make do and mend for tougher times

D&DD

what a relief Smiley

aw shucks thanks fuddle it'll all come together in yours soon enough we've been here 12 years now and its been a hard old slog digging it all out and terracing it by hand!

maryb

fuddle wrote: »

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/1094/20-Stayfresh-Longer-Bags-25-x-38cm Are these the fresher bags?

Fuddle, yes, those are the ones I use. The smallest size is too small to be useful for veggies so I get the next size up

bupster

Just a quick note to Fuddle - agreeing with the others, sod the dehydrating, most veg will last for ages in the fridge, and at worst might go a little bendy! Carrots in particular last forever, cauli and cabbage much longer than you expect. Broccoli the florets go a bit yellow but it's still edible and the stalk part keeps even longer (I love the stalk sliced thin). Courgettes, tomatoes and some other summer salady stuff doesn't keep so well, but you can buy those fresh when you need 'em.

Popperwell

Possession wrote: »

I'm no expert F, but I don't think that's possible. Someone prove me wrong please! Perhaps just for a short time, use veg which has a better fridge life, ie carrots keep a long time in the fridge, as does white cabbage etc. And tins of sweetcorn. It might not be ideal, but doable in the short term.

Afternoon Everyone...

The quantities may be too small for a family, may not taste as nice and it means trips to a supermarket perhaps more often but...would tinned or bottled veg be an alternative? I have seen jars of veg(I think for approx 39p)But of course that may soon add up moneywise but is it cheaper than "Doing your own?"

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Fuddle

Cauliflower lasts much longer in the fridge than broccoli imho and can be used for lots of things. Most underrated veg! I have kept half in the salad drawer for three weeks. Ditto leeks. Just keep everything dry.

Carrots will keep if you can find somewhere cool, dry and dark- in a paper sack in the garage?. Parsnips, potatoes onions and swede the same.

Frozen peas don't take up much space and are as good ad fresh vitamin-wise.

Take this as a chance to learn new skills and expand your diet into new areas. It might mean trying to get the family to eat different things, but that is a good thing, to be truly OS we have to be willing to eat anything we can get our hands on! I draw the line at tripe!

Now that has taught me something and thanks...I agree about Cauliflower being underated, the goodness of the simple humble pea and about how long some vegetables last over others, now where can I find paper sacks/bags? I could put some vegetables into a cupboard/pantry whilst here...I can't think of any veg that I dislike and some I have still to try.

maryb wrote: »

Fuddle, have you thought about using the green stayfresh bags from Lakeland? (I think you can also get them cheaper elsewhere). They really make a difference and make it possible to shop for veg just once a week. Broccoli stays green but tends to smell a bit strongly of brassica by the end of the week but 4-5 days is fine. You can reuse them lots of times so they work out fairly cheap to use once you have made the initial investment

I think I have some of them somewhere(now I need them I have no idea where they are)well, I say I have them, mine were originally purchased in Pound Stretcher and were made by JML... Are they the same ones at Lakeland? Perhaps PS and other shops still sell them or have something similar...

This Sunday/Thursday coming anyone near an Aldi(if you have the money)and that's the main problem...anyone needing items for the home such bedding, portable wardrobes, anyone who needs items connected to cycling(they have everything except the selling of the bike)and that includes clothing. Worth looking at the Aldi website/latest leaflets...the sooner our Aldi opens the better. I hope it is a decent size(difficult to tell from outside)

valk_scot

Stay fresh veg bags and stay fresh bread bags...both £1 for a pack of five at my local ££ shop. They're good too, I'm not 100% convinced the veg actually stay as nutritious over the longer period of time but they certainly keep their colour longer. And the bread bags are the right shape.

For storing root I use old pillow cases, preferably in dark colours. Absolutely ideal for onions and garlic. For carrots and spuds I put the pillow case inside a cardbord box to exclude light.

lisakay_2

just a quick one, the aldi near me opened yesterday. mum tried to go to do her shopping this morning and couldn't even get in the car park. i have vouchers for it that expire on the 26th, so i'll try and get in on tuesday at some point before or after work.

there's lots of people i want to reply to, but going offline to try and get some jobs done before i get the girls from school xx

Popperwell

prepareathome wrote: »

toddled off to Ald* for first time Guy on till looked at me in disbelief when I said I had never been there before

The worst part is everyone staring at you and nudging each other as they thought my debit card had been refused. One guy loudly said to another about how some people need lessons in money management instead of trying to buy with money they don't have and another about was going on about posh types thinking money beneath them and coming to their stores to buy up their food- posh, I still talk with a slight Scottish accent never heard it called posh before and I was only dressed in cheap trousers and top no better than anyone in the store but to them I did not know the rules so must be an outsider slumming. As I left there was a lot of rumbling, oh well at least I got them all chatting.

Mind you this store in one of the rougher areas of the city where to any outsider they would be seeming to talk a different language.

Are places going to become no go areas like they were in the '80s.

