Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

spotdogkez

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

Thanks so much for posting.
Have you told your 'Bob' yet? How much do you think you have saved?

No, my 'Bob' still doesn't know!!

My food bill has reduced by approx £30 per month so far and I have many more meals to be incorporated, for example homemade soup is next on the list to tackle. I am hoping to be able to knock at least another £20 off over the next couple of months and to do that the website is a vital resource for me.

queen_of_string

Excuse me for being nosey, spot dog, but do you know what you're hoping your monthly spend could be eventually?

Arty. petrol is cheap, so is elec and gas, but almost nothing else. It is however a stunningly beautiful, clean, relaxed, safe place to live ( and of course contains my OH, which was my main reason to move here. TBH if he had been in Columbia instead of British Columbia, we'd have moved there too :-D). I am really pleasantly surprised by BC. The pace of life is just a tiny bit slower and it makes a huge difference.

The problem with prices is the vast distances involved in moving anything, it's very hard to get a sense of how big this country is and how few people there are. A reasonable example is where I live. BC is 4 times the size of the UK and that's just one province of many. In this area 4 times of the Uk, there are, I think, about 30 million people, so less that half the people in the UK in 4 times the space.

The deceptive thing about this is that most of the people live in a thin strip of land within 1 hr of the US border. This means mad things like, where I live is a fair sized town. If I drive South for half an hour I am at the border. If I drive North for 5 minutes and stop and face North, there is no one, I mean really no one, between me and the North Pole!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the compensation for the extra expense is the sheer physical beauty, the air quality and the quality of life. Overall it seems to pan out about even to living in the UK, maybe a little more, it's hard to tell from our budget at the mo, as we are paying out for 2 1/2 houses!! ( really hoping to be able to stop doing that soon!)

artybear

queen_of_string wrote: »

Excuse me for being nosey, spot dog, but do you know what you're hoping your monthly spend could be eventually?

Arty. petrol is cheap, so is elec and gas, but almost nothing else. It is however a stunningly beautiful, clean, relaxed, safe place to live ( and of course contains my OH, which was my main reason to move here. TBH if he had been in Columbia instead of British Columbia, we'd have moved there too :-D). I am really pleasantly surprised by BC. The pace of life is just a tiny bit slower and it makes a huge difference.

The problem with prices is the vast distances involved in moving anything, it's very hard to get a sense of how big this country is and how few people there are. A reasonable example is where I live. BC is 4 times the size of the UK and that's just one province of many. In this area 4 times of the Uk, there are, I think, about 30 million people, so less that half the people in the UK in 4 times the space.

The deceptive thing about this is that most of the people live in a thin strip of land within 1 hr of the US border. This means mad things like, where I live is a fair sized town. If I drive South for half an hour I am at the border. If I drive North for 5 minutes and stop and face North, there is no one, I mean really no one, between me and the North Pole!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the compensation for the extra expense is the sheer physical beauty, the air quality and the quality of life. Overall it seems to pan out about even to living in the UK, maybe a little more, it's hard to tell from our budget at the mo, as we are paying out for 2 1/2 houses!! ( really hoping to be able to stop doing that soon!)

It sounds astonishingly beautiful, I have just read a novel about a women who ran away to Canada after her daughter dies. Just the description of the landscape made me cry. It sounds very romantic that you moved there to live with your OH-i'm a sucker for stories like thatxxxx
:A

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

MY OVEN IS BROKED!!! *cries*

I need to make some bread - has anyone tried the No-Knead Bread in a breadmaker? Any tips or adjustments to the recipe? What setting should I do it on?

Thanks all.

OK, I've bitten the bullet and am having a go anyway - I need some bread, ANY bread, so I'm going to see what the following recipe gets me:

* 15g Allinson yeast (activated in a little warm water)
* Enough warm water to make the dough become....dough! Approx 200ml
* teaspoon sugar (in with the yeast)
* 400g strong bread flour
* teaspoon salt (in with the flour)
* tablespoon veg (rapeseed) oil

Set to medium crust on "rapid" (mine is 1hr 50mins) setting.

Put yeast in breadmaker with the sugar and a little warm water. Stir. Don't switch breadmaker on. Lid down until froth on top of yeast mixture. Add a little more warm water, flour, salt. Start the programme. If mixture is too wet, add a little more flour. If mixture is too dry, add a little more water. Once you're happy with the dough, close the lid and LEAVE IT to complete the programme.

I'll let you know how it turns out - this might be useful info for Shirley!

Hippeechiq

Wow Lesley! Impressive rhubarb!! :T

Am loving all the new additions to the site, but have to say, having the little pictures come up when you hover over a recipe title is just inspired! It definitely makes the viewer want to then go on to view the recipe more than just a title would, in fact, I think it makes you want to view the recipe because of it :T

If you're still wanting feedback on what recipe pictures look not quite as enticing as others it would be butternut squash risotto and risi e bisi for me, simply because of the lack of "colour" to the dishes. But that is just my personal preference, and is in no way intended as a criticism

By the way - when you hover of the title of pasta carbonara is shows a picture of uncooked penne....just wondered if that was correct?

Also, very interesting info about the herbs Murrell I wasn't aware that the herbs listed had high iron content. Well, I wasn't aware of any of the information you listed if I'm honest. Definitely think that kind of information would be a bonus on the site.

queen_of_string wrote: »

The deceptive thing about this is that most of the people live in a thin strip of land within 1 hr of the US border. This means mad things like, where I live is a fair sized town. If I drive South for half an hour I am at the border. If I drive North for 5 minutes and stop and face North, there is no one, I mean really no one, between me and the North Pole!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the compensation for the extra expense is the sheer physical beauty, the air quality and the quality of life.

How absolutely wonderful

spotdogkez

queen_of_string wrote: »

Excuse me for being nosey, spot dog, but do you know what you're hoping your monthly spend could be eventually?(/QUOTE)

My original monthly spend was around £250 per month. This has reduced to around the £220 mark and I am aiming to get it even lower. I would like to think I could get it down to £150-170 allowing for the fact that we get through an awful lot of milk!!

As my signature shows, I have two children and one area I am finding difficult to reduce is packed lunches which we all have. They would not eat nut butter, lentil late or houmous and like the more obvious choices of cheese, egg, ham or tuna -all of which are in the higher cost bracket than the planner shows and obviously 'Jenny and Jason' are older and therefore less influenced by what is in their friends' lunchboxes. But as with my DH slowly does it and I am sure I will get there eventually.

Thanks for your interest. I feel as though I have been listening on your conversations for ages and that I know you all.

Hippeechiq

spotdogkez wrote: »

. I feel as though I have been listening on your conversations for ages and that I know you all.

Funny that - me too Spot

Sian_the_Green

weezl74 wrote: »

red lentil pate

160g dry weight red lentils
160g onion- finely chopped
tspn garlic
2teaspoons marmite
500ml boiling water
100 ml veg oil
dessertspoon of balsamic vinegar

Rinse lentils under the cold tap until the water runs clear (I swoosh them around in the pan in cold water a couple of times, changing the water each time)
Drain and place in a medium saucepan with the onion and garlic
Add 2 tsp marmite to 500ml boiling water and stir to dissolve
Pour over the lentils, cover and simmer until the water has been absorbed and the lentils have softened (the mixture will look quite dry at this point)
Remove lid and leave to cool.
Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon whilst slowly pouring the vinegar and then the oil into the mixture.

Hope that's okay as a recipe, I actually ended up adding another tsp marmite and a little salt but it is yummy

queen_of_string

Shanks notes for the boss: chicken and onion pie, recipe states 200g chicken, method states " add chicken breast" I just have visions of novice Shirley panicking as her chicken isnt from the breast.

pie was yum :-)

weezl74

shanks77 wrote: »

Looks really good Weezl love the pictures as well hopefully will inspire Shirl to try something.
Did you have a good time with your visitors?

hey shanks! hope the first night shift went ok?

was a good time with my brother and his G/f she is a vegetarian, so a lot of kitty's meals were on the weekend menu

pinkhayley789 wrote: »

I absolutely LOVE the photos! They look lovely. I feel very proud of it now hehe

and so you should

Murrell wrote: »

Love the grow your own article. Is this the sort of thing you wanted on herbs? I have used the vitamin letters on all but folic acid, as this seems to be better known as this rather than B9.


Another bonus from growing your own herbs, as well as saving money is they are a very good way of adding extra vitamins and minerals to your dishes

Oregano is high in vitamin K and a very good source of iron, manganese and dietary fibre. It also contains calcium, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids.

Basil is high in vitamin K and a very good source of iron, calcium and vitamin A. It also contains dietary fibre, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium.

Parsley is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K. It also contains iron and folic acid.

Rosemary is a good source of the minerals iron and calcium, as well as dietary fibre and fresh rosemary has 25% more manganese than dried.

Thyme is high in iron, manganese, and vitamin K. It also contains calcium and dietary fibre.

Sage contains a variety of flavonoids and also very small amounts of calcium, iron and vitamin A.

Chives is high in dietary fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, folic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese. It is also a good source of vitamin B1, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, phosphorus and zinc.


Sandra
x

That's brilliant! thank you :T:Tso much:D