Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

little_sweetie wrote: »

Hiya, Hopefuljoy, glad you've joined us. It's a wonderful, fun and informative thread

Lawks! I owe you a fiver now little_sweetie! :rotfl:

satchmo1 wrote: »

I'll put the wrigglyness to good use and go for a run.

*Sigh*, between us, there are at least 3 runners on this thread - Cheery, starnac and now you satchmo - I feel tired, I'm away for a lie-down........... :rotfl:

Well, I do so very much hope that the weather has decided what it is going to do wherever you live. It's been pouring with rain here - it went as black as a bobbies helmet just as I was trying to photograph *me tea* (actually DP's plate) - I can only deduce that the weather gods are not liking the new menu. This is not the first time that poor light has affected picture quality - at least that is my excuse and I am sticking to it

I aimed for a NSD today, but failed spectacularly However, I did drop on some YS'd milk and eggs in marksandspensives, so all is not lost. They were bargains, the milk will be used to make yoghurt tonight, I specifically got the 2 pint carton so that I also now have a carton to freeze excess milk in :j and the eggs are good until at least the 8th, which will mean, with those that I have in store, I probably won't have to buy anymore eggs until the last week of June Without compromising what we'll have available to eat :D So worth the loss of a NSD I think

I managed to head round to the Food Bank and our little donation was warmly accepted

I was giving a lot of thought to things today, and I was musing on what mouche was telling us about cuisine etiquette. Whilst I'm OK with breaking *roolz* I was thinking about the issue from a different aspect, I was thinking about it from a MSE viewpoint. And whilst yer latest celebritte cheffette will declare lentils or beans to be *cheap as chips* - well, when put against sirloin steak or a lobster, I guess they are....... Actually, dried beans and lentils are not really that much different in price. Even getting them in Asian grocer shops, in larger bags, they are still quite expensive. So I got to thinking that maybe it is just plain wasteful to put beans and lentils on the same plate. Has our Western habit of wanting *variety* all the time made us immune to actually contemplating the cost of the dish? I shall have to ask mouche if it is acceptable to put, say, a vegetable curry with say a lentil dhal, or a veg curry with a bean dish. It could certainly even out the cost of the overall meal. Just a musing - happy to be told that I'm talking cods-wallop :D But I am concentrating on *Just enough* for June and this is where my musing is taking me

Something else wandered through my mind as well as I walked to the FB - can't quite remember what that was (not connected to the FB) but it'll be frightfully erudite, incisive and light-bulb blowing........... and I'll remember it just now.....:p:rotfl: Erm, yep, I AM severely sending myself up there, folks :D

Dinner this evening saw the creation of one of our old-favourites - a Buddha bowl. Yep, I know, the second of the month and we're on Buddha bowls already....... :rotfl: For anyone who is unfamiliar, a Buddha bowl is just a fancy name for a bowl of food (can easily be leftovers), usually, you have some sort of grain or carb, some vegetable, a protein source (no reason why it can't be meat) and a sauce or garnish. My BB was heavily leaning towards middle-eastern flavourings, and although there is no recipe as such, it did taste nice (which means I'll never get to re-create it in a month of Sunday's ) Picture here;



It isn't apparent, but the (fine) bulghar had sunflower and pumpkin seeds in it and a few cranberries (would have been barberries in a *real* m-e dish). Then there was spinach - just lightly steamed in the micro, then spicy chickpeas (spice mix, onion, carrot and celery) with apricots (chopped up out of a tin I am afraid, not fresh or dried - but affordable ), topped off with yoghurt and diced tomato - with a sprinkle of crushed coriander seed and sumac It yielded enough for dinner and snap portions

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

senses of humour

for on-line library book renewal

for being made to think, really think

Thank you so very much for popping in, reading, commenting and joining in. I greatly appreciate it.

Right, I'm away to make yoghurt with my discount milk

See y'all later

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, in a moment of serendipity doo-dah, I have just heard, Aaron Copeland's, Hoe-Down playing on R3 - it was my *earworm* for all of Saturday, I guess I know what is going to be playing on Radio Greying Head today.......:rotfl:

Right, well, to money matters. No point in going for a NSD today, I may as well get the purchase of TV guide out of the way, nip to mrA if I have time and get a few more bits off the grocery list and then head for NSD's into the weekend. Although milk will be the next thing to scupper my no spending

The m&s milk appears to have made yoghurt :j it's looking all thick and lovely in the flasks about 900ml of thick, natural yoghurt for 50p :j:money:

Dinner this evening will most likely be the aubergine bhuna, but I've a first reserve if the weather decides to transform into pavement splitting sunshine

Right, I'm away to pack up snap bags.

Have a great day.

Thanks so much for popping by and reading. Mucho appreciated.

See y'all later.

Greying

Shortie

Morning Greying x. Been on a bit of a catch up - I don't think the extra £20 is a lot though I can understand the concern as wages haven't gone up. But I think you do fabulously for eating so well on a small budget - as you say, eating fresh ona small budget isn't an easy task x

mouche

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

I shall have to ask mouche if it is acceptable to put, say, a vegetable curry with say a lentil dhal, or a veg curry with a bean dish. It could certainly even out the cost of the overall meal. Just a musing - happy to be told that I'm talking cods-wallop :D

Not codswallop at all Greying - you have hit upon a typical vegetarian Indian meal with your wonderings. A veggie meal in an Indian home would be rice or roti/ chappatti with a portion of lentils and a portion of veggie curry. Perhaps with some poppadoms to add crunch. Lentils are essential if the carb is rice but a veggie curry (or two) with roti is the alternative. It's really the same concept as your Buddha bowls - a carb, a protein (lentils, beans, paneer or meat), and some vegetables. A very popular Sunday lunch in North India is rice and rajmah curry - and I can tell you that's a favourite meal casa-mouche as well. In fact we had some last night. Yum!

I normally only comment on your Indian food experiments but just wanted to say I read regularly and you never fail to cheer me up with your wit and wisdom.

Can I have my fiver now please?

little_sweetie

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good Evening :hello:

Lawks! I owe you a fiver now little_sweetie! :rotfl:
Greying

Well, I'm only telling the truth, Greying, and now look...you owe mouche one too :rotfl::rotfl:

Good morning, dear Greying, I hope all is well at Greying Towers. Last night's tea looks lovely although I have never tried bulghar. Perhaps I should give it a go and just tell OH that it's a kind of rice

Re running: arrgh! I can't run for toffee. I'm going to wash up and go for a brisk walk in time to your Hoe-Down ear worm. Sorry, but it's the best I can do

Have a super day x

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Ah ha! Shortie - Bless you! :kisses3: I read your post and immediately remembered the *point* that I was mulling over whilst I trundled over to the FB. Ta!

Mouche - you are a star - thank you for that explanation. I've read it twice now, and I'm going to read it again and note down the principles that you are stating. Because it makes sense on a number of levels. Of course, you saw my error of mixing two similar foods, but also, I think I am right in saying, that lentils are served with rice to gain the best nutritional benefit aren't they? Alone they lack certain nutrients, but together they *unlock* nutrients and so are complete??? Something like that anyway. But as I said, on an economy/good housekeeping/thrift level, your principles also make sense. Have bread or rice, not bread and rice. Have beans or lentils, not beans and lentils. However, I do distinctly remember having a wonderful meal in an indian restaurant in the Principality, where we had *half & half* and a huge naan...... and poppadoms to start........ :rotfl: T'was along time ago though, several lifetimes in fact.....

You have given me much to think about and mull over - Thank you so much. Cheque is in the post....... :whistle:

little_sweetie wrote: »

Well, I'm only telling the truth, Greying, and now look...you owe mouche one too :rotfl::rotfl:

Troublemaker......... :D:rotfl::rotfl:

little_sweetie wrote: »

I'm going to wash up and go for a brisk walk in time to your Hoe-Down ear worm. Sorry, but it's the best I can do

Actually have you tried it? It's quite a tempo to keep up too


So, that is Tuesday almost over.

It's been a good day all round Oh and I forewarn you now;

I am a person in possession of some butter muslin

so let the sprouting research begin! I think I am going to soak fenugreek seed and mung beans overnight initially. Although I've got this bee in my bonnet that onion seed would be good - I'm sure I've seen pictures of salads with sprouted onion seed on the top..... more research Greying!

Clearly I spent today, so still no elusive NSD But I'm happy with what I bought, the only *impulse* was a YS'd frizzy lettuce in mrA, and I suspect 30p isn't going to break the bank.......

The point that I was pondering and what Shortie reminded me of was linked to the cost of fruit and veg and the difficulties of trying to shoe-horn it in on a small budget. Certainly, I can see that people - who, for whatever reason - have smaller budgets than us, would struggle to get adequate F&V, particularly without access to markets, veg growing friends/family or some sort of scheme. But the point that has actually hit me, and it has been a slow-burn for a couple of weeks now, is how much more we are enjoying our meals. We are getting real pleasure from sitting down and eating this food. Now I'm not sure if it is to do with the shift to 'lighter, fresher' eating, after the necessary *stodge* of winter, or whether it is just the food itself - we would enjoy it on a sleety afternoon in November.......I dunno the answer to that one.

But what I was led to think about this evening was the *value* of the £20 *raise*. As you know, our food has changed over a little while, I've been overbudget for at least 2 months, so we've been used to getting to spend a little more. And I would say - at this early juncture - that the £20 is *worth* it. OK, so another budget/pot has had to be slimmed down to make this happen, wages haven't changed, but I'm thinking that we will get tremendous value for money for our *investment*. As you all know, I have no intention what so ever of leading a *sack cloth and ashes* approach to the rest of the time that I have left on earth, so I'm not prepared to deny myself to the extent of staying *in budget*, by merely existing. But this evening, Shortie made me think - that whilst £20 is - to me (and a lot of us) a significant amount of money, what *pleasure* could it afford?? I mean, if we decided to *up* our social life and buy cinema tickets - could we go 'once' a month? Theatre/concert tickets - once a quarter? How much beer/wine could it buy out and about? 6 pints? 2 bottles of wine? If we decided on a trip out - how far would £20 of fuel in the car get us? And could we get back? :rotfl:

So, in cogitating the increased pleasure that this food has been giving us, I am beginning to feel more comfortable about the expenditure because I do actually think that it is worth it The other point is that at present we can afford it. I'm not sure I would be waxing lyrical if I was at the heat/eat stage*. I'm sure that it is showing benefits elsewhere too - and if you could all just pick your minds up out of the gutter for a moment - I was thinking more in terms of a little weight loss (thankfully not a big concern for us both, but a factor none the less) and a bit more zip and vitality.

* The whole point of expanding my food knowledge/recipe repertoire is to try to stave off the impact of rising prices across the board for as long as I'm able.

So, onto dinner tonight. The weather has been variable, but I remembered I'm missing an ingredient for the bhuna - so I think that I will make the base up, to use some of the aubergines, whilst they are still good, freeze it and I'll add the green beans (not got any) at the reheating stage. Therefore, I went to my second option, which given how warm it is, was a good choice - a salad bowl. I changed tack (slightly) half way through prep, and got a piece of Scheherazade casserole out of the freezer and made 2 portions out of it, to accompany the salads and improve the protein quota.

Here's a pic;



The lettuce is the YS'd one from mrA - well, a bit of it, it's massive! There is potato salad, which was a recipe from the Meat Free Monday Cookbook and I'm afraid I can't find it on the net. There was a *version* of Waldorf Salad - without apple, but using St Delia's trick of mayonnaise and yoghurt combined - that's a winner, I'll do that again, makes it so much lighter and nicer Also, it helped that the celery was super fresh and crunchy - honestly, DP and I sounded like a couple of sound effects artists, you know, when the comedy caterpillar bites into the apple! Yep, that was us! Then I diced up some tomatoes and dressed in oil/vinegar with some herbs and the end salad is Vietnamese cucumber salad - a recipe by David Tanis. If you would like that recipe you can find it here - and you may be interested to know that it is a good accompaniment to salmon:D

I'm not entirely sure that I've mastered the *less is more* mantra with this meal But boy we enjoyed us tea! :D :rotfl:

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

conversation - thank you so much for joining in with me, I really am so appreciative of it

for what I have, and that I have enough, and I have my health - winner, right there

for choice

As ever, thank you so very much for popping in, reading, commenting and giving me Ah Ha! moments by the bucket load. I appreciate it greatly - although to be honest, I am running a little low on fivers, so can you stop being so complimentary please........... :D:rotfl:

See y'all later.

