Living on next to nought - is that the key?

EssexHebridean

I've got Sherlock recorded - after the eyball reference from Dreaming I'm definitely watching it tonight!

GP - explain the "Buddha Bowl" concept please - I'm intrigued! Is it a set "thing" or one of those dishes that varies depending on what you have available? Thanking You!

I took one look out of the window this morning and wished I hadn't - Mr Incentive went whizzing off into the nasty, soggy darkness right then I can tell you! However since I've been in the office it has brightened a bit - the sun is even peeking through now, so hopefully the same has happened with you.

Risotto (the rice version of orzotto :D) is on our meal plan for later in the week too - whatcha putting in yours then?! ours will be butternut squash & pea I think - might use the last rashers of bacon from the freezer in it too mind!

Hope today has been a Good Day in the Greying world!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:


Visitors here too, how luverly

Pippi - I need to eat HUMBLE PIE - as stated, the broonie should be kept 3 days before eating - it was really nice today - I'm liking it

dreaming - thank you for the book reference! That's one that has avoided my radar altogether, yet sounds brill!! I shall investigate further - Thank you Oh and don't tell me what happens in Sherlock - DP ended up taping it and watching 'mr speedy sideburns' - Guy Martin. I must admit, I did wonder why he was laughing...........Mind you goodness knows when we'll watch it, we've all of borgen and arne dhal to watch and now the bridge has started up again..... *sigh*

Karma - my day has been brill Know where you're coming from with the mould, we have it too

EH - Buddha bowl = a grain, a vegetable, a protein and a sauce/dressing. It is supposed to come from the buddist monk concept of accepting a 'mix' of things as alms from the faithful - and was alluded to in the interview Rick Stein did with the Dalai Lama in his 'India' series. But yes, you are absolutely right, it is an 'anything goes' dish, but we've adopted the name on this thread as sounding better than 'leftovers' Oh, and no, you do not need to buy the fancy 'bowl wi' a hole' in it to eat your Buddha bowl tea...........:D

Well, we weren't lucky enough to have EH's peeking sunshine, but the day has been brill anyway

I was determined to drop off the food bank donation and managed it I encountered a very nice volunteer today - who thanked me as though they actually meant it - so different to my encounter with the co-ordinator last month........

I can claim a NSD :j

I determined that I was going to prep the beetroot tonight - I bought it YS'd waaaayyy before Christmas - because I didn't want to lose it. I mean, you never know when a LFHW officer may sidle past your kitchen window and check out your recycling caddy.......:rotfl:So the beetroot were actually still OK ... a couple were starting to go slightly soft, but they are now cooked, peeled and cooled and will be part of dinner tomorrow night I will now also get chance to try out the new recipe with the urid dhal AND I can look any passing LFHW officer in the face and say, 'food waste? I don't think we doo.....' :rotfl:

So, whilst the beetroot were bubbling away, I got on with prepping dinner - Tomato and cabbage orzotto. Ain't that the sexiest sounding meal you've heard mentioned in an age?? :rotfl: Mucho tastier than it sounds, photo here;



The tomatoes were from the L*dl special offer (last of them I'm afraid ), the savoy from this week's aldi super 6, the pearl barley from M&S for 49p a 500g bag - before they read what I'd written about it being the cheapest and put the price up to the same as the other supermarkets :mad: Any more than that, I ain't divulging, 'coz it is a Greying 'original' and y'all know that when that book publisher comes a knockin' a girl's gotta have something to land a deal with.........:rotfl:

We had a brief meeting of sub-committee no 5. Nothing earth shattering to declare, although we're going to have to keep up our momentum with the house. It'll be November before we know it!

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for youthful enthusiasm - especially when combined with lovely manners

for finding M&S's Christmas Card recycling box..... them cunning chaps tried to hide it well, but Greying found it..... More decluttering is 'on the cards' for later this week - boom, boom

for 'boing' Monday - blow 'blue' Monday, or whatever today is 'supposed' to be called. Credit Card hangover? Nope. Back to work blues? Nope. Resolutions broken? Nope. Life is for living, and I've every intention of bucking advertising bunkum at every turn - blue? No. Boing? YEP!

Thank you so much for dropping by, reading and commenting. I really do appreciate it. And as for cooking book tip offs.......:D:D:D

See y'all later.

Greying

EssexHebridean

Cheers GP - I understand now!

We recorded Sherlock too, and watched it this evening. Very strange, but also very excellent!

NSD snatched from the jaws of defeat here - i thought I was going to have train and bus fares getting home, and then snared a lift instead. hurrah!

Greying_Pilgrim

EssexHebridean wrote: »

NSD snatched from the jaws of defeat here - i thought I was going to have train and bus fares getting home, and then snared a lift instead. hurrah!

So I understand - but here's hoping MrEH is feeling mucho better - especially for the weekend fixture Bravo on the NSD though :T

I'm currently waiting for the milk to cool down so that I can add the yoghurt culture to it. As I have got myself in gear and am actually making yoghurt - huzzah!

Ah well, best go and do the washing up.

Greying

Karmacat

Yogurt is good!

Greying, can I ask about card recycling? Erm, why don't you just put it in the ordinary recycling? I feel so thick asking that, because card recycling boxes appear everywhere at this time of year, but I don't get it, I really don't. Please enlighten me!

kem10

Hi Greying

I so wish I'd ventured into your diary whilst I was still a student - so many yummy looking dinners that don't cost the earth. Very glad I've found it now and your links are giving me new ideas!

Hope all is well and best wishes for 2014!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Running Sooooooo late............

Thanks karma and Kem10 for popping in - and everyone else for dropping by.

I'll be back later.

Gotta fly.

Have a good one all.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Right, to do what I should of done this morning....

Karma - I think that any money raised from the donation of Christmas cards usually goes to benefit a charity - normally The Woodland Trust - but I'm not 100% sure if that is who is benefitting in M&S this year. The cards are still recycled, it's just that the charity gain, rather than the local council or your waste disposal service provider. So it's a way of recycling and donating to charity, rather than just recycling

kem10 - thank you so much for your incredibly kind comment. Are you veggie, or do you just like to cook a variety of foodstuffs? And yes, I want to eat 'interestingly', but unfortunately my budget is not so huge, so invention and research are key to my culinary mash ups

Today has been a 'no triumphs, no tragedy' type of day. Perhaps Tuesdays are supposed to be like that? I can however, claim a NSD. The TV listings guide was out, but I'm not wasting a NSD on that - we need milk and bananas tomorrow, so I'll package up all our 'needs' and between us, DP and I can spend tomorrow

I forgot to say yesterday that our leave entitlements have been authorised, so we have confirmed our holiday booking. I'll send the deposit tomorrow and then that is sorted and we can begin to look forward to planning a frugal, yet fun and fantastic time away. It's a UK based hols, so I'm not necessarily dreaming of sun-baked vistas and the clink of ice-cubes in a glass of something long and refreshing, but we were lucky with the weather last year, so maybe.........

Dinner this evening was a curry plate. And I have to say, purely by fluke, the tastes complemented each other and it was really rather tasty. Picture here;




Clockwise from the top is Rick Stein's Beetroot Curry, then urid dhal in a fenugreek sauce and then Memorygirl's aubergine bhuna (left over and frozen from the other week) with a portion of basmati rice. The lime in the beetroot curry complemented the coconut in the bhuna and the chilli in the dhal complemented them both, with the rice soothing the (not too hot really) chilli heat. This was definitely a 'cheap and cheerful' plateful. The beetroot were 6p YS'd, the dhal were about a £1 (I think), but most folk would of thrown them out by now , and the aubergine bhuna was leftovers - too little on its own, but right with other accompaniments. There is also enough left over for a snap portion - DP will probably claim it

The recipe for the aubergine bhuna is on Memorygirl's site HERE (scroll down for the recipe). The recipe for the Urid Dhal in Fenugreek sauce is HERE (although I didn't use fresh fenugreek leaves - methi I think they are called - so I just ground up some fenugreek seeds instead ) and a version similar to Rick Stein's Beetroot Curry can be found HERE - it's the 2nd recipe down - (there is no coconut milk in RS's recipe and I must admit, I omitted the curry leaves this time, as I have run out..... could be said that the curry was better for it.......:o)

And talking of things food.... dreaming did you know that the author of that book - 'Pulse' - we were talking about has her own blog? You can find it HERE. I love that she highlights where all the good shops for ingredients are in Bristol. I can plan to crash land in at brizzle's pad and do a bit of shop surfing

So today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for discovering new blogs and sources of inspiration - now if we could just arrange for each day to be 72 hours long........

for the anticipation of a holiday - or am I odd to find the planning, preparation and budgeting to have a great time as fun as the holiday itself?...... I am........oh

for the serendipity of tonight's dinner combination - I have a feeling it will be making a return to our table time and again

Thank you so much for dropping by and reading. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

dreaming

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

And talking of things food.... dreaming did you know that the author of that book - 'Pulse' - we were talking about has her own blog? You can find it HERE. I love that she highlights where all the good shops for ingredients are in Bristol. I can plan to crash land in at brizzle's pad and do a bit of shop surfing

So today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for discovering new blogs and sources of inspiration - now if we could just arrange for each day to be 72 hours long........
Greying

Oooh - just popped on to pick up e-mail and have a quick read here and now we're all going to Bristol! How big is brizzle's crash landing place?
Not sure if I'm brave enough to try beetroot curry. I love beetroot and have had major gluts the last 2 years I've grown it so new ways to use would be good. And I love curry - but can't quite marry up the flavours in my head. Visiting the library in town tomorrow so will be heading towards the cookery section first.
My old manager used to say that what we need is not longer days but wider ones.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

dreaming wrote: »

now we're all going to Bristol! How big is brizzle's crash landing place?.

We'll have to hurry, brizzle is talking about downsizing! And thankfully, is oblivious to all this talk of visitors descending en masse, as I think she is having a jolly time going 'Wheeeee, ha ha' down the Matterhorn, or some other such snow bound place

dreaming wrote: »

My old manager used to say that what we need is not longer days but wider ones.

I am so nicking that saying!

Well, here we are, Wednesday already. Today will be spendy (well, in relation to a NSD!!!) but hopefully I can de-junk a bit too, so it's all looking good

Dinner this evening will be a 'mystery' as I've been playing around with the planner. The dish that is on the list for today is a new one, and I won't be getting one of the ingredients until DP arrives home. Not sure I want to be cooking dinner until 8pm of an evening. Thinking cap on Greying!

Right, best get up and at 'em. I've not finished the snap bags yet :eek:

Thank you for popping in, reading and commenting. I so appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying