make do and mend for tougher times

grandma247

monnagran wrote: »

Baby Mia Grace Joy arrived safely at 2.53am weighing 7lb 12oz.QUOTE]

Congratulations. The name is lovely.

My Aussie friends grandaughter is Mia Francis.

Smoosh

Sorry I've been absent, been comping like mad! Will do my best to catch up

Very unimpressed with OH's work...yet again, he got paid today and received just over £10 :mad: this is the second time he's been paid the wrong amount and he's only been there for less than a month! Got to wait until he goes in tomorrow to see what they have to say. Also somewhere across the road from where he works is recruiting, so he's going to talk to them tomorrow, plus his current work are saying his hours should go up to 30 soon. So, at least it's not all bad news, not being too positive though, because who knows if they'll stick to their word. He's also been applying for a lot of other jobs, and we managed to get some sense out of the recruitment agency, so fingers crossed something will come up soon.

Hope everyone else is well.

ginnyknit

Smoosh hope it all gets sorted out soon, some companies nowadays really dont treat their staff well xx

Smoosh

Pooky - Good luck to your DD, sounds very promising! :j

Monnagran - Congratulations

Ginnyknit - Thank you My only consolation at the moment is that he seems to be enjoying the job (well, at least not hating it like the last one!), that, and we get free food occasionally :rotfl:

mcculloch29

I've only been away three days and there was hours of catch up on here!
Work has unexpectedly got quite busy, so I may have a little more money in the bank at the start of November (paid over a month in arrears ) It was really good to be back working for 10 hours a day.

Cake, so pleased about Catto rallying, Fuddle, I feel for you with what happened, just one of those random things. You mentioned Shirley Goode a while ago - Google her, she has a great blog
Monnagran - what lovely names for DGD. I have always loved the name Grace and there aren't enough people called Joy.

Another joy to share, getting two long-life smoke alarms fitted unexpectedly when the firemen fitting them mistook my house for the residential home next door - and then realised I was eligible. No more batteries beeping in the middle of the night.

I have one friend who has always been OS-ish, and my daughter follows me thankfully (son is improving gradually).

My mum wrote the book on OS-ism. I read it quite avidly but am sad that I am not the gardener she was.
Sister is coming round to OS, now uses Ald*, Lidl, & CS's far more. She used to have a very high paid job from the early 80s to the early Noughties and was born with expensive tastes, so it took her some time to adjust to it.

mcculloch29

Forgot to add a strange coincidence. I've changed the names/locations completely to protect privacy but this is in essence what happened today.

Yesterday I had a new online learner called Chloe, from York. I've only had one other Chloe, amongst hundreds of learners. I get learners from all over the UK.

Today another new online learner and with her details, the details of her work supervisor, whom I am to contact if there is a problem. The supervisor is called Chloe York.

SpikyHedgehog

Popperwell wrote: »

Well, I'm obviously not vegetarian/vegan but a lot of my meals/snacks are meat free or only small amounts and now watching income and seeing meat increase in price I may use more Quorn but as has been said there are other items and now supermarkets doing their own and they have upped the Linda McCartney range.

But it still only takes up a small section of what the ocal Tesco is selling(I haven't had chance to compare one SM against another what they sell and how much space it takes up)

Tesco's do seem to have added to the range and have alternatives and I am willing to give them a go in the coming weeks/months.

Sounds from what you say that I have missed some decent items that are now no longer available.

Yes, its frustrating when you find something you like & the supermarkets drop it for something you don't like so much! One thing to look out for, Pops, not all the vegetarian stuff has plenty of protein...

lisakay wrote: »

I've been a [STRIKE]vegetable[/STRIKE] vegetarian for 18 years now. I'm really not a big fan of quorn and other meat replacements. they tend to be a bit bland and i find them quite expensive.

i like to cook with beans, eggs, lentils...
i'm just about to put a load of beans and veg in the SC for a mixed bean chilli. the veg to go in it is mostly from the lotty, the beans and lentils were bought at the asian sm and very cheap, so with a carton of passata, a couple of stock cubes and some spices scavenged from work because they were ood, i will have 2 or 3 meal for each of us for pennies.
i'll add the spices, but will put the chillies in after i've portioned the girls' up because they don't like the spicy heat.

(the girls are not veggie, but they do eat regular veggie meals. I do know it's not difficult to feed veggie kids, but i prefer them to have some meat while they're still so small so i don't have to worry about complete proteins and combos of beans/lentils.veggies for them, a bit lazy i know )
in fact the eldest said to me not so long ago...i hope you're not expecting me to be veggie when i get older, i love meat. the youngest probably wouldn't be bothered either way.

okie doke, off to take a couple of paracetamol and pick mum up for a wander x love and hugs to all, whether you want them or not

That chilli sounded so good! I've done it the other way with my sons, raised them vegetarian & said choose for yourselves when you get to high school & can understand the pros & cons - DS2 is eagerly looking forward to kebabs :-( not my idea of healthy food! Am trying to convince him if he's going to eat it, go for organically reared meat...

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Morning All!

Question for all you veggies -

I am looking for interesting vegetarian options for the van. They need to be quick to do (on the van, does not matter about the prep beforehand). If it could be frozen all the better.

I currently offer a very limited choice because a) we don't get that many veggies, b) limited options that can be prepared on the van.

I do offer vegetarian wraps - Feta and Olive, Falafal and HM hummus etc. I also have a few boxes of Linda Mc C stuff. We have a microwave on board so can do reheating.

We fry our meat products in the fish fryer - how may of you would not be happy to eat anything fried in that oil? i currently don't offer fried stuff because of this.

Any suggestions will help me get our menu for next year sorted out!

I went away to think about this;-)

The oil is easy, I'd not eat anything cooked with meat or fish by choice
(I'm sure it happens out of my sight but for instance stopped eating in a local supermarket cafe as they were using the same utensils to serve eggs & bacon...)

The wraps sound yummy! Wish we had choice like that here.

If I were doing an alternate fish & chip supper at home, I'd probably go for smoked tofu, sliced & battered. It would freeze well & cook quickly from frozen. Or sliced nut meat (like nuttolene, though I don't know if that's still available) & cooked. (again, freezes well & cooks quickly).

I'm know others have answered but that's my belated ideas!

Mrs_Chip

Thanks Spikey!

I have never seen Nuttolene - rather unfortunate name, sound like something used to polish conkers!

nuatha

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Thanks Spikey!

I have never seen Nuttolene - rather unfortunate name, sound like something used to polish conkers!

That might have been a more appropriate use for it My memory of it is it was like Spam but without any redeeming features.

mardatha

I can't keep up ! If the hedgehog was snuffling round in daytime but didnt look ill, then he was hungry and trying to load himself up for hibernation.
Been docs yesterday for blood tests, going to hosp today for chest xray then back on Tues for ECG. It's about 23 miles each way and a nightmare to park and I feel the RV getting rattier just thinking about it. I'm just too tired to cope. What I'll do is stop at Tesco/Boots and get a bottle of iron tonic now I've had the bloods done- see if that will liven me up.
Will see you all when I get back and settle down for some serious yakking