It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

kidcat

ceridwen wrote: »

Ah..but have you tasted that porridge yet Mardatha? He mighta put <whispers> milk:eek: in it....:rotfl:

Or even sugar:eek::rotfl:

mardatha

noooo! :eek::eek::eek:

SDG31000

Morning everyone I'm waiting for some friends to come around to eat pancakes for breakfast and then we are going into the city centre to raid all the charity shops. I figured that if we fill up on pancakes we will avoid a trip to a coffee shop mid morning. I'm desperate for new jumpers and my knitting skills are still at the scarf and handwarmer stage. I'll have to make my friends promise to keep me away from John Lewis and the Haberdashery department.
I did tackle the apple mountain yesterday and made Eve's Pudding last night which was very good. I have 5 bags of cooked apples in the freezer ready and waiting.
Have a nice day everyone. Fingers crossed I find some bargains

Softstuff

mardatha wrote: »

Cheered me up reading about the 12-meal chicken
Had a (slightly heated) discussion with the RV when I read it out to him.. He, being from Edinburgh and all fur coat and nae knickers, would be deathly affronted if I tried that... I (coming from a Glasgow Irish mum/mining village background and much less posh) told him well that's just snobby and yer daft. :rotfl::rotfl:
At least he made my porridge before diplomatic relations were servered.

Glad it raised a smile for you, even if it did cause a bit of a stir with RV.
Hubby comes from a family where every meal contains a vast amount of meat, his mum isn't keen on veg at all and his dad just sort of steams a few beans or bok choi to go on the side of whatever meaty thing he's having. But I've fed a happy hubby for nearly 5 years, and the in-laws are round regularly for feeding, I just think I hide the lack of meat content well. I served my "not very meat-balls" to the in-laws and FIL told MIL to get the recipe from me, she was a bit shocked to learn that enough meatballs for 4 came out of 200g of mince!

I read about other peoples hubbies wanting a certain quantity of meat at every meal and am thankful hubby just wants a tasty meal regardless, or I'd never be able to get near the budget I'm on.

GreyQueen

Greetings to all and welcome to JenC; I love this thread and hope you will love it too.

Softstuff, another recipe

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yayyyyyyyy! But now I am on the horns of a dilemma. I was going to reprise Sunday supper's Chickpea Curry of yours as have all the ingredients bar garlic in the fridge and fully-paid for and although I ate it on Sunday with mates and Monday as leftovers, I find I want more. I used a cauli (69p from Lidl for a large cauli and very nice too) and still have most of it left.

So I'll have to choose between two delicious Softstuff recipes; life is so hard sometimes.

It rained most of the night here and is having a grey and dismal start but I hope to see the sun later. It's amazing how much better it makes a body feel. I intend to go to the lottie after work to do a bit of weed-wrangling (plus I'm also sneaking onto a neighbouring lottie for a mate who isn't too well these last few weeks and wrangling some of her weeds, sssshhhh, she doesn't know.;))

I have taken those links to the Ecocucina site, thanks, and will persue them at my leisure. Giant pumpkin incoming tomorrow so it'll fill the tiny kitchen; I saw these ones growing at my Nan's and it'll be a monster. I love having pumpkin seeds dryroasted in the oven and if you've never enjoyed them, I cannot recommend them highly enough. You can get a lot of bang for your buck, foodwise, in a pumpkin at this time of the year when they start selling them off for Halloween. Lidl was selling them last year to clear at 50p each.

That tip about boiling your breakfast eggs in the dishwasher racks in the article was one from Jeff Yeager aka The Ultimate Cheapskate (google him, he's fun).:D

:eek:My local chippy has jacked-up the price of fish and chips by 30p in less than a fortnight (they can keep 'em); it'll soon end up with a portion of chips costing approximately the same as a sack of tatties.

I find not listening to the news somewhat soothing in these times of universal brouhaha; we know it's going on in the background but we don't have to ingest it 3-4 times a day, often at meal times. No wonder people are stressed sideways to sunday.

Re clothes sizes in charity shops. When I am at my proper weight, I take a 16. As I am improperly-chubby right now, I'm hovering at 18-20. There is definately a lack of 16s and 18s in the shops I frequent but a plentiful supply of the larger sizes and lots and lots of 8/10/12.

I'd only take an 8 if you whittled me in half and could honestly cry with frustration at how well-dressed-from-the-c.s. I could be if I was a skinny-minnie.:o

Good luck to the Charity Shop Huntresses, the Whoopsie Warriors, the Foraging Foresters and everyone who will pick up knitting needle, sewing needle, hammer or No More Nails and say to herself; Can we fix this? Yes we can!

Softstuff

GreyQueen wrote: »

Softstuff, another recipe

---

yayyyyyyyy! But now I am on the horns of a dilemma. I was going to reprise Sunday supper's Chickpea Curry of yours as have all the ingredients bar garlic in the fridge and fully-paid for and although I ate it on Sunday with mates and Monday as leftovers, I find I want more. I used a cauli (69p from Lidl for a large cauli and very nice too) and still have most of it left.

So I'll have to choose between two delicious Softstuff recipes; life is so hard sometimes.

You're too kind. It is pretty moreish though isn't it? The only thing stopping us eating beany based curry more is the ensuing fog that surrounds us

Gigervamp

Here's something to cheer you all up! Rescued baby red squirrels. They're sooo cute!

mardatha

The RV isnt so focussed on meat as such, he just doesnt like the idea that we are short of money or scrimping and watching the pennies. His best friend's wife said to me proudly that she never used her oven apart from heating up M&S pies He would happily eat veg if you told him they were expensive
Really raw here, grey and spitting and windy. The rainfall radar was so scarey that I screamed. Back to the knitting I think - need to knit the chickens some socks to go under their wellies..
GQ you could always move yer bed into the pumpkin and use it as an extension.

mardatha

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/ :eek:

Charis

GreyQueen wrote: »

I think a fair few are in the same boat. Not going to do the economy any good at all in the wider sense but what can you do as an individual other than try to keep on your feet on a constantly-moving deck in a stormy sea?

As money in the bank is effectively shrinking and prices are rising, I'm making sure the 'ship' is watertight, doing some of those big jobs that might have held out for a few more years. My front and patio doors are old, ineffective at keeping out the cold, and a security weakness so I've decided to replace them. I figured that if I sat on the money, in five years I might find they were permanently beyond my budget as I don't expect prices to fall. I've kept a reasonable amount for unforeseen expenses as I've learned the wisdom of having an emergency fund.