Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Karma - a 'thin' omelette uses one egg and some milk, beat together. Then pour the mix into a 'biggish' fry pan (mine's about 22cm I think) and swirl - like you would if you are making pancakes. They cook really quickly and as you see the top go matt you can roll it up and the residual heat cooks the omelette through. You can cook 2 really quickly one after another, so the first plate/dish of dinner isn't going cold whilst you wait cooking omelettes A rolled up omelette *can* look quite stylish, and is thick enough to seem satisfying when you bite into a chunk Well, at least that is my home-spun theory on the matter anyway

EH - the orzotto was as 'creamy' as it looked. Packed with flavour too. No real extra time as such, you could make the puree whilst the rice/barley is cooking and saut! the parsnips too. I didn't think it was an overly complicated dish to make - and yet the end result does make it look an 'involved' recipe. Perhaps not something to make from scratch after you've got in from a long day, but for a weekend lunch or dinner - yup!

Well, the day definitely got a lot better than it started Once I was up and about I was fine, plenty of energy - just got trouble actually getting kick-started

I haven't spent a dime all day, so I've claimed my 3rd NSD :j

I have made a fab new dish for dinner and it is definitely a keeper I made Yotam Ottelenghi's Hot Yoghurt and Barley Soup and to accompany I made Barley 'Bread' from the Casa Moro cookbook. I must say thanks to Tilly at this point, as she was mentioning this cook book a couple of weeks ago, and lo and behold, it was sitting on the shelf in our local library the next time I went in. So I got it out on loan and have found about 6 new recipes to try out.

I made 2 errors, the one was that I didn't realise that the 'bread' needed quite a bit of cooking time. Luckily, last night, when I was making yoghurt, I perused the recipe and my eye fell on, 'cook the barley for 1 hour.....' :eek: Cue mad panic and boiling of pearl barley at 10.30 at night! Anyway, you cook it until soft and gloopy and then blitz - pour it into a dish and let it set. So I was able to do all this last night. So tonight, I just had to make the soup and griddle the 'bread' and we had dinner!

The second error was putting these too dishes together! I expected the bread to be 'crunchier'. As it was, we had Pearl barley overload - aka as the frogspawn effect

I would say that I did add more seasoning to the soup than Yotam advocates, but I think pearl barley can be a bit bland. Also, if I was making it again, I would do it differently - Yotam clearly has an army of people clearing up after him - too many pots! And I did slake some cornflour and add it to the yoghurt/egg mix to assist in stopping the yoghurt splitting when heated. Yotam didn't say to do this, but it is something that I have read about for yoghurt soups before, and even Ms A McEvedy uses flour in her yogurt soup with rice, so I figure it is a valid addition. And if it keeps your soup from splitting then :T

Picture (and yes, the barley is hiding in the bottom of the bowl ) here;



If you would like to make Yotam's soup, then the recipe is HERE and if you would like a go at making the barley 'bread' then that recipe is HERE - almost at the end of the article - scroll right down to the bottom of the page

Dinner tonight was very frugal. I honestly don't think we exceeded 50p a plate. Very tasty, very filling - even without the 'bread' the soup is filling. Definitely keeper recipes - albeit, we probably won't see them together again

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for DP doing the washing up - poor thing, definitely got the raw end of the deal tonight

that a speculative e-mail sent to the manufacturers of DP's glasses brought a positive response - they want to have a look at them, to see if they can be fixed. We got a brush off from the opticians

that I've found another recipe in which to use HM yoghurt

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

See y'all later.

Greying

Karmacat

Thanks for that, Greying, about the thin omelette - that makes complete sense. I *still* didn't do any cooking today - grazed on raw veg, or ate pasta with veg chucked in - worked hard on the website and then on the garden. There *will* be fresh produce this year!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Karma - how lovely that you can do some gardening. I still have half the gardening parental's allotment to dig, but it's finding a gap where it is not actually raining and the ground has had sufficient time to dry out. Ho hum.

