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

GreyQueen

Greetings from the dark side, where the sun is shining and I am tired enough to go back to sleep again (ME is such a boring illness, I swear the reason I can pass for 5-10 years less than my chronological age is that I spend so much time asleep....:rotfl:)

Mardatha I'm sorry to hear that your son is finding his second foot surgery harder than the first. My friend and neighbour SuperGran, was a nurse for her whole career and a theatre sister for most of the time, and has told me a lot about how people react to a general anaesthesia (I'm assuming his surgery was under a general not a local)?

Anyway, SG says that most people don't realise what a burden it is to recuperate from the anaesthesia alone, never mind healing what was done under its influence. It can easily take several weeks to recuperate from the anaesthesia and some people suffer very low mood during the process. It may be that, having had 2 lots of surgery, your son is going to take longer to bounce back the second time. Of course, if he has concerns, he should talk to his doctors.

((hugs)) and best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

Ceridwen, could I pick your brains about freezing fruit, please, as you mentioned just now that you freeze a glut which you otherwise couldn't get thru?

I have just cleared the Satsuma Backlog from my last mega-hit with the Magic Greengrocer, and will be down there after work. The fruit is discounted because it's just ripe and sometimes I struggle to get thru it all and (:o) there may be a small amount of waste.

What I'm wondering about is, are there fruits which you can just peel, chop, bag and freeze which defrost OK, or are there things which won't come back from this in a usable condition? I'm a relatively recent freezer owner and there's still plenty I need to learn. All tips gratefully recieved.

Softstuff, loved the concept of themed discount months, grimacing at the idea of a lot of cheapy cabbages....not my fave veg.

Last night was another thrifty supper, with steamed veg (whoopsied carrots which had been cut into discs, blanched and frozen), with fresh peas from the lottie plus a leftover portion of curry and rice above them in the bain marie part of my stacking stainless steel pan. Missed the trick of boiling eggs in the bottom, so have wasted energy...bad! bad!

I have just extracted a 4 inch diameter h.m toad-in-the hole from said freezer and will have that tonight, with the remainder of those carrots, as I want to free up space to put in more beans and peas. Will be having a major pick and blanch session tonight and for each of the next several nights.

I've often thought that our foremothers invented technology, for the purposes of harvesting and storing food, since it's a rare climate where you can forage/ hunt 365 days a year. I'm grinning at my fat hen on the lottie, my most successful weed, and recalling how it was cultivated in neolithic times as a food crop.

According to the museum, what is now my lottie site was farmsteads in early neolothic times and the place is heaving with knapped flints; can pick them up any day. I love history and if I was in better health would like to volunteer on archaeological digs, but that's not going to be feasible.

Anyway, enough drivel, (hugs to everyone who wants one) and I hope a bargainous and productive day happens for all.

PS had a pick up from a Freecycler so that's one less thing on the premise....yayyyy!!

EDIT mrswive, your post appeared whilst I was typing mine. Re the extra bit of garden, I think it's a great idea and very fashion-forward, to cultivate veggies in non-traditonal ways and....whisper it..... in plain view. I've heard that hedges create an area of thirsty and nutrient-depleted soil beside them which extends sideways for the same width as their height. Eg, a 2m hedge will probably have a 2m strip of less-productive and drier ground alongside it. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go. Perhaps if you're going to sow things in rows, you'd want to have them end-on to the hedge rather than parallel, so that if the crops were poor on that part of the garden fewer plants would be affected? Also, my rellies who are pro gardeners reckon leylandii and similar acidify the soil, so it might depend on what the hedge is made of? Good luck with it anyway and please post about how it goes.

Reverbe

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

Ceridwen - it's one of those "you needed to have seen it from day one things"

I disagree. I havent seen Torchwood before but have seen Dr Who when Capt Jack was in it. As John Barrowman himself said in an interview I saw on tv the other day you dont need to have seen it before as it all gets explained to the new characters anyway. Basically all you need to know is the basic plot and that Jack was immortal but hes not now...

I really enjoyed it and look forward to catching up on dvd if I can..

