'supporting each other through really tough times'

Own_My_Own

stiltwalker wrote: »

ETA: See I said you had it all in hand OMO - And sometimes a great variety can be a drawback rather than a bonus, the number of times I stand in front of cupboards/fridge and have completely no idea what to cook is legend. If you tend to use jarred/packet sauces anyway do you use Approved Foods at all? They do short/past date stuff for sometimes silly prices and you can have a serious store cupboard for really quite a small outlay. I don't get a huge amount from there unless they have some basic ingredients stuff available as I tend to cook from scratch - having said that I was a chef before I gave up work when DD came along so that's my thing and I'm as fond of a jarred sauce in a lazy or simply haven't the time moment as anyone else.

It was the cooking thing that has always stopped me posting on here before. When ever I had read this thread everyone on it seems to cook from scratch. You all seem to make your bread, and grow your own vegetables. I don't bake at all. I don't like touching raw meat. In fact I would happily not have a kitchen or a garden. I am afraid I am a city girl at heart.
Also, I was never taught how to cook.
In fact I don't remember hardly any of my childhood. My friend thinks it is weird to remember so little, but I just can't do it.

Softstuff

Own_My_Own wrote: »

It was the cooking thing that has always stopped me posting on here before. When ever I had read this thread everyone on it seems to cook from scratch. You all seem to make your bread, and grow your own vegetables. I don't bake at all. I don't like touching raw meat. In fact I would happily not have a kitchen or a garden. I am afraid I am a city girl at heart.
Also, I was never taught how to cook.
In fact I don't remember hardly any of my childhood. My friend thinks it is weird to remember so little, but I just can't do it.

OMO, you don't have to cook to be here, you're very welcome regardless. If it wasn't for me having a husband who is like a bottomless pit for food and living in Australia where ready meals are extortionate, I probably wouldn't cook either. If I was alone and in England I suspect I'd live off cereal and toast with the odd toby carvery :rotfl: And as for gardening, the only thing I ever managed to grow was a bit of english spinach on the balcony and the possum ate that not us.

I never learned how to cook as a child. In fact I was such a disaster in the kitchen mum barred me from it. When I finally learned it was by necessity and mostly via the internet. If you ever do fancy cooking something though, raw meat excluded , let us know and we'll help.

Popperwell

On My Own,
I'm making the effort but you know, I could quite easily being on my own slip back to simple fare. I probably could live as Softstuff says on cereal/porridge, some fruit, toast and jam/marmelade and honestly not tire of most of my meals being similar(In fact after Mum passed away last year)that's pretty well how I was feeding myself.

Perhaps with a salad sandwich thrown in...in fact if I did that I could probably reduce my food bill still further and I suspect many are already living that way...you know...cereal, beans on toast etc...

But since adding the slow cooker into the mix, my other stock recipe is to chop up some chunky veg, add stock or gravy granuals and do stews/casseroles with a small portion of meat added.

Nothing complicated and often meals are thrown together and can be done with the minimum of effort.

And well having managed to get vegetables reasonably cheap and many items reduced(yellow stickered)that I would not bother with or reduced so much I'd be silly not to try and have something a bit different.

Nothing wrong with simple, it can still be nutricious and tasty. But I do try to make the effort to vary what I eat and have something a little different. After all I may as well try something new whilst I am able and keep thinking if/when I probably end up in care as many single and older people will, they'll give me pretty basic simple unadventurous food then so enjoy your food now.

It would be different if you live in one of those smart village type places where because you have a lot of savings they are more like hotels but most are not. I know from Mum's short stay in supposedly one of the best NH in the area on my town, I wasn't impressed.

Well, it actually seems slightly warmer(last night)parts of my home I could see my breath indoors when I breathed out:eek:
That doesn't happen often, I have been reasonably cosy in bed and slept quite well...and a few minutes ago looked outside, still no snow...famous last words of course.

I don't feel quite as good as yesterday but not too bad either...so I'll still take that as a positive...:)

I'll have an early breakfast(Cereal, fruit, toast)and then tonight it could be liver and bacon with some extra vegetables added. And I follow it with a small pot of(yellow stickered)Roly Poly.

Still early so may get some more shut eye or watch a bit of catchup TV on the internet.

You'll manage OMO I'm sure...we do some of our own signature dishes to keep costs down but we also look for bargains to save time too and though it is fun to cook and say "I made that!" If we can find shortcuts that cost very little and are inexpensive, I'm sure most of us would.

