make do and mend for tougher times

fuddle

Tell me about it! We eat as a family basics bland sweet corn while DH's fish get green giant! I cannat say a thing because all I get is "would you rather I spent £20 doon the pub pet?" Men!

GreyQueen

Use the lids!

My corn was date-expired so I was peering thru the glass lid thinking that it'd never start popping and first one then another opens like a flower and then they jump all over the place, pinging off the inside of the lid like something alive. Use the lids or you will be ankle-deep in them.

Anyone know a good seasoning for home-popped corn as it's terribly blandola otherwise?

OK, going offline now to finish my book. See y'all tomorrow.

VJsmum

Icing sugar.

Americans salt theirs.

fuddle

Melted butter and melted golden syrup. Let it cool then douse. for packed lunches I sneakily dust over some icing sugar. Honey is another nice topping

lisakay_2

I like smoked paprika and chilli or butter and salt on my popcorn, the girls like cinnamon and icing sugar x cheese powder is quite a good one too

I had my tea early with the girls tonight and I was all ready for tomorrow. got the uniforms ready, butties made, pots all washed, hoovered, got oxtail stew all prepped and in the sc ready for tomorrows tea and kitchen tidied, then decided I was hungry again.
I shoved homemade oven chips i the oven to make a quick butty and decided not to waste the oven so whipped up a batch of goblin buns while I was at it. (fairy cakes but with green colouring and choc chips ready for halloween). so now I've had to clean the kitchen all over again. bedtime shortly for me.

the cakes look really good so i'll do another batch tomorrow night for the halloween cake sale at school on wed.

night night sleep tight all x I hope tomorrow brings good news, good health and happiness for everyone in equal measures x

annie123

GreyQueen wrote: »

Waaay back in 1984 a pal's boyf (boatbuilder by trade) told me that it is perfectly-possible to make white paint that didn't turn yellow. It was something that they added (or left out, can't recall) which caused the yellowing.

I did quite a bit of white glosswork on doors in my flat 2 years ago (Dul*x Brilliant White) and it's still as pure as the driven snow. Makes me wonder if I bought another can, whether it would be so good.

The EU stuck their nose into oil based paint in 2010, any paint bought since then may still be the stuff they produced after the regs changed which yellowed and before they claimed to have fixed it. Can't only be Dulux either.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/renovatinganddiy/9251630/How-can-I-get-a-straight-answer-from-Dulux.html

greenbee

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Monogram - I hestitate to suggest this, but have you thought about doing some form of social or ethical investment with your father's inheritance?

I don't know much about it, other than there have been some interesting articles in the Guardian (which of course I can't find now!) but there seem to be quite a few schemes which seem safe, provide loans to charities or other "good causes" and give a rate of interest which can be as good (if you can call it good) as the rates in banks. Sorry if this isn't appropriate.

I save via Triodos and my dad invests through Charity Bank. Both invest in/lend to good causes including environmental and community projects so might be worth a try. I also invest my pension in ethical funds as our works scheme allows us to manage our own investments. To the surprise of many of my acquaintances my investments generally outperform theirs... So it may be a solution that does some good and improves your finances too.

GreyQueen wrote: »

I got mine from a health food shop. In fact, I still have some in the cupboard, must give it another go.

Heads-up re popping corn. I added a single layer over the base if a large deep pan and watched it pop thru the glass lid (great fun!) but it kept growing and growing and filled this very deep pan. A little seems to go a very long way.

If you have a microwave, a tablespoon or two of boiling water and a tablespoon of popping corn in a MW proof bowl WITH A LID is a fat-free solution (no clue why it matters given how little fat is used for the normal method). Or reduced washing up version...

monnagran

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions.

Fuddle: Don't be fooled, I'm not THAT nice you know. Thanks anyway.

7WW: Now that's an idea I hadn't thought of. I suppose I'm not really used to having money, I've scraped my way through life till now and tbh it scares me a bit. Many thanks.

Greenbee: Brilliant. I'd not heard of any of these but I will do a bit of investigation. I knew you lot on here would have some ideas.

paidinchickens

annie123 wrote: »

The EU stuck their nose into oil based paint in 2010

Visions of Eu with red paint on their noses :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: thanks for that

Morning everyone

On the last tin of dog food this morning and the widget snapped off :eek:

Dogs were going bonkers as I tried all the tin openers/knives etc to get in the thing and in the end I crunched it up with a knife and ended up dragging the meat through the gap so their brekkie looked like stew and they were miffed at having to wait so long :rotfl:

At least I came away with my fingers in tact unlike the wrestle a few years ago with the corned beef tin where it cut the end of my finger off and I had to have it stitched back on. Rather glad corned beef is too expensive to buy now

Have a great day

PiC x

2tonsils

This a great link on how to make veg and fruit etc last longer

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/27-ways-to-make-your-groceries-last-as-long-as-pos