Jamiedodger's Happy Times 2009 Diary

jtb2412

Evening Jamie/everyone ....... it's the weekend ! Yay ! :j lol

Things bobbing along nicely here and have had a good couple of days (not spent much at all !)

I resisted the Boots sale (believe me that was a shocker :eek: , I had to tie my hands together :rotfl: ). Also resisted the 75% off hampers that were on Mr T Direct but I did buy my son a new wardrobe It was 1/2 price - we were going to buy him one in a couple of months anyway and I don't think I will find another one at that price so I ordered it (£42 from £84).

He's got a cabin bed at the moment but getting too big for it :rolleyes: . Luckily we kept DDs single bed (she moved to a double when we moved house - had a bigger room) so he'll have that. Means a bit of moving around in there as his room is so small but i'm sure we'll fit it in. So the cabin bed will be going on freecycle next weekend (Jamie, if you want it then just shout (free of course!) Hope you're not offended by me offering to you .

Cat Addict - don't suppose I could be cheeky and ask you to PM me your lamb byriani recipe could i? Pretty please?

OH is cooking tonight as I'm off to Guides later (he's done a fair bit of cooking for me this week :T, he's a little diamond really :A ) - we've got Spag Bol bulked out with oats so we'll see what it's like (I did have a little taste when he wasn't looking and it's pretty good ! ) Hopefully i'll be able to freeze some for later in the month. Apple crumble for dessert :drool: .

Will be making leek and potato soup for lunch tomorrow, not sure what we're having for dinner yet, depends on how busy the weekend turns out to be and that is going to depend very much on the weather ! We really need to get in the greenhouse and clear it ready for all the new seeds i'll be planting in the next couple of weeks. I just hope it's not too windy tomorrow/Sunday :eek: .

What's everyone else got planned ? - lots of frugal things hopefully

jenchin66

Morning.

I'm off to work for 5 hours today so spending should be at a minimum. Spent yesterday looking for bargains in Tesco, didn't find any :eek:. Shouldn't have to go shopping for another 2 weeks though. I'm trying to stockpile a bit with tinned stuff:T. Funnily enough I bought leeks to make leek and potatoe soup for Sunday:T

Jamie hope things are going well well with your new man;)

Have a good weekend.

Jen

JAMIEDODGER

Hi guys,

have had a hectic last few days again and havent had much of a chance to catch up on forums!

Have been busy in the kitchen today, made another curry which is now frozen and in the freezer for dinner on evening this coming week. made up jellys, prepped all salad stuff, now sliced and in boxes in the fridge, cut up some more chicken into cubes and stuck in freezer for chicken nuggets for dinner one evening, also whizzed up a load of breadcrumbs, meal planned for coming week and have list of ingredients I need to buy which should free up some more cash for stockpiling:D

Tomorrow I have plans to make a lasagne for dinner on monday night, a chilli for later in the week, also want to do make up the kids cakes for their lunchboxes. Its much better when I make a huge traybake instead of fairycakes, it seems to go further!:) Also want to make some twinks if I get time. Will be making up burgers and freezing those too. I thought if I tried to make up as much as I could during the weekend it would make week day evenings less hassle! Thats the plan anyway!

This evening I am planning on chilling out. Bf came round last night but this evening he is working. I will be putting my feet up and watching whatever forensics programme is available:D

Need to update spreadsheets but that will wait until tomorrow as I am too tired to do it this evening and I would probably make mistakes!!

JTB - thanks for your kind offer, not offended in the slightest but have planned to replace dd bed later in the year with a high bed as her room is very tiny, but thank you for thinking of me xx

Jen - I dont think tescos are very good for bargains atm, I have been looking everytime I go in and everything they have on offer is stuff I wouldnt use!

I have been doing a little more shopping in Lidl lately! There fruit and veg is nicer and cheaper, I now buy all my flour and sugars (caster, icing and granulated) there as they are cheaper than tesco, so are their oils, cheeses and parmesan!! I also pick up their tinned tomatoes as they are the same price as tesco value but better quality! And there eggs (when I have to buy them) are massively cheaper!!

Right going to have a little browse of the 4k challenge thread and then chill out time:)

Catch up tomorrow xx

postingalwaysposting

JAMIEDODGER wrote: »

Also want to make some twinks if I get time.

Hi Jamie, you seem to be doing fantastic, especially with all this cooking. Can I just ask though... whats Twinks :rolleyes::rotfl:

JAMIEDODGER

postingalwaysposting wrote: »

Hi Jamie, you seem to be doing fantastic, especially with all this cooking. Can I just ask though... whats Twinks :rolleyes::rotfl:

Twinks Hobnobs...will get you a link...

donner_kebab

Here is someone telling us the Twinks recipe...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=471992

First post but not the official Twink page but still on there none the less! Think I might give these a try....mmmmmmm biscuits!

JAMIEDODGER

thanks for finding the link donner, hope you are ok?


Been in the kitchen for 3 hours solid! have made lasagne, jam tarts and a tray bake. finished the washing up so will probably go back in there after lunch and make up a chilli and twinks hobnobs.

Also need to crack on with ironing school uniform later!

What is everyone else doing today?

sophiesmum_2

Hi Jamie
Already got most of jobs done, delivered some stuff for charity shop, had hair cut, been to costco for oldies, reheated yesterdays leftover lasagne for lunch. Off for a walk in woods about 2pm, then probably chill for afternoon:D

Jamie - I do lots of the bulk cooking and freezing, once you get the hang of it it saves you so much time on weeknights with meal times. Just lift something out freezer in morning and you know you have tea sorted with very little effort. I'm itching to do something this afternoon but at moment both freezers are stuffed couldn't squeeze as much as a postage stamp in either of them;)

For me stockpiling/bulk buying - batch cooking - and menu planning are the main ways of saving money in household without a doubt.:D

donner_kebab

Heya JD,

Are the twinkls yummy? I bet they are and once I start eating biccies...I can't seem to stop!!!

I am all ok, spent today visiting Asda (yawn) and then got rid of some junk down at the tip! Mad how I have managed to accumilate sooo much junk!

Am back to work tomorrow after a few weeks training. Not looking forward to it so am starting to look elsewhere for a job. I alwaya told myself when I wake up in the morning and dread going into work, I would find something to make me happy. Gotta be done...

Hope you are ok! You sound so organised, you put me to shame! It is very hard...I still haven't done Emily's room so plan to start that this weekend if I can. I hate it when I feel like I have accomplished nowt as like to be busy, but finding hard to motivate myself at the mo.

Anyhoooos I will be off to bed soon, hope this rain goes by tomorrow morning as will be cycling into work and hate it if I get wet!

Take care, Don xxx

JAMIEDODGER

Morning all:)

What horrible weather! Its raining really hard out there and soooo windy!!

SM - yes I can see the benefits to batch cooking, however, I feel I need to be a bit more organised on that front!! I need more containers for the food to go in for a start.... my freezer needs a good sort out too! I am going to try hard to use up a lot from my freezer in february and use the extra money to stockpile on things like tinned goods and the like which dont need to be stored in the freezer!! Would like to find some smaller containers which I can use in the oven for making small lasagnes in (two person portion) That would be really helpful as quite often we all want different things for dinner. (As it is I usually cook two different meals a night because of ds3.)

Donner - You should be happy at work so good for you for looking for something else! I havent re-started the painting like I had wanted to yet, there doesnt seem enough hours in the day at the moment!

Planning a very small spend day today! Hoping to stay away from tesco as much as possible this week as I end up buying loads of food!!! It all gets used so thats not the problem but money seems to be disappearing really quickly at the moment!

Hope everyone has a good day and the weather clears up for those of you out and about in it!!! x