Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Karmacat

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

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.,

Uh oh ... :eek: twasn't me, I'm afraid, I've no idea. I *do* have a soup mix that includes barley, which I cook in the slow cooker, but I just rinse it, soak it overnight, and stick it in, checking occasionally. I use your tip of putting spices in even while its cooking, so the house doesn't smell vile

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

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.

Good stuff :T Thanks for the tips on Cardiff - I'll be staying right in the centre, on Atlantic Wharf, so even I'll be able to get out and about.

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:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I love that flight directive so much! But as I say, I've got no idea about the answer, other than generalities.

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;

I don't even have time today to look at the linkies, but I *love* the sound of this, will definitely experiment in the kitchen. Its going to be at the end of September, as I'm off to my mum's the weekend after Cardiff.

Today I am grateful for;

I love that you do this. I used to do this last thing at night, in bed. Must start again.

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good Morning :hello:

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.

Thanks for this! I'll check that out :kisses3:

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Thanks for starting us off in a positive mood Beanie - very much appreciated.

Pippi, i'm afraid that far from being tickled, DP has been told in no uncertain terms to pack the 'grumpiness' in. It was the umpteenth time in umpteen days, in umpteen weeks that this has happened.

KC - I just hope you have a ball

Today has been brill, and although I've been haring around, mucho has been achieved, some of which I'm proud of

The bank are officially W*****s. B****X to them. I am considering complaining, so won't make mention of anything further.

Plan c (carefully thought out) has been put into action. A washing machine has been ordered. It will be delivered when we want it to be, and after the pitiful performance of the last one, no, I did not 'Buy British'. And thank goodness for online ordering.

I thought carefully about the budget for the rest of the month today and figured that I would buy our contribution to the food bank before I spent any more money. That way, irrespective of how the month turns out, we will of 'paid forward' the generosity that we benefitted from I just had time to take it round to the centre too. Just as well, 6 litres of UHT/LL milk is blooming heavy after a bit Still, milk is on their 'most wanted items' list and the volunteer accepting it seemed delighted, so....

Dinner this evening was Sweet Potato Jalfrezi and rice. I got the recipe from the 'Meat Free Monday' cookbook. And yes, dear reader I did borrow it from the library - and would advise others to do the same rather than buy.......... I couldn't find a web version of the original recipe out of the book, but THIS version is a close replication - but is better in my humble opinion. The original had cauliflower and mango in it - along with everything else - however, this cook has pared down the ingredients, but kept the essential - so right about the red pepper and even provided a recipe for jalfrezi spice too. I think MFM told you to use a jar/packet of spice paste. I made the Jalfrezi paste out of one of Jamie's books - Cook with Jamie - I think???

Anyway, it is a good curry, sweet and tasty. Our version, shoved on the plate in a hurry looked like this;




I do hope, if curry and sweet potatoes are your thing, that you'll have a go at this. Sweet potatoes are on in the Ald* S6 this week at 69p for a 750g bag. And yes, there were pieces of red pepper in that curry, so I don't quite know why only 1 made it into the photo:rotfl:

Right, today I am grateful for;

my life - I have a great life, I realise that, and I am grateful for it. Don't ever let me take it for granted.......

planning - if at first you don't succeed and all that. There is usually a way round things, even if some people (or faceless organisations) do everything (seemingly) to obstruct you rather than assist you

for the gift of choice - I usually have some sort of control and choice about most aspects of my life, for that I'm grateful as the alternative is just...................

