How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

laineyc_2

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

those of you with young kids there is a lovely online shop here for those party bag items and I've ordered from them before, lots of lovely stuff that isn't all just the plastic tat sold in the shops

Thanks, Bitsy Beans. The site looks good. I need to make up some party bags for ds's birthday in April.

jackieglasgow

I bought lots of lovely little things for my niece's and nephew at Christmas from Tickseed, and had a lovely day watching Home Alone wrapping up the teeny tiny things, and a great day watching my niece who was here unwrap and play with each tiny little gift over the course of the day, and enjoying every single thing. They also had some PJs and slippers, but their gift boxes were quite large with about 20 little parcels in each (including wrapped single balloons) and only cost me £13 in total per child. It is a lovely store and I have used it a lot over the years.

dollydaydream07

wow what a fab site Tickseed is!!
it's not DD's birthday till October but i can see me buying a few bits and bobs from there over the months in readyness for her birthday party as i know we will be doing the hall and 30 kids type of party!!

flowertotmum i did a search on here and found a couple of recipes for the flapjack but this one from the Jan 09 grocery challenge was what i intended to use............ i say intended as when i weighed out my porridge oats i only had 300g so had to alter the recipe so kind of used it as a guide but had to guess at the amounts!!

500g Porridge Oats, 175g sugar (demerara or granulated both work fine so whichever you have), 210g Marg or Butter & 6tbsp golden syrup

Heat Sugar, Butter & Syrup in Large Pan gently until all melted together(i did it in micro instead). Mix in Oats. Spread in baking Tray and bake for 15mins. Leave to cool slightly before cutting and turn onto cooling rack, or a Bread Board works just as well.

i spread half of the mix into my glass tray, then spread the mincemeat over that, then the rest of the mix and baked in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, i think at 180(fan oven)

it is really tasty, DH doesn't normally like flapjack but loves this, we had a slice after tea last night and the first thing DH said was 'ooh this would be gorgeous with some custard'...... i told him great minds as that's the plan to do with it today after our sunday roast!!

need to go to farmfoods and stock up on bread as we have none left in the freezer, might get milk while i'm there too, nip to Aldi as they have broccoli for 39p so will get a few, need to get some more fruit too and some more oats so we can make more flapjacks this week........ oh also need some more cake cases so we can make fairy cakes

still haven't done my menu plan so i might do that this morning before we out shopping otherwise i'm just gonna end up buying stuff we don't need and i only have £20 to last the next 8 days..... if i can get any with only spending £10 of this then that would be great as we have overspent on other things this month so it would make up for that

jackieglasgow

That's the flapjack recipe I use DDD - its the nicest one I have found. Haven't tried the mincemeat idea, so thanks for that, but I do tend to stick in a few handsful of seeds and nuts when I make it.

NualaBuala

Oh dear, there has been so much talk of Twinks and now flapjacks that I think I will have to bake something today! Would it work if I use honey or molasses in the flapjacks instead of or part substitute for the golden syrup?

Also I have an open pack of chopped mixed nuts that needs using up and would like to put in some dried fruit - would I need to adjust the amounts of other ingredients for that?

jackieglasgow

YOu should be fine using the honey, and maybe a little bit of molasses Nuala but I don't adjust the other ingredients when I add stuff, maybe drop an ounce of sugar though if you are adding dried fruit. If you are using the recipe above it makes a LOT of flapjack.

NualaBuala

Thank you Jackie, I will give it a try. Perhaps I will do a half quantity since there is just not-so-little old me to eat the fruits of my labour!

jackieglasgow

That's a very sensible idea

flowertotmum

Dollydaydream...thank you thank you..its sounds absolutely delicious...
Had a rough night had to take iris to the hospital..she has a chest infection and i could see she was really struggling to breath..thankfully the doctor there noticed and put her straight on a nebulizer..worked wonders..gave her a check over and some antibiotics..got home at midnight..told me if she does it again to get her there straight away..i was so worried..but this morning she is playing like nothing has happened and i look and feel like a bag of poop..just relieved she is ok...
I showed my hubby this thread last night and he thinks we are doing great..plus he has taken note of the stocking up posts..he seems to think we are pretty OS in most things..he was on my side to start with but after seeing all this and also he had to do the weekend shop yesterday..he saw for himself the price rises..almost fainted lol..he agrees with me that serious cutbacks and more make do and mend are called for..showed him zarazara's post about luxury treats,thinks its brilliant..to take the norm for some folks and turn it into a treat for us OS's..so glad i showed him..feels nicer to have him backing me up more now than he did before..
Its a pretty quiet day for me today...simon(hubby) is doing sunday lunch,than he has to go and sort out a mouse that thinks it owns our greenhouse..lol..heard him scream..its so tiny and he is huge..poor mouse..
O yes one more thing..i have over the last wk organized some swapsies with my family and neighbours..icecream man gets box of seasonal veg=icecream and lollies,swapping all my asparagus for figs and peaches,tomatoes for chillies..etc..so hopefully if i can't grow it,bake it ,make it then i can swap for it...
Have printed off a MAKE DO AND MEND poster and have framed it and put it up in dining room above the sewing machine..inspiration for me to keep going and not give up...
take care
ftm
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MadameCholet

Oh you lot have really inspired me!!!!

I very rarely 'talk' on the internet but I will be keeping up with this thread, I thinks it's brilliant:T