If things get tougher?

shaz_mum_of__2

A church in my area does survival parcels for needy families

The families are recommended to the scheme by the local sure start program the boxes contain tea, coffee, sugar, tinned goods,toiletries and feminine hygiene stuff

All the contents are donated by the congregation on a sunday and shared out and delivered the next day

These parcels really make a difference ,it may be worth checking if anywhere in your area does something similair that you could donate to

Having an online community is great ,so is having a real life one on your doorstep, unfortunately its usually more difficult to find


Shaz

sammy kaye

sounds like your SIL needs to read your thread !!!!

newlywed

elona wrote: »

Very pleased with myself the other day as I bought a huge turkey thigh for about £1.29, cooked it in the slow cooker till the meat fell off the bone , stripped the meat and cut it up and then used it in a "chicken "curry!

It worked out a lot cheaper than chicken breasts or even thighs and no one noticed!

Really - is the meat not more chewy and a much stronger flavour? I keep looking at the value ones and debating it but would hate to waste it if the meat was a bit yuk Think turkey curry might be on the menu for OH shortly

[Deleted User]

Now that the blanket is well under way and should be finished in a week, I am thinking of my next project and it may well be a good os rag rug. I have lots of bits and bobs of fabric and as long as I use cottons, I will get a good and very cheap rug, which will perfectly match my mult-coloured blanket/throw. All I need is a piece of hessian and a hook like these
http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/product_513110007.htm

My sisters and I were often put to work on making rag rugs and the house was full of them

mummysaver

Sammy - thanks for the shepherds jackets, what a fab idea, my kids would love these, and a great way of stretching leftovers as well, it really is the little things that make me happy, lol!

I second Elona's advice, hide some of whatever you've cooked if necessary, then freeze it when cool, if you did it everyday it makes a nice little selection of ready meals, and after a fortnight you'd have enough to do either lunch or dinner for the next week, you could do weeny portions for Ben as well.

Pleased to hear the nonny mouse idea is coming along so well! Look what you started mardartha!

Talking about the little things in life that make you happy, I had a falling out with a friend, after much grovelling I accepted his apology lol, but the little thing that made me happy was I went round for coffee and he'd cooked me a full English brekkie as I'd finished work, got the kids off to school and then gone round so hadn't had time to eat. Looking at my homemade pickles and chutneys makes me smile a lot too, sad I know!

Anyway to stay on thread, if things get harder it really will be a case of looking for all the little things that can make us smile I think!

elona

If you cook the turkey thigh in the slow cooker the meat is really soft and falls off the bone.

By the time that onions, peppers, garlic, mushrooms, passata and curry sauce is added, no one really focusses on the actual meat.

As long as you do not tell anyone what it is you should get away with it. I do the same thing with turkey mince and tell them it is chicken!;)

If I make something that does not have meat I do not make a big thing about it ( except to DD who wants to be veggie) and just dish it up as a tasty meal.

I do not tell DH if I am on an economy drive as he usually works it out for himself, telling me we eat better when I am trying to save money!

Think that was a compliment!

newlywed

Thanks elona. We eat turkey anyway - but usually turkey breast pieces or turkey steaks. Will definitely try the slow cooked turkey leg for a curry now. OH loves curry anyway so it should work

I've done reduced chicken thighs in the slow cooker, stripped the meat and made that as a curry and as a casserole - went down very well. Only thing is OH wants the skin stripped off before it's cooked to reduce the fat :rolleyes:

mummysaver

I bought a walloping great turkey leg the other day to see if it was good value and was really surprised by the huge amount of meat that came off it. Great value. I roasted mine at the same time as I was cooking lamb for lunch and gammon for sandwiches, it was dropping off the bone as well, think I shall try a few in the sc next time. Nobody noticed that it was turkey in the curry, and I'm going to try it in wraps and give the cannelloni recipe on the gc thread a go with it as well.

Edit - when I passed the turkey leg to oh to stick in the oven he thought that it was the meat that I was roasting for lunch lol! Well it was a big leg!

newlywed

FairyElephant wrote: »

Don't think I will try it on the SK's though....it's taken me 6 years (they are now 13,15 & 17)to get them not to just take food from the fridge/cupboards without asking :eek: - apparantly this is the 'norm' in their mum's house (and TBH, DH says he recalls it was like that when he was a child at his mum's house - with 6 kids coming & going at all hours!).
My rules are different! I had to wait until DH & I bought a house together to implement them though - LOL! I was always brought up to ask - even now I wouldn't go in my Mum's house and put the kettle on without asking (not that she would ever say no!). SK's have finally got the hang of it now!

TBH (again) I am a bit flattered that they love my cooking so much - their mum rarely cooks 'proper meals' (DH reckons she was a dire cook anyhow!)and it's even more rare that they sit down together as a family - I always try to do a proper roast dinner with lots of fresh veg when they stay (they had no idea what Curly Kale was the other week - never even seen it before :eek: ), which we all sit down to eat together, and they have healthy teenage appetites! I found it's easier to get them to try new things if I put the serving dishes in the middle of the table and they help themselves.

Sounds similar to our situation. Thankfully the step kids have only taken 2 years to know they have to ask (although we do have to remind them from time to time). They too seem to get pizza, chicken nuggets, chips, spaghetti hoops, macdonalds etc for tea on days their mum feeds them with the occasional lasagna or spag bol.

I make it my quest to feed them as many different veg at the weekend as I can - they eat most things anyway. They'd never had omelette, pork chops, sprouts, didn't know what stock cubes were, often can't work out what I'm cooking unless it's pasta. We are gradually introducing them to aubergine, purple broccoli, red peppers, sweet potato etc

[Deleted User]

latest grain update from the nfu
http://www.nfuonline.com/x29321.xml

It is not looking good for next year as seedbeds cannot be prepared due to waterlogged ground. This is going to affect cooking oil and grain next year

[Deleted User]

I have ordered the rag rug making stuff. I ordered separate items bacause I have decided to do a `rug` for a large window with an area big enough to sit in, not that we do. So I have ordered 2 metres of hessian. I have lots of rolls of lovely cotton fabric but some creases too badly as I found to my cost when I made a skirt. I think I will have enough to make a rug and will go for stripes like the blanket, which I will use as a throw in the same room. This is brilliant and I am feeling excited about such an easy way of getting warming colour into a buttermilk room with cream furniture and gold curtains

I spread the blanket out yesterday and it looks lovely but I still have lots of yarn left so am plodding away