Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening (again ) :hello:

So I was aiming for a NSD today, but all that went by the by, as I stumbled on a HUGE savoy cabbage for 69p at the grocers and I also bagged some thai basil from mrW YS'd - I've not used thai basil before, but it is in my recipe for tomorrow night's tea, so I bagged it. I'm not sure that anything else in the ingredient list will be authentic - but we'll have thai basil! :rotfl:And to cap it all, I got the TV listings too - whilst we're about the confessional..... :rotfl:

I was thinking about contentment earlier - and I guess the way that I'm 'throwing away' NSD's left, right and centre, then it is a blooming good job that I am satisfied with a savoy cabbage that is the weight of a small child........ :rotfl: I'm not going to get any 'target achieved' glory at this rate

Everything seems a little quiet at the moment, and people are subdued. I hope it is that they are all 'girding their loins' for the festive season, rather than it's an outward sign of a sense of despair There is so much pressure to 'join in' isn't there? I remember having 'the' conversation with the various in-laws about 'presents for the little ones' only - probably about 15yrs ago now. There was some audible relief, but also some 'affront' as though it was a *given* that carp is transferred hither and yon over Christmas. We've stuck to our guns, and now only the youngsters get gifts - which is always money. Geography and lack of grooviness prevents us knowing what the heck to buy 'em and we couldn't afford to post it to them anyway!

Anyway, I'm in danger of giving in to the grumps, which is not how I'm feeling. I've just noticed, today especially, that things just seem.... quiet.

Dinner this evening was intentionally 'ordinary' because I know that it is tasty, but it will never, ever win any prizes for being a 'looker' of a dish. But you are going to have to believe me that it is just the sort of stuff you need when its cold So, tonight we had; bubble and squeak cakes, omelette, baked beans, savoy cabbage (well, I had to use some of it.... didn't I?? :rotfl:) and some sweetcorn;



And, as you'll know, it was actually that bubble and squeak cakes that made it They used left over tattie and swede mash (YUM! even better than tattie alone imho ) into which I incorporated the green leaves (minus ribs) off the cauliflower, a couple of shredded sprouts and some onion - that I'd fried up together in a little oil and with the water off the washed greens - so fried/steamed. Then they were seasoned up, shaped into a biscuit cutter into rounds and dipped in toasted oats (blitzed up) to give a crispy coating. The baked beans were from mrL - 4 for £1. OK, not the best I've ever had (and I'm no baked bean officionado) but OK. So, as a dish; looks 'nul points' but taste and comfort factor....... 10!

Oh, and another thing that I forgot to mention is that we try very hard, when we donate to the FB to give as much as we can afford - I chose to do this by trying to have the best knowledge of prices etc, and I chose to travel to a number of shops (sometimes over a period of time) to get the best bang for our buck, in order that we can be as generous as our small budget allows us to be. I do always try, however, to make sure that anything that I give is of no less quality than I would use myself. So I am happy to donate valoo/smartieprice/mrL or mrAl products that I use myself. But in donating tinned rice pudding, I hadn't a frame of reference, as I don't really like rice pudding (believe it or not ), and certainly wouldn't opt to eat the tinned variety. However, DP loves it. So although we donated something that we don't use, I did buy an extra tin (mrT valoo), to 'try' In dishing it out for DP, I tried a little bit from the bottom of the tin - and I have to say, it was OK, certainly very edible - I won't say yummy, because I can't think of it like that, but certainly a good product. DP naturally, thought it ACE! and wonders if I'll put it on the shopping list on a regular basis - *sigh* :rotfl:


Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for simple pleasures

for what I have - as it's plenty

for finding seasonal vegetables at a seasonal price :j - now to make sure I use up every last leaf! :rotfl:

Thank you so much for popping in and reading. Mucho, mucho appreciated. I'm off to spend some time with my auld froggie - may even kiss 'im too :kisses2:

See y'all later.

Greying

rtandon27

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

...topped it all off with a pecan...gussied up for a *posh nosh*...

...and here I was thinking that the artistic pecan on top is what made it poncy!:D

Your pasta dish sounds just loverly GP!

Greying_Pilgrim

beanielou wrote: »

If you dont mind me asking, where did you get the bag of brussel sprouts?

I don't mind you asking Beanie - but unfortunately, it was our local high street greengrocer - rather than a supermercado - and I don't think they've cottoned on to home-delivery yet They certainly seem to be trying harder at pricing well though - I got another bargain there today. Definitely cheaper than the supermercados on some things. Wonder whether they can keep it up.....

