make do and mend for tougher times

fuddle

Oh but I'm very excited for when the postie comes in the next few days!!

Right, chicken curry to make with the rubber chicken

Popperwell

fuddle wrote: »

I bought 3 lucky bags at a cost of £5 plus delivery ahem SDG I'm sending DH in your direction when I tell him we're now having frozen veg instead of fresh this week

Of course fresh veg is good and nice Fuddle, but to be honest frozen veg cabn be both economical, taste as good and sometimes keeps the vitamin content longer than fresh... If the supermarket used is good you get some great variety too.

From my own point of view I can even buy Bird's Eye steamed veg at the freezer shop(2 packets for £3 I think it was)I forget perhaps less...4 sachets in each bag, so that makes it approx 38p a portion enough for one person(probably enough for two)so if you portion the rest of the meal out, you could eat quite well and the main meal may come out at approx £1 or less per person...

If I had a larger freezer and more choice of shops on the town I would be going to places like Lidl, Aldi(that's coming soon)and perhaps Farm foods...I think you may be nearer to these kind of shops than me...

SDG31000

Sorry fuddle *Attempts to look angelic and innocent and fails miserably* Would some cake help to ease the suffering? I make the best banana choc chunk cake and I put the last of the homemade marshmallows in the brownies (along with 3 large bars of chocolate).

Yes I do know that I'm a wicked temptress, I've been told so on several occasions.

Popperwell

With all the talk about mince the other night...
I started to...when Mum was alive...brown my mince...then either put it in a foil container with gravy and vegetables(that had been partly cooked for perhaps 5 minutes or so)and put mash potato on top, into the oven for peeerhapw 30-40 minutes until the mash was browned(possibly cheese instead)

And it was as good as any meal purchased in the supermarket. Sometimes such a meal was too much for one so it was great sharing it. Now if I was to do that I'd either have to eat a larger meal and stuff myself or make a smaller one.

Is it as cheap for me to continue doing that kind of HM meal or taking into accoun the energy costs...just buy it ready made and bung it in the microwave. Done in minutes and all the ingredients already included? Or buy a decent amount of mince portion it, freeze it and get a few meals out of it and still use the oven?

The same would be true of casseroles...and they take us into the territory of slow cookers which may be economical...Now if I put my veg, gravy and mince into a slow cooker...how long to I cook it for? In theory I could just leave it cooking for hours and hours...now on the other hand(again I could boil up veg, mince and gray in a pan on a hob in a reasonably short time or again use the oven.

Am I better using the slow cooker? The thing that affects what to do is living alone and watching the budget to some extent of course...

Thanks for any ideas...

BTW am i right that I can cook meat in the slow cooker(buy lower grade cuts of meat that will be tender by doing so?)Do I have to cook such items in liquid or can I cook it without? Can I cook things like belly pork, even fish etc...thanks...

paidinchickens

Afternoon

Fuddle I was excited today seeing the postie with my free Kellogs towel

popperwell Just heard that on the radio, it is making me more determined to save for a woodburner so we are not so reliant on the energy companies.

Stella I have loads of creaky bits as well.

Did some shopping this morning for some essentials bits and bobs but then I hit the CS shop on the way home.

£3 for a brand new motor bike cover which I will use to cover the garden furniture to stop it having cat paw prints all over all the time

£1 for an 18th keyring, as friends daughter is 18 soon and £1.50 for a glass and metal lampshade. After consulting hubby we have decided that all these fandangled light fittings cost too much to run and replace the bulbs.

Some bulbs are a small fortune so we have returned to having an energy bulb and lampshade. Luckily people are donating Lampshades left right and centre so we have managed to change all but the kitchen light for under £5 :j



The energy bulbs were given away at work (when I was working) and as no body wanted them I have a sack full in the garage



I am finding this weather very tiring, I could just pop for a snooze so I must get up and do something before I do.

PIC x

grandma247

Pop you can get small one person foil containers. Then you could make several at once depending on your oven size. Or just serve yourself one half and freeze the other. You can freeze meat once fresh and then once cooked.

Popperwell

SDG31000 wrote: »

Sorry fuddle *Attempts to look angelic and innocent and fails miserably* Would some cake help to ease the suffering? I make the best banana choc chunk cake and I put the last of the homemade marshmallows in the brownies (along with 3 large bars of chocolate).

Yes I do know that I'm a wicked temptress, I've been told so on several occasions.

SDG you need one of these

Byatt

SDG31000 wrote: »

fuddle Try charity shops for knitting needles. They are normally kept under the counter, but I usually pay about 50p a pair for mine. Some sizes can be difficult to find, but I view it as a treasure hunt. *whispers* That or I take DH into John Lewis when he is having a guilty moment.

I have found all my knitting needles in CS in the last couple of days or so, and there's still loads there, I've paid £2 for a total 14 needles of various sizes, including some of those bits you use when cabling. They seem very glad for them to go! I also got 2 bags of wool (3-4 pieces), various kinds for £2.

Shropshirelass

Hi everyone
This is such a busy blog, I haven't had time to read all but so sorry to read how so many are going through heart ache and problem times. Slow breathing out, followed by lists of 'things to do' have been my standby plan, in fact I now have a bit of an obsession with always having list paper handy.

Fuddle I am following your bread saga, is there a difference between wholemeal bread flour and strong wholemeal flour?

I got DH to vote for his favourite chicken leftover meal for tonight: cold chick and chips, chick pasty, chick risotto, warmed up with gravy, curried, or salad. It looks like risotto, then pasty tomorrow. He just asked if he can have it with chips. Definitely NOT.

It has rained all day again here, I dont want to think about winter, if we should have similar levels of snow. Has anyone tried a wind-up radio? I like to check weather etc on local radio, but of course with a power cut could not do this.
Thanks to all who sent nice messages about Poppie. Much appreciated.
xxx

Popperwell

grandma247 wrote: »

Pop you can get small one person foil containers. Then you could make several at once depending on your oven size. Or just serve yourself one half and freeze the other. You can freeze meat once fresh and then once cooked.

Thanks, I'm also going to save up the plastic containers on microwave meals then I can reuse them in a micro...I did that before and can do it again...

I'm still learning...