Softstuff

GreyQueen wrote: »

Softstuff, loved the concept of themed discount months, grimacing at the idea of a lot of cheapy cabbages....not my fave veg.

A notable cabbage find during cheapy cabbage month was one that was larger than a football for 40p. I gave half to next door (they didn't thank me for that later), and then proceeded to do as much with it as I could. I even surprised myself how many things I could put cabbage in. It still took over 2 weeks to eat though. Funny thing with cabbage, it seems to freeze fine just raw as is, and defrosts looking not much worse for wear. So now I tend to do that. Less damage to the ozone layer then.

Last nights brief trip to the supermarket resulted in a 2kg bag of mashing potatoes for 55p. Given that this was on top of 2 other reduced bags of potatoes currently residing in a pillowcase in my fridge (this extends their life considerably), I decided I'd do as suggested and mash em. Peeling, cooking and mashing 2kg of potatoes at once is quite something. So I've a mash mountain in the freezer now.

Sorry to hear your son hasn't bounced back as well this time Mardatha. Hopefully all will be well soon, so sending good thoughts for him. I dread any future anaesthetic I have, they always tend to give me too much, and struggle to bring me round then have to deal with the after effects. Guess I'm just naturally dopey. Glad to hear your items sold quick. When you say you'll spend the money on stuff you want more, have you told the local sweetie shop to stock up or are you going to catch them unawares?

elona

Grey queen

I think DH is unconsciously already doing the food growing in plain sight. He has put a couple of large plant pots outside the front door and I think the "plant" is actually potatoes.

He is still tickled pink to have a garden after all the years in an Edwardian town house with only a courtyard. Thanks for the information elsewhere about "Henry" vacs - my Sebo is now falling to bits and even my 17 year old is finding it too heavy to lift so am working on DH to replace it with Henry as it could be more efficient, lighter and cheaper.

We have the house to ourselves for the first time in over a week so celebrated by making a frittata for brekkie once dds have gone to work, school, work etc.

Having a cup (er pot) of tea while plug unblocker is doing its stuff in our shower and browsing on here. Quite disappointed no one has noticed how much better the study looks after all the work I did yesterday. Hoping I can start sorting and clearing out the filing cabinet so a four drawer horrible thing that will not shut and gets jammed can be replaced with a three ( or even two) drawer nicer looking one.

We have odd bits and bobs in the fridge so using up home made lasagne (me) and yellow sole with salad or coleslaw (DH) for lunch.
Might make sweet potato burgers for tonight or a veggie cous cous using up the veg we already have.

For anyone not keen on cabbage - if you cook it lightly with some very finely chopped onion and some apple , then toss in butter - it is not bad at all.

gentle hug to all who could use one.

redlady_1

I had an experiment of lentil croquettes last night. Not bad actually except they didnt stay croquette shaped! The OH loved them and I just served them with boiled ham and an egg. But...

in the night I work up and it felt as if I was going to throw up. I would lie down and it would be like acid rising in my mouth. I have got this before but cant work out whether it is related to stress or food but all I know is I was awake from 2.30 until about 5 and up at 6.30 and am bloody shattered!!!

Mardartha, threaten to feed him kale! Fingers crossed things improve quickly x

lizzyb1812

Elona - thanks for the popcorn suggestion - I haven't had it for ages. In very non MS fashion I started surfing for electric popcorn makers :eek: but soon realised the error of my ways and will buy a bag of popping corn. :rotfl:

Softstuff here is the link to Rick Stein's Patatas Bravas - not "brave" potatoes but "fiery"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/patatas_bravas_72566

Right, best get on with "stuff" - it looks like today will be fine and the next few days wet so I need to get on with outside jobs today.

Have a good day

Lizzy

GreyQueen

elona wrote: »

Grey queen

I think DH is unconsciously already doing the food growing in plain sight. He has put a couple of large plant pots outside the front door and I think the "plant" is actually potatoes.

