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

silvermaid

Miserable grey and cool here today and storms are forecast.
The salad leaves are growing fantastically.
The cucmbers are so sweet - almost like melon.
The potatoes are flowering so we will be able to harvest very soon:)
The tomatoes have flowers and are beginning to set:)
I love being able to put freshly collected veg on the table:)

Hippeechiq - thanks for the recipe for chana masala, I shall be trying that

ceridwen

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

TOFU and SOYA products...need advice please!

I read that Tofu and Soya products are really good for you...then I read they aren't (for the same reasons!!).

Then I read that they're mostly GM...then I read that they're not.


Please help! I want to go veggie/pescetarian, and would like to try tofu and soya, but if it's processed carp (like qu0rn) or GM then I don't want to touch it!

My understanding is that its basically the older books that state that soya products are good for you. These days - one can take it as read that soya beans are g*netically-m*dified unless they are organic. There is some level of risk (not sure how high) that organic soya beans might have been contamined by their g.m. non-organic counterparts.

Tofu - think its good for peeps in those nations that "naturally" eat it (ie the Japanese) because they prepare it in a very different way to what we do in the West (cant remember the details - might be something to do with it being fermented??).

So - my guess (and 'tis only a guess mark you) is that if one can get non-contaminated soya beans on the one hand and organic made-the-way-they-do (or make your own) tofu on the other hand then it would be downright healthy.

We have to work out our own "way through the maze" in the West these days as to how to get the health benefits of these things - without taking on board the Western downsides...

FWIW - thats how I've read the various conflicting info......:cool:

It IS difficult to ensure a healthy food supply for oneself:(. I know I would be pescatarian by choice (rather than vegetarian) actually - but I know what those seas are like that the fish are swimming round in these days:eek:. Thinks - I need a personal Tardis - and make a day out of going back say 100 years..catch my own fish from the cleaner seas of that era and then come back to 21st century:cool: to cook it......:rotfl:. Mind you...I need my own Tardis anyway - so I can go back through time to have plenty of countryside to walk in/fresh air to breathe and no risk of any car or plane noise...:(:rotfl:
(Must admit that the reason I think "Well - I guess its better overall living in the 20th/21st Century is the much greater degree of financial security than most people had in previous centuries" - but, with that being so threatened these days, then hmmmmm.......).

ceridwen

Very quick little money query - I'm having a paper blitz.

So - I know I need to keep old bank statements (6 years I think?).

What about old credit card statements? I have always paid up promptly each month when I've had a month in which I've used my credit card - so assume I only ever have to keep the last one? Does anyone know if there's some reason to keep ones older than that?

GreyQueen

ceridwen wrote: »

Very quick little money query - I'm having a paper blitz.

So - I know I need to keep old bank statements (6 years I think?).

What about old credit card statements? I have always paid up promptly each month when I've had a month in which I've used my credit card - so assume I only ever have to keep the last one? Does anyone know if there's some reason to keep ones older than that?

Morning Ceridwen, I think the rule of 6 yrs is good for bank statements but I wonder if your credit card purchases include things which might havea warranty and if it would perhaps be useful, if so, to keep them for the life of the item? THere'salso the option of digitizing them, as much favoured by the minimalists. Do you have a scanner? Otherwide I'd go with a couple of years.

I've had a couple of times in my life where I've had the upper hand because I'd kept the paperwork. I guess if the purchases represent chattels still on the premises, you could file the relevent card statement with the item? Might be useful to file off-site if you ever suffered catastrophic loss of yuor home i.e. massive fire, to prove you once owned X, Y or Z item for proof of loss.

Anyway, going to visit my Nan today and will do a Big Mr T shop on the way home; hoping for whoopsies and bargains.

Have a good day, all.

greenbee

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

TOFU and SOYA products...need advice please!

I read that Tofu and Soya products are really good for you...then I read they aren't (for the same reasons!!).

Then I read that they're mostly GM...then I read that they're not.


Please help! I want to go veggie/pescetarian, and would like to try tofu and soya, but if it's processed carp (like qu0rn) or GM then I don't want to touch it!

Best bet is to buy organic tofu (I prefer silken tofu for cooking and love the flavoured and smoked for salads). However, if you're going to eat significant amounts of it either eat with seaweed as the Japanese do, or take an iodine supplement. A friend who is a nutritionist says that she recommends it for all her female clients who complain about their busts being too small :cool:

LittleBrownFrog

Re. composting knickers ...
I often joke that our re-usable nappies are in fact more 'disposable' than most disposables - when we had dd1 we started out with some new prefolds (most of which are still being used as floorcloths) and some ancient (they were second hand when my mum was expecting me, then they did me & my two siblings) terry squares. Many of the old terries are still going strong (baby number 4 is just out of nappies in the day time now) - those that didn't last the distance have all been composted.

We also use a wooly jumper blanket for our wormery - and I've used them in the past to line hanging baskets and other containers.

I've composted other fabric as well - you often end up with random threads of the uncompostable stuff, but it's no problem to fish those bits out. Not sure I've composted knickers, but I also can't remember the last time I threw any out:rotfl:

hex2

Thanks for all the egg suggestions, gained four this morning, used seven for scrambled eggs for breakfast. I have six hens, two are old and don't produce many but we average four eggs a day. The rack only holds 12. It sounds like one of those maths problems doesn't it?

Planning on doing some baking today, I also have a stockpile of plums that need using so I may make plum chutney as we are on the last jar now. I am off for half term so can do some freezer filling this week. We have both had heavy colds so things just havent been used up from the F&V box.

Silvermaid, your list made me smile. No flowers on any of my veg yet but things are growing well, especially the weeds.

Softstuff

I've joked with my husband that I'd like a sign to go on our wall, one like those that they have in factories: "It has been X days since our last incident". This is because we don't seem to be able to go a week without some drama or another.

Today we were scheduled to go to lunch at my in laws new home to celebrate their move, so we picked up my grandparents in law on the way and off we went. When we arrived there was no sign of the in laws, so we sat ourselves down on the deck and waited. They arrived, but only briefly, to pick up some things before taking MIL to hospital. They'd been to the docs and he suspected appendicitis.

Latest news is after further investigation they think it's an infection and are treating her for that. Very relieved she's home and OK. Especially given I fly on Wednesday and wouldn't want to leave otherwise.

On the selfish side, I was really quite looking forward to a few glasses of bubbly, a few laughs and no stress today, given I've been pretty upset recently with my friend and all. As it is, I'm just pooped.

lora

redlady_1 wrote: »

Er, that be me then!! My mum, who works in an optician, keeps telling me to go but I just dont get round to it.

I am really pleased there has been an improvement for you. Time to celebrate me thinks. And anything that helps, proven or otherwise, has to be good. x

Sadly, as a result of a routine eye test, my brother discovered he had a malignant brain tumour.:(

RAS

scuzz wrote: »

I heard on the radio last night that you can put your cotton panties and socks on the compost heap. He was a gardening expert. He did also suggest another waste product, but I won't go down that road - might be a wee bit embrassing.

Defo add Human Liquid Activator to the compost bin. Wool takes for ever but does eventually compost down. With cotton smalls, you need to pick the knicker elastic out when you unload the compost bin.