It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

mummysaver

Morning all!

Elizabunny - sorry to hear about your purse, what a horrible thing to have happened.

Still no central heating here, boiler still not lit! Anyway I can report that whilst it is blooming cold, none of us have frozen to death yet lol! We have a gas fire in the sitting room, and the kitchen is generally warm from cooking, so it's not completely sub zero all the time! Actually there is a big plus to it as far as I can see, everyone stays in the sitting room in the evening, meaning the children are playing more games and doing things like making bits and bobs and colouring, it's quite nice really. Think I might have to get it relit soon though, cost of electricity for the immersion is now more than the cost of my gas.

I too have ordered from Approved Foods, just awaiting my delivery which should arrive today - I've been really impressed by the service so far. Got an email very quickly to say that they had run out of seaweed, own up, which one of you ordered it all?! Marmite was a real bargain though, as were the kidney beans.

Ceridwen, I love the idea of dumpster diving, at least with it being so cold now there's no danger of putting your hand in anything squishy,everything must be frozen solid!

Oh, fab news on the homemade pressie front, my friend who really doesn't "get" why anyone would want anything homemade, asked me to knit her a hat like the ones in the shops at the mo, then she can have the colour and exact size she wants! I nearly passed out when she asked me, guess finally she is beginning to understand why homemade can be better! Anyway that's her Christmas pressie all sorted out, well it will be when I get round to knitting it!

Thanks for all the scouse explanations, now I know what to call my stew when it disintegrates! I love it when the potatoes are falling apart and melting!

fedupfreda

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

Since doing the "not putting the heating on challenge" I've realised just how much better I feel without it and since I turned it on on Monday for the first time we've actually only needed to use it for a total of 2 hours since we can't stand the heat.We seem to have acclimatised,something I realised when I noticed my husband wearing only a short sleeved shirt for work when usually he's shivering while he's wearing his lambswool sweater over the top.

Same here - especially since I have spent the past 10 days without heating or hot water :eek: but luckily British Gas managed to get hold of the replacement part and fixed the boiler yesterday - just in time for DS1's birthday today :bdaycake: 11 years, where has it all gone? Doesn't seem 5 minutes ago I was bringing him home from hospital (pauses to go all nostalgic and hormonal...)

Anyway, getting back to the subject - after a bit of enforced cold treatment we all feel a lot better - kids seemed to get rid of their constant sniffles and my asthma improved - so the heating is staying on a low setting - 15 - and only comes on for a couple of hours a day - we can cope with it.

I look forward to receiving my reduced gas bill as a late Christmas present!:rotfl:

Cinny91

Me and my mum are doing a group order on approved food tonight and picking it up on friday :j

I'd love to go dumpster diving too! Although I can't think of seeing any skips in my town.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

fedupfreda wrote: »

Same here - especially since I have spent the past 10 days without heating or hot water :eek:

Anyway, getting back to the subject - after a bit of enforced cold treatment we all feel a lot better - kids seemed to get rid of their constant sniffles and my asthma improved - so the heating is staying on a low setting - 15 - and only comes on for a couple of hours a day - we can cope with it.

I look forward to receiving my reduced gas bill as a late Christmas present!:rotfl:

Interesting you should mention asthma,it seems to have become so common since everyone got central heating installed.When I was at school in the 60s there was one child in a school of over 240 with asthma.Nowadays all and sundry seem to have it.
I realy feel,since we do feel so much better after having no heating up until now(we don't even have a gas fire) that it just is'nt that healthy to be breathing in hot air all the time.It is'nt that hard to stay warm you just have to adapt and we certainly don't intend to go back to our old ways.

[Deleted User]

Hi there
Could someone explain what Approved Food is? I keep seeing it in posts but not sure what it is? Thanks.

Bargain_Rzl

It's a website where you can bulk-buy short-dated non perishable goods very cheaply:

www.approvedfood.co.uk

mummysaver

Just to say, my order arrived from Approved Foods, don't think I'm going to be running out of kidney beans any time in the near future! Looking forward to giving the satay kit a go, think it'll be great for Sunday teatime! Fantastic service from them!

Mrs Tittlemouse - I can remember very little asthma when I was a child, it was really unusual for children to have inhalers, now there are an awful lot of children with them. Hayfever also seems much worse now as well, well perhaps not quite now in the winter! I've even started to get it in the past few years, ridiculous as I grew up surrounded by fields and never suffered from it as a child!

[Deleted User]

My order arrived a few days ago and I was gob smacked at the good value and size of the red bean tins. I can`t take chilli so found a lovely veggie recipe that will go with rice:

1 big can red beans, drain but save juice, 2 lge onions chopped, olive oil, 1 lge aubergine diced, 8 oz tomatoes peeled and chopped, 2 crushed chopped garlic cloves, 2 tbsp tomato puree, veg stock cube, 1 tsp basil, s and p

saute onion, add aubergine and saute 5 mins, add all the rest plus bean liquid. Cook 45 mins

Its really nice.

Now what to do with another 3 large tins?

ps:reheated bean stew for lunch today with hm crusty bread. Fantastic

mummysaver

Oh Kittie, that sounds lovely! Sort of like ratatouille with kidney beans, yum! Was looking at the thread Thriftlady started comparing the prices of carbohydrates per serving, and someone has recommended a kidney bean and barley stew, with plenty of garlic, herbs, paprika and veg as wanted, so I'll be giving that a go as well. Barley is really cheap at the mo compared to other grains or pulses, so I grabbed a couple of bags not knowing quite what I'd do with them, but thinking I could use it in stews and instead of bulghar wheat for salads. Anyway, it seems it can be used in place of rice fairly easily, even for risottos, so will be giving barley risotto a go too. Lots of nice new things to try out. I'm going to blitz one of the cans of kidney beans later and turn into a sort of hummous, to go on the kids burgers later.

ifonlyitwaseasier

on the subject of approved foods...

i'm sure i saw someone mention a code for the approved foods site, anyone else remember??

thanks