FOOD SHOPPING FOR A FAMILY - ISH

margaretclare

16011996 wrote:

Thanks for the tip on marmalade, but haven't a clue where to start, have you got any reciepes I can follow?????

Hi

If you buy a tin of MaMade there's a recipe on the tin.

The fruit has been peeled and shredded for you (which is the most time-consuming part of marmalade-making) and all you do is heat it then add the sugar. Always add the sugar (warmed if possible) to the heated fruit, then bring it to the boil and boil for however long it says on the tin - this is to make it set. It doesn't work so well if you do it the other way round i.e. add cold sugar to cold fruit.

I have a recipe of my own:

Get a pack of 4 unwaxed lemons and 2 grapefruit. Grate the peel off the fruit, soften in a little water either in a pan or in a Pyrex bowl in the mircowave (cover with clingfilm allowing a little space for steam to escape). Cut the fruit up, add it to the peel (peel takes longer to soften). Cook the whole lot. Pass it through the blender (takes 1 second!) Reheat then add 1 kg warmed sugar. Boil until it sets - you test by putting a spoonful on a cold saucer and if it goes crinkly it will set. Put into warmed jars - you need about 4.

A bit of trial and error is needed to get it right. But at least you know that all you're eating is fruit, sugar and water - not gelling agent, not preservatives, not colouring etc etc.

Best wishes

Aunty Margaret

margaretclare

16011996 wrote:

...also some ideas on decluttering, which I have decided I must get around to doing. tried this weekend, but is so hard to decide what I get rid of, what I keep etc, just ended up in a soggy mess on the floor. if anyone has any advice for sorting a loved ones things i'd really appreciate it, cos thelonger I leave it the harder it gets, but it was never going to be easy if you know what I mean.

My sympathies. I was widowed in 1992 and redundant at the same time from my job as a senior midwife in the NHS. My younger daughter died at end of 2002. Been there, as they say...

I went through a period when I 'had to keep things as they were', a sort of feeling that the deceased person might come back and say 'why have you moved all my things?' My late husband had a lot of little lorries and cars etc all displayed on shelves...I used to think I must keep them just as they were, and then I changed completely and couldn't bear having them around...wrapped them all separately and got them put into the loft, out of sight. Even then I couldn't get rid completely...eventually we got them out again, listed them and took them to Phillips auctioneers. These things had been bought by him partly as a hobby and partly as an 'investment', in fact because he'd repainted a lot of them they weren't worth as much as if he'd left them alone!

When my daughter died her husband gave me her car. He couldn't bear seeing it parked where they lived - he used to see it and think 'oh, Liz is home'. I had the feeling I was looking after it for her and was happy for it to be here. After a while I began to think like her husband! And we sold it. I couldn't really justify the cost of running it as well as our other one (we're pensioners) and she was a great MSE herself - I'm sure she'd have approved.

The mind plays funny tricks on you. My son-in-law actually recorded a prgramme for Liz - he said she'd want to see it, this was a few weeks after she died!

Some people feel they've gotta get rid of everything immediately or they can't do it. Others can't bear to. Sooner or later the time will feel right. If it's just clothes etc then just shut the wardrobe door on them. As long as they're not actually 'in your face' then they don't upset you. It's all the other things that are most difficult - hobbies etc.

With sympathy

Aunty Margaret

16011996

its nice to see this thread pop up again. i'm glad it still helps people as much as it helps me, i still have it bookmared and take time to read up on things i may have dropped doing from time to time.
lifes never simple, but we seem to have come a very long way from the first post on here,

love

160.

jo_b_2

16011996 wrote:

its nice to see this thread pop up again. i'm glad it still helps people as much as it helps me, i still have it bookmared and take time to read up on things i may have dropped doing from time to time.
lifes never simple, but we seem to have come a very long way from the first post on here,

love

160.

Nice to see that you're still around, 160. Hope you and your family are all well.

I also like coming back to this thread. It is nice to have a collection of useful budgeting suggestions and ideas to refer back to.

Take care. Jo.

rubytuesday

deronda wrote:

My children are not old enough to mind if there clothes are second hand or not. I have bought alot of stuff from charity shops. With the fashions at the moment you may find your children like what they find in the charity shops!

There are shops that also do second hand things for school uniforms. This is particularly useful if your school insists on blazers etc.

I don't know if you have a Peacocks nearby but there clothes are very cheap. My stepdaughter who is a teenager loves the clothes in there. Depending on how old your children are and how tall etc I have noticed that in New Look it is cheaper to buy children t-shirts, vest tops, jumpers etc in the adult section than in the childrens one.

Do you have a local weekly market as some of the clothes on the stalls there are very cheap too.

Try Primark too its even cheaper than Peacocks and brillant for staples -knickers socks etc.

rubytuesday

deronda wrote:

My children are not old enough to mind if there clothes are second hand or not. I have bought alot of stuff from charity shops. With the fashions at the moment you may find your children like what they find in the charity shops!

There are shops that also do second hand things for school uniforms. This is particularly useful if your school insists on blazers etc.

I don't know if you have a Peacocks nearby but there clothes are very cheap. My stepdaughter who is a teenager loves the clothes in there. Depending on how old your children are and how tall etc I have noticed that in New Look it is cheaper to buy children t-shirts, vest tops, jumpers etc in the adult section than in the childrens one.

Do you have a local weekly market as some of the clothes on the stalls there are very cheap too.

Try Primark too its even cheaper than Peacocks and brillant for staples -knickers socks etc.

rubytuesday

deronda wrote:

My children are not old enough to mind if there clothes are second hand or not. I have bought alot of stuff from charity shops. With the fashions at the moment you may find your children like what they find in the charity shops!

There are shops that also do second hand things for school uniforms. This is particularly useful if your school insists on blazers etc.

I don't know if you have a Peacocks nearby but there clothes are very cheap. My stepdaughter who is a teenager loves the clothes in there. Depending on how old your children are and how tall etc I have noticed that in New Look it is cheaper to buy children t-shirts, vest tops, jumpers etc in the adult section than in the childrens one.

Do you have a local weekly market as some of the clothes on the stalls there are very cheap too.

Try Primark too its even cheaper than Peacocks and brillant for staples -knickers socks etc.

rubytuesday

Try switching to dark chocolate you still get a sweet fix but tend to want less.

16011996

or keep it in the freezer as it takes longer to eat, so you don't eat as much either.

Savvy_Sue

I am also delighted to see you back again, 160, I wondered how you were doing when I saw this thread reappear. Glad things are moving on for you, still hard I'm sure, but love to you and your family.