aid food came in...

Anyway, this was a staple meal for us during that time (usually cooked in a pot large enough to feed about a dozen, extended family, the odd neighbour, and the refugees we housed during the worst of it) - and it still is for many Croats (me included) on a cold winter night.
For the basic potato and pasta stew, you need

1 tpsb vegetable oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 medium to large potato per person
1 large handful of pasta per person
1 bay leaf per two portions
1 tsp of paprika per two portions
water or stock
salt and pepper to taste


Dice the onion finely and soften in oil; add crushed garlic, diced potato and bay leaf, and cover with double the volume of water or stock. Bring to boil, add paprika, then simmer for 1/2 hr. Add pasta, bring back to boil, simmer for 20 more mins, season and serve.

Now, to vary the basic recipe, you can add any vegetables you happen to have knocking about (add them at the same time as the potatoes) - carrots, leeks, peas, grated marrow, or a combination of any of them works particularly well.

For a meaty version, some bacon off cuts - fried lightly with the onion before the rest of the ingredients are added - or chopped up hot dogs (add at the same time as the pasta).

And for a really posh, decadent version, brown some beef or lamb with the onions, and then simmer for 15 minutes longer before adding the pasta.

You can also add any herbs (at the same time as the pasta if they are fresh, at the same time as potatoes if dried) you fancy - parsley is my favourite for a vegetarian version, and thyme or rosemary for a meaty one.

BASHFUL_2

I couldn't go on catching up withot sending a huge congratulations to mr and mrs Weezl, when I read it I was grinning a big grin. I'm so pleased for you both. Will be great to see how you are getting all the right vit and minerals in your diet. Look after yourself, and eat like a piggy (that was eat like one, not eat ones head!!!!!!) hehehe!!!! Up that budget x x x

Plum_Pie

Allegra, that sounds really really lovely (a v nicely written recipe too). I especially like the idea of adding a little bacon at the start - I often do this to lentil/bean and vegetable stews to make them taste meaty but without the high cost of whole portions of meat.

In_Search_Of_Me

Coconut rice

(Indian food made easy; Anjum Anand)

Serves 2

2 tbsp veg oil
½ tsp mustard seed
½ tsp cumin seed
2 dried red chilli
1 tsp split bengal gram
1 tsp split black gram
½ small onion
1tsp finely chopped ginger
2-3 tblsp cashew nuts (I used almonds)
10 curry leaves
250g cooked basmati rice
4 tblsp coconut covered with water & pre soaked

Heat the oil in a large pan; add mustard, cumin, chilli, lentils and fry until starts to color. Add onion and ginger and cook over moderate heat until onion is soft. Add salt, pepper cahews, and coconut and fry until rice is hot and flavours combined.

In_Search_Of_Me

Afternoo weezilies...saag aloo (or is it aloo sag..always get that mixed up) simmering, as is rice. Wil let you know what the latter is like....also have 1/2 tin of spinach ready as I halved the recipe...any ideas of what to make with it?