Well, I'm up and at 'em proper time this morning. Feel mucho more organised

Today will be a spend day. We are in need of milk and I'll get the TV guide too. I have been pondering what I could use to store milk in the freezer if I got any YS'd - I don't think I could have a 4 pinter carton, as it would take up too much space. Mind you, the only YS'd milk I have seen lately has been in mrW - and they were charging more for it than Ald* charge for fresh - in plenty of date - milk :rotfl:

Snap bags are all packed up and ready to go

Dinner this evening is going to be another one of my February 'firsts'. I'm going to make an curry that muddy white chicken alerted me to Looking forward to it, as I'm pretty sure, that as it is another recipe from Anjum Anand it will be a keeper

We've time yet for the 'firsts' recipes to go wrong and for us still to be waiting for dinner at midnight, but I have to say, it is keeping me focussed and interested in the challenge big-style. Still, I suppose I am a food 'nerd' - if I was a car-booter or bay of e-yer, then I guess my focus would be on those activities.

Well, best go 'seize the day' I guess.

I shall be thinking of Pipster today, who is going to WOW potential new employers with her enthusiasm and vitality :D Go Pippi - Love and positivity to you m'dear :D :T

Thank you so very much for popping by, reading and commenting. I continue to greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

EssexHebridean

Can you look out for YS'd milk in smaller containers which you will then be able to re-use for freezing milk in? I've pretty much always got a few 1 pint and 2 pint bottles about, and as long as they get an occasional soak in boiling water and bicarb you can use them time and time again. My "target price" for milk is 25p a pint, so anything YS'd has to come in at less than that!

Karmacat

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Karma - how lovely that you can do some gardening. I still have half the gardening parental's allotment to dig, but it's finding a gap where it is not actually raining and the ground has had sufficient time to dry out. Ho hum.

Thanks! :jYou're dead right about finding the time when its not raining *and* has dried out. I can choose my times more easily than most because of working from home - which I fell into, it was never a plan, so I feel very lucky for that. And truthfully, the ground is completely claggy at the mo, very heavy clay soil here. The window box is sitting in the middle of the garden, where I want the new border to go, but I'm only reaching it by stepping stones made out of recycled bricks :rotfl:

Hope you can find the right time soon for the gardening parental's garden (I do love that phrase :T).

Well, best go 'seize the day' I guess.

Love that quote. Always have, always will.

Pippilongstocking

Dearest greying so chripsome you make me smile.

Thank you so much for thoughts today - they were all very appreciated.

Now, if it's not too much bother if you could cross fingers now the deed is done. I fear I'm not as experienced as they need but my enthusiasm was indeed glowing. And, if successful my new office has a fine sea view :-) and vista across the forth.

Hope your day is a good one and some sun shone on you. (shiny carpe deium and all that )

Off to read back on my tardy diary folks :-) (that's me being tardy of reading, not the diary folks being tardy) such a rich language isn't it and I confuddled it all.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Bleurk! to the weather today! Still, I only got soaked the once, so I am very much counting my blessings. There are folk putting up with far worse.

EH - I look out for smaller YS'd cartons of milk, but I rarely spot them. It's as though the 'express' stores can sell them at 45p a pop with sufficient turnover to not need to reduce them And I'm never about in the Soopermarkets at the right time to snag the '6 pints YS'd to tuppence' that you hear about so often elsewhere.....

I just thought it may help the cashflow of the budget this month if I could drop on some YS'd milk and nanas. Not the end of the world if I can't. Liking the tip about keeping milk cartons 'fresh' though - ta

Ay up Pipster - glad that you had a good time. No need for crossing anything or luck. If it's for ya.........

So today I bought milk (well, technically DP did, but I allocated him the budget ) and the TV listing guide. And although I used DP's cash, (so technically not a spend out of the household budget), I sent off DP's glasses to see if the manufacturer can repair them.

