Enjoying the Sunshine whilst Saving for the Rainy Day

debtfreewannabe321

AlexLK wrote: »

You can come and make cake for me everyday of the week if you wish, my dear. Though you wouldn't want a cake I had baked. :rotfl:

:rotfl: I've always been the cake maker of the family as my mum refused to make them as she didn't want to ruin her figure :rotfl:.....can you tell i'm clearly not as motivated about staying slim as she was :eek::eek:! I'm happy to share recipes if you like none are particularly hard or take long i'm far too impatient to wait hours for one :cool:

AlexLK

LOL, I reckon from what you post up here I'd be morbidly obese if I lived in your house! Neither Mrs. K. nor I are very good in the kitchen.

Please share a couple of the EASIEST recipes, I've no doubt son would perhaps like to "help", read DESTROY our kitchen.

kissjenn

I think you're amazing. The Houdini escapades would have me terrified.

Kittens are allowed out now but husky guards the door so they have to run the gauntlet to come home.

As for teenage boys, I found standing on the stairs gave me an artificial height advantage. Either that or demand he kneels :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

AlexLK wrote: »

Please share a couple of the EASIEST recipes, I've no doubt son would perhaps like to "help", read DESTROY our kitchen.

We bought our DD & youngest DS an apron, cheap mixing bowl and wooden spoon and they love to help cook and bake ! We measure it all out and put it into bowls and tell them what needs putting into their bowls first and they do all the mixing! It's slightly more mess as you have the extra bowls to clean and i'm very thankful for the dishwasher now when it does the job for me :rotfl: I will get the recipes out later that we use for the kids (super easy ones )

kissjenn wrote: »

As for teenage boys, I found standing on the stairs gave me an artificial height advantage. Either that or demand he kneels :rotfl:

Fantastic! Why didn't I think of this :rotfl::rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

morning all, i'm prepping myself for the yoga class....i'm really not looking forward to it i've had back ache all night just like last months ! Have taken some painkillers and I will just do what I can, i'm hoping the class might actually help ease it if I don't strain too hard...

Banks checked this morning, my current account is down to £1 something :eek:!!! Child benefit due in on Monday so that will prop it back up but it's really not looking too good! No spends this weekend now!

I was super proud of DD today, she has been asking to ride her bike to school all week but with 5 kids to get there I've said no, today it's my day off so I let her even though I thought it would be a disaster, she had her stabilisers taken off over summer but we've not practised very much well she rode all the way there and could start and stop herself without help :T what a clever little thing

Anyway....yoga time........ :eek:

debtfreewannabe321

I survived yoga and at least 20 minutes of planks :eek: !! I'll ache tomorrow no doubt, I forgot to get dinner from the freezer this morning in my rush and we ended up with fish and chips and spends of £16 .. oops money came from petrol budget envelope. Yoga and parking was £ 10 then windows being cleaned was another £10 and then dinner on top . I've written today off....will get back on to savings and back on track tomorrow promise!

AlexLK

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

We bought our DD & youngest DS an apron, cheap mixing bowl and wooden spoon and they love to help cook and bake ! We measure it all out and put it into bowls and tell them what needs putting into their bowls first and they do all the mixing! It's slightly more mess as you have the extra bowls to clean and i'm very thankful for the dishwasher now when it does the job for me :rotfl: I will get the recipes out later that we use for the kids (super easy ones )

I think our son would love it! He likes anything messy (we don't but that's a different story).

cottage_retreatist

Hey DFW321!!

I used to cook with my mum and grandmother growing up - I think that's why I cook so much now! It's a great skill to learn - much more than just baking a cake!!!!

And thank goodness for dishwashers! It's a common joke with anyone who comes round our place that there are always dishes in the sink because we don't have a dishwasher and I HATE washing up!!!!!!!! Especially cutlery! bane of my life! hahahahaha!!!

Do they have little piping bags and icing nozzles? That could be a great rainy weekend game - using the different nozzles to make lots of different icing patterns on greaseproof paper? It's easy to tidy up afterwards too!!!!!! (supposedly!!)

