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

Rowan9

mardatha wrote: »

18C here are and blowing a gale !

It's been hot today in Edinburgh and I'm looking out at the park just now and see 2 barbies going. You are too far south mardatha!

westcoast - sorry you have bad weather. We need some sun for a few days to cheer us up rather than just one day here and there.

Just reheated yesterday's minestrone for my tea and added pasta as it was pasta-less minstrone yesterday. Had that with grated cheese and then some whoopsied quiche from freezer, cold rice from couple days ago and some lovely sprouting alfafa and broccoli (how on earth do you sprout broccoli seeds? I suppose the same as the rest). Must start doing my own sprouting stuff as I have loads of pulses.

Yes to can you freeze cooked chicken breast. I'm sure it's ok if you cook it isn't it folks? Would hate to have given peeps wrong info but i think you can freeze meat then defrost, cook then freeze as it is now cooked.

Interesting reading up on the weather + energy. I get headaches with thundery weather and they are few and far between since I left Suffolk. But lately I've had such low feelings. Muggy, foggy brain, tired. hhhmmm.
w

ps thanks for the reminder westlothianlass - candle lit here too. Take care all.

7_week_wonder

So much interesting information is posted here I can hardly keep up!

Kittie that is really interesting about the solar flares and stuff: I must have a more detailed read. It might also explain why I've been feeling very out of sorts recently.

Smileyt I reckon there is quite a lot to the phases of the moon and gardening. After all, tides are all down to the moon so it makes sense that the water table would be at different levels depending on the phases of the moon plus other stuff we don't know about (well at least I think it does!)

GreyQueen porridge oats are my favourite breakfast: although in the summer I don't heat them up, I just soak them overmight (either in half and half milk and water, or some fruit juice) with some dried fruit as well and I love it (I think the posh name might be Bircher muesli).

There's been alot of chat about Weezl's menu planner here - if you haven't tried her nut butters then give them a go. They are fantastic and (if you use value peanuts) pretty cheap. I've just made a batch of peanut, sunflower and pumpkin seed butter for my sandwiches this week and it is yummy.

I definitely need your suggestions: what are your top 6 herbs got growing in the garden? Mainly for cooking, but any suggestions for home-made bath goodies, etc would also be good.

westlothianlass

7weekwonder my top 6 would be:
Oregano - Cooking
Chives - Cooking
Parsley - Cooking
Mint of some kind - Cooking and tea
lemon balm - I only use it for tea at mo but believe its got lots more uses
Thyme - Cooking

I also have growing at the moment bay, borage and chervil (not sure if its a herb or more of a saladish leaf).:)
hth

Frugalista

SDG31000 wrote: »

Just de-lurking to suggest a hand operated washing machine to Reverbe. I know it doesn't spin the clothes, but might be a way of getting lighter things washed quickly, and if your flat is so warm, I sure things will dry on an airer.
http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/acatalog/Wonder_Wash_Manual_Washing_Machine_.html
Hope that is a useful suggestion

LOL!!! :rotfl::rotfl:. Talk about a blast from the past - I still have one of those (somewhere) from when we got married in 1979 :o.

annie123

Frugalista wrote: »

LOL!!! :rotfl::rotfl:. Talk about a blast from the past - I still have one of those (somewhere) from when we got married in 1979 :o.

I had one too. I was given one to help with washing my new little ones nappies as I had to use the launderette.
Nice idea.....didn't work for nappies, stuck to soaking them in a bucket.

jackel

IOLWE said prayer for you and your relative in Church this evening x

smileyt_2

ceridwen wrote: »

1. Re sugar-free jam - i regularly "buy" some through the Lets Scheme - but havent been able to coax the basic method out of the person concerned. I've done a lot of Internet searching looking for "how to". What I have come up with to date is - wait for it...yet another book I bought for my "reference library":

"The super jam cookbook" by Fraser Doherty

This guy has figured out some methods of doing jam without the sugar..

Thanks for this, Ceridwen - I have just reserved it from the library :T

Off to walk the dogs and maybe go on the allotment - hopefully it is cooler outside now.

jamanda

GreyQueen wrote: »

Anyone tried growing these new Sarpo varieties which are supposed to be blight-proof?

Don't know yet if anyone has answered you - I'm desperately trying to catch up after a week away.

We tried Sarpo Mira last year. No blight, but then blight didn't seem so prevalent last year around here.

Spuds grew OK, but we didn't like the flavour. We've gone back to Kestrel this year.

Back to catching up now!

Edit - caught up! By heck, you lot do rattle.

Best wishes to those who are suffering (Sorry, can't remember who was worried about what having read umpteen pages, but was upset for them when I read the posts).

scottishminnie

Well the good weather didn't extend to the central belt today so we had another miserable but muggy day. No gardening unfortunately so I retreated to the kitchen like I do when the weather is pants.
I made some little buttery biscuits, a key lime pie and some twinks hob nobs. None of them will last very long but they are all really tasty!

I made my own caster sugar too - thanks to those who suggested it. I did think I had overdone the grinding though when there was a large cloud of what looked like icing sugar however it came good in the end so I'm happy with how it worked out.

Just looked outside and it's pouring again - I'm tempted to defrost soup for tomorrow night. I have some burgers in the freezer too - I don't think I should wait for barbeque weather, I'll just cook them indoors and pretend it's summer:D

I've been wondering - for those that have allotments - do you ever have any trouble with others stealing your things? I passed some allotments yesterday which were all unattended and suddenly wondered how secure they were?

I'm off to water my tomatoes - they are so thirsty. Then I'm going to check how I should be nipping them - my mother says if I don't I won't get any fruit so better learn how and fast I think.

Oh and another question - is making jam in the microwave really as good as the old fashioned way?

v8monkeyboy

It's been so hot here today - when we walked the dogs at 10am it was already 27 degrees and when I dropped the OH at Manchester airport this afternoon it was 29.5 degees :eek:

For the first time, this year our fruit plants have given us fruit - and the blasted birds are eating them!!! :mad: I've been out today and bought some netting which is now draped/stretched across them so hopefully it'll put them off.

Am hoping to make strawberry and elderflower jam later when it's cooled down; I walked the dogs to collect the last elderflowers about 6.30 this evening and it was still hideously hot. It's cooling now, but not noticeably. Am thinking I might just bottle the elderflower cordial tonight, then get up at 6am tomorrow and make jam...

I also feel sorry for the people who are struggling at the moment. We were in the same position last year and thanks to this site and in particular the OS forum we made it through and managed to save enough for the really hard times over winter and Christmas. We're lucky in that the OH has started a business with his friend which is seeming to work well and I've just been offered a job for more money and closer to home. I still volunteer for two service charities and some of the things I see are shocking to say the least - how people are expected to manage on the money they receive from benefits is beyond me.

T x