Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Thank you Beanie - you take care too.

Thanks Upsidedown bear - FANTASTIC graphic! :D

See y'all the other side chums.

Keep well.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Hello Greying and all :wave:

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon :hello:

Gosh, we're back - I thought it would be an all weekend job. Thank you and well done :T to the Tech Team

Upsidedown Bear how cheerful and apt your choice of graphics are - thank you

I'm currently making dhal to go with this evenings curry and rice.

I have the base of Aubergine Bhuna in the freezer - I just need to defrost it, add some green beans and coconut* and reheat. The recipe for the bhuna is an amalgam of MemoryGirl's curry in a hurry base paste, coupled then with her recipe for Aubergine curry. Have a scoot around her blog whilst you are about it, (if you don't already know about her blog) she has fantastic recipes that never bust the budget - a real inspiration.

* I forgot to add that I use the coconut milk powder that I bought from appr*ved foods a good while ago. They generally have it for 2 for £1 (300g box) which is a good price. I have also bought small boxes (150g) from H*me B*rgains, for 49p but it's not a thing they regularly stock.

DP has been despatched to Ald* to get milk and bananas with the last of the grocery budget. Fingers crossed that we have whole milk, rather than semi-skimmed 'but that's what we always have....' by the end of the afternoon. And yes, I agree - if I'm going to be so fussy, why don't I do the shopping meself?! :rotfl:

I ended up making spiced fruitcake buns afterall last night - and yes, it was a mistake to have the cooker on in this heat I figured in the end, we haven't had fruit cake in quite a while and far from being heavy and stodgy, cakes made with yoghurt rather than eggs are actually quite light. So actually, as a little bun, they are really quite nice to eat. 8 have managed to make it into the freezer for snap boxes in the week. :T

Right, well, I'd better go and wash up the utensils and do a bit more.

Thank you for reading.

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Actually, I'm not technically sure it is late enough to call it evening yet. But as this will be my round-up post of the day, we'll stick with evening. I'm developing a fascination for inspecting the 'insides of my eyelids' so don't think I'll be able to stay awake much past Indiana Jones and his adventurising - do so hope DP doesn't insist on watching/taping that......again.

Dinner will be as described previously. I must check though if I put in any different ingredients to Memorygirl - else why am I calling it 'bhuna' and she isn't. :rotfl: I'll do that tomorrow though.

So, the 3 things for which I am grateful for today are;

- DP - the correct milk was indeed purchased from Ald*. Not only am I occasionally listened to (:rotfl:) I am also supported in this crazy idea of saving. For that, I am truly grateful, plus weeding was done this afternoon too - what's not to like :smileyhea

- Computer technicians. I suspect that the knowledge for the work on the forum during the last 24 hrs amounted to a little bit more than, 'try switching it off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it on again.....' :rotfl: Thank you tech team

- Bumble bees - of all colours and sizes that have been flocking to the privet hedge to partake of the nectar in the flowers. Almost as absorbing as watching chickens. Almost.

Thank you for reading. I do appreciate visitors.

See y'all tomorrow.

Greying

Shovel_Lad

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good Evening :hello:

- Computer technicians. I suspect that the knowledge for the work on the forum during the last 24 hrs amounted to a little bit more than, 'try switching it off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it on again.....' :rotfl: Thank you tech team

No, that was pretty much it.
Switch off.
Go home.
Come back, wonder why the forum is down :think:
Switch on.
Carry on as before.

Simples

( I am joking lovely MSE people :beer:)

I agree about the bumble bees too

Upsidedown_Bear

I've been out today near the river and there were loads of bees
Ducks and ducklings
Fish
Swans
Pond skaters
Dragonflies

And a cream tea :)

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, I didn't even last past the start of Indy Jones and his adventurising last night. *sigh*. But then I got woken up by the rain and heat, and felt a pressing need to personally monitor the rainfall all night - *sigh*

Still, the sun is shining, the ground got a reasonably good soaking at a steady, even pace, so what's not to be happy about?

Shovel Lad - I am so grateful that you have such good sense of humour. Thank you for making me laugh.

Upsidedown Bear - that is some list of wonderful things to of spotted on your trip to the river. I would of ranked them in that order too - sweet-toothed DP would of listed them in 'reverse' :rotfl:

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Dinner will be as described previously. I must check though if I put in any different ingredients to Memorygirl - else why am I calling it 'bhuna' and she isn't. :rotfl: I'll do that tomorrow though.

