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

greenbee

GQ - flageolet beans are good with cauliflower for soup if you have any.

As for what the future holds... This is what popped into my inbox this morning!

ragz_2

The changes to tax credits from April 2012. The bit about change in income sounds harsh, if we dropped nearly £2500 income we'd feel it! But they aren't going to up the tax credits unless income drops by over that, and then that amount will be disregarded anyway. Nice sneaky way of giving us less money. I will have to make sure I am as accurate as possible when I work ours out, hubby is self employed so it gets complicated, but we rely on our tax credits (low income, three young children), they are about as much as hubby earns! I have no idea how people in our situation managed without them... although perhaps rent was not so extortionate then!

Our rent is more than anyone we know's mortgage, but housing benefit pays 2/3 of it as I am not working. If I went out to work we could afford the rent, but not childcare costs too, so this is the way it will have to be until the kids are a lot older. I'm not bothered about buying. My parents bought their council flat 10 years ago but until then they rented and my SIL and her husband rent their house so it's not really looked down on in our family. Not that I'd be bothered if it was... I like knowing that if anything goes wrong with our house it won't be my paying the bill. Only downside is the insecurity (we've moved a lot) but I moved a lot as a child and I am used to it, it's not the house that makes the home... In countries like Germany renting is a lot more common apparently, the British just seem to have a thing about owning houses...

hornetgirl

GQ I like to eat cauliflower raw, either as a snack or in a salad. But then perhaps I'm a bit odd too

greenbee

I agree, raw cauli is yummy, but can be hard to digest

Memory_Girl

Cauliflower and potato balti
Cauliflower bhaji ( uses the leaves as well)
Cauliflower cheese - topped with breadcrumbs
Cauliflower rissoles (cauli cheese and mash in breadcrumbs)
Cauliflower and red kidney bean salad
Cauliflower and green bean stir fry with ginger
Cauliflower and three bean chilli in pancakes
Roasted cauliflower soup with cumin
Cauliflower,potato and cheese quiche
Cauliflower and lentil biryani
Cauliflower macaroni cheese
Cauliflower, tomato and spinach curry


Can you tell I got a huge cauliflower some time back and played "rubber cauliflower" for a while?:rotfl:

MG

fuddle

This is why I feel stuck as a stay at home mum. I don't mind the job and so pleased to be around my little ones while growing up but we need for me to work too. But with childcare coasts and the costs of having a second car etc it would not be beneficial so we have o make do on DH's wage.

I have tried bodyshop at home, avon etc but bodyshop for me was a lot of hard work, stupid amount of petrol and always having to buy the new seasons stock for people to try at parties. Avon? I got so tired of rudeness I just quit. It's not in mme to bother people in their homes.

Plod on as it goes. The Tax credits changes won't effect us as income is low with two kids so I'm relieved but to be honest I feel a lot of people who are nearing the breadline are going to suffer because of it. £26K limit isn't that high BUT I have to say my mum managed in the 80's with no help so - where there's a need there's a way _ i hope, I just don't know if people have the skills.

Anyone have nightmares their tin opener breaks when there's a crisis?! lol Now I have thought of that I shall be investing in a second one.

I went to Aldi afterall last night. I'm tinned up and bizarrely I feel a sense of calm. I guess it is addictive because now I'm thinking I need more but my two cupboards are chocka. Apart from under the bed where else do you keep your tins?

ragz_2

Fuddle - I did Body Shop too, what a nightmare! Constantly nagged to do more even though I had no car and when I started they said it wouldn't matter. I barely broke even after buying all the stock, then new stock etc. Have nearly finished using it all up, 4 years later!
Tax credits changes shouldn't effect us as we don't earn enough, but it is worrying. I really feel for my friends who are struggling with mortgages as they don't get the housing benefit so they have to work and pay childcare costs and end up with less money than we have, no time with their kids and no time to cook/do housework... I really don't know how they manage...

We have an amazing tin opener that DH bought before we got together, it cost him £15 and it is so worth it. My parents get through a few £1 ones a year!

(Anyone not seen the £5 free for store21 offer on the grabbit board? Free delivery so you get a cheap present...)

VJsmum

GreyQueen wrote: »

Fuddle, the tinned pie is a truimph of food engineering and I commend you to sample one without delay.
Does anyone else find themselves plotting the use of the oven? I have a gas stove but when I put the oven on (not frequently) I try to get maximum value from the energy. Mum taught me this when she taught me to bake, back in the Jurassic Era.

I was just thinking yesterday amongst all the tinned pie talk what a genius idea it was - a triumph of engineering indeed. :T In fact I had a moments panic thinking that i hadn't ANY FB pies :eek: but haven't yet pootled off to the £ shop to get any. So, GQ, weren't me your honour.

Also, i have started to plan the use of the oven - e.g. yesterday i wanted jacket spuds so mushed up some left over breads (sorry, St Delia the crusts go in as well), white and granary mixed and made bread pudding.

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

Ingredients
25g/1oz butter or marg
25g/1oz flour, any sort
600ml/1 pint milk
salt and white pepper
80g/3oz cheese, grated, any cheese that is going green is fine, lol.

Preparation method
1.Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2.Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3.Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the milk to get a smooth sauce. Return to the heat and, stirring all the time, bring to the boil.
4.Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes and season with salt and white pepper.
5.Stir in cheese and allow to melt. Don t re-boil the sauce or it will become stringy. Pour this over cooked cauliflower.
If you want to be posh scatter a mixture of grated cheese & breadcrumbs on top & brown under the grill.

I have found that adding a teaspoon of mustard to the cheese sauce (either powder or made up) makes it taste cheesier :cool:

I am off to the farm shop this morning for my veggies. This is a new venture for me as for several years i have been having deliveries of an organic veg box. HOwever the price has been going up and the quality down, and the final straw was that the round has been taken off local people and gone national. So i have stopped the deliveries and decided that, if i drive a certain way to the supermarket, i can go to the farm shop on the way. It may not be organic but the food miles will be miniscule - I can top up at the supermarket if necessary. At least that way i will only buy things that we will eat rather than trying not to waste some of the more obscure veggies we got. I could cope with romanescu - treat like cauli (or put fairy lights on and treat like a christmas tree ) and am quite grateful for the introduction of kohl rabi (great coleslaw) and celeriac (great mash) but can't get my head round fennel, turnips and other more dubious veg.

Off to a party tonight, via OH's choir concert (will be a trial - his music is not my music) and have the SIL and 2 kiddies come to [STRIKE]treat the place like a hotel[/STRIKE] visit us so must wash bedding once I have found the spare bed in order to strip it!

mardatha

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Loving this thread !! From getting "tinned up" to counting fray bentos pies to looking desperately for new places to stash tins :D:D

grandma247

I can recommend brabrantia too and so does my local hardware shop. I bought one after trying £5 ones from wilks. One only lasted a week! I remembered I had one of brabrantia ones years ago and it lasted for a very long time so I got one. It was over £7 but if it lasts me 12 years it is well worth it. Afterwards I went to the hardware shop to get one of those stab the tin ones as an emergency back up and the man said the best ones were indeed brabantias.

Hopefully we will not be affected too much by the changes to tax credits although dh will have earned a bit more due to the unusual amount of overtime last month. I found out that he might be able to get pension credit in 2014. What is that about he does not retire till 2017 ?