make do and mend for tougher times

Mrs_Chip

Fuds, you can still use the WM flour for bread - if this method works, you can mix half wholemeal and white which wont be so dense, but you will need a little bit more water as the wholemeal absorbs more.

You may need to use strong bread flour for best results (although I know some people say ordinary plain and wholemeal work ok), Aldi do both nice and cheap and very good.

Kouzapastella

Hi

Thought I would delurk and introduce myself, I'm Stella, and have been following MSE for some months picking up some excellent hints and tips.

Went into work this morning to all of us in our department summoned to a meeting where it was announced that as of next month we are all redundant :eek::eek: I only moved to this job 3 years ago after my divorce so any redundancy money will be peanuts, so it's time to pull in the spending and face the reality of unemployment etc:(.

Love reading your posts, I have just moved into a small one bedroomed bungalow with a wet room needed because of my arthritic knee and various other creaky bits and pieces.

This area is notorious for power cuts in bad weather, one raindrop off goes the power, I need to start a small stockpile of food etc but am wary of filling up my freezer and small one in outside shed with food/ meat only for there to be a power cut and everything getting ruined, as I wouldn't have the spare money to replenish the freezers if this happened.

Do some of you worry that this might happen to you as well, as I think this winter is going to be a bad one so need to get my food etc shopping sorted as I'm a good couple of miles from any shops.

Any comments much appreciated

S:D

mama67

Kouzapastella wrote: »

Hi

Thought I would delurk and introduce myself, I'm Stella, and have been following MSE for some months picking up some excellent hints and tips.

Went into work this morning to all of us in our department summoned to a meeting where it was announced that as of next month we are all redundant :eek::eek: I only moved to this job 3 years ago after my divorce so any redundancy money will be peanuts, so it's time to pull in the spending and face the reality of unemployment etc:(.

Love reading your posts, I have just moved into a small one bedroomed bungalow with a wet room needed because of my arthritic knee and various other creaky bits and pieces.

This area is notorious for power cuts in bad weather, one raindrop off goes the power, I need to start a small stockpile of food etc but am wary of filling up my freezer and small one in outside shed with food/ meat only for there to be a power cut and everything getting ruined, as I wouldn't have the spare money to replenish the freezers if this happened.

Do some of you worry that this might happen to you as well, as I think this winter is going to be a bad one so need to get my food etc shopping sorted as I'm a good couple of miles from any shops.

Any comments much appreciated

S:D

Sorry to hear this.

My Dh was told approx 1 month ago that the firm was closing down and he would be made redundant at end of Aug, but they still haven't had any official notification as yet.

Kouzapastella

They told some to go at the end of today, don't know who will be picking up there workload tommorow but it won't be me, life at my desk has come to doing the bare minimum till next month.

Roll on 1st September 2012 this is my freedom date from a job I hated from day one so in one sense they have set me free but in another put me in a tight money living situation but I'm sure I can manage, my health is bad anyway so a few weeks of lie ins and bieng in the garden will make me feel better about what they have done.

Am already dreaming of a summer (if we have one) of time for myself for once so this bad news this morning has me smiling inside, is that bad to feel like they have done one big fantastic mahoosive favour.

fuddle

Ah thanks Mrs C. I'll do that once I have my confidence up. It should make quite a yummy loaf actually.

Welcome Stella So sorry it's bad news but yes, you can have some time to chillout with us Every day I learn something new here, every single day.

The stock cupboard is definitely a money saver in the long run but costly to get up and running. My big money saving tip is lentils added to mince dish so I don't need as much meat and the slow cooker for meals and freeze leftovers.

Looking forward to chatting with you. It's a lovely thread to be a part of when times are tough.

kidcat

Welcome stella - how scary, its my dread about OH and his job, that one day he will come home and say thats it. His attendance record is dire so if I was his employer I would want rid too

Evie74_2

Hello and welcome newbies :wave:

Stella - unfortunately there seems to be a lot of redundancy around at the moment; my DH is in the same boat and will be out of work from 1 August, so you won't be alone with the belt-tightening. After 3 years' service you should still be entitled to some redundancy pay, and don't forget any payments in lieu of notice/unused holiday pay etc as well. There is lots of useful info on the Redundancy Board and the ACAS helpline (which is free) was also really helpful to us when we were trying to work out DH's entitlement.

Other than that, there is plenty of useful and friendly advice to be found on the OS board - look forward to chatting with you.

Evie xx

Popperwell

kittie wrote: »

The one thing I have never done is to preserve meat, other than by freezing, so I am about to delve into new realms and am going to make beef jerky. I have the equipment and preserving meat, by drying,that is safe for months does absolutely appeal to me. Jerky here I come

That could be handy for me because I don't always manage to get through all my frozen meat and some does get thrown out...anyone able to point me in the right direction regarding this side of food preservation?

Popperwell

fuddle wrote: »

Mrs Chip disaster!!! :eek: My bread dough hasn't rose and is sat all hard in a lump in the fridge. I think I used the wrong flour. I used wholemeal bread flour. Is that wrong. What flour do you use?

Fuddle, I have heard that wholemeal bread often fails(and is hard/heavy)some get around the problem by doing half and half(White and wholemeal)but I am sure someone more experienced than me will be along soon to advise.

Popperwell

Perhaps I should learn to knit:eek::p:)

Something to do but when I have all the clothes I need, what would I make? I can buy a hot water bottle cover for £1-£2 and it would probably cost me as much to buy the the wool...

If I had family or friends I'd have an excuse...