Kittikins

Just butting in to say there's a great product, made for horses, that is BRILLIANT at detangling hair, whether it be a mane, fur or even my child's hair called Cowboy Magic. My DD had long curly/mixed race hair until she insisted on having it shopped short *sob* and after moaning to a horsey friend about how horrible it was trying to detangle it - it would go into dreadlocks seemingly overnight, he recommended this stuff and our lives were transformed. It was far better than sprays for us, it's a gel that you rub on the matted bits and the knots just seem to fall out!

They also do a shampoo and whilst marketed for horses, they advertise that they test on humans

HTH!

mardatha

OmO, I used to be the same. I can't remember much about my childhood at all apart from how horrible my mum could be. I've always hated cooking and never had a clue how to do things - but after a couple of years on this forum I'm doing everything from scratch. Might be a wee bit limited menu but it's what we like eating These people in here haff vays of making you cook !
We have 3" of snow and a navy blue sky and plenty food in so we don't need to worry about the shops today.

sevenup01

Morning all. Ive been a bit busy since i last posted about going to a quilting class. That was a lot of fun although i could have done without the sewing machine deciding it was going to sew in reverse! I ended up borrowing the shop owners which luckily was in the shop. My quilt top came out beautifully:T and i am really proud of it. The rest of the week went downhill after that as eldest daughter decided to stay for the weekend and was extremely moody and took her bad temper out on the rest of the family - including my 5 year old who she accused of being a spoilt brat just because she cryed when presented with an egg sandwich (which she loves) made with toast (not for an egg sandwich thank you!). She then had a go at me as i pander to her too much and let her get away with everything:mad:. That was after i sorted the egg sandwich so it was made with buttered bread and then cut it into four rather than two pieces. She also yelled at her other brother and sister and reduced sister to tears and brother to shutting hmself in his bedroom and then yelled at my cousin who is now living with me to get out of the f***ing house!
I know she is going through a really stressful time at the moment, trying to get her flat sorted and benefits sorted and of course she had to start her monthly on saturday but it was very hard to stay calm and not scream at her to get out. If i do that i think she would not come back as her state of mind with her mental health problems is such that she would see it as me not wanting to see her ever again and i dont want that at all.
I did tell her off though and told her in no uncertain terms that i would not allow that sort of behaviour. I ended up going upstairs to my bedroom for a while to calm down.

cat_smith your dog is gorgeous! He looks like he is laughing at you in the photos!
We have a sprinkling of snow here this morning but only a light dusting on the tops of the fences. More later i hope!

fuddle

Slightest dusting and paths clear. Palaver over nothing.

Big thanks to toughie kezlou who tried to get me a lift this morning. When I get my driving confidence up I can see a meet up for a cuppa on the cards

Have a good day everyone. Washing, ironing, dog walking and baking on the cards for us. Pasta sauce and h&m garlic bread for us tonight.

lisakay_2

just a quick update before i dash off to work. spoke to the big boss this morning, the post has been covered but when i said how disappointed i was to have missed the opportunity was told that the cover they had was only for today and they would ring me later with details if i was interested in starting tomorrow! looks like it will happen have left them my mobile number and they know i'll be at work shortly so can ring me there. excited, but nervous.

we were all really excited last night when the snow came and it started to stick, but the rain put paid to that

Possession

Good news Lisa! SevenUp sorry your having a hard time with DD. Hopefully she'll calm down when the house business is all sorted.
Just a dusting of snow here too. The children tried to have a snowball fight but it was a losing battle really. Lovely to get up to a clean and tidy house though, if ever there were an incentive to keep it that way, this is it. I really want someone to pop round for a coffee just so I can proudly show it off, but it ain't gonna happen.
It's DH's turn for cake wednesday at work this week so I had better think of something to bake tomorrow.

katieowl_2

lisakay wrote: »

just a quick update before i dash off to work. spoke to the big boss this morning, the post has been covered but when i said how disappointed i was to have missed the opportunity was told that the cover they had was only for today and they would ring me later with details if i was interested in starting tomorrow! looks like it will happen have left them my mobile number and they know i'll be at work shortly so can ring me there. excited, but nervous.

we were all really excited last night when the snow came and it started to stick, but the rain put paid to that

Ooooh Good O!!! :T

Really pleased for you!


Kate