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

Frugaldom

Good morning peeps

SL - I saved all the peapods that I could, so now have 3 bags of them in the freezer, probably enough to start off a bucket of wine but also enough to boil down into stock, which I guess would be more frugal from a soup point of view if I did pea & ham.

The turkey leg was a £1.47 Asda one that I had in the freezer, so I'll be stocking up with a few of those next year. I actually did the exact same experiment in January to use up Christmas turkey, but this time I was looking for something more than just pies. Last night, I used the last of the meat in a Tex Mex style dish with red, green & yellow peppers, onions, garlic, chilli, tin of tomatoes and that was all served up with homemade tortilla wraps, grated cheese, mayo and salsa type sauce. It was delicious and fed 4 - DS had his before going out and then had super.

On the soup front - I have a 3.5L slow cooker, so I had the bone in that to simmer overnight on the timer (cheap rate electricity). The leg didn't fit in, so I had to leave the lid off and cover it with tin foil instead. Next morning, the bone lifted straight out and I strained the stock, which is fairly strong. Add seasoning, a chopped leek, crushed garlic, a chopped stalk of celery, a couple of diced onions and about 4 grated carrots plus a cupful of rice and simmer that for a few hours, again in the slow cooker. The soup is about an inch off the top of the pot, so I let it simmer down another inch and then decant it into a 3.5L jug so I can top it up with boiling water. That's how I know I have 3.5L of soup. Even at that, it is really thick soup, so makes a meal in itself when served with hm crusty bread Oh, and the leeks & celery were already in the freezer - I am STILL using last year's leeks from the old garden.

Skint_Lynne

I love pea and ham soup, in fact, I just love soup (and lots of other things):rolleyes:.

I have made home made peas this afternoon as we are having steak pie for dinner.

I have spent lots of money today, was in costco and got lots of food, stewing steak was on special offer, so got 3 packs, which weighed in at 11lbs. I also got 6 chickens, they were half price so worked out at roughly 1.50 per chicken. Also got mince, steak, pork chops and chicken breasts............and kitchen rolls. Total cost was £135.00, but should last for ages, the freezer is full now! I might try out a turkey leg sometime for curry, would probably get lots of meat from it if I am as lucky as Nyk!

I'm going to do some dishes now, will check in later. xx

slowlyfading

I've been naughty today I got a chinese takeaway this evening and it was quite yummy. Probably not worth £7.40 :eek::eek::eek: but still. I am still waaay under budget really, but i feel guilty.

I'll get my 13th NSD tomorrow hopefully, and that's my target met again

hope everyone is having a good evening x x

bails

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Bails - I can see it now - you, a few kids and a couple of chickens, a camper van, somewhere is south america...:D

Have you been reading my 5-year plan diary again BB?

I won a fiver on the scratchcards this morning, only second time ever :j and a £1 bonus means I have £6.20 for my Wedding Dress Fund :j

Don't feel bad SF, everyone deserves to treat themselves. As long as you enjoyed it, that's the main thing. And you're still under budget, amazing! :T

I'd like the turkey leg challenge, if I wasn't veggie Will have to see how far I can stretch some lentils :rotfl:

Off climbing now, need to wake OH up!

Frugaldom

Hello everyone

Bails, have fun climbing. Maybe you could take the pumpkin challenge - how many meals could you get from a pumpkin? If they have any left at the weekend then I may try this one myself.

SF - enjoy your takeaway without feeling guilty as we all deserve to have some sinful fun now and again. What's the point of budgeting and doing without EVERYTHING when you're clear in your own mind that you wouldn't knowingly run up debts that you could never pay? It's about the way we think and treat money & spending, not about a life sentence without any enjoyment. Just means we can appreciate the little luxuries in life - like a meal we didn't need to cook ourselves!

cheerfulness4

Bails - how about how far you could stretch a bag of chickpeas, too?
Soup, rissoles, ermm.. oh humous, potato and chickpea curry..... anymore?

I agree, pumpkin would be good too as there are usually massive ones around by Sunday for pence. Morrisons have some huge hernia causing ones for £1 at the moment.
Thinking pumpkin pie, spicy pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin..... NOT Hugh F Whittingstalls (?) Cheesy and cream pumpkin soup, tho. :lipsrseal

The dilemma would be do you roast the seeds and eat or save for next years crop.

BMF - Smaller plates really do make a difference, don't they?
I've struggled all my life with portion control (am a fattie ) and have recently bought a few really pretty, delicate bone china smallish dinner plates from the charity shops. Not only do I feel special when I eat from them but they are just the right size for proper portions - don't feel the urge to build mash walls and build upwards, IYSWIM.

I lost 41/4 stone last year and, annoyingly, have put most back on after a rough time with family worries last year but it gonna come off again... oh yes, anytime now. :rolleyes:

Frugaldom

Rooting for you, Cheerfulness! That was fantastic with the weight loss and you already KNOW you can do it when you put your mind to it!

Hoping to see cheap pumpkins at the weekend! I'd roast the seeds then use them with hm bread or as a snack - birdies not getting mine, the seeds are almost a meal in themselves!

I've had to light the fire here, as it's getting so chilly, and the wind's getting up again, too! Log store now replenished, coal bunker topped up and it's almost time to batten down the hatches for winter. Just looking at my balance for the 4k challenge shows that various cut backs MUST have been made as I still have over £1000 left despite having replaced the spent funds from DS's 21st birthday savings and having managed to start squirrelling something away into my ISA. Filling that by April is my next priority as work hasn't been exactly pouring in over the past year and prices are still going up on many things. Still pleased with the overall results.

Savvy_sewing

Spent far too much yesterday. Bought a basket for the logs, £4.00 Put a deposit of £5 for Christmas dinner, then before I knew it, with this and that in Mr M, and Mr W, I spent another £25 and £12 in the pound shop.... I will have to look at my receipts and hn put things into the budget. So I know what I will have left for November!
I am off to MK with my Mum, so I am no doubtedly going to spend a little bit more on the market, and with some sewing things.
Got to go, DS is waiting.

cheerfulness4

Thanks NYK! You're right, at least I know how best to lose weight for me! I'm still learning how to avoid eating as a way to cope with pressure.
Now that one does taking some figuring out! I'm getting there, tho. :rolleyes:

Its very encouraging to see how others have managed their budgets now that the year is coming to a close.
I get goosebumps thinking whether we'll be able to manage our budget but I can see it can and is being done by you here so I'm flexing the muscles and getting ready to commence battle! :j

Been practicing one of my '10 things not to buy in 2010' and thats the TV Guide. Who'd have thought I'd find it so difficult.
Still, getting used to it now and using the online guides to plan along with the inbuilt tv guides.

If I'm finding that tough I can't wait to see how I'll cope with the 'no new clothes' one! :rolleyes:

grandma247

Cheerfulness do you crochet? it is a great way to relax and you don't need a pattern if you only want to make a blanket. There are lots of videos online of how to do it. It is easy to learn the basic stitches and you could just do squares and crochet or stitch them together.