make do and mend for tougher times

Possession

fuddle wrote: »

Another good idea thank you, powdered potato. Smash is the brand isn't it? I haven't had it for yours. Do the big 4 supermarkets/lidl Aldi do their own cheaper versions and if so where would I find it?

Thanks

Yes I've bought a few of these in case, and will try some to see how *ahem* nice it is. I haven't had any kind of Smash type product since school dinners as a child when I hated it so much it made me retch and I was excused from eating it by the dinner ladies.
It's over near the pasta/baked beans/dried peas/herbs/stuffing aisles. Mr T value range is very cheap indeed.

kezlou

Fuddle

SAinsbugs sell tins of potatoes for about 19p and the powered mash i think is the price.

Personally i can't stand tinned or dried pots, but i'm facing up to the reality of buying some just for later in the year. I also had traumatic experiences of it school, shuddering thinking about it.


Its kind of sunny but freezing over here, i may take the boys to the mela. Only thing is its on in the town centre, the other years its been in our local park, so may mean for drunken fools turning up . It is good, has stalls,live music and sell freshly asian food, which is so scrummy. But best of all entrane and music is free:D.

The clothes i out out are still soaking, checked on the basil and its all been eaten :eek: Two days ago it was huge now dead and gone. Oh well i'll count my pennies and see if i've got £2 for six more pots of herbs from home bargain$.

Know what you mean mar with the lack of electricity, that was us in 2010. -13 degrees out side and no heating, was so glad we had a camping stove. We now have a camping kettle which is fab and in the cupboard as we speak.

Oh sainsbugs have 3 pack of 500g natco red lentils for £2 and four tins of chopped / plum tomatoes for a £1 too.

mardatha

I find Sainsbugs Basics stuff is very edible. Add a touch of butter or even spludge of cream to it, it does the tops of shepherds pie just fine.
Can I pick chard and spinach and kale now, then steam it and freeze it? I only use it to chuck into soup and stew. Its starting to go to seed or bolt.

kezlou

SAme here , i use the basic range all the time. The basic plain flour is fab, as is the cooking bacon.
We use basics hot cholate and teabags as they both fair trade and cheap.

Never thought of adding butter to dried mash, do you add it after you've mixed it up mar?

I've frozen spinach before.I just pick it and bung it straight into the freezer.

SpikyHedgehog

Shropshirelass wrote: »

Morning all, it was sunny here when I woke up, but now the washing is on the line, the clouds have rolled up.

Had a bit of a disaster last night, washing machine on the blink. I have been using it a bit more than usual, as our little old Westie Poppie deteriorated quickly (doggie dementia) and sadly passed away 10 days ago. Westie no. 2, Archie, was as broken hearted as we were, and has needed a lot of support. He has been wetting his bed again so had lots of washing, yesterdays now still dripping.

WM is about 16 years old, so probably needs replacing. Poppie on the other hand is not replacable.

Think I'll go and cut back some of the garden jungle before it rains. Good luck with all baking and food preparation. Not doing any serious cooking till roast chicken for tea.

xxx

So sorry to hear about Poppie, and of course poor Archie needs comfort from you.

My washing machine was not working last week, & DS2 wet the bed at least twice... I washed his sheets in the bath to get them clean, having tried draining the machine, discovered it would spin, so put the stuff in to at least get the excess water out.

Still dry here at the moment, so washing staying on the line. I won't change my sheets though or have DS1 change his as DS2 will bring enough washing home for me to dry on the clothes horse over next week when it starts raining again...

I think my church has a new batch of incense - I started coughing lots from it, which I don't usually, used my inhaler, then went stupidly dizzy, so had to sit down for the service. Stupid lungs.

Grey Queen, I love grandma247's idea for slug hotels... Mum used to gather up all the slugs & snails she could find each evening & store them in a lidded nappy bucket till the next morning when she took the dog for a walk along the river & fed the ducks with a bucket full of slugs.

SpikyHedgehog

kezlou wrote: »

SAme here , i use the basic range all the time. The basic plain flour is fab, as is the cooking bacon.
We use basics hot cholate and teabags as they both fair trade and cheap.

Never thought of adding butter to dried mash, do you add it after you've mixed it up mar?

I've frozen spinach before.I just pick it and bung it straight into the freezer.

I've not used instant mash for ages as DS2 doesn't eat mash... Well, he'll have start to or go hungry. But I used to make it up by putting it in the bowl, getting a blob of butter of the mixing spoon, pouring over the boiling water & stirring, so the butter melted into it.

I actually like instant mash... Very quick shepherd's pie is beanfeast mince or supermarket's own instant vegetarian mince, instant mash & a tin of peas.

mardatha

I like it too. I add the butter into the jug with the boiling water.

smileyt_2

Just popping on to say Shropshirelass hugs to you over the loss of your dear Poppie. xx

I must go and do something useful. I've had my cup of tea so there is no excuse. Sigh ....

grandma247

mardatha wrote: »

I find Sainsbugs Basics stuff is very edible. Add a touch of butter or even spludge of cream to it, it does the tops of shepherds pie just fine.
Can I pick chard and spinach and kale now, then steam it and freeze it? I only use it to chuck into soup and stew. Its starting to go to seed or bolt.

:eek: did I read that right? Kale!


Yeast only needs warmth to grow quickly. Bread will still rise in the fridge but it takes about 12 hours.
If you have a light in your oven you could put the light on and rise your bread in there and it is free from draughts.

GreyQueen

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

You need ducks GQ - ducks hoover up slugs and snails with relish and at a prodigious rate.

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

Grey Queen, I love grandma247's idea for slug hotels... Mum used to gather up all the slugs & snails she could find each evening & store them in a lidded nappy bucket till the next morning when she took the dog for a walk along the river & fed the ducks with a bucket full of slugs.

I remember reading somewhere that you don't have an excess of slugs, you have a deficit of ducks...........:rotfl:Oh the joys and pains of the organic allotment.

I have been picking beans today. Picked a huge trugful (45 mins) and then podded them down to half a carrier bagful (over an hour). I also assisted the Grim Reaper to harvest 27 more slugs and snails. Could have taken a lot more snails as they were hanging around on the underside of the bean leaves like they belonged there. Barstewards - I'll save them for later.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a lottie neighbour came over and spoke to me. He's a lovely bloke but I was face-first into the 5 foot tall bean patch and didn't see him coming. We had a commiseration over the slugs and it was like the cliche fishing story, sketching the size of them with your hands.

Kittie, have I remembered correctly that you're also growing Kestrel potatoes this year? Have you noticed anything unusual about them, beyond the white rings? I've never dehydrated tatties but sometimes you get a glassy whiteness to the flesh when cooked which wasn't visible when you sliced into them raw. I steam my tatties, always. They don't taste very pleasant when they've gone like that.

Having a quick chillout then off to the kitchen to toil. It's not my favourite thing but it will make the rest of the week a lot easier. I shall run up a batch of wholemeal and sunflower rolls and leave them to prove on a baking sheet parked on top of the high level grill. Then it will be rinse, blanch and freezer the broad beans.

I had a look in the freezer and realised I needed to evict some stuff to make room for the beans (it is a countertop model with only 50 litre capacity, so have a pack of whoopsied mince and batch-cooked and frozen kidney beans on the draining board thawing out. Later today I shall make a chilli and that will feed me for the best part of a week with different combinations.