I didn't know but as I usually use cash I was alright and I wish we'd thought to warn you of Aldi's policy, I never did use the CC much but less now as I dislike leaving a paper trail about what I spend.

That will get more difficult as retailers start to prefer to use various types of "Electronic" ways of spending/transfering money...I have only been in an Aldi's 3 times in my life and when I mentioned it was my first time I did not get a reaction of disbelief. So perhaps its a problem there?

Once again lots of assumptions made about what people are like and where they come from, too much of that goes on and 99% I like to think it is something I don't do in my life generally and the same on here, I try not to judge/condemn and would rather believe and trust others(even if occasionally I find "I was wrong!"

"No go" areas, I hope not but it would not surprise me, it doesn't take long for society to break down and I suspect some areas like that exist already but are played down by the Government, the media and those who deal with our safety(like the police etc...)I remember a documentary from a few tears ago on ITV in the Tonight Series after a young boy was shot whilst riding his bike and even the reporter/tv crew felt uneasy and I think they were threatened at one point.

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Is that 3p right Fuddle? That would work out at about £250 per year for running one freezer - does that sound right?

ETA- PAH, our Aldi takes CC and Debit, so it must be a local thing. Ignore the whinging, people are always looking for somthing tomoan about!

On the Aldi website they say they don't accept CC but perhaps by what you say that's changing...slowly?

I wish I could think where I heard/read it but I think it was said that a fridge/freezer costs around £26 annually to run? Mind that will probably increase over the years just because the utility companies keep putting their prices up.

I worry about paying that as it takes money from somewhere else so if it was £250+ annually:eek:

2tonsils

Try wrapping fresh veg in cheap foil as soon as you bring it home from the shops, before putting it in the fridge, I have tried this with celery, cucumber and courgettes so far and they stayed much fresher for longer.

Just heard that Greece is going on rolling power cuts from wednesday next week...that is a worry as they are predicting 48 hours at a time with no power...we have other fuels and candles and oil lights but what about my freezers???? It also means no petrol from the station because of the pumps and no water because its pumped from wells here... oh dear.....

ginnyknit

Smileyt, thank goodness your JSA is sorted and you can relax a bit xxx

Sending hugs to Mardatha x

other than that a quiet day at Ginny towers. OH driving me mad with cricket trophies all over the living room, he has them all boxed ready to be collected tonight, thank goodness its the end of the season, he might not play or umpire any more but he still helps run the league. Off to clean up and defrost something for tea.

Valk_scot, glad the dying of the rug was successful, I was thinking of dying my jacket as the green is fading and I have a dark green dye lurking under the sink. Must have a look what its made of it feels cottonish.

I have been buying the Mr A cheese sauce, at 29p - made with water its lovely and makes a mean cauliflower cheese. DS said it tasted like they serve in restaurants.- dont know whether that was a compliment :rotfl: I usually make my own sauce but with the price of cheese its not cheap now and its good to have in store.

Popperwell

valk_scot wrote: »

Who cares what the prats in the queue think, if that's all they have to worry them they must have very small lives as my mum used to say. The folk in my local Aldi and Lidl aren't like that though, everyone round here uses them from the folk in the big posh houses up the road to the folk in the estates, the local Polish community, the sudents and "posh" but poor folk like me, lol. It's quite friendly really.

Mardatha, plain chocolate is supposed to be a good source of iron, isn't it?

Hope you soon feel on the mend Mardatha and it is a simple solution...Agree with what you say VS, assumptions again annd small minds/small lives if that bothers them...Guess what more and more people whatever their social standing are/will be using such retailers and some will I suspect pass off their lower priced food to friends as being more expensive...

Can you remember the old ads on tv(Years ago)where I think June Whitfield palyed someone "Posh" and she was having a dinner party and was passing off Birds Eye items as though she'd made them herself or bought them at an expensive place?:rotfl:

fuddle wrote: »

I am going to have to be flexible as the Coop doesn't always have in what I go for.


MrsC I've only had the electric monitor on for a couple of days. The past few days I've been using 4p and hour with everything off, i.e. just me in the house. Now DH has switched the freezer off I'm using 1p per hour. There's definitely a 3p difference and can only be down to the freezer really but If it's been broken and whirring away unnecessarily, maybe that's why the high hourly cost.

The 1p with everything off includes the fridge and freezer (two seperate items) in the kitchen so no, it definitely doesn't cost that much to run a freezer (that 1p also includes a fishtank, a boiler that is off but still on and an alarm system) So not even 1p an hour to run a freezer. Sorry If I've worried anyone.

Not worried me as such(I hate the standing charges and VAT)As I write this I have a fridge/freezer on, this laptop/a desktop pc and a DAB Radio...no idea what that costs...no CH...not sure how much further I could cut back...I'm a devil for keeping things switched off...obsessed more like.

I can understand switching things off for the environment and avoid wasting energy but it woud be nice to be in the position where you avoid using gas/electric through choice rather than having to!