Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Oh, and of course, I was totally remiss, not to mention last night, the huge part that our local library plays in supplying a whole heap of recipe books for me to glean recipes from. Hoorah for libraries :j:j:j

Well, snap boxes loaded tick

Aiming for a NSD today. Although I'm not sure about the milk situation.... mmm :think:

It's Friday, so Pizza night :j I also made bread dough last night, and it has risen nicely overnight in the fridge, so I will be making that into some square rolls :D

I really ought to whip up a batch of cake for snap boxes, but I'm currently out of ideas and most ingredients..... mmmm. I could make the choc/porridge again, there would be no complaints from DP, and it is so :money: But I like variety...... mmm, thinking cap on Greying!

As it's Burns night tomorrow, I need to whip up a batch of veggie haggis too, so that I can cook them and then just need to warm them through in the microwave tomorrow night - rather than having the oven on twice :money:

Well, I'd better get a wiggle on, as the day is moving and I'd better seize it, afor it gets away from me!

Have a super day, whatever you are up to.

Thanks so very much for continuing to pop in, read and comment. You know how much I appreciate it

See y'all later.

Greying

EssexHebridean

Have you got sufficient ingredients for a batch of muffins? Those are my "stand by" when I want cake but am running short on some of the classic ingredients....technically not a cake at all I know, but it hits the spot!

Greying, I'm with you on the Delia front - and I have to say that there are very few of her recipes so far as I've seen that you can't already find in a far simpler form in somebody elses books...:eek:;)

Curry looks dee-lish-us! We've heard tell of a decent indian buffet place not far from our accommodation in Manchester, so shall be investigating.

mouche

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

And I know that mouche will slap my wrists for even mentioning palak and paneer in the same sentence for the travesty that I committed, but I followed the palak paneer recipe that I have, but used greek salad cheese (cheap feta) in place of the paneer Sorry!

Consider your wrists slapped! Must say it sounds delicious though. My family recipe for colcasia is miles apart from OH's family recipe - you wouldn't think they had the same vegetable in them. But both are delicious and both are called the same thing so who am I to contradict Shakespeare.

On decluttering books - try Amazon Trade-In. They don't take everything but when they do, it's often at a better price than than the Cash for Clothes type places. You could also try Ebay - celebrity chef cookbooks often do well there. And Zapper is good for the ones you can't get rid of anywhere else. Greenmetropolis is also a nice option as is ReadItSwapit - though of course that involves getting more books.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

EH I didn't end up making any cake I dislike my oven intensely, every time I use it, I forget that it is too small/too large for the range of tins/trays that I have. Trying to use it efficiently is, quite frankly, a waste of time So I am annoyed with myself big-style, for having the dang thing on for a couple of hours, and I've still cake to make...... *sigh*

mouche - I had to look colcasia up! I had heard of Taro, but not by that name thanks for learning me something today :D The cook books I have left are mostly hardback. Will have to look into whether anything that involves postage will be worth it - and I agree, the cash for clothing items probably will pay a pittance, so it will be a balance between hassle and a bit of £ or no hassle and teeny bit of £...... thanks ever so for popping in - lovely to *see* you as always

Well, today has been *one of those days*, but we've got there. And I can claim a NSD - the milk will just about last out until tomorrow So :j

I could so of enjoyed a glass of red this evening...... But we've stuck to our guns - no alcohol bought :j I know that I'll be so happy when we've the holiday balance *plus* saved up and we can go away without worry - so the thought of a glass passed It is a shame that we had no juice or pop instead, but never mind.

Dinner was 2 cheese (cheddar and feta) pizza and HM wedges - not very interesting, and seemed to take aaagggeeess to cook Pic here;



I made some bread rolls and the veggie haggis are ready for tomorrow I have also made another batch of yoghurt. I suspect I was trying to be too ambitious with my culinary endeavours in a small space

So today I am grateful for these 3 things;

that a long term objective trounced a short term 'want' -

that DP helped tackle mount washmore (utensils section) as soon as he stepped in the door - :D

for the contributions, ideas, support and humour that posters make to this diary and others elsewhere on MSE - You're all BRILL :D:D

Thank you so much for dropping by, reading and commenting. I appreciate you everyday, but on days like today, even more so. THANK YOU :D

See y'all later.

Greying

Pippilongstocking

Did someone say haggis

NOM NOM NOM

We're having a go at 'exciting things with haggis leftovers' tomorrow - I'll taste things for you (In the name of science of course) and I'll feed back any keepers

Have a lovely weekend my dearest greying and chums.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Ay up Pipster! Your event does sound fun - and Team McBWik must be awesome - lucky punters getting their larfing gear around your grub :D You can have a larf at my veggie haggis later - I'm sure I shouldn't really even be using veggie and haggis in the same sentence..... I'll be chucked out of the honorary Alba society

Well, don't let me record a NSD today, as I've been spending pennies all over the place...... (darn this cold weather.......;))

I got some butternut squash in the Ald* Super6 - 49p each - and yes, I did rummage well! I got milk as well and then popped over to L*dl for some of their parsnips - 500g for 34p. And if I can plan the oven useage better this evening, our haggis will be accompanied by roasted parsnips - lush!

Right, so this morning I want to go through all the cookery books that I have on loan from the library and glean any useful recipes from them. They can then be returned and I'm getting rid of *clutter* :T

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I found 2p *roadkill* on my way back :T First for an absolute age, despite the fact I've been covering some mileage lately

Have a great day, one and all.

Thank you so very much for popping by, reading and commenting. You know how much I appreciate y'all

See y'all in a bit.

Greying

Karmacat

Morning! Two cheese pizza - I love two proteins together, feels very luxurious

Amazon trade-in ... mmmm, must try that, that would save a bit of time. Hope the day goes well for you, Greying, and that the long term plans are given a zhuzh

dreaming

Well, finally made the sweet potato jalfrezi with cauliflower, then had unexpected visitors just before dinner-time. Tipped in a tin of chickpeas and with sides it easily stretched to feed us all, with plenty left over for today. Not bad for a couple of scabby potatoes which had been in the veg basket since beginning of December, and half of a small cauliflower. Very tasty it was too, as you say not mega hot. That's a keeper so thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
I try to use our library service but they seem to make it difficult if you actually want books. Added to that the parking cost in our town if you are more than an hour and I sometimes wonder whether it is worth the hassle. Last time I went and looked in the cookery section all they seemed to have were the tv chefs' books. I must get my on-line access re-instated so I can browse and perhaps reserve books.
Off to supermarket for first real shop of the year. I don't need much but am making some brownies to take to my daughter's tomorrow and have no eggs or cocoa powder. Next week I will planning for February so will do a bigger shop then but still have quite a bit left. However they are starting to warn of bad weather again so will make sure my stocks are kept up.
Well done on the no buying alcohol.

in_need_of_direction

Hi Greying, followed your tracks from another diary as I liked your humorous but no nonsense style. Have read thru from the start and have now subscribed. Not sure what, if anything, I'll have to add but your gratitude items make me stop and think. Quite often these are just everyday things accessible to all but we don't recognize them cos of "stuff". Thank you for the reminders and hope you don't mind another visitor.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

dreaming - good on you with making the curry - and catering for an unexpected crowd :TMind you, are you sure that they didn't twig what you were making?? And thunk to themselves, 'mmmm Friday night is takeaway night..... round at dreaming's house.... :rotfl:' You'll have the full indian/pizza/Chinese TA repertoire off pat afore you know it :rotfl::D Then it'll be summer and you can move onto the 'street food' scene :rotfl:

Well done on your 'using up stocks'. It does show what can be done really doesn't it? - and perhaps how easy 'food shopping' becomes a daily/weekly habit - food for thought definitely ('scuse the pun), especially with EH's impending challenge too.... mmm:think:

Hi In need of direction - yes, I've seen you on Munchin's thread - welcome. Pull up a chair to the woodstove, help yourself to cake and join in And you've got it spot on. I started to record the 'gratefuls' as I think that it is all too easy for a diary (in any medium and regarding any subject) to become a pity party and concentrate on what has gone wrong. When in fact, we're all pretty blessed for the majority of the time....IF we bother to think about it. In fact, I have just been greeted by a complete stranger with, 'Good Morning, although I don't know what's good about it....' ......*sigh* When I pointed out that we were both alive, and stood there talking to each other, they at least managed a laugh

So, here we are Sunday morning. Cash spent already and half the day gone..... But some chores completed, coffee to hand and I'm on here - win I reckon

Dinner last night turned out OK. Time really ran away last night though, so I didn't post. We did have a bottle of stout with dinner. The stout was nice, but not the absolutely best complement to the meal, but nice, none-the-less. And you'll recall that these 2 bottles have been in the house since before Christmas, so still no expenditure on alcohol in January

Picture of dinner here;



We've veggie haggis, shredded savoy cabbage, roast potatoes, Swedish turnip and carrot, garlic mash and roast parsnips. We also had gravy, but I figured that there was no point showing a 'brown' pic to y'all And yes, that is DP's plate not mine, and yes, he did eat every morsel, and yes, he does do manual work

Whilst the oven was on, I also made Miss Morton's Lemon cake, a recipe out of Leon bk 4 'Family & Friends'. I always make it in imperial measurements, as the 'tale' goes, it doesn't work in metric. The one time I tried to convert, the cake failed...... but you will see that the above recipe is in metric and they made the cake, so........(I have never used the ^ recipe, but the cake is lovely and lemony and relatively frugal so you might like to give it a go ) But please note, the last two items on the ingredients list are for the icing - I never bother icing my cake, as it is for snap, but if you were making it for tea, or for a 'do' or something, you may like to ice it.

Plus I put in some baking potatoes for later in the week. Not every square inch of oven used, but at least I tried

It'll have to be a day of sorting today. The weather has royally boogered any outdoor plans, although DP, bless him, did query whether we should go out to the NT place...... oooh, so tempted......

I'm going to start meal-planning for February today. EH is definitely inspiring me..... will have to see how I can 'translate' the challenge for Team Greying. We've only a little freezer, which does have food in it, but not a huge amount to use up IYSWIM. Our frozen veg quota for one month always fills one drawer up alone. However, EH makes a very valid point about even the most frugal households being able to do something that will represent a saving. How many times have I expressed surprise on this thread about how I've been able to tweak something and gain a saving?? So definitely mileage in it, just got to work out the how and the how much

Right, I'd better shift a tail-feather. So much to do!

Thank you for popping in, reading and commenting. You know how much I appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying