As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

redlady_1

One of the girls at work has lost 6 stone on SW. Sometimes you just need to do what is right for you.

Well, the mystery has been solved. I worked out it must have been a bloke as there wasnt a card. I then narrowed it down to two possibilities. I have a friend who works abroad and is rather wealthy, in fact scarily so. He is however, very normal and loves to cook and grow veg etc when back in the country, a proper down to earth bloke. For him £100 is like £1 for the rest of us. I must have said I was going to save up and treat myself to one as it turns out its from him. He just said "enjoy it" and so that is what I will do!!! When I told my OH he just said "well at least I dont have to buy you one now!" Typcial bloke reaction!!!! I am what is known as a very bloody lucky Redlady.

Tonight I am off over to his nibs with the Fat Knacker and the Old Blind Boy. He is getting really wheezy and we dont think it will be long now. FK will really miss him when he goes and somehow I think the OH will miss him too!

But guess what I am going to be doing at the weekend???

silvermaid

GQ - I would have thought everyone reading would have known it was a light-hearted comment. I think many people appreciate some humour in these days of spending more on car fuel than people fuel We ourselves are not in that situation at the moment luckily, but my heart goes out to those who are x

Hippeechiq

silvermaid wrote: »

Hi Hippeechiq,
We grow about 30 tomato plants here. There are just the two of us a lot of the time. DD1, DSIL and 3DGSs join us for meals Sat, Sun and Tues as well as occasional Fridays etc. DD2 is here in the uni holidays.
We use the tomatoes fresh in salads and side salads. Also use them sliced for snacks such as added to grilled cheese on toast.
Obviously we have surplus. This is deliberate. We give them a quick wash, whizz in the food processor and then simmer in a big pot to reduce volume by half. Leave this to cool, then place in containers and freeze. The frozen toms are then used in recipes in place of tinned tomatoes. Also add onions and chilli to make salsa for Fajitas and Nachos.
This kept us going for most of the winter. Have had to buy tinned toms for the past couple of months.
Hope that helps x

Indeed it does - that's fab thanks silvermaid :T

GreyQueen wrote: »

Which stores have them on offer at 4 for £1 please?

I'd like to know the answer to that question too. I'm nowhere near a H0me Bargains, FF or C0scto, so I was buying Trat0rria tinned toms from Te$co for 33p per tin. Lovely quality tomatoes in a nice thick rich sauce, but Te$co have now stopped stocking them.
I refuse to pay 59p for their standard chopped toms and their value ones are very watery, as are L!dls (IMHO), so I'm also on the hunt for decently priced, decent quality tinned tomatoes....if such a thing exists anymore.

Redlady - Happy Birthday hun. What a fab start you had to it....a present you're clearly thrilled with and a mystery to boot!
cranky - Well done on the weight loss :T I hope you get your 2 stone sticker on Thursday

Down south we've not so much had a sniff of rain, and we badly need some. I think the whole country badly needs a good hefty dose, and I for one am hoping we get it soon, because the repercussions for this spell of dry weather when crops are trying to grow will hit our purses hard later in the year.

jamanda

Del Monte tomatoes 4 pack for £1 at Home Bargains if anyone is close to one. Just got back.


Edit - 99p actually

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

grandma247 wrote: »

I bought my dehydrators from here (scroll down to the last one). I got one then a few months later bought another and I just used the trays from it to make it ten tray instead of five and have a spare motor and bottom tray. You have to "babysit" it because you have to rotate the trays every so often to even out the drying but I find it is a small price to pay for being able to dehydrate now rather than wait till I could afford a better one.
I love dehydrated winter squash and sweet potatoes in stews.

Thanks for this!:j

Does it cost much to run? How long does it take to dry food? And can you dry tomatoes in it?

RAS

Well, four hours drying time is one kilowatt hours, so that costs however much you pay for one unit of electricity.
Seems a very good price for the unit.

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

RAS wrote: »

Well, four hours drying time is one kilowatt hours, so that costs however much you pay for one unit of electricity.
Seems a very good price for the unit.

Thanks for that - I've only just sort of learned how the leccy units work in money terms so I *think* it will be about 13p. I think. If this is correct, then that's an excellent price. (compared to drying clothes in a machine, which used to cost me over £1 for about an hour!:mad: )

CRANKY40

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I think the whole country badly needs a good hefty dose, and I for one am hoping we get it soon, because the repercussions for this spell of dry weather when crops are trying to grow will hit our purses hard later in the year.

No trust me, we've had ours. The house elf looked out of the window in disgust this morning and said "Mum, it's rained since April". There haven't been many days without some rain so far. The forecast for the weekend is dry, but more rain at the beginning of next week.....

smileyt_2

It rained all day here yesterday in the North West and was raining this morning too. In fact it's rained every day for about the last 10 days. Fine at the moment though. I have tried shouting at the clouds to tell them to go south and east but they're not listening! Since it started raining I have collected nearly 150 litres of rainwater in my previously empty waterbutt.

kidcat, littlecal, cranky40 so glad you are amused by my naughty dog and my poorly foot (:rotfl:). Bruno is a black labrador crossed with a staffie so he is a strong boy but oh my goodness he has no concept that humans are squidgy things which bruise easily! When he dragged me up the road on my bum he literally did just that - he was chasing a motorbike, caught me off balance, down I went still clinging to his lead for dear life, and off he went galloping as hard as he could with me on my backside behind him, yes with my legs sticking up in the air. When he finally ground to a halt I picked myself up and could see the drivers on the opposite side of the road (all lined up in a traffic jam because it was rush hour) laughing their heads off and very appreciative of some early morning entertainment :rotfl:He was very young then, though. I have since trained him to look at me for a treat whenever we see a motorbike!

In his defence I have to say that he has gorgeously silky ears which are a pleasure to stroke and kiss, and he appreciates a lovely cuddle. That's how he earns his keep!

I put some arnica gel on my foot last night (I had a free sample sachet, very MSE!) and it has done wonders. I am amazed. I will definitely be on the look out for more. So although still hobbling a bit, I can do more than I thought I would be able to today, so I'd better stop chatting on here and get on with something useful!!

Redlady, happy birthday and enjoy your Kenwood chef! I like to make soup in my food processor. In fact last night I was dreaming that I was making soup out of fridge leftovers :rotfl: there is no hope for me!!

ginnyknit

Having met you smileyt the image is so vivid, such a tiny person behind a strong boy like Bruno! have you thought of building a little cart for him to pull you along in, would be great for shopping if you could get him to stop once he gets going! I would need a team of huskys! Now Im thinking would that be cheaper than petrol??

As for 'we are all in this together' I doubt that the powers that be have to think twice before using their gas guzzling cars. I hear many people on here working out how they can do without their cars. When we are doing things like GQ- carrying bath water to the allotment, working out how to do without tinned tomatoes and sending beautiful little gifts to raise peoples spirits I think its fairly obvious that the only people who are in this together are the members of MSE :mad:

Right am off to plant more toms in the mud bath that is my garden - do you think my meeces will have little ladders to nick the peas when they grow? they have already nibbled Oh's radishes:o