If you've popped in, read or commented on my diary today, I do thank you so much, 'coz you know I appreciate it

See y'all later.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

I do hope, if curry and sweet potatoes are your thing, that you'll have a go at this. Sweet potatoes are on in the Ald* S6 this week at 69p for a 750g bag. And yes, there were pieces of red pepper in that curry, so I don't quite know why only 1 made it into the photo:rotfl:

Red pepper's are normally very shy so I'm guessing only one was brave enough to be in the photo :cool:

Looks good - I love sweet potatoes (and red peppers)

7_week_wonder

Evening all,

Greying, have you any idea what your pictures and recipes are doing to a poor carb-starved 7 week wonder?! Last night's bread looked *amazing*! Actually I shouldn't complain too much - I'm only being good in the evening to keep Mr 7ww company. I dropped round to a friend's at lunchtime and we maxed out on rye bread and cheese:rotfl: I'm looking after the friend's cat whilst they are away for a couple of weeks. And in return I get foraging/harvesting rights of their apples, plums, runner beans and anything else that is growing - definitely a win-win.

I'm sorry the bank has been a bunch of twazzocks, good luck if you *do* decide to complain.

My good deed of the day was signing up to the organ donor register. It's one of those things that I kept meaning to do and I got sent a form with my new passport which arrived today, so that was the final push I needed.

Have a good evening all, at least we're now half way through the week:T

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

And it is a good morning at Greying Towers - Mr Me is not grumpy :j

Upsidedown Bear - if you do decide to ever make the curry, then another tip is - it, like most curries - is even better the next day. I know curry smell isn't to everyone's taste, but the smell in the kitchen this morning was wonderful.

7 Week Wonder - I thought as I 'dumped' (we'd packed a lot in and I was trying to avoid eating dinner at 9pm...) the rice on the plate that I was doing you no favours - sorry Mind you, Greying Towers would be under the same strict regime if the means to the end were as important. So keep going :T and I love that you get 'foraging' rights for cat sitting. I know no gardening, pet owners they seem to garden or have pets

Well, I'm aiming for a NSD today. But I've set myself the task of not only trying 2 dishes for the first time for dinner tonight, but also of processing the YS'd mushrooms I bought before they go beyond use. We'll either be eating dinner at 10pm or I don't know what....... Still, at least I sorted out the freezer last night so that I have space for things. And yes, you have remembered correctly, I have got a tiny freezer - but it's amazing how quickly it gets cluttered up and needs reorganisation I also need to make (but maybe not tonight) some ratatouille/lasagne filling, utilising the gifted courgette and one of the YS'd aubergines. That will need to then go in the freezer so that we have the benefit some time in the future.

Got to stay so focussed on the money side of things now - but not at the expense of having fun and enjoying life. I'm actually enjoying starting planning for the holiday. DP has engaged a little as well, suggesting one place to put on the 'itinerary'. I know DP is (usually) easy going about how we spend our time, but it's nice to feel that we're both picking places to go, things to see etc. And as it happens, it was a coastal walk - and all it will cost is the car park charge.

Right, better shift a tail feather and go sieze the day.

Thank you for contributing to this diary - I do appreciate it, whether you pop by, read or comment

See y'all later.

Greying.

teambathmat

Morning Greying .....I've subscribed to your thread as I love reading your diary......infact its part of my 'morning routine' now....hotmail,Facebook,online banking then a little slice of Greyings ramblings ....

have a good day x

Piquant_2

The sweet potato jalfrezi looks amazing. That is going in my recipe folder.

I love the word 'twazzocks' that 7 week wonder has introduced. I shall be thinking of ways I can use it today...

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

teambathmat - what an extraordinarily kind comment to make. But, you FB before you read my witterings????.......:rotfl::rotfl:
Actually, I'm touched that you enjoy my 'ramblings' - Ms Balding's 'team' have actually been in touch y'know.......

Plus I had a discussion - I think with Piq - about renaming meself 'Rambling Grey' earlier on in the thread. But I worried it kinda hadda 'Country and Wessern' twang to it y'all, and folks would come on in search of 'Rhinestones 'n regrets' and end up listening to my ramblings on Cookery tomes and courgettes!! :rotfl::rotfl:

Piq - lovely to 'see' ya - know you've a lot on at the mo.

Well, today has been blooming brilliant.

The 'Gardening Parental' dropped off 1/4 of an allotment on my doorstep. The non-gardening parental had obviously been in charge of packing and presentation - blow, I wish i'd taken a photo of it now - I had a carton that had green beans, 4 tomatoes (2 red, 2 yellow), 2 tiny courgettes and a 'pack' of fresh mint leaves in it. It's the sort of thing, that if marketed by M'nS or waitflower, as say, a 'summer frittata pack' (add 1 egg), it would easily be £3.99+. In addition, there were potatoes, shallots and garlic. Wowsers!

Free food! Organic too

So, although it was actually the last thing I wanted to do by this evening, I changed the meal planner to make a 'feast' with this fresh produce. The meal that I intended is much more reliant on store cupboard essentials, so i'm sure it's time will come

This is what we had for dinner;



Sweetcorn Fritters (using a small tin of sweetcorn from the 'food parcel'), Mixed tomato salad, steamed French beans, pugilese beetroot salad, and mixed salad leaves. The fritters were eggless and the recipe can be found HERE - I heartily recommend it, they puffed up lovely and I made 6 from the ingredient quantities listed. In addition, you could make any type of fritter with this basic mix - it's a keeper :T The beetroot was vaccum packed, out of stores and the sweetcorn donated, but everything else (fresh) was home grown, either by us or the gardening parental :T DP commented how colourful it was and on the taste of the tomatoes. Actually, the photo belies how dark it had got (sure we must have rain coming), but I hope it conveys something of a 'summery' vibe. It may well be the last dish to do that. The salad leaves have slowed down in their growth considerably, and the greenfly have found the basil, but it has been so great having them, that I must try harder with container gardening next year

Still, it was a great dinner, for very few pennies - let's start September as we need to go on :T

DP has come up with another suggestion for the hols - so I must investigate the potential of that.

Right, I better skedaddle, as I've yoghurt to make.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

home grown produce - wonderful, what else can I say?

mother nature - I found myself looking at some wonderful cloud formations today, and got to witness incredible wild animal activity, at very close range. Absolutely stunning, on both counts.

communication - today has been a day of notes, phone messages, birthday cards (sending not receiving) and 'oooh, I must write and tell H about that...' and 'I'll give you their address just in case you need to contact them', (which is code for, please can you drop them a line to let them know they're thought about). Keep in touch people, keep in touch

Thank you so much for dropping by, reading and commenting on my diary. I am finding it a great motivator. I appreciate your contribution - greatly

See y'all later.

Greying

Pippilongstocking

Glad to have seen you under your fresh free goodies mountain! Clever parentals!

Hopping out soon to the ferry to gather the galavanter. But wanted to say thanks for the fritter recipe - mines has eggs which I'm loathe to use up sometimes :-)

Most excellent communication :-)

Toodles

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Thanks Pippi - I totally agree about the eggs, it's good to have some egg free recipes to hand, as sometimes you need to 'save' those eggs for another dish that can't be made without them. Plus, eggs ain't cheap these days I made a carrot and coriander version whilst I was fiddling about with making yoghurt. Three have gone in DP's snap box, 1 went in me for 'research' purposes. I should add I made a half mixture, and the fritters weren't as puffy as the sweetcorn ones, but the taste is great, and the colour.......... Definitely a good version, and the recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you to Lucy and her 'friendly foods' blog

Right, yoghurt is made, and some has been scoffed for brekkie.

Snap boxes have been packed up, coffee brewed and stowed in flasks.

Dinner this evening is pizza and HM chips (courtesy of parentals potatoes ).

I have milk to buy today, and I have seen a bottle of wine in ald* that I want to try. It is 20p 'dearer' than the budget brand I'd been buying from h0me b*rgins, but I want to try it, so it's a 20p 'investment'

Right, I'd better shift a tail feather. There's a somewhat damp day to be seized!

Thank you for dropping in, reading and commenting. It is appreciated. You are appreciated.

See y'all later.

Greying