The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

wondercollie

kidcat wrote: »

Oh my I am watching the Jamie Oliver money savers program and am astounded, one man and his daughter are spending £750 a month on food shopping, I am speechless

Jamie's been hired by the Canadian supermarket Sobey's to teach us how to eat properly!

Nobody is impressed. He's taking a hammering on their Facebook page with the opinion being that there are loads of chef's here who should have had the contract.

I mean he thinks he's being funny by asking "how big IS Canada?".

ARGGGG

gailey_2

kidcat wrote: »

Gailey - benefits system is so strange - OH lost his job mid august but we are only just getting the letters to say we have been awarded, they wouldnt let me cancel them until they were awarded either, so I am now having to call again and cancel them all. Tax Credits were incredibly quick though, payment went into the bank within a week, but we are just receiving the letters. May be worth looking at your bank account

Thanks kidcat.

im so confused as 3 weeks this friday hes been out of work-not paid.
as soon as he starts new job monday our circumstances changed so need to inform the as don't want to be done benefit fraud but wanted them to pay us what we were entitled to.Housing already tellng us we in system but only get 2 weeks as only process every monday.

Tax credits sent back a week ago. we were not getting tax credits before so we brand new claim and they said would take 3 working weeks.

we entitles to some housing and tax credits with new job as lower salary.

also as job centre led him to believe he was getting no jsa until 13 weeks and to do agency work hes done 2 days agency work 1 day week so have no idea how thats comprimised our claim .

Im just staggered at length of time its taken.


I looked at jo enonomy cooking on planner and lots expensive stuff

£14 for brisket of beef.
lots store cupboard items that add up he seemed to assume people had like spices, jalapeno peppers.

hubbys inspired to make pizza this week hes feeling very bored and fed up looks like no agency work tommorow.

mcculloch29

Wow, so many posts today and so much shared.
Hugs to those needing - I want to comment on just about every one but I'll be here all night.
Books. I have hundreds, and that's after a major cull.
I don't read much fiction, as real life is always more interesting, but I adore Terry Pratchett and loved Maeve Binchy.
My favourite author as a child was Monica Edwards, who wrote stories based on a lightly fictionalised version of her farm (the real life Punch Bowl Farm near Hindhead in Surrey, Punchbowl Farm in the books).
She also wrote stories based in Romney Marsh where she grew up and blended the two sets of characters in her books.
I was more of a Punchbowl fan and I still am; a nostalgia publishing company has re-published them for adults who were fans.

Change of topic.

I've been running a house since I was 18 and cooking 99% of the meals, but one thing I'd never done was risotto from scratch. I posted this earlier in the 'What are you making for dinner tonight' thread.

I got A!di's risotto rice that was on Specialbuy the other week @ 79p for 500g and tried it out tonight in a simple chicken and mushroom risotto.
I fried a large mild onion from a previous A!di Super 6, along with couple of crushed garlic cloves and half a dozen sliced chestnut mushrooms from this week's Super 6, then added chicken bits stripped from the carcass of yesterday's Sunday roast. I made up a litre and a half of boiling chicken stock from stock cubes and the jellied meat juices from the roast.
Time to add the rice at this point, a quick fry for a couple of minutes of 350g of risotto rice, added a big squirt of tomato puree too.
Then added around 300 ml of hot chicken stock, stirred until absorbed by the rice. I repeated adding the stock and stirring until absorbed until the risotto was creamy and the rice soft. I took the pot off the heat and popped a lid on the pan.
I then left it to its own devices for a while, around 10 minutes, to get even creamier.
It would have easily served four people, and tasted great. So simple too and just one pot and the stock jug to wash up.

The constant stirring as the stock absorbed was a bit of a pain, but we got a really lovely meal out of it for next to nothing.
I've done many rice based one pot meals (paella, jambalaya and variations on that theme) and used 'quick risotto' sachets but somehow never got around to doing risotto from scratch.
It was definitely worth it.

Popperwell

I'm going to try so much this autumn/winter...I have had risotto but think that I cheated. Most meals will be on the cheap and where possible lots of bulk cooking...

nitnurse-not2

Hi Popperwell, :wave:
Most of the pound shops sell the little Chinese takeaway type containers- usually 6 in a pack. they are an ideal size to freeze portions of meals for one.:) You could bulk cook pasta/rice etc and freeze spag bol, curry, chilli etc as whole meals as I do then just take out of the freezer in the morning for your lunch or dinner. Great size for portions of soup and stews to have with a nice crusty (YS) bun.:j:j

xxx

Popperwell

What a great idea nitnurse-not2,
You know I can honestly say I am not hungry but my meals are smaller and often one course.

I could if I put the freezer in proper order probably have a fair few months of meals sorted that could be planned ahead and take little preparation.

I'll have a real think about this.

x

nitnurse-not2

I have been "thinning out" the freezers over the last 2 months and have only needed to buy fresh food. I always batch cook. :)I also have larger tubs of things for me and my DH. Kids( grown) usually see to themselves.
Time to get those bargains out the freezer and turn them into meals.
Slow cooker is fab as I know you're often away all day on your jaunts. Then your meal would be ready on your return and probably a few portions for the freezer.
I write on my tubs with a Sharpie marker so I know what is in them because 6 weeks later I can't recall what they are:rotfl::rotfl:
xxx

Popperwell

That was the word...batch cook:Dnot bulk! And a jolly good idea about writing on the meals what they are/dates...I really should wind down what I have in the freezer as you have and build up again.

I probably could last the rest of the year without buying anything other than fresh food. Avoiding the spending of money:)

Perhaps I could put some aside into a nest egg and then when the freezer is empty use that money to buy the next lot...I have enough tinned goods to manage my diet alongside items in the freezer.

That slow cooker...was great earlier in the year, I've neglected that lately. I'll also set up a timer so I can get it to switch on without me needing to be here. I don't mind when I prepare a meal. I know some do...also it really takes little time. You can do it from scratch or prepacked fresh veg. Even frozen veg.

Thank you for the ideas...

xx

Pooky

Morning all

A lovely autumnal misty start here, got the back door wide open and can smell cut grass, wood smoke and a real autumnal smell. Lovely.

Mcculloch - I'm a big rissotto fan and find the stirring process quite cathartic, it amazing how a few left overs can make a gorgeous meal when it's been "zotto'd" (as its called in our house)

Feeling all awake and perky now, was asleep by 8.30pm and woke up with thr alarm at 5.30am....utter bliss. DH has OT today (15miles away) so we will combine that trip with some other stuff we need to do to save on petrol later in the week.

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

A day working at home today, although as it is so rare now I must really get cracking. Thought I'd pop in tho.

Big hugs--sounds like some of you are having some real struggles!

Things aren't great on this end either, although nothing dire--yet. My mum works for the U.S. government in one of the positions that won't be going to work now. My dad is retired, but this is going to be stressful for them. Additionally, I had my teaching hours at Uni reduced. Next term is going to be very expensive for me, for various reasons and my parents had offered to help with some things. Obviously OH and I are saving like mad as well, but with the hours cut and my mum potentially out of work for awhile it just makes it that much more stressful. I know we'll manage.

Anyway, had a lovely weekend with OH as neither of us had to work. We headed out to a posh suburb and had a nosy in its many charity shops. I got a new top and some pretty little handmade doilies---little bits and bobs to add to my collection of "nice things" which I can always dig out for any house I move into that needs sprucing. OH got some new books. All of that accomplished for well under £20--train fares, coffee and all. We then treated ourselves to an early dinner out at a posh restaurant with a theatre menu. It was nice to celebrate the first pay cheque, but I'm afraid its all back to scrimping and saving now!:rotfl:

Anyway, I must get on with it. Just wanted to pop in since I had a moment today and offer hugs. I do read from time to time!