50p a day til christmas, healthily?!-Weezl's next challenge (part 2)

phizzimum

sorry to lower the tone from the sublime to the mundane...

but those date and choccie brownies are MINDBLOWING!

made them earlier with my girls - there's a few left in a container and they are testing my generosity as a mother believe me!

Confuzzled

Sunnyday wrote: »

M&S sell parsnip and cracked black pepper crisps which are gorgeous but pricey so i think that they will be yummy MummaF
SD

when i still had a dehydrator i used to make my own veggie crisps.

you can just dry slices and they're not bad but if you really want to die for crisps lightly sautee your thin strips of root veggies (i use a veg peeler to make the strips) in a bit of butter for a few minutes then put them out on the drier

the onions done like this are so good you could easily eat a few whole onions worth before realising it!

not low fat but def a great way to get your kids to eat their veg

Confuzzled

JayJay14 wrote: »

A big box of woopsied mushrooms dried beautifully

might i suggest mashing up very ripe bananas and mixing with either fromage frais or yogurt (plain or flavoured)

if you don't have liners for your trays then simply cut a circle (or square dependent on your style of dehydrator) cut thems so they are big enough to stick up the sides a bit and make certain you cut a small hole in the center of them so the air can circulate.

then spread the mixture on the tray(s), not too thinly or you'll have bother getting it off later.

once it's ready it will be leathery and tacky to the touch, and i promise it's a bit of heaven mmmmmmmmm :T

Confuzzled

i managed to pick up 2 packages of ox kidneys and 2 packages of lambs heart (3 hearts in each package) for a princely grand total of 20p

now i must admit, i'm not a huge kidney fan and i didn't grow up with them. i've eaten them mixed in steak and kidney pie but i can't eat large portions of them, the taste and smell really put me off

sooooo i was hoping someone could give me some suggestions for a way to mix them into something where i might not notice the taste so much

also, will soaking them in a bit of water first help remove some of the stench? (i wretched a few times while i was bagging them up, they smell like the litrine to me but hey at least i'm trying to find a way to eat them!)

in total i have 1kg of kidneys which i have divided into 6 bags (now in the freezer) i really don't think i can stomach much more than that at one sitting, unless i find something really scrummy to make with them.

i do NOT have any beef of any sort, right now i simply can't afford it however i do have some sausages and chicken and plenty of pulses/lentils etc so if you have any recipes or ideas along those lines please do tell.

i'd also be curious about sugestions for liver. as a child i loved fried liver and onions, now i can't eat it often as the taste of blood is about all i can taste. but it's always so cheap and often on clearance like the hearts and kidneys were tonight so...

as for the hearts, well i thought i'd just chuck them in the slow cooker and make a stew with some pulses but if anyone has any ideas please do tell. i like chicken hearts so i figure teh lamb hearts will also be palatable especially after they become a site more tender from hours of slow cooking

ceridwen

ceridwen wrote: »

isom

Well - having now seen your comment about "buying into the consumer way of life" - 'tis easy so to do..I know...

One thought on resisting further temptation could be to remember that strand active in some Christian thinking - the one that says about us all being "stewards" of the Earth that the Lord has provided (or words to that effect - me not being a Christian for years...and years now...may have misremembered the exact words...but thats the general theme of it).

Thats the strand of Christianity I can relate to - the one about regarding ourselves as stewards and living in harmony with the other species....thinks: Francis of Assisi wasnt it that was the best exemplifier of that?

little postscript to that earlier comment of mine - have found it twas defo Francis of Assisi I was thinking of yur - as I've just come back from a little social thingie of my local "Heart and Soul Group" of the local Transition group - and someone read out his "Canticle of the Sun" - basically in praise of Nature - in between us singing rounds (some of them in Latin) - I've never sung rounds in my life - new experience time again thinks me....

Thinks.....wanders off wondering whether our next "socially-oriented" thing of said subgroup might include a bit of Solstice Celebration..:D...and we have one or two more "unusual" (I'll rephrase that "lesser-known" religious traditions represented - so who knows what further learning experiences I'm in for....I'll take part in most things me....)

