A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

Margaret54

thanks for the puddings recipe Hester I will do that at the weekend. Thanks again everyone who has commented on dh job.

mardatha

RV=Ratty Virgo. Sometimes a VRV!! Can you freeze a carton of fresh cream?

gailey_2

All this talk of puddings making me hungry! think puddings ideal solution to break up impending gloom of 2012.Not so sure good for my waistline but keeps family happy if we having basic cheap meals.

Think I will start a pricelist and have list of staples and check price on my supermarket each week
The big 4like sheep they copy each other.
going to try and buy bulk by just adding 5extra items each week and try build up a stockpile!
Im already 1st to free rrag examining all the weekly offers for each supermarket.

Might be interesting to cost up few meals too as few weeks ago lidls had weekend offers got

lean mince £1.39 a pack brought 6 have 5left in freezer
garlic bread £35p for 3fresh baguettes in co-op reduced xmas eve brought 5packs so 15 baguettes!
passatta on ofer in lidls at moment was 45p now 26p i think.
add some value dried herbs
sliced onion
red wine-gift for xmas use in coking for approx 4-5meals wine transforms most dishes
value spaggetti-makes spag bol

need to buy few lasgane sheets and creme fraiche make lasgane

add chilli powder to do with rice chilli con carne
freeze some to add with reduced jackets and salad-yummy lunch

add mashed potato-make shepards pie,

Think i can make least 5different meals-6portions each!
approx cost as dont need to buy much 50p per portion

makes sainsburys family meals for a fiver look pricey!

Trying to declutter and tidy today

started with cupboard doom under stairs
clearing babys room so hubby can lay new floor
need to change bedding again
clean bathroom
declutter lounge-get one room boxed off
declutter and clean kitchen!

Think kids bedroom will take me days!

thourght 2year old had nursery today they said they open but they were shut.
so shes upstairs arguing with her sister driving daddy mad.

Hubby wants to take treed own today I said no stays up until sunday!

Hedgehog wipes my only luxury use for cleaning too.
use cloth for baby so thinking do my bit for environment.
tried we flannels cut up hubby hated them and they kind smelled weird after few days as kept them in sealed tub with essential oil-maybe might implement for wee but not poo!

Hope everyones having good day.

lucielle

Please can I ask a quick question....ok. I normally cook gammon in the slow cooker and it tastes great but usually drops to pieces, so instead of having nice slices its usually ruddy great chunks. I have splashed out and got a very large horseshoe gammon which I want to cook in the slow cooker but how do I avoid it dropping to bits (plus it should help with portion control and an over zealous OH who will scoff the lot)?
Thanks
L

kidcat

Morning everyone, its pouring with rain here after gales yesterday.

Its been a long hard few days for us, and reading through it seems like its the same for us all.

Have been off visiting relatives past two days and DS7 has not taken to it at all and has really played up, leading to one very tired and stressed mummy. My parents both came to one but only my mum yesterday.
On the plus side I now have curtain rails over the french doors in the dining room:j:j but no curtains yet.
No wages in bank today and after Margarets post yesterday must admit to being slightly spooked, but OH assures me it will be tomorrow its just that they always pay late after a bank holiday.

Two nights ago, was devastated when DD5 cut off her long hair, (waist length) due to a random comment OH had made about her being like Rapunzel! I know in the whole scheme of things its not alot but it seemed like the last straw for me. Am feeling incredibly tired and down. Responsibility is weighing heavy at the moment and trying to explain it to OH is not getting anywhere - the fact is I am spending 24 hours a day caring for a family on top of which it includes two ASd kids, both of whom are incredibly difficult. And as DS7 now only responds to my authority - that means I do not get any break at all.

Ironically I took half an hour last night when littlies were in bed to visit my friend who has lost her mum, and felt useless as I just cried with her for the main part. We did talk through the arrangements and I have offered to help with anything and arranged to collect her youngest from school on funeral day. But whilst I was out there was a power outage and I had stupidly dropped my phone in car so was out of contact.

