Batten down the hatches.....

Orange_Ena

GoingToDoIt wrote: »

Hi Ena good to "see" you too! Or should we say Nigella
I bought a 3 pack of garlics, peeled the lot and then chopped them in the mixer (yes I am that lazy) I added a tiny pinch of salt (someone told me this, not sure why but seems fine) then into a little plastic pot in the freezer. Same for onions etc but I put those in ziplock bags.
When I want to use, I either put it on the side for afew mins to thaw or hack at the frozen mass with a fork if I'm impatient. Slight defrost/refrost does not seem to affect it, it's only a plant after all and it's not chunky enough to be a "texture".
I like "cooking on a bootstrap" for easy cheap ideas!

Haha Nigella! Hardly :rotfl:

Oh that's a great idea about using a mixer. I've got a mini chopper in the cupboard that I never use so that would make chopping garlic so much easier! No more garlic fingers

Orange_Ena

Today
* NSD
* 0nep0ll surveys, only £5.25 away from payout
* VO survey
* Youg0v survey
* 92SB earned
* £1.22 sweep into my overpayments account

I'm currently on 4 out of 7 NSD's but tomorrow and Wednesday won't be. I'm meeting my colleague tomorrow for a cheeky C0sta and I need to get her a leaving present. I'll probably just get her a C0sta gift card cause I think she'll appreciate that. It's not very meaningful but we're friends anyway so I shall still see her :) I also need to get two 40th birthday cards for old school friends :eek: It's started.......the 40's are coming

Wednesday I'm having my hair done and I'll need cheese and milk, hopefully nothing else. Thursday should be an NSD then Friday I've got a work do, for the 2 people that are leaving. Lucky b*ggers, I wanna be next :rotfl:

Orange_Ena

Happy happy Friday I've been off sick the last couple of days with a bad cold, cough and a chest thing. I've felt really lousy but I'm coming out the other side now. I was meant to be out tonight with work but obviously couldn't go and I'm quite upset at missing out. I hardly go out but I was really looking forward to it, genuinely, and not fake looking forward to it like some events :rotfl:

Tuesday 8th November
* £15 C0sta gift card for my friend who's leaving work, I can't believe she's leaving me there!
* £9.80 for lunch, paid for my friends too
* £8.09 in T3sco for birthday cards and stamps
* Won £10 on the Pe0ple's P0stcode L0ttery :T:T My 3rd win this year
* My water bill is going down by £2.04 per month :money:
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 68SB earned
* Joined Opini0n Outp0st, up to 25 points

Wednesday
* £10.16 in T3sco on a few essentials
* £60 for my hair cut and colour
* Youg0v survey
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 291SB earned
* Opini0n Outp0st survey
* 2 PA surveys
* VO survey

Thursday 10th November
* NSD
* 2 PA surveys
* 0nep0ll surveys
* Opini0n Outp0st survey
* VO survey
* Pinec0ne survey
* 331SB earned

Today
* £38.81 in M0rrisons on a few groceries, milk, drinks for Christmas, kitten food
* £6 requested from Pinec0ne
* Opini0n Outp0st survey and £2.50 redeemed and considering I only joined 3 days ago, I'm chuffed :T
* Youg0v survey
* 243SB earned
* VO survey
* 0nep0ll surveys
* £1.11 sweep into my FD savings account

I made a lovely tea tonight, real comfort food and so tasty...........posh mushrooms on toast. I cooked caramalised onion, then added garlic and mushrooms and mixed in gruyere so it all melted together and served it on some nice toasted bread. Yum yum in my tum

Tomorrow I'm making a sausage casserole which should last 2-3 days, depending how piggy I'll feel. I've bought a packet mix and it can be used in the slow cooker so my house will smell lovely tomorrow! It's been ages since I used it and now the weather is so cold, it's a perfect time to dust it off

Huskyrunner

Opinion outpost is a good little earner i have some weeks that i can earn ten pounds a week off it others can be quite quiet. A little tip keep your profile on it upto date and dont just rely on email invitations for surveys.

GoingToDoIt

Hope you feel better Ena, there's a lot of it about just now

doingitanyway

Ha, ha, I know what you mean about fake looking forward to and event...
Your foodie stuff is getting better and better. That mushroom's on toast sounds total yum. I will copy that
I hope you feel better soon x

crazy_cat_lady

Your posh mushrooms on toast are like my idea of heaven. I'm definitely going to try that.

