Living on next to nought - is that the key?

32b3in2013

What a great diary, I am now following

Can't wait to hear about the yogurt

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

32b3in2013 - gosh, how kind, thank you and welcome. Adventures in yoghurt will probably commence sometime in the middle of the week, as we still have 4 pints/2.2l of S/S to go. DP's tea consumption seems to of slowed in the hot weather.

I've been out this morning and sowed some more seeds. I've sown the soaked parsley, 2 packets of beetroot - the seed was from N*tto - how long has it been since they left the UK? :rotfl: and I sowed a small pot with perpetual spinach. On the basis that if they do anything, they could be nurtured on into winter to provide some fresh greens. Mind you, I'm getting waaay ahead of myself there, so I'll re-focus back onto today.

Today should, again be a NSD. :j

I've any number of household chores to do, and I've got to figure a way to 'mend' DP's cycling helmet. Nothing on the structure of it you understand - you replace it if its damaged, I realise that. But one of the, erm, I'm not quite sure what you would call it. It's a pad I suppose, there is one at the front (which has gone missing), and one at each side. I suppose to stop the helmet rubbing your head. Anyway, they are velcro'd on and the remaining Velcro at the front is rubbing DP's forehead. I'd better have a rootle through my fabric stash and sewing box and see what I can come up with. I know that I haven't got any foam backed fabric like the pads are made from at present.

Lunch will probably be soup. I'm not sure what sort yet, but we'll probably have flatbreads or soda farls to accompany it. Dinner I really haven't thought about, as I've not got round to re-writing the menu plan - perhaps that ought to be a job for later.

Edit: I should of said, last night's dinner was OK, but I don't think that the chickpeas work as well as the lentils. Perfectly edible and nice, but not the 'same' IYSWIM. I think I'll revert to puy/continental lentils in the future.

Thank you, as ever for reading.

See y'all later.

Greying

Shovel_Lad

N*tto was sold to Asd* in May 2010 and the stores rebranded. Some were then sold on to other retailers :cool:

Yay for another NSD :T

Looking forward to Greying's Adventures in Yoghurt

lindsaygalaxy

Have you ever popped across the to coupons thread? Sometimes theres coupons around which mean you get something for very cheap or free. It's worth keeping an eye on.

Upsidedown_Bear

I've managed to grow things from seeds years out of date so I'm sure you'll have lots of success

I have household chores to do as well but it's too hot so I might not bother

Mara_uk7

Foam backed pads ? I knew i shouldnt have thrown out all those shoulder pads I took out of my eighties clothes ! Lol

*Robin*

Hello GP, :hello:

Your menu ideas sound amazing!
Have subscribed in order to follow your Adventures with Yoghurt, and definitely Further Adventures with Avocados..

Greying_Pilgrim

Good evening :hello:

Well, I've had visitors again. Thank you for stopping by.

Shovel Lad - these 'adventures' could well turn into 'adventures in greying yoghurt' y'know. :rotfl: I've always thought I could start up a blue cheese production line in the cellar.....whether it would be edible blue cheese is an entirely different matter....:rotfl:

lindsaygalaxy - thank you for that tip. Yes, frequent checking is the key isn't it? mmm, I will try to build that into my online time. Thanks again.

Upsidedown Bear - I do wish I had read your post before I embarked on the hoovering. How can you *perspire* more doing genteel housework than you ever did in any gym that you ever went near?? :rotfl:

Mara_uk7 - hot dang! You called it - never should of let those shoulder pads escape the closet! Should of channelled my inner Alexis Carrington and held onto them, determined they'd either come back into fashion or be useful one day! Mind you, knowing DP's colleagues, they'd of had a field day with that one........

*Robin* - m'dear, adventures with yoghurt and avocados has a faintly *norty* ring to it...... I think I like it.....*sniggers*. Greying ponders whether latecomers to the thread may get entirely the wrong impression...................:D

Well, today has been hot, but faintly productive. I have wafted the vacuum about and the dust has at least been moved around a bit.

Lunch turned out better than I hoped. It was soup, based on THIS recipe. It was already adapted from an original, but I adapted it a bit further. I used a bit of cooked rice from the freezer (freed up some space - yay!), instead of breadcrumbs/oats, and I added this to the soup after I blended it (and I only blended it coarsely, the texture was a good feature). I also didn't bother with the croutons/and tomato dice to top the soup (hadn't got any fresh tomatoes). I instead served with flatbreads that I incorporated zaatar into as I cooked them. The zaatar is ages old, and was buried at the back of the cupboard. But thankfully the thyme hadn't lost its punch and the sesame seeds hadn't gone rancid, yay! And I followed the recipe authors lead and served at room temp - I cooled it down with some chilled water to achieve this, rather than being organised and cooking it a hour in advance! Oh, and I didn't have any lemon so added an extra teaspoon of coriander powder to try to get the citrus vibe. In hindsight, I should of ground some coriander seeds, they would of been better - but the soup *needs* the lemony hit I think.

Dinner tonight is H/M lentil Bolognese, out of the freezer with s*vers fusilli. It'll be a relatively small portion, but thankfully lunch was filling and the heat seems to be curbing appetites. I've drunk so much water today.

Oh, NEWS - we have germination folks! There are little white roots appearing from some of the mixed leaf lettuces and the hot salad leaves (the mizuna etc). I'm chuffed. I know what you said Upsidedown Bear, but the mixed leaves seed packet is from Ald* and was packed Y/e 2007, use by Y/e 2009! :rotfl:I've only ever really tried old bean seeds before and they are quite forgiving, so this is all a thrill for me. Especially as I *need* this to work.

I had a bit of a wobble today. I did have a NSD, but I wondered how I was going to actually save towards the key fund. Then I thought about the past few days, and the focus of this diary and thinking round things ie digging out spices out of the back of cupboards and using them, and I felt a bit better. I guess progress can be measured in a variety of ways. But this diary is definitely motivating me, I'm so glad I started it.


3 things that I am grateful for today;

- The Test Match Special (TMS) commentary team on BBC radio. Buses on the Loughborough Road? The.World.Needs.To.Know :rotfl:

- Vaccum cleaners - I mean seriously, consider the alternative.

- Mother Nature. You might be all at sea, but she just carry's on carrying on.


Well, I'll go and drain the pasta. An evening mending another pocket on a set of working trousers beckons......#astitchintime....

Thank you for reading.

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Just a quick note from me this morning.

Today should be another NSD. I will need milk and bananas tomorrow though.

The gardening parental has said they would stop by today and leave some fresh garden produce on my doorstep. So I will look forward to that. Fresh food for free - whoop!

Lunches are all packed up, I cooked extra pasta last night and it will accompany some ratatouille that I made on Friday night. The ratatouille was from a l*dl aubergine (50p), one of the YS'd courgettes from T*sco and half of the black olives (other half went on the pizza), plus the other usual ratatouille ingredients. Most got frozen, but there was a pot full left. Plus we'll have a banana and a lemon bun.

Must check on the seedlings.

Thanks for reading.

See y'all soon.

Greying

Piquant_2

*subscribed*

Fab diary, can't wait for adventures in yogurt. I love raspberry yogurt if that's any help

I'm a veggie that's very used to making incredibly financially economic meals - read that as no money! So look forward to swapping penny meal ideas with you!

Piq