Where do we go from basics?

kirsty822001

[
anyway, my tip is, although it's not quite so easy these days, is to weigh stuff in the supermarket - that includes meat etc as well as bags of veg! even if packs say 400g for example, that is a minimum - i generally hand-weigh a few items to choose the 'heavier' ones and then weigh them using the fruit n veg scales [/QUOTE]

:DI do this weighing by hand too!! I had a woman tutting and then telling me 'they are all the same' when I was trying to find the heaviest' pack of chicken,,I smiled and ignored her then weighed 3 on the fruit scales, then I bought the one that was heavier! they are definitely NOT all the same ;-)

mardatha

hi Silverleaf. Am interested in your haircare - would like to know more. And my OH was a PITA re hens but I created until I got them and he now admits they are no bother at all. And I have a fridge full of lovely yellow free eggs.

alec_eiffel

ceridwen wrote: »

That just had me googling for images of japonica plants - and promptly getting rather confused, as I came up with images of plants that looked very different to each other and none of them with any fruits on.

Errr...have you got a photo or link to an image of the one concerned purlease?:)

Hi,

The japonica is very probably a japonica quince, we have two and they produce loads of fruit.

firesidemaid

[QUOTE=kirsty822001;43910304
:DI do this weighing by hand too!! I had a woman tutting and then telling me 'they are all the same' when I was trying to find the heaviest' pack of chicken,,I smiled and ignored her then weighed 3 on the fruit scales, then I bought the one that was heavier! they are definitely NOT all the same ;-)[/QUOTE]

i'm glad it's not just me then;)

there used to be a massive difference between some packs, but during these leaner times, even the manufacturers are having to watch their waste!

i get funny looks when weighing packs of chicken on the fruit and veg scales lol! every little helps:D

i also do this (by hand/gentle feel) with multipacks of crisps and bags of treat-size choc bars - i get sooooo excited when i get home and check and find i have extra packs/bars:o

curriej99

Stop procreating.

mama67

JackieO wrote: »

Ah memories of the dreaded tripe and onions God I detested the stuff but in our house if it was in anyway edible then it was eaten with no arguements .The worst thing I think was tinned fish called snoek, I think it came from South Africa and Mum made us eat it and it was revolting I honestly think I would rather go hungry than eat that again.Dripping toast filled most hungry kids up and 'conny-onny 'sandwiches Condesed milk spread on bread.No wonder I come from a generation of fillings in the teeth dept.:):)Even though a lot of the food was basically stodgy as a child I was a skinny rake of a thing and my Dad used to say no matter what I ate I wouldn't make a decent meal for the dog :)Now I eat heathily with lots of fruit and veg no sugar, butter or fat at all and am on a constant diet to try and get rid of the excess,life is so unfair somehow

Condensed milk sarnies were the best, or even golden syrup

smileyt_2

silverleaf79 wrote: »

I really want to get some chickens as we eat a lot of eggs. I'd love to give some ex-batts a nice new home but Him Indoors has vetoed it, saying it will cost too much. Do they really save money, and is it easy to sell any excess eggs? We easily get through 10 a week or more, and ideally I'd like 4 chickens so I guess there would be a few spares...

I have ex-batts and they are lovely and become very tame HOWEVER the vet's fees have killed me financially. So unless you're the kind of person who can do the neck-wringing thing I would think carefully before getting chickens. That's just my experience, of course, and Mardatha's is different, but you have to look at it from all aspects. I wouldn't for a moment want to dissuade people from having ex-batts but you might be better off seeing if anyone in your area has hens and might sell the eggs cheaper than the supermarkets or swap for some of your jewellery.

mardatha

And I wouldn't take a hen to the vet Smiley, because my opinion of vets is not all that high. Had a few bad ones in our time as they don't often know a whole lot of anything other than cats & dogs. We kept hawks and owls and they knew nothing at all about them, so my son went on a course and learned basic care himself. The same with ferrets, we had to self - treat them too.If one of my hens got ill I'd try to heal her myself, and if that didn't work then make her comfy at the fireside in a box.
I think you could spend a fortune at the vets and still end up with a dead hen

alec_eiffel

mardatha wrote: »

And I wouldn't take a hen to the vet Smiley, because my opinion of vets is not all that high. Had a few bad ones in our time as they don't often know a whole lot of anything other than cats & dogs. We kept hawks and owls and they knew nothing at all about them, so my son went on a course and learned basic care himself. The same with ferrets, we had to self - treat them too.If one of my hens got ill I'd try to heal her myself, and if that didn't work then make her comfy at the fireside in a box.
I think you could spend a fortune at the vets and still end up with a dead hen

I agree with you, we've had loads of trouble with vets who didn't even know how to treat our rabbit properly. We're lucky now as we have an "exotics" vet who has a rabbit specialist *yay* plus someone who deals with domestic and wild birds, reptiles and all that good stuff. It's a huge relief to know animals are in the right hands (and then embarrassing when your rabbit bites them and growls at them).

elizabethhull

I haven't read all 11 pages of this thread, so apologies if I'm repeating!

As you're posting here, you obviously have internet access (and hopefully the cheapest deal for that), so your local Freegle (Freecycle) is brilliant for getting free stuff. Gardeners often find plants germinate in the scores, more than required, and are happy to offload the excess. Being local, the supplier is usually within walking or cycling distance. If you're walking, take your old pram/pushchair etc for transporting stuff back. Or get an old pram off Freegle for just that !!

If you're nifty with a needle, you can get a bag of appropriately-sized clothing from Freegle and customise.

Is there a local proper butcher who has cheap cuts available? When I was first married we ate all sorts of strange animal parts simply because they were cheap (I just never told my husband exactly what he was eating!!)

Pretty well anything reduced can be frozen (even stuff that you wouldn't think could).

Cook in bulk, eg bolognaise-type sauce, made with cheap mince & padded out with whatever was on offer, make a bucket of it and freeze in portions that fit your family. If you don't have a decent-sized freezer, would a (close geographically) friend store stuff for you? I've done that for someone, and it tends to mean the freezer is run more economically too.

Never use the oven for just one thing.

Yes, weigh anything prepacked - I've done that too!

If you have relatives who could invite you over occasionally, don't be too proud to get a free meal. Whatever you do, consider transport costs - they can be prohibitive, so I guess cultivating neighbours, like people used to do, could help (depends on your neighbours, I know).

Check your benefit entitlements.

Try to keep postitive - you're doing the best you can for your family, no-one can ask more than that.