Orange_Ena

Thanks Huskyrunner, it seems ok so far. Cheers for the tip off

GoingToDoIt wrote: »

Hope you feel better Ena, there's a lot of it about just now

Thanks Gonna, yep, it's that time of year! Nearly better now

doingitanyway wrote: »

Ha, ha, I know what you mean about fake looking forward to and event...
Your foodie stuff is getting better and better. That mushroom's on toast sounds total yum. I will copy that
I hope you feel better soon x

Haha I'm sure we're not the only ones who have that. I can sometimes hear the words coming out of my mouth, "yeah I'm really looking forward to it" but inside I'm screaming, "I'm lying, please notice I'm being fake and tell me I don't have to go" :rotfl: I'm weird

I think posh mushrooms on toast is my new favourite breakfast. Second only to Eggs Benedict x

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

Your posh mushrooms on toast are like my idea of heaven. I'm definitely going to try that.

Ooh hope you've tried it now ccl. I had it again yesterday morning, delish!

Orange_Ena

Evening. I'm back to work tomorrow unfortunately, not 100% better but enough to be able to get through the day.....I hope! Cough cough I love Monday nights, it means Monday morning is over and even better than that, University Challenge and Only Connect are on! Even though I can hardly answer a question, I love them. I'm not sure I'll ever reach the heady heights of 5 questions right again on UC but I'll keep trying :rotfl:

Anyhoo, down to business....

Saturday 12th November
* NSD
* PA survey
* 17SB earned

Sunday
* NSD

Today
* NSD
* £6 received from Pinec0ne and transferred to my overpayments account
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 2 PA surveys
* Youg0v survey
* Opini0n Outp0st
* 448SB earned and a £10 Am@zon voucher redeemed :T

More decluttering, everyday decluttering
69. CD singles x 11
70. Folder, post its and pens that don't work
71. Unused cardboard scratch thingy - my cats don't use the one they've got so I'll donate this one to the cat rescue

Orange_Ena

Evening money savers. I'm still not quite 100%, still got a cough but I managed to get through the week at work. I've got a few days off coming up the week after this one so just need to hang on 4 days!

Tuesday 15th
* £2 for a greetings card!
* £30 for fuel
* £2.25 for a drink in C0sta
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 3 PA surveys
* i-S@y survey

Wednesday 16th
* £50.89 in T3sco, for a few groceries, including kitten food, maple syrup and coffee which soon adds up, and then a pair of pyjamas and some new knickers. I think I now have more pairs of pyjamas than "going out out" clothes :rotfl::D
* Youg0v survey
* 0nep0ll surveys
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my overpayments account

Thursday 17th
* NSD
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 53SB earned

Friday 18th
* £3.50 for a birthday balloon
* 70p for a sausage roll
* £7.70 in the co-op
* £6.59 in T3sco
* 0nep0ll surveys, only 35p from cashing out :T

Saturday
* £32.21 in M0rrisons
* Youg0v survey
* VO survey

Today
* NSD
* Youg0v survey

I sorted out some more crap this weekend and have disposed of quite a few old birthday, Christmas and other greetings cards that I'd kept for years. I'm sure I went through a year or 2 ago and got rid of some but I've been a lot more ruthless this time :j I kept some cards from family, and then other cards that have got nice little messages in. Anything that just says to Orange Ena, from Friend have gone. Some of them were from people I can't even remember. Who the heck is Margaret and Eddie? No idea! :rotfl: Some of the cards had my mum's writing in, and my grandma and grandads and I couldn't bear to part with them. Silly I know. I kept one congratulations card from an old family friend as they wrote a message in saying how proud my mum would have been of me for graduating. Proper soppy Sally tonight Anyway, I had 2 big bags of stuff but now it's gone into one bag so that's a win!

72. old birthday and Christmas cards

I was also sorting out all my stationery, the pretty stuff as well as the functional boring stuff that I've acquired over the years and boy, do I have a problem. I used to work for a stationery supplies place years ago and we were given (honestly.....given, not stolen :rotfl::D) loads of bits, mainly pens, envelopes and post its. I'm never going to use it all and while I have thinned it out over the years, I still have far too much. And notebooks! I'm guilty of buying these myself so I can't blame my old job. I counted 8 unused notebooks. That's a lie. There were 22 :eek: What. Is. Wrong. With. Me? They're all sooooo pretty though :p

With Christmas coming (like you don't know ) I'm planning on a food parcel for the food bank. I've already bought a few bits in the last few weeks but I'll have to check and find out what they're desperate for so they don't end up with a million tins of beans. I've also agreed to put together a box of goodies for a local cat rescue - I can't resist. I'll probably try and budget around £20 to each cause so I'll be hitting the discount shops to maximise it. Even though I'm in debt and desperate to make money to pay it off so I can leave my job, blah blah blah, I do realise that I am incredibly lucky so I can spare some money for a good cause :T:T

Wishing everyone a great week