go back to days of yore

littlewren

What a great thread! I've thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's tips and memories and they took me right back to when I was young.

Hence, for the past few minutes, I have been reminiscing about when I used to go to the east end of London to stay with my Nan. She too always seemed to wear a pinnie and something tasty and smelling heavenly was always cooking on her stove. I used to adore her bread pudding (not bread and butter pudding, just bread pudding).

It's such a shame that everything's changed in that sense and most Mums are just too busy to be able to cook the way a lot of Mums used to. Ask a lot of kids what they would prefer, Mum staying at home and cooking scrummy food etc. but not being able to afford things like X-Box and computers, or Mum going out to work and them being able to afford to buy more or less what they want and I think all kids would go for the latter.

It's a shame, but a fact of life. We've become too materialistic.

Wishfairy

 Ask a lot of kids what they would prefer, Mum staying at home and cooking scrummy food etc. but not being able to afford things like X-Box and computers, or Mum going out to work and them being able to afford to buy more or less what they want and I think all kids would go for the latter.

It's a shame, but a fact of life.  We've become too materialistic.

My kids chose to keep me at home and I'm very proud of them for it! I was offered a better job with much better pay and was all set to take it when my 5 year old asked if I would still be able to go to the christmas fayre at school (no) and my 9 yo wanted me to go see him in his first play (no) so we had a big long talk and the upshot is we spend far more time together baking cakes or having jam buttie picnics or whatever!

They still have a PS2 but have hardly touched it since christmas and I'm even considering getting the extra TV channels taken away over the summer to encourage more creative play.

I can feel smug now (briefly) but I know it's all likely to change when they get a bit older and don't want mum so much

cathy_3

agree completely

when I had my first son it was 1975, I was a nurse and hubby was in the army.
we had a mortgage based only on his wage and thought we were the bees knees cos we had a new sideboard  everything else was given to us by relatives when we got married.

there was no question of my farming my son out to a child minder, didnt even cross our minds cos I dont think we knew they existed anyway,  so I was really worried about losing my £45 a month wages, but found that because i was home all day,  I could cook and clean and spend time with the baby, watch the new invention, daytime tv, no stress  and no worries,

the money lost was slightly a hardship but then again we couldnt go out the way we did as no babysitters cos we lived far from home and family, so it was fine

if the worse came to the worst  we would have had to cut down further  and maybe got rid of the old banger we had,  but these days, because we work, we have massive morgages where the womans income is taken into account,  we work our butts off getting the cash for microwaves, washing machines(god bless em)  hoovers, dvds videos  sky telly, super duper kitchens  super duper bathrooms (cos they told us on the telly we had to have them)  and super duper cars,   we send out for pizza and takeaways, and we fall into bed at night exhausted from earning the money to save us time and labour because our time is spent earning the cash to buy them!!

im not advocating going back to the hard labour our grannys had to do, but if we stopped and thought about  WHY we need a £5000 bathroom that we spend maybe half an hour in total a day,  and why we need a £15000 bespoke kitchen because it wont make you a better cook, and why we need a NEW car when new cars tho they make you look rich, actually make you very poor. maybe we could start to save a bit so we could work less as we got older

for instance

a takeaway meal  twice a week  costing say £12 for two is £24 a week   £96 a month   if you saved that in an isa  and historically the interest rate averages out at 8% over time  then   if you start at the age of 25  saving that £96 a month till your 50    you would have
wait for it


90,955.49

expensive takeaway or what

even at 4% int thats 49,895.13


I recon thats worth cooking a meal rather than paying someone almost ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS
to do it for you.

think about what you waste and could cut down on for a small effort of cooking or cleaning naturally rather than using expensive cleaning stuff,  and use this to see what youd save in the time you would like to retire

say   40  or 50

http://www.leedsandholbeck.co.uk/calculator/sav_calc.html         ;D

System

My Mum was reknowned for her home made trifle , but as she used ratafia biscuits for the base , I don't think it would be that cheap to make  :-/

I sometimes make them. For the base , I either use , jam swiss roll , sponge fingers or trifle sponges. I think a layer of fruit is next , my husband is partial to tinned strawberries , followed by jelly. Then a layer of custard and topped by lashings of fresh cream. Yum  :P

I refuse to make a pudding to feed the family on a weekend for over £2. I can buy Ice Cream bars for that amount, which my children and husband never tire of. I cant say i am very keen on ice cream though.

cathy_3

you dont have to use sponge in a trifle but buy a swiss roll thats had its day for 10p or a maderia cake thats on reduced and freeze them for trifle use

break up your sponge into the bowl and pour over a melted jelly that youve mixed a tin of fruit salad into reduce the boiling water for the amount of juice in fruit

pour it over the sponge cake and leave to set

then using CUSTARD POWDER make some thick custard
let it cool down a lot and pour over the set jelly

then whip some cream up and voila a trifle

so 35 for jelly
say 20p for sponge
40p for tin of fruit
50p for custard inc milk
65 for cream
£2.10p for a trifle twice the size as youd buy for £1.99 and if your feeling reckless add a dash of sherry to the jelly before it sets

mmmm

System

Thanks Cathy, mind you i dont think i would use both sponge and tinned fruit. (Tight !!!!!! that i am) ;D

I feel a creative mood coming on.

cathy_3

nope im not keen on ice cream but if you make a jelly with it they think theyre getting something fab and its easy to make in the mike and then add cold water

bread pud is cheap and nice if you have some not so fresh bread rather than give it to the boids

cut the crusts off the bread

butter it if you want

cut into squares (4 to a slice)

place a layer in the bottom of an oven proof dish

sprinkle sultanas over it

then repeat all the way to about 2inches below the rim

then beat 4 eggs and add to a litre of milk with a couple of tbspns of sugar mix together and pour over the dish

pop in a med oven until the bread is brown and the custard is set

delish

cathy_3

by the way look out for boggofs on elmlea which seem quite frequent

i got 12 last week sellby date is july and they were 66p for one get one free so thats 33p for the top of your trifle

or in your chocky eclairs

and I cant tell the diff between that and fresh cream

cathy_3

dont mean to start a recipe section off here ;D but heres some real money savers

for kids

a pct of cheapest sage and onion stuffing you can find

make it up add a beaten egg and some chopped up bacon bits

form into burgers and dip in a beaten egg then onto some flour each side

fry gently
and the kids lerrrve em


also if you have some tomatoes that have gone a bit squishy or dark red (ick)
rough chop them say about 6 tom

chop an onion

get some bacon bits for 99p and throw the lot in a pan with some rough chopped spuds

add 2 chciken stock cubes and about 2 pints of water

any extra veg you want if you have bits in bags in the freezer

boil for 10 mins then simmer for about an hour

and you get the most delish soup filling and nutritious and cheap

you get about 8 bowlfuls out of it as well

System

Thanks Cathy