Right, well I've looked into the bhuna/bringal curry issue. And basically the difference is in spicing, an onion and a tin of chopped tomatoes So, I would heartily recommend Memorygirl's aubergine curry, because as she says it is simple to make from scratch in a matter of minutes, plus it will be more economical per serving. Should you have the available spices, and want to try the 'bhuna', all you have to do is;

Fry an onion with the aubergine. Add; crushed green cardamom seeds (1 tsp), ground cumin (1 tsp), ground coriander (1 tsp) and crushed fennel seeds (1 tsp). Then, when you add in the 'curry in a hurry base paste' add in the tin of chopped tomatoes. It may mean that you have to add a little less water to get the gravy to a nice 'sauce' consistency. Then add in the beans and coconut milk as Memorygirl does. And above all, enjoy - as it is a lovely aromatic and flavoursome curry.

Today will be a NSD as we have no need of anything. Amongst other activities I shall be working on the meal planner for August. I normally plan for a month at a time and list it out. We don't always have exactly what is on the planner. Sometimes due to time/tiredness constraints. Other times, who wants stew and mash in blazin' hot sunshine? :rotfl:

However, I have decided to have an 'attempt' at doing it differently for August. I have got my 31 main meal 'dishes' and I will group them accordingly to the major ingredient - so for example, curries are mostly (not always) accompanied by rice, so I'll have those listed together. Dishes - for example the Buddha bowls - that (this month) will use bulghar wheat as their starch will be listed together and so on. The idea being, that I then select 1 dish from each of the categories throughout the week. Previously, when I have set out the plan for a month, I have tried to vary the food throughout the week, so pasta is one night, rice features in another, potatoes another and so on, so that we have balance and meals (hopefully) don't get repetitive and boring.

I'm hoping that this system will introduce a little more flexibility and allow for dishes to better match the weather or perhaps the unexpected gift of some vegetables, or a score on the YS counter or something.

Wish me luck, this could get horribly confusing and see us famished within the week :rotfl: (joking)

Well, I'd better shuffle off and get organising this planner.

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

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon :hello:

Well, I've been trying ever so hard to keep out of mischief since I was here last. It's officially been a NSD as it is now after 4pm and the shops (that I could get to) are now closed for the day, so :j

I made yoghurt using the thermometer method this morning. In looking for the temperature to heat milk up to, I found a blog where the guy is more interested in getting the right yoghurt recipe than I was - didn't think it was possible :rotfl: Anyway, that is sitting in the thermos, doing it's 'thing' and I've no more need to worry about it for hours yet.

I managed to get a small (v. small) 'daypack' bag from a charity shop last week - cost neutral because [STRIKE]I pried the money back out of DP[/STRIKE] DP paid me back. It is big enough to hold a wallet, mobile phone and, in a separate pocket, a set of keys. I spent some time this morning attaching it (in a safe position) to DP's bike. It is attached at 3 points, so frankly, it has no right to fall off 'just like that' there should be warning signs first However, this means that valuables can now be safely transported whether DP is cycling to work or for pleasure For £2.99 I think that is peace of mind purchased :money:

I listened to the Food Programme on R4 at lunchtime. I thought it was quite good. Perhaps an opportunity missed to have one of the bloggers actually cook a dish? I know cooking on the radio doesn't sound like a thrill a minute, but with a skilful presenter describing the scene and perhaps asking questions that a lay person looking on may ask - it can be useful. I thought they were all very honest and admitted that their knowledge about cooking, whether gained from teachers in school or the home, their interest in food and their access to some sort of kitchen/appliances made it possible to consider cooking on a budget. The 2 bloggers with experience of living in hostels were honest about the impact that had on their ability to cook for themselves during that time.

I also think that the chap was right with what he says on his blog - 'budget cookery isn't as much about individual recipes as to considering your approach to planning and sourcing meals'. I also found myself nodding in a agreement with 'Miss South' regarding having some ingredients that you try not to compromise on - I try to make sure that I have a range of dried herbs and spices in my store cupboard. OK, you can't 'make' a plate of food from them, but they sure as anything help to make a plate of food a meal by adding just a few other components.

If you have half and hour to spare, the programme can be found here.

The weather has turned decidedly non-summery with a cold wind. That made the choice of soup for lunch easier I made a big batch of lentil soup. Basically, onion, celery, garlic, carrot all diced or chopped up. Fry in a saucepan, add tsp each; paprika, turmeric and cumin. Add water (or stock). bring to the boil. Add 200g of red lentils. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender and the lentils have gone soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I then blitzed the soup a little bit - so that some of the veg was pureed, but not all of it. It was a good textural soup. I think it came in at 60p for the saucepan full - with 4 good-sized portions from it, so 15p a portion.

It tasted nice as it was, but I have to say, I had a go at making harissa oil/paste today, so we both swirled some into our soup. OK, so it adds to the cost, but it was a lovely addition. I can see this being a common ingredient in the fridge, as it is all stuff that I have in the store cupboard. It'll transform pea soup in the winter - we have it without the ham, but harrisa would be good in a veggie or non-veggie version me thinks

I have ditched the idea of 're-inventing' my meal planner. It smacked too much of simply rearranging the music stands in the orchestra pit - no significant gain from it. After all, if I put down that we are going to eat Lentil Bolognese and pasta on the 10th, and we don't am I (seriously) going to get a visit from the Menu Planning Police? Me thinks not Still, it was quite an interesting exercise in checking that we weren't using too much of any one type of carb. And, after all, it is worth focussing on these things momentarily, perhaps sometimes just to re-enforce that you are doing ok, and there isn't (necessarily) a better way of doing it.

Right I had better shuffle off, I've waffled on - sorry . I've washing to fold up and put away, and I've got to think of something to come up with for dinner and tomorrow's snap boxes.

Thank you for reading (if you've got to this point ).

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Final check in from me today folks. :j(I hear you cheer )

Dinner tonight was a version of THIS. Unfortunately the author - Deb Perelman (Of Smitten Kitchen blog fame) doesn't seem to list this one on her website (but it is in her cookbook), so thanks to the plethora of bloggers that have blogged about it - seriously, just go0gle - you can see what we ate I must admit, I added passata rather than tomato paste, so it was much more of a stew than a 'topping'. I didn't serve it with any of the accompaniments that Deb suggests, but teamed it up with a serving of (wet) polenta instead, as it is still a wee bit windy and chilly here this evening - so stew was in order. Oh, I also substituted black-eyed peas for the black beans - using up what I had (they were cooked and frozen, so ready to use).

Today I am grateful for the following;

- substitute(s) and the art of substitution - where would MSE'rs be without it?:money: And as if to support this thought, did anyone else hear THIS on R2 tonight.

- wildlife documentaries - have just caught up with the Hebrides series, currently showing on BBC2. Wow!

- enthusiastic amateurs - who very often 'trounce' the so called 'professionals' and are probably an unsung 'army' of educators in this, the age of the internet. Thank you.

Thank you so much for dropping by, reading and if you would care to, commenting. I appreciate it very much.

I have an early appointment tomorrow, so may not make a morning posting, however......

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, start of the week and today should, hopefully, be a NSD. In fact, I'm hopeful that the only spend for the next 3 days of this month will be on the TV guide, for which 52p is sitting in the budget.

A diviing up of leftovers from yesterday's lunch and dinner is the basis for today's snap boxes, along with bananas and a bun from Friday's baking.

Dinner this evening will probably be a vegetarian version of 'Bobotie'. This is a South African dish - usually comprising a lot of meat However, I make 2 versions, depending on what I have available. I always use puy lentils instead of meat, but then I either replicate the dish - I suppose there are similarities to mousakka - or I just use lentils and the spicing, and have it much more as a stew/curry to accompany rice. The second version is commonly how I do it and how we will have it tonight. I have everything in the store cupboard for this dish.

The yoghurt turned out well last night, so hopefully I have now found my 'goto' recipe. Later this week I will need to buy a new 'starter' yoghurt, it will be interesting to see how many Tbsp are in a 500g pot - and will make proper costing out of the yoghurt feasible. I read yesterday that one yoghurt maker has been using his homemade yoghurt continually as a starter for some time - I was under the impression it could begin to loose efficacy - anyone got any experience they wish to share?

Have a good day, one and all.

Thank you for popping by and reading.

See y'all later.

Greying