Greying

sunnyskies2

Hi there Greying, I have been enjoying the conversation and food updates, as always looking delicious - what is 'Scheherazade casserole' though, it looks very interesting!

I'm also lucky to have lots of local Asian grocery stores, I cooked up our own poppadoms at the weekend - lots cheaper than shop ready made and delicious too:) - I cooked them in a shallow fry to save on oil, but also tried out a method I thought I'd read about somewhere - brushing with oil and oven cooking but that failed miserably:( live and learn:)

Hi Little_sweetie - I tried out bulger wheat for the first time last week, it is very quick and easy to make up and very tasty when made with vegetable stock - my boys couldn't get enough of it and they can be fuss pots:)

Anyway, time for bed

Sarah

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

sunnyskies - i'm sure there is a technique to cook poppadums in the microwave.... I'm sure I had seen it on the net somewhere, and then i'm not sure if it was Memorygirl that showed how to do it, and then after, I saw Jaymee do it...... Don't have a go :eek: until someone definitely confirms you can do it. EDIT - yes you can, have a look HERE

The Scheherazade casserole may well be up your street - it is effectively soaked bulghar wheat and pureed beans, mixed with a little veg and feta cheese (don't forget the feta cheese, it makes the dish) that is then baked in the oven. It came from the seminal 1970's American veggie cookbook "The moosewood cookbook" by Mollie Katzen. I used to have the book, couldn't get on with it, so donated it to charity, but found this recipe online, tried it and have been making it ever since. Recipe HERE Without the feta (forgot first time I made it) it is bland and boring, but with the feta it is lovely and savoury. It is realtively cheap to make and filling too :money:

I'm determined to snag a NSD today. There is nothing that we need and the milk will have to last......

Silly me, I forgot to put the seeds to soak last night, so that is a task for this evening - in between shouting at the footy on the telly C'mon England!!!

Dinner this evening will be vegetable biriyani with omelette, as I have an egg mountain to utilise before they start going out of date

Right, best shift a tail-feather and get up and at 'em.

Have a great day.

Thanks for popping in, reading, commenting and joining in - all good fun

See y'all later.

Greying

Hopefuljoy

Hello everyone, hope you've all had really lovely days. :j I have done a radical thing today! Inspired by you GP I have bought PULSES!! Green lentils have entered my home and will be used. I've been reading all the recipes on this board avidly and have overcome 47 years of ingrained prejudice against all things pulse related (I blame the parents myself). :rotfl:

A brave new world of Dhal and other delicious veggie curry and spicy dishes beckons..... Am trawling through my cookbooks tonight and having a go tomorrow. I have the Rose Elliott big veg cookbook which after one year is still in pristine condition. My DD is delighted as I'm one step closer to full vegetarianism. :T:T

Best wishes to all of you!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Have I scared you all away with my essay writing?

Well, today has been a day of no triumphs, but no tragedy either, so we must be thankful for small mercies

I did however, Dear Reader, gain a NSD :j:j YAY! 1st one of the month - ya hoo

I have been looking up onion seed sprouting and it appears that you can do it :j And apparently they are tasty - YAY! Oooooh decisions, decisions, what shall I try????

Dinner this evening was the stove-top biriyani style rice with an omelette. Photo here;



This evening's offering was definitely not a looker in the glamour stakes, but it was full of flavour - and I have to report that the YS'd mands eggs made tasty omelettes The onion seeds sprinkled on top were nice too, but then I would say that wouldn't I?

I threw a handful of lentils in to cook with the rice and used the last of the mrS basiks frozen veg with a little bit of spinach. And as the eggs were 7p each, I reckon that constitutes a pretty frugal meal Certainly it was tasty and we are full, (DP's portion is the plate shown and was bigger than mine )

Today I am grateful for the following 3 things;

for the internet as a research tool - honestly, you can dash about all over the place about a multitude of topics!

that I am getting to experiment with sprouting - utilising what I already have to hand (with the exception of the muslin )

that I can watch the England football match - let's hope it's a good one

Thank you so very much for popping in and reading. Lovely to have you on the thread.

I'm away to soak some seeds and make some bread dough

See y'all later.

Greying