Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, I'm not sure about 'normal service' but I'm feeling a little brighter this morning. Hope I didn't come across as quite that much of a sour pusscat Upsidedown Bear...... :rotfl::rotfl:

Thank you Pippi and Beanie

Dinner last night was pasta and sauce. It was funny, I was wishing I had a jar of 'basics', pasta sauce - for convenience - but actually, it didn't take long to bring together and I think possibly the taste was a little better?? depends on what you like I guess Plus I was able to utilise one of the courgettes that we were gifted at the weekend. There is also enough pasta and sauce left to fill snap boxes today.

Dinner this evening will be a Persian soup/stew, which uses pearl barley.......if I manage to pick up a bag o Pearl barley on my travels Watch this space

Well, I spent 11/2 hrs watching TV last night. The prog about Swansea Market was interesting. JO was a waste of time - a cooking programme, that was all about interiors and speeded up film sequences and finally the Spice boys in Edinburgh - who actually showed some cooking and l love their banter/sense of humour! Pity they didn't do a longer segment at the community cafe with Tony's mum tho.

Today will be a LSD, I've at least a bag of pearl barley and a TV listings guide to get. I wonder whether we'll hear from the bank today. Think another phone call may be in order at this rate.

Anyway, Thank you so very much for popping in, reading and commenting. It is appreciated.

See y'all later.

Greying

7_week_wonder

Morning! Glad you are feeling a bit brighter this morning, I reckon Monday blues are entirely justifiable.

I was pretty jealous of your brambles! I got some on Friday, but they were nowhere near as lush. Even so, I was quite pleased with myself, by Saturday lunchtime I'd made them into 6 jars of jam which tasted pretty good, even though I say so myself:)

Must catch up on the Spice boys in Edinburgh - I love the iplayer: perfect for when OH is out and I need an early night slobbing around in bed.

And I'm looking forward to hearing about/seeing pictures of Persian stew. I have to get my carbs vicariously at the moment as OH is on a fairly serious diet (trying to get into shape before a major op he's been told is on the cards). Bless him, he's trying really hard and so far has lost 6lb in 10 days. I'm feeding him (and therefore me) *really* healthily, but right now I would kill for a bowl of pasta/rice/mash :rotfl:

Have a good day everyone.

Karmacat

Aww, Greying, you didn't come across as a huge grump - I think we're all familiar with feeling bad for some reason that we can't put our fingers on, so it sort of puts everyone into alert mode. Glad that maybe at least its all bottomed out today. Its definitely hard going when you have to think about the pennies all the time, even with support.

I've got a long weekend away coming up this week - cheap train fares, cheap hotels booked months ago, a friend has booked some time at Stonehenge with English Heritage, we can go inside the stone circle for an hour early on Sunday morning, that was the impetus for the rest of the trip. Plus I'm scouting around Cardiff for the novel I'm writing - its as cheap as I can do it, tho it doesn't feel cheap, but like with your holiday, sometimes you have to push it a bit.

Hope things turn today - your drinkie linkie looks great, and a Persian stew sounds fabulous.


ETA - just remembered what you said about JO - he's been beaten hands down by Jack Monroe - I follow her blog, she's amazing. http://agirlcalledjack.com/author/msjackmonroe/ She's not to everyone's taste, I know, but she *might* be to yours.

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good Morning :hello:

Well, I'm not sure about 'normal service' but I'm feeling a little brighter this morning. Hope I didn't come across as quite that much of a sour pusscat Upsidedown Bear...... :rotfl::rotfl:

Of course not - no one is as grumpy as Grumpy cat
Have you seen the Grumpy cat book?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grumpy-Cat-Book-Days/dp/1452126577

Glad you're feeling brighter today

Pippilongstocking

Hey up chaps.

I love a girl called Jack

KC would you mind sharing your cooking barley in the slow cooker thing again. It was great but I've forgotten how to do it.,

Greying sorry for the hijack

HM pasta sauce would have been nicer and lower in all sorts of nasties like sugar and salt. And laden with free courgettes.

How I wish I lived nearer - my courgettes are taking over in one of the work tunnels and I fear them might actually manage a full coup. I'll be lobbing them about like Bob's neeps soon.

Have a great day and hope you find the barley when oot and aboot.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Do you know folks, I never thought that a diary would be a 'dangerous' place to be, but wi' Pipster lobbing courgettes and 'would-be' marrows about the place, and BoB lobbing the odd Swedish turnip and/or 'neep' about the joint - we're gonna have to take to wearing crash-helmets! Bet i'll end up looking like 'Olive', off 'On the Buses' - :rotfl:

If you have visited my diary today, thank you so much

7 Week Wonder - your OH has done well to lose that weight. Still, hopefully it will pay dividends in the long run eh? Keep going Mr 7 Week Wonder!! :T Yep, I'm liking the Spice boys. I love Tony's kilt suits too - very stylish. Plus he's clearly very proud of his 'equipment pouch' Before there are complaints, I don't know what else to call it, and you have to see the photographs in the book to see what I'm referring to - but no, it is not that type of pouch..........

Karma - 'A Girl called Jack' is brilliant. I'm au fait with her website already and we've had her 9p burgers several times already since starting this diary - but thank you for mentioning her. Just in case we get folk looking in who may not (yet) know of her - can't be mentioned enough Oooh, I love Cardiff. A great city. Just the right size for exploring on foot and a funky vibe because of the large student population. Love the park behind the Castle too, and the sports fields down the side of Cathedral Road - by Glamorgan Cricket ground.

Upsidedown Bear - you are right, 'Grumpy' cat is well grumpy! I know some people in RL that must model themselves on 'GC' having read the introduction :rotfl:I hope most of the time in RL I'm more like the top cat - giggling about something and wanting to share.....:D:D

Pippi (Greying dons protective headwear in accordance with efin safely directive 417/LL/236b/03/05/07-N47z, Flight and landing edition, abridged.) You are more than welcome to ask KC about PB on here - I want to know the answer now, and I've not got a slow-cooker! :rotfl:

Well, today has got better as the day wore on. I did indulge in a small chocolate bar - perhaps that has had something to do with it And of course, all is well, the nation can breathe a sigh of relief........... Kat Slater is back on the front of the TV guide everyone :j Whoop!

I ended up spending more money than I anticipated today, but that was only because I realised that I needed spinach for dinner tonight, so I diverted in my shopping plans and ended up being near Ald* too, so got some of the items that I needed from there at the same time. I also dropped lucky with some YS'd aubergines (on my list) and mushrooms (again, on my list). So, yes technically more money spent, but actually all on 'budgeted for' stuff, so I'm 'well pleased'.

Nothing from the bank, and we've not had time to make a call to them. Seriously underwhelmed with this lot. That's for sure.

Dinner this evening was good and worked well. I have cooked the soup/stew before, it is called 'Ash-E-Jo', but I decided to make a bread to go with it, that I have not made before - Manaqish Bil-Zatar or 'Thyme bread'. Whilst this bread is yeasted, you actually cook it like a 'flatbread'. So if you can get it to rise relatively quickly, then it is not too much hassle to make.

See what you think;



If you would like to make the Ash-E-Jo then THIS recipe is similar, although the recipe I followed did not have all the herbs (only dried mint) and clearly did not contain meat. If you'd like to have a go at making the bread (and it is described as 'thyme pizza on the internet), then HERE is a copy of the recipe I used - I got Anissa Helou's book out of the library, but thankfully it is replicated on the net. I topped our Ash-E-Jo with yoghurt mixed with tahini (the recipe suggests sour cream or buttermilk) and I topped that with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. As I mentioned before, I have an ancient jar of Zatar that I had relegated to the back of the cupboard, so that was used to top the bread. I fried the onions (the recipe says raw) and I cooked the bread in a frying pan, and to just finish off the top, flipped the bread for a few minutes, once the underside was cooked. It seemed to work, or you can cook them in the oven.

So, whilst pearl barley is no longer 'cheap as chips', I think this is a very low cost dish - and filling. My recipe for the soup never had kidney beans/lentils in - only chickpeas. It is sufficient to just use chickpeas. Or just kidney beans only would make it even more :money:


Today I am grateful for;

Kindness - I have been the recipient of a great deal of kindness in the last 24hrs. Thank you.

lists - because I had an idea what I needed for my meal plan, I was able to pick up some YS'd bargains. They weren't end of the day '£10 of goods costs only 10p' type reductions, but I've some extra cash in my purse to put towards other costs

swallows - I saw at least two examples today of adults tending nests that clearly had (noisy) youngsters still in them. Here's hoping they're 'second' broods and they're strong enough for the huge journey ahead of them.

Thank you for popping by, reading and commenting - I do appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

And of course, all is well, the nation can breathe a sigh of relief........... Kat Slater is back on the front of the TV guide everyone :j Whoop!

:T Thank goodness for that - I was beginning to worry

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, normal service is resumed with Greying. Except DP has woken up in a grump this morning........ You couldn't make this stuff up could you? Ho hum

Upsidedown Bear - I was beginning to worry about KS's pension fund, she hadn't been on the cover for oooo at least month *giggle*.

I have got to have a look at the finances for September. I've been starting the month gingerly with spending, but I've got to take a real look at what I need to buy pre hols and then what I need post hols. As I said, holiday spending will be in normal limits. And I was thinking last night, now that I buy the cheaper TV mag, I haven't been putting the 'savings' into the key fund. But then prices seem to of shot up haven't they? Edit: I forgot to add, the key fund savings are also currently getting swallowed up by increased spending at the launderette I read on here last night that someone had found L*dl bread flour was now £1.19 - last time they bought it, it was 79p - same here!

I mustn't take my eye off the ball, as we still have 1 more household bill (after the holiday) to meet before the year end, plus we now have to find £ for a washing machine will we hear from the bank today..........

Curry for dinner tonight - thank goodness for Ald* S6!

Oh, I forgot to mention last night, the thyme bread was made with plain flour - and still rose with the yeast - and reminded me of naan bread. I've not looked a recipe up for naan, but it probably is interchangeable. Now, naan can be cheap (h0me bArgins) or expensive (any supermercado ), but maybe it will be good to have a recipe to use too.

Anyway, I'd better get up and at 'em. Snap boxes to finish off.

Thank you for dropping by, reading and commenting.

It is appreciated. By me

Greying

EditII: Karmacat - I forgot to say last night, I love the animal carvings/gargoyles on the castle/castle walls in Cardiff too. I'm sure someone has counted how many different animals there actually are and no. of species etc. Hope you have a wonderful time - and well done you for organising a budget break packed with so much adventure potential.

beanielou

Happy Wednesday all

Pippilongstocking

Happy Wednesday to you too Beanie

Hello all

Greying - I may yet be inspired, I love bread, its my nemesis but I can't/have hardly ever made it - no patience you see.

I think you've inspired me to have a go at that thyme bread.



Have a good un and give Mr G tickle - that should hopefully sort him out.