Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Shortie

Evening Greying.


I must look some jack recipes back up again, I've made a couple of lovely things from her website before


I didn't get to pick plums this evening as my train was delayed home and I was tired. The boys are going to pick them tomorrow apparently, plus some blackberries near by the station I travel from/to. Wish I could go with them but that won't happen with full time work and a long commute

Greying_Pilgrim

....Greying whooshes in............

Good Morning :hello: I've had inexplicable internet problems this morning - no idea if it's me, the machine or a wider problem - been trying to get on here for over an hour!

Anyway, I'm going to have to read and run, dinner this evening is going to depend on the weather, as the first choice is a bit of a rib-sticking colder weather dish, from Leanne, but we'll see.....

Thank you to everyone who has popped in and left comments - I have read them, but will reply later.

Was going to go for a nsd today, but need some non-grocery shopping, so may as well bust the spend, get the TV guide too and do better tomorrow :rotfl:

Bee good, be careful - as will I

See y'all later.

EDIT: Happy 1st day back at school for HopefulJoy and any other lurking teachers Really trust it'll be a fantastic half-term for you all

Greying

Karmacat

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

I do love this thread. It is like going to a nice happy household, sinking into a soft chair and being offered builders tea and sponge cake... *settles in* :rotfl:

Thanks for the inspiration as always GP... Off to meal plan.. or procrastinate...

Its exactly like that, isn't it!

**waves at GP**

moneyistooshorttomention

Karmacat wrote: »

I think its lovely! So many people grow courgettes ... I've come to the conclusion that between my perennial greens - chives, lemon balm, mint, a few strawberry leaves - and courgettes, I could make great salsa/pesto once everything's planted (and more plantpots washed ) I'll be onto that - next year

.

Having just registered the fact you mention strawberry leaves under the heading of your perennial greens....could you let us know details of how you use them please?

I'm rather wondering whether you chuck them in as part of the "greenery" when making pesto now for instance?

To date, I read that wild strawberry leaves can be used in salad, took a cautious nibble of one and thought "Hmm...salady I guess" and promptly forgot about it. Are both standard strawberry leaves and wild strawberry leaves edible then and what ways do you use them?

Hopefuljoy

Hello Greying and friends!! Thank you for the best wishes to all we teachers!:j

My first day was spent in the department and having a lovely lunch with all the other new joiners and not a pupil in sight. :beer:They all return this Friday. My head of dept is lovely and my team mates seem so too. It's a very supportive school so I hope it'll turn out well!!:D

I've actually got home by five pm which is unheard of. :rotfl:My last school wasn't happy unless you arrived at seven thirty and left after five thirty. :mad:This seems more balanced and its closer to home. My DD I'd delighted she'll see me earlier in the evenings.

Tonight is quorn Charlotte with tortillas found in the freezer. Supplies are low but we shall prevail!! :money:

The sun seems to be putting in a feeble effort to make up for the last two weeks down here in the south. I am resolutely sticking to summer clothes as long as humanly possible. :cool:

Can't wait to see what you have for dinner tonight greying! Hope everyone's day went well and see you all soon in MSE world!:T:)

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

So I have literally no clue what was going on with the computer this morning It seems ok now :j

lilt - *Builders tea* WHAT!!!! You'll have a cuppa mrS 20p for 40 basiks tea and like it Where d'ya think this is - millionaires row???? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Do make yourself comfortable though And it's great to hear that you are making your cupboards yield ingredients for you to keep tummies full and morale high

Tilly - you're welcome to join us for dinner anytime Especially if you bring us gifts from your garden :D:D:D

JackieO - hope you do well in the quiz - no conferring on your eye-pad!! I'm going to follow your lead and try to keep my purse tightly shut this week, although I've just realised that we will run out of milk.........

shortie - have yer menfolk done the hunter-gathering malarkey for you?????

Karma :wave: backatcha sweetie, so good of you to pop in - I know you are busy busy

moneyistooshorttomention - hiya :wave:

Hopefuljoy - I don't know about Quorn Charlotte, but you sound positively full of beans I hope that today is a sign of things to come at your new school and ugh! to any workplace that does this whole, 'homelife is for cissies' nonsense! Load of cobblers - so YAY to you getting to spend quality and quantity time with your DD. She needs you too - is it exam year for her this year?

Oh, and no pressure about, 'wot's fer yer tea, Greying?' - eh? :cool: :rotfl:

So I spent money today, getting a few essential 'non-food' things. Got the TV guide too. Forgot milk though, but DP didn't mention we were low, and I hardly use milk, except when i'm cooking with it.....

We had some sun today - nice to be able to be out in the middle of the day, getting some rays, but not instantly burning up. Just about the right temp

Got gifted some garden produce :T

Traipsed another 'thing' out of the shed and over to the charity shop :T Decluttering has slowed down, but we're still finding things!

So, as the weather forecast was right, and it was warmer today, I decided to put the rib-sticking 'stew' on the back burner until the end of the month, and did a substitution that was a little more in keeping with the weather and neatly used up the 3 out of 4 avocados that were ripe :T

Tonight we had Baked Avocado & Broad Bean Custards which I make in the PC, and the original recipe (I deviated, using ingredients/flavourings that I had) can be found HERE I have made them before - I seem to remember my accompanying carrots caused some hilarity........ A pic is here;



So the Avocados were 25p each = 75p, a handful of frozen broad beans (de-frosted and chopped up), 2 eggs, lime zest and juice and seasonings went into the bakes. The potatoes were 4 tatties from the 55p bag I got from HB for last Friday's wedges, and the carrots (4) were from the 3kg YS'd 'loot' I got in mrM last week (25p per kilo). The runner beans were part of the gifted greens, so were free :T

Oh, and you may just be able to see, underneath the baked custards, some red onion - just a small piece that was left over, marinated in the remaining lime juice with a little salt and sugar added - a nice counteraction with the creamy custards

I think it fits the brief of frugal fare, don't you?

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

the enthusiastic response from the lady in the charity shop - I know I've said it before, but it always makes donating so much more pleasurable when you get a *thank you*

my pressure cooker - marvellous invention

for generous gifts of garden produce - which are always welcome in this veggie homestead

Right, I'm shuffling orf. Himself wants to watch the motorcycle racing from Sunday on catch-up. We'll gloss over why he ended up missing the live race on Sunday #someonedidn'tbothertocheckwhattimeitstarted........ :whistle: And I'm gonna catch-up with JaymeeO, see what his new prog is all about.......

Thanks so much for popping by, reading and joining in. Always appreciated. Always

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

So I'm hoping to snag my first NSD today, milk will be more than squeaky, but fingers crossed........

Oh, I totally forgot, last week I decided to use a pint of milk that had been in the freezer for a while, rather than interrupt our endeavours by going to the shop. I know it was not mega cold, but satchmo I employed your technique of immersing the carton in a bowl of room-temperature water. WOW talk about 'swift' defrost. Do you remember my last effort (on the countertop/in the fridge) took days as it kept re-frosting? So thanks everso for that tip satchmo, really works

I'd forgotten to mention another part of my 'challenge' (to myself) this month. I'm having 4 'Workers Wednesdays' when it comes to menus. I'm going to pick a dish, from around the world, that a typical 'worker' might have. I've managed to come up with 4 different dishes, although sourcing an ingredient for one may prove difficult, but we'll see what we can come up with. Tonight we're going to Indian and having a Tiffin pot - wonder what will be inside.......????? :rotfl: Please don't get too excited, I don't want to mislead anyone expecting haute cuisine, tuning in to find out how mundane and pedestrian 'me tea' is..... :rotfl:

Right, snap bags to sort out. I'd best shift a tail-feather. See y'all later.

Greying

[Deleted User]

Good Morning all,well we came 4th in the quiz last night,so not too bad.We all enjoy it so much that winning really isn't that important.The meal was a HUGE jacket spud filled with chicken chunks and a lovely mayo dressing.Well worth the £2.00 quiz entrance just for the food alone :):)(another reason for our Tuesday night quiz night) the two chaps who run the pub are great fun and the one who cooks is a great cook and manages to dish up something rather nice every Tuesday night for us quizzers.
Today I think it will be freezer roulette again .Something wrapped in silver foil will be rescued from the depths of my freezer and hopefully by this evening I will have something tasty to eat.What ever it is it will have cabbage ,carrots and new potato's to accompany it.I'll use up the last of my freebie stewed apple tonight with some plain basic yoghurt.I have found that a large tub of MrT basic yoghurt at 45p a chuck is great value and a lot cheaper to use in cooking or mixed with fruit than cream. I also like it on cereal or mixed in with porridge.Great to 'cool' down an over-enthusiastic hot curry as well :):)
One DGS goes back to school this morning so I'm left with two who return on Friday.I think some blackberrying may be on the agenda this afternoon at the country park.keeps them amused and I get some fruit for my freezer at the end,win-win I think:):):)
Still have my purse firmly welded shut and no cash will escape from it this week :):)
Have a good day all
JackieO xxxx

satchmo1

Good morning Greying, I'm so glad the milk defrosting trick worked for you x


I got a free 500g box of Kent Cobb nuts a while ago at a food festival, and yesterday I made a "free" soup with those, and diced broccoli stalks, using the broccoli water and potato water drained after boiling the veg for last nights dinner.

The Cobb nuts had to be soaked overnight, then I cooked them in the pressure cooker, drained them and re-boiled in pressure cooker with the other ingredients. The soup was delicious. I love "free" food :-)

Satchmo

little_sweetie

Good morning, GP, and chums :wave:

The milk defrosting trick worked for me too, thanks satchmo.

Last night's tea looks very tempting, GP, but I have still not tried avocado. I like the sound of the Tiffin, will pop back tonight to take a peek.

Re charity staff: I have an Air Ambulance collecting box which I pop any *roadkill* and any coppers I can spare into. I take it for emptying once a year into the charity's HQ. Well, I took it in last week and felt quite embarrassed as it all seemed too much trouble for them. Now I know it was a drop in the ocean at £9 but, in effect, I was just walking in the door and handing over cash. They have a coin sorter to count it for them and the box was sealed so I can't see a problem. I toyed with the idea of not bothering to have it back but it's not the staff who benefit but poor injured souls needing airlifting. I buy raffle tickets which they send me too (£10 last month) Because of the cashier's attitude I felt both and :mad: Ok, sorry, GP, rant over.... I'm off to drop some books at the CS...

Have a lovely (sunny) day x