Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

dreaming wrote: »

Hi GP - love the picture of your "Wimpy" meal. I well remember spending about 2 hours in the local Wimpy over a cheeseburger with my friends. We used to take it in turns to order so we could legitimately sit there as long as possible then go down the road to listen to some records in the booths at Boots. Hee hee - good memories huh? I haven't made Jack's burgers but have her book on order for when it is published. Well done - her book is going to fly off the shelves isn't it?
I am trying to sort out my "study" (really the 2nd bedroom but sounds posher) as that is where most stuff lands up. I really want to try some creative hobbies this year (but on a budget) so need to organise storage for that. Also I am dong some free online courses through FutureLearn and a local authority evening class so need to plan my time. Wow - busy, busy
I know you are having techno-problems, and it is a pain when it doesn't work, but isn't it amazing really what we can do with all this internet. I love it and hate it in equal measures. Actually, I did think that dreaming - it just shows how reliant we become on it, and how lost we are when it doesn't work. I never dreamed I would be in a position to show 'picturesofmetea' to the universe - and beyond...... :rotfl:
Now - have been washing out some of the chutney/pickle jars we had over Christmas. Do I keep them in case I get the sudden urge to do preserves (thus using up more storage) or just put them in the recycling? More tea and thinking required. Mmm, I know that dilemma - I don't 'do' preserves, but I think as we increasingly move to have products in plastic jars from supermarkets, jars for home preserving are going to start to be in short supply. I wish I knew a keen jam maker to 'pass' mine on too.

dreaming - thanks for popping by - lovely to *see* you

Greying

Karmacat

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

I think the diary idea is splendid EH - starnac is back, all we need is you and Karma and we're almost back up to quota

:eek::rotfl:When I was up to all sorts of extra moneysaving jobs, a diary was completely essential ... nowadays, because of the amount of plotting and starting up of online businesses, I think it'd probably break mse rules and I'd get banned, which nearly happened to some people on MG's thread :eek: I do a little bit of stuff on here, but not much.... tell you what, when I've made my first ten grand from the scheming, I'll throw a party :rotfl: a real one, actually - we'll meet then :beer:

Karma - it is dispiriting isn't it to lose a post? Yes - bah! to all 'puter problems - let's hope a temporary and one-off glitch eh?

Mine *seems* to have been temporary - frankly, it'll take me a long time to trust the connection again.

I also noted that red kidney beans have gone up in price in L*dl, they are now 24p a can - and yet bread flour has come down to 75p from 79p..........#loseononegainonanother

Excellent! My gluten free pasta, and my beloved pesto, have gone down by 10p and 30p respectively

DP managed to do a favour for the gardening parental this morning that cost DP nothing but time and organisation but has saved the gp about £50, so good karma is a flowing - and it seems that we got some of it almost instantly - we were buying something in B&M and it was £x plus a penny - the assistant asked if we had a penny - we hadn't - but a complete stranger in the queue said, 'I have...' and handed it to the assistant - how kind!

Isn't it lovely when that happens? The universe knows what we're doing, it really does

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Karmacat wrote: »

when I've made my first ten grand from the scheming, I'll throw a party :rotfl: a real one, actually - we'll meet then :beer:

You're RON! :rotfl:

Karmacat wrote: »

The universe knows what we're doing, it really does

It does........ gulp

So, here we are, towards the end of another day

I can't claim a NSD, but I am pleased with the purchases that I made today, because with the exception of the cauliflower, they were all to plan and budget - and really, whilst I hadn't 'specified' cauli, it comes under the remit of 'mixed veg' to accompany a dinner or two that is on the planner

DP has worked really hard prepping and cleaning for painting - but in addition, we had a little bit of 'us' time today and it was lovely to just kick back a little and have a treat of a coffee and time together I've been fiddle faddling about, but have still managed to sort out some paperwork, check the budgets, do some decluttering, clear the grate, lay and start the fire and make dinner All good fun

I've just been watching a documentary on the terracotta warriors of China. Fascinating. Especially the recreation of the weaponry.