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

rtandon27 wrote: »

...and here I was thinking that the artistic pecan on top is what made it poncy!:D

Um, well, um yeh.... t'was a bit weren't it??? But they are actually very pretty nuts aren't they? It's definitely a dish I'll do again, as it is actually quite cheap to make (the fusilli was mrM 'savers'), but I do need to make it better - and probably have more sauce to coat the pasta, but a good enough first attempt

Greying

supersaver1000

rtandon27 wrote: »

...artistic pecan on top

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

liltdiddylilt

Oh that dinner looks absolutely delicious. Pardon my ignorance, but do you cook the beans then puree them? I use greek yoghurt in a lot of meals, partly because a kilo is £1.49 in Mr L, and partly because it is a fab flavour all on it's own so adds a little zing to dishes. Mr L's curry powers (kanpur garden!) recommend greek yoghurt to marinade the meat in with the spices and I am a convert. And I wasn't shouting bacon. I was thinking ooh some nicely flavoured mushrooms would be fab with that. See, you're rubbing off on me

Oooh Oracle, whilst I think about it... Do you know any less shockingly expensive ways to impart thickness to above curry with a coconutty flavour (wait for it, puree'd beans! ) than the UHT coconut cream I used last time. The recipe wanted single cream, and that wasn't happening... Lol. But seriously one little carton of UHT coconut cream was near to £3 :eek: - it was the one the woman basically chased me to the checkout with when I said I was making dairy free rice krispie cakes. Never did use it for that either. Reminds me, I can make those for Jelly's Christmas Party packed lunch

I got... some of the glossing done. And prior to that a whole bunch of sanding of skirting, and the walls where the border peeled paint haphazardly. In my defence, the glossing includes an entire window boxing from floor to the 10ft ceilings... and some filling behind the radiator I chose a lovely 'Sky' blue, which is more of a hazy blue than true sky blue, but suits my pastel theme. I also got a pink named 'Old English Rose' which is beautiful. Told MiL about the colour choices and she said 'Oh lovely, like shabby chic!' - thinking on it, she's right. Very shabby chic colours, with a green and white duvet set with wee owls on. So lovely I could not resist. I just need some bunting now lol.

Right am orf to read the tin of haricots and work out what you do with them xx

liltdiddylilt

Crikey I sat waffling so long about 20 posts came a twixt.

The OTHER dinner also looks lovely, and have never thought about bubble and squeak in cake rounds before. Mines a shove it all in a frying pan with a bit of sesame oil and then add a good splash of brown sauce at the end.

For DP's rice pudding I can HIGHLY recommend Mr L's giant tins. They easily have 2 servings to a tin, so 2 nights there for him and were a fraction of the branded half size tins price. And they are delicious, every bit as good as ambroshure. I always make sure I have a couple of tins in so I can watch MOTD with on a Saturday & Sunday evening

Greying_Pilgrim

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Oooh Oracle, whilst I think about it... Do you know any less shockingly expensive ways to impart thickness to above curry with a coconutty flavour (wait for it, puree'd beans! ) than the UHT coconut cream I used last time. The recipe wanted single cream, and that wasn't happening... Lol.

Lilty........ L. E. N. T. I. L. S


Greying x

Greying_Pilgrim

Lilty - You've done ace with the painting. And it does sound wonderful - will you come and do my room?? Pretty please??

To answer your query about the bean puree, no if I'm using tins (ie the butter beans) but yes if I'm using my haricot bean stash, as they're dried anyway. And yes, you answered your own question, as beans pureed would thicken a curry (as would lentils ) and you could get away with adding a little bit of coconut cream, powder, milk or even, to get the taste, a smattering of desiccated coconut. Edit: IIRC when I used a spoonful of dessicated coconut to flavour a curry, it worked best by adding a little warm water to it, then bunging in coconut and water to the curry (towards the end of cooking too).

I shall look out for the rice pudding in MrL - ta for the tip

Greying

maddiemay

Hello GP and members of the Pilgrims club,

Both those meals look very tasty, I too was thinking "mushrooms", I also wondered about a spoonful of Pesto for the pasta, not sure if it would conflict with the sprouts though. Have you tried adding a small amount, sort of 'bout a teaspoonful, of butter to the baked beans, makes nice ones even better and the average ones acceptable:D, love bubble and squeak in any format, which reminds me, I forget to put brown sauce on the shopping list the other day, anyone have any opinions of Mr A*di one, only bought the hire purchase one to date, 'cos OH tells me he is worth it:rotfl: