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

ZoeGirl_3

Finally reached the end of the thread!! And :wave: everyone. Been enjoying the holidays (teacher on school holidays for two weeks) and been away, heading away towards the end of this week too, so prob get behind again.

My brothers are staying so going through lots of food!!! Except I tried something someone on MSE had posted about using potato peelings to make chips, except I cut thick skins off instead of peeling with a peeler, and then put them in a non stick pan with 2TBs of oil and covered with a lid and made a sort of chip, that was really good and boys all loved em, and then boiled the potatos to make potato cakes tomorrow, :P

So I used the whole potato and was quite impressed with myself...

And thanks for the hint about cutting bananas up with skins off too, did this with a whole bunch and it takes heaps less space than freezing in the skins, loving these hints now!!!!

:T :T :T

Red_Fraggle_3

Hi

Sorry to ask a silly question

I made the Lentil pate yesterday it's yummy thank you -
but don't think I cut the onions finely enough so I thinks it's a little rustic but I like it - can I freeze it - DD tried some and said it reminded her of stuffing and where was the meat :-) Think there will be too much for me how long will it last if just in the fridge

PS loving the thread - lurker for ages after having issues with my password fixed it today lol

munchki

Hi everyone!! I just made the lentil pate and love it!!! i did add a few drops of tabasco sauce and used balsamic vinegar and it is lovely!!! Just waiting for the BM to beep to take out a nice fresh hot loaf of herby bread!

I must say that I am finding it harder to go into the shops now to just pick up a quick few things. I just dont like spending the money and seem to be improvising with other things instead!! Not only healthier for DOH and I but a lot healthier on the pocket book as well!!

Now here is the stupid question and it really is ok to fall off chairs in fits of tears laughing!!!! what is an elder flower and where do I find them? *lurks away all embarrassed now*

janejustjane

Pigshead/trotters

When we raised pigs on our smallholding we often used to put half a pig in the freezer.The chops and joints would go quickly and we'd be left with trotters, head etc. I have made brawn and it's turned out ok, but it is the most disgusting thing I have ever cooked! Sweet and sour trotters are delicious, and sausage meat it nice when you get the seasoning right. Another bonus was the liver which i think has a better flavour than lamb or ox liver.

I have an old copy of John Seymour's Self Sufficiency book, which is the best on the subject I have found, full of recipes and articles on growing/rearing your own food. and foraging. This is now out of print, but I see he has other titles on Amazon

phizzimum

janejustjane wrote: »

Pigshead/trotters

I have an old copy of John Seymour's Self Sufficiency book, which is the best on the subject I have found, full of recipes and articles on growing/rearing your own food. and foraging. This is now out of print, but I see he has other titles on Amazon

I love John Seymour...we got hold of an old copy of his Self Sufficient Gardener years ago and it's probably been the source of lots of my "Good Life" day dreaming! I recently bought DH The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency (from Amazon, of course) I wonder if that is the re-vamped version of the book you have?

janejustjane

phizzimum wrote: »

I love John Seymour...we got hold of an old copy of his Self Sufficient Gardener years ago and it's probably been the source of lots of my "Good Life" day dreaming! I recently bought DH The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency (from Amazon, of course) I wonder if that is the re-vamped version of the book you have?

Yes, this sounds like the same book! I thought the illustrations were particularly good. We only try to be self sufficeint in fruit and veg now, but I suppose some things never change - jam making, recipes, livestock rearing etc.

weezl74

janejustjane wrote: »

I have made brawn and it's turned out ok, but it is the most disgusting thing I have ever cooked! Sweet and sour trotters are delicious...

Hello janejustjane, thanks for honouring us with your first post! Erm, when you say it's disgusting, do we mean, 'grosses you out to look at/touch', or is the smell bad, or.... spill the beans, I'm a little bit scared!:eek:



munchki, there's a photo of an elderflower for you, but alas, you may have missed the season now sorry hon!

redfraggle, hello and welcome! Yep! I freeze the lentil pate all the time.

zoe girl, fab idea with the potato peelings! Hoping I can do it with my beetroots when I harvest them.... Hmmmmn they're probably not in season where you are though!:D

esselt, hiya, very intrigued by your 'Sausage and lentil meat loaf (just made that up- still thinking about a recipe!)' please post how it goes, it sounds fab! We'd love the recipe...:j

awwww newlywed, naughty OH! Chicken and leak cobbler sounds very lovely, may we pretty please have the recipe? Huh, huh, huh?

Love Weezl x

johanne

cw18 wrote: »

I've looked at these in the past, but wasn't sure they'd work as well as they promise. Now I've heard from someone who's used them I may consider getting some (when finances allow) -- but I make it 3.9p/use which isn't nearly as good a value

OOPs! sorry i meant to put £0.038 but put it in pence instead! It had been a long day as been up on and off since 3am with a cranky 11 week old

Still for me anyway it would still be good value.. as take a lettuce for an easy example... if i buy it in week one and put it in a green bag :

Lettuce x 1 49p
Green bag x 1 approx 4p
Total cost 53p

i'll get about 3 weeks out of it as only 2 of us and we dont use it every day probaly 2/3 times a week on sandwiches. WITHOUT green bag it would be a fresh lettuce every week or 2 so would be at least a 98p spend in a 3 week period..

I suppose it depends how long you usually keep your veggies etc for? if you have to throw bits out regulary cos you cant use them quick enough or if you buy in bulk to get the cheapest price but find the ends of the pack never get used in time.. then maybe they are a good idea. Its each to their own though I know they work for us as id rather spend 4p extra on some my stuff and have it last than have it sit in the veg drawer and rot away then get binned meaning i have to replace it! Cos my OH works mad shift patterns he is not always in to eat proper meals as planned so the veggies and fruit i buy for 2 sometimes are only needed by me so his share would not get eaten and so its money down drain. Oh and I especially find it helps keep fruit from my greengrocers fresh.. as that tends to go off quicker than supermarket stuff (probably cos the way its stored) so even though its cheaper it doesnt last as long.. now with the bags it lasts just aslong so moneysaving for me anyway :money:

phizzimum

DH just phoned - he was working near the coast and decided to pop to the beach and do a little fishing during his lunch break...and he caught 25 mackerel!

this may not be amazing to some but we have spent so many windy sunday afternoons on the beach watching him catch nothing but a cold. he's been collecting fishing kit for a year now and I'd given up all hope of him ever catching anything!

so I've just been having a quick search for mackerel recipes - I've only bought the tinned or smoked variety before. found a good slow cooker recipe for soused mackerel - a bit like roll mops I think. generally the suggestions seem to be grill or bake.

any other mackerel recipes out there? can't beleive he caught so many. it's made me think about the earlier posts about swapping things. wonder if I could accost people at the local allotment?...erm maybe not!

carriebradshaw

weezl I've got a cheese & lentil loaf recipe if you want it, it's scrummy and freezes well