Dinner this evening was off the planner (even stuck to the right meal for the right day and date :j :rotfl:) and was lentil Bolognese and pasta. I used continental or 'puy' lentils in the Bolognese - the little dark green speckled ones. Mine originated from Appr0ved F00ds - and were a bargain as well as out of date - but I'm coming to the end of my stash, and AF don't seem to be the barginacious ingredient source that they once were, so the lentil recipe train may yet grind to a halt The pasta was A$da SP and I topped it off with the last of the SP cheddar from last month's budget - because I hadn't got any parm/gran padano. Picture here;



The original recipe for this dish comes from a vegetarian student cookbook. I tend to put what veg I have available into it, rather than follow the recipe as per.

I did wonder this evening what was so 'money saving' about this particular dish - enough to warrant sticking up a photo for y'all. I came to the conclusion that it isn't so much about the dish tonight - after all, I have made this for dinner loads of times now - some whilst I have had this diary. What it is about is the 'stickability', the making a meal, from scratch, with the 'brand level' that you feel comfortable with/can afford, as per the planner - irrespective of whether you feel like ordering pizza, or heading for the rotisserie section in the supermarket or to the corner shop chiller cabinet.... This is what I need to do. Day in day out to achieve my goal. I need to stick to the plan and use my budget to the best of my ability, using skills and knowledge that I have or that I am willing to acquire.

As we're not buying alcohol, there was no *cheeky* glass of red to accompany dinner. And do you know what, that is ok with us, because we agreed to do it, we know what we want to use the 'saved' cash for and we think it is worthwhile doing. DP has just made himself a cup of tea and I'm happy with water.

But most of all friends - do you know what? I really, really hope that I remember all this *optimism* and *positivity* when I've had a ***te day, am gagging for a *drink* and cannot be *rsed to make anything more imaginative than a cheese sanger for 'us tea' :rotfl:Hence why I really posted that piccy tonight :rotfl::rotfl:

And finally, for these 3 things for which I am grateful today;

for the kindness of strangers - and for looking for ways to *pay it forward* to keep in the flow

for progress - for the *exciting* giant leaps and the *mundane* practical steps. Always moving forward, always making progress

for bumping into old acquaintances - especially the sort who always make you feel better for having nattered to them a while

Thanks so much for dropping by, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Midgie

Greying - I've got to say I am so impressed with all your cooking. :T

Your dinners look great! You have inspired me to cook more - I think I'm going to try those Jack burgers!

Midgie

EssexHebridean

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

I think the diary idea is splendid EH - starnac is back, all we need is you and Karma and we're almost back up to quota

*coughs* You were saying?!

I've seen lentils somewhere or another at a very sensible price lately - can't for the life of me remember where though. If it returns I'll let you know.

rtandon27

EssexHebridean wrote: »

I've seen lentils somewhere or another at a very sensible price lately...

Would you consider dried GP? They double when cooked up & can be batch cooked and then frozen, ready for putting into a recipe at whim - a quick rinse in cool water to thaw them out quickly - works a treat!:)

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Oooh, visitors - how luverly

Midgie - what a kind comment - thank you so very much And YES, YES, YES try the Jack burgers! You can make them as simply, or as complicated as you like. As I said, I form them with a burger press - but I'm pretty sure that Jack forms them 'freehand'. I don't bother cooking the beans, but then I put them in the processor, so that whizzes them up in a tick. But I heartily recommend them

EH - so glad about the diary - but you'll keep the blog going too, right?

rtandon - bless you hun. I didn't make myself at all clear in my post. I use dried lentils all the time. What I meant to say, but didn't, was that recipes that use the green speckled lentils may well dry up, as the bags from AF were something like 3 (x 500g) for £1, whereas 500g of speckled lentils in mrT, mrW etc etc are around the £1.09 per bag mark. I've not spotted the same lentils on AF since I got my stash - they were actually Co-op lentils.

I use these lentils in mince *like* dishes, as they hold their shape so well. I have made Bolognese with red lentils, and the taste is fine, it's just not quite as attractive to look at IYSWIM However, having now discovered a new - reasonably priced - source of ingredients in that new Asian supermarket I talked about before Christmas, I may well be able to substitute in brown lentils more frequently. The bags - if bought in 1kg or 2 kg sizes - are reasonably economical and the lentils do hold their shape better than the red ones. Mind you, I remain a fan of red lentils, I think I've currently only about 8kg in the house ........:whistle: :rotfl:

But rtandon - thank you so much for your suggestion - this is what I love about the DFD/DFW board, everyone is so supportive and everybody wants to help - it's wonderful

So, we've not really got 'up and at 'em' this morning, but DP wanted a little bit of a lie-in so that's good enough for me.

I've a ton of 'itty bits' to try to achieve today. Allied to the bigger plan - but it's the continual sorting, decluttering, de-junking, tidying - y'all know the drill.

I should achieve a NSD today. There is nothing that we need and although I'm planning to return a library book via the book-drop, it is on time, so no fine, and if I don't take my purse with me, I can get some exercise without needing to go into shops.

I'm going to take a look at the meal planner too, to see if there is anything that I can 'batch cook' or make today to freeze, which may lighten the load on another day. There is currently room in the freezer, but I mustn't go too mad as I've still some frozen veg to purchase, and that will need space as soon as I get it back from the shop

Dinner this evening is currently up in the air, decision-wise. I have 2 eggs that need using up so I may well bring the 'Buddha bowl' forward from next week and have that. We'll see. It'll probably be soup for lunch - not sure what of yet though

Thank you so much for popping by, reading and commenting. I remain greatly appreciative.

See y'all later.

Greying

EssexHebridean

Oh the blog will definitely keep going - it pre-dates any sort of MSE based activity I think, and I twigged the other day that I've just passed 500 posts there, too! :T

I know what you mean about the collapsible tendencies of red lentils - this is why I always throw a handful into a stew or casserole! :rotfl:

Pippilongstocking

Morning y'all

Eta - late as always but to you all the best year ahead :-) greying may yours be filled with an army of productive pixies and good wishes for the year ahead.

Have a super productive day Greying and many more ahead.

Thinking of similar meal planning batch cooking here to take a load off later in week as work and normality return.

Please tell me oh lentil guru do the brown ones taste like the others? I like the others but never had brown ones........

Last question from me - we have changed from milk to nut milk to cut down on more fats etc - do you or any of your super colleagues have any idea if it makes yoghurt too?

Many thanks me dear off to clear (find a path through) the garage in a mo then a walk.

Have a good un. :-)

Greying_Pilgrim

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

Please tell me oh lentil guru do the brown ones taste like the others? I like the others but never had brown ones........

Yes. I think so anyway I've just checked the bag size and receipt and I got a 2kg bag of brown lentils for £2.29. So, £1.15 for 1kg or 58p for 500g, so about half the price of the green speckled ones.

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

Last question from me - we have changed from milk to nut milk to cut down on more fats etc - do you or any of your super colleagues have any idea if it makes yoghurt too?

I'm going to throw the floor open for that one, as I confess I've not a clue. I'm sure I've read that you can make your own soy yoghurt from soy milk, but you'd use a bit of 'shop bought' soy yoghurt to start it off. I've never heard of 'nut yoghurt' (doesn't mean to say that such a thing isn't in existence - I've just not come across it) so my question would be what starter would you use to get the nut milk to ferment into yoghurt? I'm intrigued to know, so if anyone does know the answer, I am all ears

So, I've managed some sorting and chucking and bagging up for the charity shop. I've sorted the chrimbo decs into 2 smaller boxes and used the big storage box to put summer clothes in, as the chest of drawers can't contain all our clothes. We've not got that many, but as we've a unduly large amount of fleeces/thermals, they tend to take up a lot of room

There still appears to be as much [STRIKE]crap[/STRIKE] stuff in the house as there was before I started :eek: Still, it doesn't help that I can't get rid of the bags for the charity shop until sometime next week. Plus there is the bag for the food bank sitting, waiting to be delivered. *sigh* it'll come good.

Oh, and because I was sorting out the food boxes, I can confirm that we have 3 bags of 'lentilles verte' left to play with So we'll have to savour every last mouthful - unless the C0-op want to off-load another consignment to AF. Oh, and just to confirm, they are only 13 months OOD.......:rotfl:

Right, best get back to work. Mustn't slack

Greying