Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

Frugaldom

Wow, SM! That all looks fantastic! My DS will be moving next door at this rate if you're not careful! :rotfl:

I'm just boiling some spuds and steaming some carrots & runner beans above them to have with tonight's ordinary mince, but you make everything look so yummy that I'm beginning to wish I had reorganised the freezer and brought in all my empty margarine cartons to stuff them full with all sorts of stuff just so we could have leftover extras for dinner. Methinks I'll manage the grocery budget, meal planning and batch cooking so much better next year with you as a neighbour - it makes frugal cooking much more fun seeing it done on such a spectacular scale! I feel more organised just looking at your weekend's work! Well done! :T

(It's still all a bit surreal getting used to the idea of SM as my new next door neighbour! A few months back and who would ever have believed that possible? )

DdraigGoch

Well, NYK, just think of the changes your thread has wrought in some people's lives - SM as your neighbour, "real world" friendships, people out of debt, others learning huge amounts of useful "stuff" and most of us feeling better about ourselves and our place in the world in general - all that from one thread and a persistent poster, not bad! Give yourself a pat on the back, 'cos if we all did it you'd be flattened

After three, one, two, three..... hip, hip ....

cw18

Hooray !!!

Brighton_belle

I second that.
Some mighty impressive frugally, bottling canning and batch cooking going on!
It's been an emotional week for me, with a friend critically ill and no happy ending going to happen. So a gentle birthday today with OH with a cream tea and blackberrying at the heart of it.

Not a lot to say at the mo, but happily catching up and following everyone's expoits.

cw18

My two biggest pans are currently simmering away on the hob, full of Old Dowerhouse Chutney.

I could have sworn I made double quantities last year, but if I did I must have made it a batch at a time on different days!!! I got all the ingredients apart from the plums and apples into the biggest pan, and decided it almost certainly wasn't going to fit :eek: Managed to get the plums in, but there was no way the apples were going to fit, so I had to move half the mixture into another pan and then share the apples between them :rolleyes2


DS has just come down (on a pudding hunt) and announced that the kitchen "stinks something awful"



Just got to try and find enough jars now -- according to the recipe I can expect to end up with 16lb of the stuff !! I can see me going to Mr A tomorrow, stocking up on 4p curry sauce, coming home and batch cooking enough chicken curry for DS until the end of the year, and then immediately reusing the jars for chutney :rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Happy Birthday BB, about your friend, know just how you must be feeling xxx

Hope you enjoyed the cream tea and blackberrying.

sophiesmum_2

cw18 wrote: »

My two biggest pans are currently simmering away on the hob, full of Old Dowerhouse Chutney.

I could have sworn I made double quantities last year, but if I did I must have made it a batch at a time on different days!!! I got all the ingredients apart from the plums and apples into the biggest pan, and decided it almost certainly wasn't going to fit :eek: Managed to get the plums in, but there was no way the apples were going to fit, so I had to move half the mixture into another pan and then share the apples between them :rolleyes2


DS has just come down (on a pudding hunt) and announced that the kitchen "stinks something awful"



Just got to try and find enough jars now -- according to the recipe I can expect to end up with 16lb of the stuff !! I can see me going to Mr A tomorrow, stocking up on 4p curry sauce, coming home and batch cooking enough chicken curry for DS until the end of the year, and then immediately reusing the jars for chutney :rotfl:

SNAP!!!!! and my kitchen currently stinks too,(making double batch of green tomato chutney), in fact the vinegar smell is making my eyes water and I am in the lounge:D

cw18

(((hugs))) for BB
And birthday wishes winging their way from me too

Skint_Lynne

;)Make soup - done
Do the dinner - done
Make tomorrow's dinner - done
Go out and pick more blackberries to put in freezer - the birds have had most of what's left - it has been to wet for picking them. :mad:
Clean out my back cupboard - nope
Iron stuff for work - nope
Do washing and hang outside (weather permitting) - too wet.
Clean out kitchen - done the dishes and cleaned up, but not deep clean.
Check my gift stash and do a plan if what I still need to get - nope.
I did go to the supermarket and made dinner for everyone as mum is still not too well.

That was the list from earlier. I got some done but not all of it. I find that happening a lot these days, I am getting very lazy. I'll need to snap out of it and start using my time a bit better. The place is in need of a good clean, not just a quick lick. I'm going to really try harder and get one thing done a day, even if it is just cleaning out an untidy cupboard.

It is September on Tuesday, so christmas is not that long away now.:xmastree:I like to try and be organised as it gets busier (I hope):rolleyes: around the shop. Need to give myself a kick up the backside and get moving. I hate being last minute.com, so will need to get back to my organised self.

Lots of clutter to move, but not been car boot sale weather. I hope I can get one more done before the bad weather comes. The extra money would be nice too.;)

Hugs to everyone that needs them, and happy birthday BB. xx

Frugaldom

Apologies for not sending out birthday wishes to everyone concerned - Janey, I haven't forgotten about you, either - I'm just overlooking birthdays so time will stand still for a little bit and we can all make the most of every minute we have, be it sharing with others, caring for others or raring for a night out on the town. Time marches on and I honestly believe we should make the most of what we have. Sending special wishes to Andrew & Amy, who may or may not read this thread, and toasting the safe arrival of their baby girl. Welcome to the world, Caledonia. AEB, I'm still banking on your 3 all being girls. That's my first Virgo baby been born, let's see if yours can be little Virgos as well.

Lovely and warm at 21 degress here with the log fire burning, but I'm planning on an early night to watch some Will & Grace on DVD and then a long lie in the morning, as HS has volunteered to do the early rounds seeing to the garden menagerie.