Tips and Quick Questions on “How To Start Being Old Style”

*stargirl*_2

Thanks everyone.
I just wrote a really long reply and it vanished...raaa!

im off for a lovely long soak but will attempt my post again tomorrow.

Thanks everyone, im very inspired by you all x

*stargirl*_2

afternoon everyone.
just wanted to say that the sandwich freezing was a big success, did it on sunday, got one out this morning and when DD got home it was a perfect snack. yay. also got a few cook books from the library yesterday, so am excited to get stuck in to them.

im looking for some very small lolly moulds, does any one know where i could get some?

also any ideas ( this is probably a really stupid question) what we can bake with the below? something easy to get us started.

1.5kg plain flour
250g self raising flour
1kg caster sugar
250g demerera sugar
00g dark brown cane sugar
150g of fudge pieces for baking
225g packet of puff pastry mix

thanks!

carolannie

Hello!
I am a mum of two teenage boys. I have 2 dogs as well.

I need to start baking, cooking proper meals and making my money go further - big problem for me is I am on benefits, have bi-polar and sometimes am so exhausted and depressed, I cannot get out of bed to do anything.
I want to cook big meals and freeze them, so my boys can have some healthy (and cheaper than a takeaway)

And how to stop spending all my money. I have no savings and am just living week to week.

Any tips or links to threads on here would be great!

Long term goal is to be back at work and have a freezer full of lovely home made food!

And a garden with some salad food and easy veg that I can manage!

Thank you for any help!

merlin68

Baby steps. start with the flyladythread on here level 1, if need be and gradually cook one meal a week. Then two.
Also work out a strict budget.

oldtractor

Carolannie WELCOME to the board. I want to assure that it is do-able! I have been where you are now and wouldnt have believed possible what I now find myself capable of doing. Firstly it is important to remember that not every day will go well,like today for me, but I have still mamaged 3x more than I would previously have done,even on a good day.
So, where to start? I started by just cooking a bit more of what we already had. Make life easy. if you make spaggetti sauce then make a double batch and freeze half. I started baking,the not so good results can be disguised with custard for pudding and my teenagers ould eat anything, hollow legs,LOL. After getting used to this I then introduced more and more homemade stuff. Now I bake all puddings,pies,bread,cakes and biscuits. \also household cleaning products. There is a good blog called Down to Earth which I heartily recommend. I also started growing a bit of basil on the windowledge and now have progressed to an expanding veg and fruit plot ! we hope to have hens next but
I think that is a couple of years away.
My best wishes to you and yours, keep posting on here and let us know what you are making and doing.

lostinrates

How old are your teens? Perhaps have them help bath cook a little with you, both for time with them and to start some cooking education for them so they don;t need to resort to takeaways as they enter adult hood? Many hands make light work, which is a bonus when cath cooking and freezing and clearing up afterwards!

carolannie

Thank you. It's hard to get gong at the moment, and have so much stuff to do in the house.
I don't yet need Kim and Aggie, but there is a lot to do to get a nice home for us.
Things just get left and my boys, unfortunately, took after their father, so I am also trying to train them to be good husbands in the future.
They do help out a bit with cooking now and enjoy it as quality time, chatting and passing me things (they are 14 and 16)

I will bookmark a few pages and try the flylady thing

Thank you again!

oldtractor

be kind to yourself and your lads too, mine help and even wash up now,but,they always have to be asked though. Mine made chickpea and tomato pasta for dinner tonight. it was very nice. he even put a bit of salad with it.

meritaten

start slowly and build up - difficult with bi-polar I know. but as previous poster said - dont make one meal - double up and freeze it! Use any bursts of energy to make batches of useful foods. like making a huge pot of stew and freezing half or more! collect tubs and make sure you always have freezer bags! nothing more frustrating than having leftovers and nothing to put them in! you will get there hun. and on bad days you will always have something in the freezer you can defrost - even if its only cheesy mash.....which you made out of leftover mash and some hard cheese you grated up!

Emm-in-a-pickle

Carolannie, welcome. Here you will find many helpers,folks who`ll encourage you and folks who`ll appreciate your encouragement too (I love the `My Home`s a Mess` thread, where it`s ok to come and confess when you HAVEN`T done stuff - but the `Messies` do encourage each other so!)
DO set yourself goals in Baby Steps, as Merlin says.
DON`T beat yourself up when you have a day that seems more like a step back. (A CBA day. We ALL have them if we`re being honest!)
Stay around, keep us posted and enjoy your achievements, (however minor they may seem compared to the more organised posters) and take heart from the support you`ll find here. You`ll get there. You WILL, just don`t give up if you don`t get it all sorted at once.