MFW DannyG's MF Diary!

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3) Start making an inventory of what food is in the house & working through with the missus meals we can make from it aswell as making carefully thought out shopping lists before we go Asda.:D I was really good that this till a few months back Thanks for the kick to get me started again
4) Get the mrs to start batch cooking and freezing it. Cheeky you!
5) Forage for fruits - we have a nature reserve nearby and they usually have loads of blackberrys in the hedges, we can make blackberry crumble or blackberry whisky or jam or something (when i say 'we' I actually mean OH as i can barely make Cakes from the cake making kits where you just add water & butter!) :rotfl:

Your mission then Danny, should you choose to accept it , is to bake a cake for your missus!

And don't forget about crabapples when you're foraging! They make really nice apple jelly (I put it on my toast) and apparently good apple vodka too

Radish72

You could try downgrading 1 level on your supermarket shopping to save some pennies.

Also if you pay your council tax bill over 10 months instead of 12, the extra two months payments (usually Feb & March) could be used for an OP

(I only ever switch my microwave on when I need to use it, then switch it off when I've finished, people have called me tight for doing this :rotfl:)

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(I only ever switch my microwave on when I need to use it, then switch it off when I've finished, people have called me tight for doing this :rotfl:)

I do this with my kettle and toaster and washing machine As for the microwave...it's in the loft and has been for almost a year

MFW_DannyG

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!
ScotsLass, The combi boilers are efficient for your heating and to a certain point for your hot water (especially if its a condensing boiler, which all new ones are meant to be now) However if you find yourself using a bit of hot water its much less efficient than having a boiler/cylinder system. Sorry to get a bit geeky here but I went on a course the other day for certain boilers and the guy said that combi boilers would no longer be put in new houses from a certain date as they have to be energy rated on hot water aswell, instead of just heating as they are currently. So their A rating for effieciency will likely drop to D or below!:eek: Thanks for the imeasure suggestion, i've never heard of it before but it sounds like something I would get excited about :rotfl:so i'm gunna sign up tonight :cool:
Radish I never thought of that with the council tax free months will defo make sure I do that this year - makes me wonder where the extra just disappeared to in the past :doh:. I already shop at economy level on pretty much everything, I dont have a very refined taste so I don't ever notice the difference, plus it always tastes better to me if its cheaper! & will start turning the microwave off from now on, we only really use it for little ones bottles & to be honest hes at the stage now where he don't care if its warm or cold anyway!
Youngone you can nick as many suggestions as you like as long as you promise to give some back when you think of them :T
I'm good at making lists Katsu like todo lists but they usually end up pinned to a board with maybe one or two things crossed off but if I put it up on my diary I think i'll feel under pressure to actually do them!
And SML, seriously about this cake... Last night I decided I would have a practice at baking as I am determined to start being more adventurous with the food thing (hopefully lower costs!). So anyway I found a cookie making kit in the cupboard and decided to go for it. All you have to do is add abit of water and butter what could be easier than that.... cut a long story short, they came out more like little cakes with burnt bottoms, my missus tasted one looked slightly dodgy at me, gave me the fake 'mm nice'.. and then declined anymore and scarpered! I just fear if i actually bake a cake from scratch I could either burn my house down and/or kill her?!

[Deleted User]

Yep Danny
will certainly feed back some ideas if I come up with any!! oh dear- your cake baking sounds about as good as mine.... however , as you have a little one how about chocolate rice krispie cakes?? kids love it , all you have to do is melt chocolate and put rice krispies in, v cheap and yummy too!! (and you might get to lick the bowl...!)

MFW_DannyG

Today I have had a meeting at work, basically they have to cut costs in our department so the 3 plumbers in it have been in a consultation process for about a month. A fortnight ago we were told that nobody would be made redundant but we would have a £100 p/w cut and one of us would have to go back to working on new build sites (which means a cut in hours from 45 to 37.5 hours roughly another £100 a week). Anyways today I found out thats me! So i'm gunna be about £200 a week down within the next month!
At first I was a bit upset and I didn't say anything really in my meeting just nodded my head, then after stewing on it for a bit i was angry because I have done everything they have asked me to and never argued about it, never caused them any problems, which the other 2 do on a regular basis! Apparently its done on a matrix system (which they basically choose the categories to score it on to suit themselves) and I came last because I've only got 7 years experience where as the other two have got about 30 odd.
But after day driving around in a foul mood I have come to the conclusion that if I work on site I have the opportunity to earn bonus (you earn extra once you do enough work to cover your basic), and provided i get on a site with plenty to do I could smash what I earn now. So now I just want to get back on site, get my head down and earn some really good money!! Maybe in 6months I'll be able to go back into the office and thank them all for getting rid of me from their department!

MFW_DannyG

Haha young one thats a cracking idea!! I bet my other half would be well impressed if I did that! you might just have got me in her good books...:money:

SmlSave

I found a cookie making kit in the cupboard and decided to go for it. All you have to do is add abit of water and butter what could be easier than that.... cut a long story short, they came out more like little cakes with burnt bottoms, my missus tasted one looked slightly dodgy at me, gave me the fake 'mm nice'.. and then declined anymore and scarpered! I just fear if i actually bake a cake from scratch I could either burn my house down and/or kill her?!

:rotfl:Keep practising Danny My friend couldn't cook herself an omlette last year and now she's getting better all the time!

Chocolate crispies sound like a good place to start (be careful when melting chocolate though as one min its all good and the next sec its burnt - but still edible)

:EasterBun


P.S. Can you tell i'd love to teach people how to cook? It's probably cos I'm a bossy boots!

SmlSave

Poo to the cut in hours Danny.....but here's to earning bonus' :j:j:j

mummyofonechild

Sorry to hear your news about the job Danny. I can understand your feelings of anger. Well done for trying to turn the situation into a positive outcome. Hard as it sounds, it could have been worse, one of you could have been made redundant. At least you all still have jobs and hopefully in 6 month time you can stick 2 fingers back to them - in a nice way of course. Chin up and sock it to them :eek: