Its tough, it will get better and guess what its freezing brrrrr!

ceridwen

redlady_1 wrote: »

I am actually thinking about becoming a partial veggie, as in eating more veggie meals each week than meat. Can anyone recommend a really good veggie cook book please?

Try anything by Rose Elliott or the vegetarian ones by Cas Clarke - as in Rose is a vegetarian and Cas isnt (but some of her books are).
There are usually some Cas Clarke ones going cheaply on Amazon.

[Deleted User]

I got my dh to put up some very simple slatted shelves which will help so much when trying to dry clothes. We have a wood pellet stove and a well insulated house and the rads in the 2 bathrooms are small and the vertical type. I put washing in there on racks but it doesn`t dry quickly. The lakeland heated airer is brill but I wanted to go one step beyond even this. There is a rad in the tiny utility room and it can get very warm in there as again it is well insulated. That room has a ceiling vent which detects moist air. I woke up with a brainwave and now have 2 small and one longer shelf ABOVE the rad, all fitted with slats or poles so I can hang hangers as well. It works brilliantly!!! It will never hold more than a small wash but that is all I need

[Deleted User]

Talking about saving redlady, I see that the post office has an online account at 2.9%. I think I will start saving in one of them from my week to week budget. I need to build a safety net close for emergencies

re Rose Elliot. She saved our necks in the 70s and 80s when we could hardly afford to live. My first ever Rose Elliot was `thrifty fifty` ie meals for 4 for 50p. Her food is amazing and I still use some of her recipes from that book like butterbean and tomato pie with a cheesy crust followed by grated apples and nuts with a creamy topping

redlady_1

Hi Kittie, mine is with the Barnsley BS (2.5%) and I also have an ISA but their rates are pretty poor. I have my car insurance due in December and as I completed on this place just before Christmas last year, all my bills will be due then too! Funnily enough I looked in my filofax the other day and saw that I had been looking at a savings account with Abbey a couple of years ago - the rate was 6.5%!! Will check out that PO account thought...as they say every little helps :rotfl:

I will go and have a nose on Amazon me thinks.

Jolaaled

Kittie...do you have the recipe for Butterbean and Tom pie?..sounds lovely and I adore butterbeans..such a nice creamy texture.

I'm also veggie and have just 2 centre pages of some Rose Elliot book (that fell out from the middle of my original book in about 1978!). Can't for the life of me remember what book it was, but the recipe on this precious page is for Spaghetti Bake (Spag, tin toms, onions, cheesy topping). I'ts a fave dish for us, and has been for years.

thanks!

sammy_kaye18

Morning all

Well I did ventrue back to bed yesterday - I slept from 7.30 when Owen got up until 11am!!! :eek: must of needed the sleep Holly seems to be refusing to sleep for any decent amount of time lately though - no idea why though as haven't changed anything with her so putting it down to the hour change.

Can I ask a really stupid question - beef stew? how do you all make yours? what veg do you include? I have never made a beef stew before but Owen wont be home til about 6 tonight and I will be out at football training with Benji so want something I can leave cooking and he can enjoy when he gets home and I have diced tesco beef to use up.

Redlady + Kittie - I second the savings thing. I am actually saving with a local credit union. We have £150 saved in our account at the minute but took out a loan in July for £450 (that was the limit we could borrow) because Owen needed money for debts and I needed rent money after babe was born so am still in the midst of paying that off.

Am dreading December coming as my maternity pay reaches its 6 months so will be dropping the beginning of November from £360 a month (which was higher than I expected for maternity pay after I was told to pay in my 3 highest pay slips for the year) down to £250 which is (90%) of my wage. So I'm losing £110 a month so ANNIE56 I am fully back on the OS band wagon with you girl! Hoping to look on free cycle in a bit to see if there is a fridge freezer going to a new home because mine is really small and could do with a bigger one.

Well Ben is back in school today - :j need to get on with my housework and washing - which took a back seat to having fun last week. Then going to heat proof the flat and bleed radiators. Might even meal plan afterwards if i have time. I have about 7 ginsters slices left which were my bargain at 20 p each and BOGOF and have about 5 pies still left too. Am not paid now until the 11th and I have about £6 to my name although I now Owen has money on his card still but I don't want to ask him if I can help it.

JenniO

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Can I ask a really stupid question - beef stew? how do you all make yours? what veg do you include?

ah, bless, well SK, since no one has replied to this yet, I will have a go. I am American but please don't hold that against me.

If you have a slow cooker, great, put it on low. If not, just cook on a low temp on the hob in a large pot.

Start with a chopped onion, 2 chopped carrots (you can make it into circles if you like) and chopped squared bits of 2 medium or 1 large potato. If you have swede, chop some up, or parnsip, or celery, put some in there but if you don't - don't worry about it.

Add in your beef - chopped into square shapes. Put about 2 pints of water in the pot / slow cooker.

Add in salt, pepper, an oxo beef cube type thing, and some gravy thickening granules (2 tablespoons) if you have it. If you happen to have a beef soup, or powdered beef soup, use that instead of the oxo cube and granules. Also if you have dried mixed herbs, you could put a tablespoon in there too.

That's about all there is to it in my house and the family loves it. Good luck.

jackieglasgow

I would just add to JenniO's recipe that if you don't have thickening granules, coat the meat in cornflour and brown it off first and put the lot in the s/c or casserole, and swish out the leftovers with some water or stock. (you don't need a lot just one or two teaspoonsful)

imataloss

Sammy Kaye - I go along with JenniO`s recipie. I usually add some lentils and also some frozen peas.
I`m sure it will taste lovely whatever you do.
Beef stew for us tonight too but think I may cook it in the pressure cooker.

Primrose

redlady I endorse Ceridwen's recommendation for Rose Elliott's vegetarian books. We're not vegetarian but often eat vegetarian meals and we've got several of her books: Not Just a load of old lentils, The Bean Book, Rose Elliot's Pasta, & Rose Elliott's Vegetarian Kitchem, all of which have interesting inexpensive recipes. If you belong to your local library, they may have these in stock so you can check them out first before deciding if you want to buy. There's also the Vegetable Bible by Sophie Grigson.

sammy-kaye Beef stews & caseroles often feature on our winter menus. I used to make mine using shin beef cut into cubes, which I brown in a pan first, and then add a combination of chopped onions, leeks, carrots, celery, turnip & swede, depending on what I've got available. I then crush 2 or 3 Beef Oxos and a dessertspoon of cornflower for thickening into a measuring jug and mix to a paste with COLD water. (Hot water will make it go lumpy). You can also add any wrinkled chopped tomatoes you may have or a squeeze of tomato purree. I then add sufficient hot water to to the measuring jug to make up enough liquid to cover the meat and veg and simmer in the oven for about 90 minutes until the meat is tender.

Since last year I've taken to making making my stews on the oven hob using an ARIS simmer plate, because this is a far more economical way of making them, fuelwise, (especially if you don't have a slow cooker) and it also reduces the amount of liquid evaporation. Simmer plates are metal plates with small "points" on them which transfer heat evenly to your cooking pot (i.e. Le Creuset caserole dish, saucepan, Pyrex glass caserole) without the direct heat of the gas flame or electric ring coming in touch with your actual pan which reduces the risk of food burning on the base of your dish. You can use your smallest gas hob/electric ring and turn it down to its lowest point and still generate enough heat to cook your stew or caserole, which is far more fuel- economical that using a whole oven. I also find it easier to check progress in cooking by just lifting the lid off the pan on the hob rather than having to lift a heavy Le Creuset pan out of a hot oven. These simmer mats cost about £11 from Lakeland but I reckon last year I probably saved its cost in fuel. If you want to know more about them, Google "Aris Simmer Mat" and the website will also give you a demo on how to use them.