He is still tickled pink to have a garden after all the years in an Edwardian town house with only a courtyard. Thanks for the information elsewhere about "Henry" vacs - my Sebo is now falling to bits and even my 17 year old is finding it too heavy to lift so am working on DH to replace it with Henry as it could be more efficient, lighter and cheaper.

.

Hi elona, I'm a raving Henry vacuum fan. About 15 years ago I persuaded Mum to get one when her old cylinder vac gave up the ghost. My reasoning was this; every time you see office cleaners or even the guy servicing your c.h. what are they using? Exactly. This told me that Henrys are reliable and not over-priced. Plus, they very rarely need to advertise them, despite their ubiquity; they sell on reputation.

So Mum got hers, then I got mine about 10 years ago, then Auntie M got one and then Nan; 3 yellows and one red, we should have a party and get them all together......:rotfl:

Earlier this year I went over to Mum and Dad's for a visit and saw that their Henry had been demoted to the hall. Barely looking a day older than when it was bought, it had died on them and was awaiting transportation to the recycling area at the tip.

Mum said it cut out, she'd replaced the fuse in the plug and still no go so she figured the motor had had it and as it was so old......I begged her to not take it away until I'd bought a new packet of fuses as she'd been using ones from the cupboard. Needless to say, GQ was right and a fresh 13 amp saved the day.

Henry vacs are so simple, they have the black hat bit with the handle which holds the motor, which clips onto the coloured tub with the face. Between them is a cloth filter stretched across a frame which just drops into the tub and is held with a rubber ring. The bag is underneath.

Mum's vac had a very grubby filter, which I what I think caused the motor to overheat and blew the fuse, so I shook some dust out then washed it in a sink full of warm water and washing machine powder, rinsed and allowed to air dry. Then I put the "tub" part into the sink and cleaned it with cream cleanser. The tub part is just a plastic bucket on casters btw no electricals or I wouldn't have had it in the water.

By the time Mum and Dad came back from helping Nan for the day I'd revived Henry and he was as good as new. Boy, was I popular!

(Don't have any stake in Numatic, the company who manufacture Henry vacs, btw but I just like them a lot, with their funny faces).

culpepper

Just wanted to pop in and comment ..
Re freezing of fruit
Most fruit seem to get squashier if frozen.
We have strawberries,blackberries,blackcurrants,redcurrants,rhubarb and raspberries in the freezer.
The blackberries are from last year.
They all become much more like tinned fruit in consistency.
I also have about 8 seville oranges and a lemon waiting in there for my next marmalade batch.
Those last get juiced (easier to get the pips out in the juice catching thing on the processor)and the complete fruit remains are chopped in the processor which is much easier than slicing it all with a knife. The citrus rinds remain rind like after freezing , so are fine for marmalade.
I have frozen Pineapple from the tin which looks just the same when you defrost it.
Apples again are more like tinned once thawed even if you freeze them whole.
Sliced bananas become very pulpy. Haven't tried to freeze them whole.
If you freeze anything with a little leafy collar like strawbs ,you need to take that off first or it is a messy job once they are defrosting. Same with those little stalky bits on currants.

Larumbelle

Hi all! I've been reading but not posting the last day or two, things are a little hectic here. I'm still battling with work for anything more than SSP while I was off. It looks like they're not going to play ball at all - I've even asked if I can cash some holiday in. But it looks like no. Naturally OH has decided the best way to deal with this is to get in a giant strop with me, because naturally everything is my fault. I am very stressed and a bit pee'd off. I know we're not married but after 12 years together you would hope you could rely on them for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health. If you can't then honestly, what's the point of anything?

Maybe he's just a little stressed too, and is taking it out on me. But even if so, I'm still not impressed. I feel badly let down. It's times like this I question the point of this relationship. I should know better than to rely on anyone else anyway.

Anyway ignore me I'm just in a bad mood.

Looks like it will rain on St Swithin's Day, too. Rats.

Softstuff

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

Softstuff here is the link to Rick Stein's Patatas Bravas - not "brave" potatoes but "fiery"

Thanks for that, it might be just the thing for the weekend. Quite fancying a bit of tapas.