Hard Times: How to cope with everyday living.

RAS

Beccatje wrote: »

Oh ok.That sounds good. What do you eat it with? veg and tatties?
and how do you cook it? In the deep fat fryer or in the pan? (How would you keep the batter on the sausage?)

You use a roasting dish if you want to make a large one - the whole point is that the fat needs to be very hot for the batter to rise properly (as per Yorkshire pudding), almost smoking.

In the old days, Yorkshire pudding was served before the meat course. The idea being that you filled the family up with the savoury batter and gravy before they were allowed any meat, so that you had some left-overs for later in the week.

There is a very similiar french sweet dish called clafoutis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clafoutis which was originally cherries in batter in a buttered dish, but can be made with other fruits like apple and pears.

mama67

Ponkle22 wrote: »

I agree. I accidentally found this out. Was cold one night and grabbed the nearest thing in the airing cupboard to put on top of duvet - it was an old fashioned 'wool' blanket - not very thick but quite heavy. We inherited it and I used it for the dogs. Not anymore - I won't be without it - it does what you say - it traps the air - we are really warm now. If you have milder nights you just chuck it off.

Previously to discovering this we would put a nice 'cover' over the top, but it didnt make much difference to keeping warm.

We accidently discovered this last year, we have separate quilsts so I bought a big fleece blanket to use as a bedspread during the day, one night DH got into bed without removing it and had sort of got it wrapped a bit, so I left it, we were toasty, and when it got really bitter (no heating in our bedroom) we added another one as well.

suki1964

Cellular blankets have been used in nurseries forever and they were used in hospitals until who knows when. For "holey" blankets they really do trap the air and kept you toasty without being heavy

WeegieWumman

It isn't too long ago when we all had high hopes for the wonderful new millennium.
It makes me so angry when people having to scrimp and scrape through no fault of their own. Families can't afford to use their central heating. Instead, they spend a short time sitting round a fire in their living room before turning it off and retreating under a blanket on the settee to watch tv.
At least when jobs were scarce in the 80's, edibles like fish, veg etc. were cheap. Now one has to think twice before using the oven to cook.
Where there were fields of veg, I see crops for biofuels. The farmers don't have the worry of bowing to the big supermarket chains to sell this. Orchards, which took so long to produce have been cut down. Europe was the means by which there would be ample affordable food for all.
I never thought that we would witness people too afraid flush the toilets until there was solid waste in it, all because of water meters.
Thus endeth the rant.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Would be Lurkerama Champion saying hello what a good idea.:beer:

jdp1970

sb88 wrote: »

I'm new to MS, and have spent the last two months away from home and changing my behaviour, It's been difficult, but do-able

• Stopped buying clothes for the sake of new clothes, i now only purchase things I ABSOLUTLY NEED, buy from charity shops when possible.
• Taking a sewing class, so can now mend/make my own clothes
• Don't have sky, or a house phone, don't miss either!
• Meal plan, weekly, bi weekly, monthly!
• Cook 90% from scratch
• There's only two of us, so when a jar of sauce says serves 4, I freeze half the jar , and use it for another meal.
• Buy whole chickens and joint it, freeze raw in portions of 140 grams of meat (a serving of meat for my diet) one chicken = 2 large breasts (usually 4 servings) 2 legs, 2 wings, 2 thighs,
• I then use the bones for stock and make soup. I then pick off any remaining chicken, freeze it, and add it to pad out a lentil/chickpea &vegetable curry.
• Try to have a few vegetarain meals a week, but OH is very fussy.
• buy asdas free range eggs, mixed weight

These are some that I can think of off the top of my head.

Same here! Doing pretty much everything your doing with the addition of: I take clothes and bric-a-brac to the salvation army and I get my card stamped to the value of £2 - I save them up and use them to by more stuff.
I sell everything else on Ebay or Preloved - stuff I used to throw away!
A whole chicken now does 3 meals for 2 of us - used to be one meal.
I bulk up my meals with oats...great in casseroles, stews, lasagne etc

lillibet_dripping

suki1964 wrote: »

You can always google a dish to get an image so you get an idea of what we are talking about and what to aim for

Heres Toad in the hole

We call it 'Frog in a Bog':D

jdp1970

i dont know what everyone else thinks - but I actually enjoy budgeting, looking for bargains,cooking from scratch, making do and mending etc etc

I feel a great sense of satisfaction!

[Deleted User]

As one of the slightly ...err older ladies on here I honestly can't remember a time when I wasn't fairly frugal.growing up with wartime rationing must have impinged on my psyche I think.I live and eat well and can afford to have a week in the spring and a fortnight in the summer on holiday.What i use my savings for are these and helping my two Dds out when they have finacial crisis( which in the case of my youngset Dd is a regualer occurance at times .Both her and her OH work full time and are raising their five children so money is always a bit tight.Son-in-law works in local government and in the past year his original job has dissappeared and the whole department has been regigged ( read pay scales lowered) and it was a case of take it or leave it .When you have a mortgage and 7 mouths to feed you put up and shut up in this day and age .So anything I can do to help out I do.even if its buying extra bits of groceries for the kids.I bake cakes and biscuits for them and when buying veggie will always throw any extra bargains their way .Luckily the kids are brilliant and will eat almost anything including veg.I think I budget very well and this month has been exceptional as I have been shopping from my freezer and so buying only dire essentials and nothing else. Its possible to be quite inventive with food if you have the time and or inclination.I hate waste of any description so rarely does anything get binned in my house ,certainly not if its edible.I amke all my own soup and use that to extend my meals in the evening or as a ligght lunch at mid-day.I buy a big pot of natual yoghurt and portion it out during the week and flavour with foraged blackberries or recently some stewed apple from windfalls that I had been given .I peeled and stewed two huge bags of apples last week and ended up with 8 boxes of stewed fruit in the freezer.great for crumble,pies or just on its own with a dollop of custard.if I have a soup starter then I don't need a pudding andif I have pud then soup gets the heave ho.meat in smaller portions that normal but the meal extended with veg will stretch a meal,and oats or lentils will pad out a pound of minced beef very well along with chopped carrots and a few diced onions.I like to think even with say a can of sardines or tuna how can I turn one meal into two and it is possible .a small tin of tuna mixed with a dollop of mayo and a small tin of sweetcorn will make a salad one day and the remains in a jacket spud for the next day.
Well I'm off to have some porridge for breakfast and a cuppa and that will take me through until lunch.That will be probably an ommeltte and a pice of fruit and dinner tonight is left over chicken casserole with left over broccoli and left over apple crumble from yesterday
have a frugal and fruitful day everyone
JackieO xx

Lavandula

jdp1970 wrote: »

i dont know what everyone else thinks - but I actually enjoy budgeting, looking for bargains,cooking from scratch, making do and mending etc etc

I feel a great sense of satisfaction!

Totally agree with you. I love being frugal even though I don't really have to at the moment (although I'm being made redundant next year). It makes me appreciate the good things in life more. I hate commercialism and greed.