OH had no idea how to cope and ended up calling my dad to deal with it all. I was hoping it would show him that he is needs to be much more aware of stuff and involved with practicalities, but it led to him shouting at me for not being more organised!!

NOt sure how much more organised I can be - there are candles on living room window sill, bathroom window sill, on top of kitchen cupboards, in hall, ensuite and downstairs bathroom. Matches and lighters in kitchen drawer. The torches he has taken into loft and not returned (5 now!) Plug in phone in bedroom works and kids portable DVD player was charged in cupboard as normal.

I have told both him and eldest two where everything is its just unfortunate that DS13 has a memory issue that means he doesnt retain information and DD17 was out.

Sorry for the moan - off to drag kids to look at curtains - probably a recipe for disaster but the chills through the dining room are really bothering me.

mardatha

Kidcat, you need to go out more often. If you're always there to cope then you'll always be left to cope, take more time out pet xxx Make them learn the hard way.

fuddle

I agree Mardatha, the old saying "Nobody knows what I do until I don't do it" is certainly fitting for many of us here. My two children test me a the best of times, and I only have two. DH is good but only because being dad (the mummy role of dad when he isn't at work) is a novelty so he never gets bogged down by it all. I don't care how many yummy mummies there are in the world I am sure they have all slumped in the kitchen corner, sobbing and grasping their hair. I know I have.

On my blog hop today, I came across this

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on or blame. The gift is yours - its an amazing journey -and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins" - Bob Moawad

It's where I am now. I know there is nothing I can do about finances or the state of our countries finances as a whole but I want to look back on my life, rose tinted glasses and all, and think yeah, I made the best of it. For me thats a positive attitude, that's filling my time with activities that I like doing in the home, it's feeling good about myself so my loved ones can feel the love too. Grass roots happiness. I want to make my own laughs. Just because I can't buy things that fill me with glee much doesn't mean I can't be happy. Mind games and this year I am going to conquer the misery and frantic feelings. I am.

Byatt

Well I made the trip up the lane again; decided to practise reversing with the added benefit that if anyone was coming the other way I could just drive forwards!:D A plan I thought...but I found out that it is really tough to reverse down a country lane with ditches either side! I adjusted the wing mirrors, tried using just the rear view mirror and twisting around...none were better than the other. It took me an age, but my plan worked when a car came from the other way! I think he thought I was mad. :eek:
Just really, really hard. Not even sure practising is going to help, especially night time. I can reverse park no problem and reverse generally, but a country lane has me in panic mode :eek::eek:

The cat wasn't about either but hopefully he will turn up tonight. Yesterday he bounded up as soon as I got there.

I am a 5ft 4" redhead; I need to bring out my inner redhead :rotfl: I seem to be too placid these days.

Loved all the yummy pudding ideas. Mardatha I would love the recipe for yoghurt if you would PM me please...:)

Just saw someone's thread on butter making; it sounds such fun!

Fruball

Byatt wrote: »

Well I made the trip up the lane again; decided to practise reversing with the added benefit that if anyone was coming the other way I could just drive forwards!:D A plan I thought...but I found out that it is really tough to reverse down a country lane with ditches either side! I adjusted the wing mirrors, tried using just the rear view mirror and twisting around...none were better than the other. It took me an age, but my plan worked when a car came from the other way! I think he thought I was mad. :eek:
Just really, really hard. Not even sure practising is going to help, especially night time. I can reverse park no problem and reverse generally, but a country lane has me in panic mode :eek::eek:

The cat wasn't about either but hopefully he will turn up tonight. Yesterday he bounded up as soon as I got there.

I am a 5ft 4" redhead; I need to bring out my inner redhead :rotfl: I seem to be too placid these days.

Loved all the yummy pudding ideas. Mardatha I would love the recipe for yoghurt if you would PM me please...:)

Just saw someone's thread on butter making; it sounds such fun!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Love it!!!

Fruball

Course, it would be easier to leap out of the car waving arms hysterically saying you are a midwife and need to deliver a baby which is not prepared to wait, up the lane. Am sure the other car would move for you