Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Hi Beanie I hope you are keeping safe and well. Thanks for dropping by

Greying

miss_empty_piggy

Evening Greying Pilgrim, just wanted to say that I look forward to reading your diary everyday. You keep me inspired, and grateful as I think about what I have to be grateful for. x

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Thank you miss empty piggy for such a kind and supportive comment. I greatly appreciate folk reading and commenting on this diary - it has made it so much more than I ever envisaged it could be

Today will involve spends, but they hopefully will be low. We need milk, bananas and carrots. So I will be shopping at Ald*, as the carrots are part of the Super 6 at 39p per kilo. Best price around I will be portioning off the milk and watering down the remainder, as per usual practice - although I didn't do it for the last carton of milk as we got swamped. But it is imperative that I do it today.

I need to get a stamp and send off DP's letter, but DP has stumped up 60p for a stamp, so no additional spend there

Snap boxes are all packed up, I just need to make a flask of coffee for DP.

Dinner this evening, mmm, I'm not sure yet. I need to use up some leeks (YS'd from waitflower last week), so I need to have another rake through the planner.

Right, better get on with the day.

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

See y'all later.

Greying

beanielou

Have a lovely Monday Greyling & friends

7_week_wonder

Morning all,

Last day of my staycation today - and so far I've done two lots of washing, made a big pot of chilli and cleaned and hoovered. Not quite what I had in mind - but we have a relative arriving for a couple of nights this evening !

I'm very interested in the tahini adventures as I never seem to have any when I need it! I've made hummous without it before (just used chick peas, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, a bit of chilli powder and a bit of water if needed) and it came out fine - it not particularly authentic!

I made potato scones for the first time last night. We were meant to be having potato salad, but I left the potatoes boiling for just 10 minutes and by the time I got back to them they were already half mashed Never mind, I ended up with a dozen potato scones so there are 8 in the freezer for another time.

Have a good day all.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

7 Week Wonder - I too have made hummous without tahini in the past, but I have to say, I much prefer it with tahini. I think it adds a depth of flavour too it. Mind you, HM hummous is far superior to the taste of the bought stuff any day of the week. Much the same as I would try to avoid buying hummous, I think I will be loathed to buy tahini again, I know what is in the HM version Anyway, I hope you enjoy the visit with relatives and that you are fully recovered from your stomach upset.

Well, I have been a whirly gig of chopping and whizzing in the kitchen. I decided to have a go at making the veggie bouillon recipe from Memory Girl's website. I had got a YS'd small fennel bulb from waitflower last week, which was beginning to look rather old, so I thought I'd better get and try this recipe before it (the fennel) disintegrated into green mush in the fridge. I followed the recipe, as per, with the exception of the sun-dried tomatoes - coz I didn't have any. I had to use my stick blender to get the paste fine, as the processor didn't cut it (literally) - I think I need new blades or to find out how to sharpen them Hot tip, do not, under any circumstances try the paste raw. It tastes of nothing but salt, and you will think that it is unuseable and that you have wasted X pounds/pence on ingredients. Diluted as per, it works just like conventional bouillon. I had to check, but a dessertspoon is 10ml, which is 2 teaspoons (2 x 5ml). I used 2 teaspoons to 1 litre of water for the dish that I made for dinner. Oh, and maybe it was just me, but my bouillon paste had much more of an orange hue, rather than a green tint I have put 2 500ml yoghurt tubs of it in the freezer and hope that the bit about too much salt to freeze solid is true

I was lucky to have both fennel and leeks at the same time - and even luckier that they were both YS'd, so agree that this recipe probably falls into the :money: camp. Also, the parsley and coriander were homegrown - hence it was probably a bit light on the parsley

I am pleased to report that dinner tonight featured ...... TURNIP - Swedish turnip to be specific I made vegetarian Cocido. Officionados of Spanish cuisine will know that Cocido is usually a 'pork-fest'. However, the delightful Ms Elliot in her bean book came up with a veggie version. It's quite simple to make and if your chickpeas are tinned/precooked, then pretty speedy too. If you would like to see the recipe, it can be found HERE. Pretty nifty playlist too. I used the remainder of a bag of frozen, diced turnip that I bought earlier in the year as I noticed that swedes were 98p (or 95p - somewhere in that area) in Ald* today. I know they are not in season yet, but blooming h*ck - is this a sign of things to come?

Talking about seasonality, do the supermercados bother with it anymore? The leeks that I got from Mr W were 49p, reduced down from £2.09. They were that price in winter, when they are supposed to be in season (and yes, I know we had weather events to scupper things), why not either not sell them, sell them cheaper, or sell them cheaper when they are in season and charge more for them out of season/in the summer. And no, I was no more likely to pay £2.09 for a bunch of leeks in winter than I am now. I bought them YS'd (from wherever) or did without.

I stuck to my list and only bought the items on it today I have started to reorganise the meal planner for this week to make best use of any YS'd veggies that I have (before they get too old) and it's looking like we'll eat.......this week, as for next week :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: (just kidding, it'll be fine )

A new series is starting on BBC 2 tonight, looking at using spices in cooking. Will check that out, even though the programme is focussing on fish

Today I am very grateful for these 3 things;

for good health and physical well-being - I've dashed about like a whirling dervish today. I am thankful that I am able to.

for being able to cook - I just don't know where we would be if I wasn't able to make savings in the kitchen. I'm also grateful that I enjoy cooking, well...... most of the time

for the last YS'd peach - bought last week (49p for 9 peaches) it had ripened to perfection today. Half for me in my breakfast yoghurt, and half for DP's porridge How rare is a ripe, unblemished, peach??? Oooh, we savoured it

'Tis the small things right?

Thank you so very much for dropping by, reading and commenting.

See y'all later.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

'Tis the small things right?

Absolutely it's the small things (although big things are nice too sometimes...:D:p).

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Oh yes, Upsidedown Bear, about washing machine sized 'bigness' would suit me down to the ground at the moment :rotfl:Never mind, it'll come, it'll come

Well, I enjoyed the cooking with spices show yesterday evening. It wasn't just about fish cooking :j Cyrus and Tony were really good together. But what a pity that yet again, some editor/producer or director insisted on playing plinky plonky music when the chaps were telling you how to do stuff! You have two enthusiastic and engaging guys, you don't need music as well, you need to be able to hear what they are telling you! - just my 2 penneth Oh and I loved Tony's line in kilts - very modern and stylish, but I was worried for him when he was in feeding the piggies ........

Today's spend should only amount to 38p for a TV listing guide. We need nothing else

Dinner will be from ingredients that we have

Thank you so much for popping in, reading and commenting - I continue to be grateful to you.

Right, best get my skates on and 'seize the day' :D

See y'all later.

Greying

Pippilongstocking

I do love the food updates on here GP

How exciting to see photos of them too.

I hope you have a great day today - you deserve it! I'll look up that programme.

I'm quite enjoying kirsties do up programme at the moment - it appeals to my inner womble.



Waves to all readers - I'm off to continue with my chores.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

ooh visitors to the thread - how lovely Thanks for popping in Pippi.

Well, spends today was 38p only, as hoped for (Greying buffs halo ). Unfortunately the same Corrie star was on the front of the TV guide again today, but fair do's the pic is different enough to avoid confusion

Dinner this evening was Green Lentil, mushroom and spinach Kasha. However, I feel somewhat disingenuous calling it that, as the eagle-eyed amongst you will know that 'Kasha' is roasted buckwheat groats and there was no buckwheat in my dinner....... Buckwheat (actually a member of the Rhubarb family and a pyramidical (?) seed that has a fancy name that clever botanical type folk will know how to pronounce ) is unfortunately, severely out of my budget range at the moment - which is a shame, as it is another of these 'wonder' grains full of lovely amino acids and good fings for bodies So I substituted the 'kasha' with toasted coarse bulghar instead. The bulghar and green lentils were app. foods, the mushrooms YS'd and the spinach frozen So another :money:eat. There is also sufficient left over for snap boxes tomorrow.

The postman doesn't appear to of left us a yes/no from the bank re: the cc decision Wish we knew one way or the other - I'm done learning patience already .....:rotfl::rotfl: Still, thinking time is no bad thing, as plans b, c, d, n, y, & z are alternatively being mulled over and formulated :rotfl:

So today, I am grateful for these 3 things;

a kind word - you never know when a kind word (written or spoken) may just be the tonic that someone needs to lift their day from pants to brill.

thinking time - I am grateful that life is currently making me think differently about a wide-range of subjects. It's taking me to some great places, sees me hanging out with some great folks and above all, is allowing us to remain within budget time and time again

the art of darning - coz I've got another :eek: hole in my sock :rotfl:(Note to self - don't walk. Anywhere. Ever. :rotfl:)

Thank you so much for popping by and joining in. I appreciate it.

Now, I'm away for some mindless down-time, [STRIKE]there's a footy match on the box to watch.[/STRIKE] Nope seemingly no footie?? GBBO it is then

See y'all later.

Greying