Confuzzled

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

I lightly steam kale or stir fry with a little chopped smoked bacon ,tastes a bit like spring greens if that helps


Shaz

i quite like kale it has a rather 'meaty' taste to me.

one way i can get even the wee one to eat it is to very lightly butter it then sprinkle some garlic granules and some of the parmesan cheese you get in the canister/shakers (technically i believe it's romano cheese but it's often sold as parmesan). this is soooooo yummy, sometimes i don't even want to share!

kale and the ambiguous 'greens' you see for sale are usually interchangeable in recipes so i'll have to try this next time i see said 'greens' on clearance. also any sort of greens are quite nice cooked with a touch of bacon and some sauteed onions

Confuzzled

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Has anyone else found that blackberies are awful, tiny and not many off them?-flipping weather

chuck em in chutney, if they are more sour than normal add in a pinch of bicarb and than you should be able to use the normal amount of sugar you would use for a sweeter fruit

for me chutney basics are: onion, sultanas, an apple to bulk it out and then whatever fruit or veg that needs using up, simple as that

chuck in vinegar and sugar in amounts commisserate to how sour/sweet the contents are and cook til they are smelling gorgeous and softened nicely. (around 20-30 minutes for me normally but i don't make huge batches at once)

mind you i don't make mine to be shoved away on a shelf for ages (doesn't last long in my house i love it!) but if you do want to do it long term and are worried you arent' using enough sugar and/or vinegar to preserve it properly you can look at a few recipes to get an idea of what the norm is and just substitute whatever fruit/veg you have for what's in their recipes

Sian_the_Green

Ah confuzzled, a woman after my own heart (I assume you are a woman:) ), up at midnight posting a recipe involving some serious experimentation, love it

Ooh, made some more cookies on sunday, small packet white choc buttons and some smashed up hazelnuts, really very very good and also used baking stork not butter, think they are getting more and more frugal

Confuzzled

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

Weezl, you could prob get reusables even cheaper from EBay, I have seen them on there several times at good prices, or you might want nice new ones for your nice new little one.

i cannot recommend Disana tie on nappies highly enough http://www.twinkleontheweb.co.uk/acatalog/details-01DISORGTIE.html

i used these with my daughter and they are so cheap brand new but you can buy them second hand even cheaper. it's an odd layout but basically the way they are made makes it so you can basically use them from birth to potty training depending on how you fold them.

you will need to put a terry insert inside however if you don't have liners you can easily make your own from cutting up old towels or using flannel inserts. i used larger pieces of cut up towels for night time (thicker when folded inside) and flannel ones or old facecloths for the daytimes (thinner) i did also have some terry inserts that i picked up along the way too

it's a bit tricky learning to tie them on so i practiced on a baby sized teddy before she was born, by the time they get really squirmy you're very good at it anyway so it's not as daunting as it first seems

for the 'waterproof' wrap we use woolen pants, these require a bit more care in some ways but don't have to be washed all the time (the lanolin you wash and soak them in every so often has antibacterial properties so you only wash them when they start to smell of wee after around 6 weeks or if they get poo on them) so you can get away with having less of these. you WILL have to buy larger sizes as the baby grows older but you can buy them a bit big and they just look so cute on them!

you can use other wraps with disana's too however we felt the wool was the best option, no they don't itch and she never got heat rash or nappy rash from them being too warm.

we also didn't bother with nappy sanitiser preferring to 'dry pail' basically we chucked the nappies/liners in the pail and chucked all that in the washer. i washed them on 60 degree wash for two washes in a row and then a 90 degree wash on the third time, never had any problems with nappy rash or anything.

also disana's are soooo quick to dry that you can quickly dry them on your radiator airer and they can be dried outside in an hour or less normally.

AND the totals given above for using cloth nappies is actually even LOWER when using disana's because they are soooo cheap to start with! like i said i can't recommend them highly enough:T

Confuzzled

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

Ah confuzzled, a woman after my own heart (I assume you are a woman:) ), up at midnight posting a recipe involving some serious experimentation, love it

aye i'm a woman so no offense taken...especially if you give me one of those cookies