In addition, I deposited this month's money into our credit union accounts. I was able to put a bit more in the emergency fund this month, due to the fortuitous arrival of some OT payments - which slightly makes up for not being able to sweep anything across from the household budget in January.

So, I can't claim a NSD, but a low-spend day I feel. Again, I felt lucky that I had no burning desire - or temptation - to spend anything above and beyond what was on the list Mind you, at less than 20% of the way through February, I need to keep holding on tightly to the reins - don't ya think?

Dinner this evening was a wonderfully aromatic curry, that I first heard about on muddy white chicken's thread. And I'm so glad I did, because it is a recipe by our old friend Anjum Anand and is a corker So TA vvv much to MWC :D A picture of Bengali Butternut squash and chickpea curry is here;




The only thing that I did differently was to cube the squash smaller, and I used a fresh red chilli, rather than a dried one - because I happened to have one, for no other reason than that really. I had not made up the Panch Poran spice mix before, but had all the individual spices, so that was a cinch. This recipe is the second of the five 'new' recipes I have challenged myself to make this month and is definitely a keeper of a recipe :D If you are interested in making this curry, you will find Anjum's recipe HERE.

This recipe definitely fits the frugal category. The butternut squash was 49p in Ald* super 6, the chickpeas were dried and cooked in the pressure cooker - at 10p for the 200g needed in the recipe. The spices are from stores and = pennies and the rice was 7p for each portion :T

I set the woodstove going, so we ate in front of it and watched Anna Olsen on FN. For her fans - a new season of her 'Fresh' series starts tomorrow. From the advertising of it, I'm not sure I like her hair short..... prefer the length in this series - not that I've caught that much of it

Oh, and according to the TV guide, 'Midsomer Murders' is doing a 'cross over' Scandi episode next week. The gal who is Brigitte's press advisor in Borgen is in it, and another actor out of 'The Killing'. In Hugh F-W's prog next week he is interviewing the actor who plays 'Torben' (the TV news boss) out of Borgen - if you're interested........

Right, so today, I am grateful for these 3 things;

that cotton trousers dry quickly

to have another good recipe to add to my recipe folder/repertoire

that I am dry and warm(ish) in my own home tonight

Thank you so very much for popping in, reading and commenting. You know how much I value your support - yes, I'm talking to YOU

See y'all later.

Greying

in_need_of_direction

So impressed that even with a budget that's half of nothing, you still upped the saving pot.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

In need of direction - we put the monies into the CU directly from wages, as we don't 'miss' it then. The household budget is the only one that I have any 'wiggle' room over. So anything that I can save can go across to the emergency fund. At least we have a little going into the emergency fund each month - but anything that I can save over and above that is part of the challenge Thanks for stopping by

Thursday already. How on earth has that happened?

'Soup & sandwich' night tonight - part of Fabulously Frugal February But actually, to avoid carb overload, it might morph into 'soup & pudding' night. I can't see any complaints from DP if that happens There is crumble or 'Yves' pudding in the freezer, so I can even offer 'choice' :rotfl:

I am aiming for a NSD today, as there is nothing that we need. Tonight I need to make bread dough and yoghurt

We watched another 2 episodes of 'Borgen' last night. That actor who was the PM in the first version of the killing popped up....again - he was in Sherlock last 'week' (only 'coz we're behind with our viewing) :rotfl:And then, to top that, 'Moxy' from Auf Wiedersehen Pet turned up as a former Russian spy! Ach well, still a decent watch

Well, I'd better get a wiggle on. Snap is prepared as are flasks, but it needs bagging up.

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

See y'all later.

Greying

little_sweetie

Thanks again for an entertaining read, Greying. Last night's dinner looks sumptuous, it's a pity OH won't eat chickpeas :mad: I am constantly in awe of your creative skills in the kitchen. My homemade repertoire consists of veggie hotpot or veggie soup :rotfl::rotfl:I can manage a few cakes though so I'm planning on trying the choc porridge cake soon....

Have a great day and stay warm!

Hope you have a good result from the interview Pippi. I'd take you on