PS - for dealing with teenagers - I learnt the best way to get them to listen to you is not actually by talking loud etc but by talking very quietly because they have to concentrate more to hear what you're saying!!! haha!!!! works brilliantly with 30 16 years old boys!!! Might work next time you have a chat with your DS?

debtfreewannabe321

AlexLK wrote: »

Please share a couple of the EASIEST recipes, I've no doubt son would perhaps like to "help", read DESTROY our kitchen.

Our kids LOVE to make this one....so long as you or wife or little one aren't allergic to peanuts .... :eek:

Peanut Butter Cookies:

Makes 12 so if you want more (to freeze/store) or less then just amend ingredients to correct amounts
50g butter
75g soft light brown sugar (we always use castor sugar the white one as we never have brown in works just as well)
100g peanut butter (crunchy one! we buy the cheapy one from a1di for this and the organic one for usual consumption on toast )
50g SR flour
50g Rolled oats (we just use breakfast oats from the cereal cupboard)
1 medium egg

If you want a topping (we don't always bother only do if we have it in) : 50g of unsalted peanuts

You need 2 baking sheets (we just use our roasting tin with a touch of oil on the bottom or butter to grease it) Oven needs to be at 170 oC or gas mark 3. Once you've measured it all out put the butter, sugar & peanut butter in a bowl Beat until creamy. Add flour & mix. Add Oats and mix. Then comes the fun part for kids (not for us :eek::o) Let them use their hands to make it into a dough. Divide misture into 12 equal sizes. They can then make these into balls which they need to press flat into cookie shapes, put on baking tray and then break your egg. Beat the egg and use a pastry brush to cover each cookie with it. Use the chopped peanuts to sprinkle the cookies with and cook for 15 mins. Leave on their tray to cool then transfer to wire racks until a little colder (the colder they are the better they hold their shape!)

They are delicious btw so good luck saying no to them :rotfl:

Basic sponge cake:http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/12122/basic-plain-sponge-cake.aspx I just use something like this. Remember that the rule with this is that the sugar/flour/eggs/butter should all weigh the same then you'll never go wrong with that one! You can then add things to the mixture once you're more practiced with the simple one (such as dried fruit). Use jam & whipped cream or butter cream for the middle to make a Victoria sponge

Banana & Fruit loaf: I always use this recipe: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8729/easy-banana-cake.aspx I add dried fruit to it as well. It's great because I always seem to have over ripe bananas in the house :rotfl: so no need to throw away

Scones are one of my favourites too covered in whipped cream and jam *drool* :rotfl:http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/scones_1285

That will do for now as i've started my tummy rumbling thinking of it all :eek::rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

cottage_retreatist wrote: »

Hey DFW321!!

I used to cook with my mum and grandmother growing up - I think that's why I cook so much now! It's a great skill to learn - much more than just baking a cake!!!!

And thank goodness for dishwashers! It's a common joke with anyone who comes round our place that there are always dishes in the sink because we don't have a dishwasher and I HATE washing up!!!!!!!! Especially cutlery! bane of my life! hahahahaha!!!

Do they have little piping bags and icing nozzles? That could be a great rainy weekend game - using the different nozzles to make lots of different icing patterns on greaseproof paper? It's easy to tidy up afterwards too!!!!!! (supposedly!!)

PS - for dealing with teenagers - I learnt the best way to get them to listen to you is not actually by talking loud etc but by talking very quietly because they have to concentrate more to hear what you're saying!!! haha!!!! works brilliantly with 30 16 years old boys!!! Might work next time you have a chat with your DS?

Hi C-R!

Well I might have to try that trick with my DS1 :cool: he certainly doesn't listen when I scream :eek: and I end up with a sore throat too :rotfl:

My DW was free :j:j otherwise I also wouldn't have one right now :rotfl: I LOVE it! Washing up was always piled up here too before it came as ds1 likes to hoard cups and plates in his room and always always brought them down right after i'd done a load of washing up :mad::(!!

Good idea with the icing nozzles :T I have some and never thought to let the kids use them. In fact i've never used them myself as wasn't too confident on that front thankfully they were a cheap set or i'd be a bit miffed at myself :rotfl:;)