Lilt and Jellytots most excellent adventure...

apple_muncher

Next step = superpower coffee: strong, black, with COCONUT OIL in it!

liltdiddylilt

Oh goodness!! I am a bit of a coffee snob. The only instant I drink is Douwe Egberts Pure Indulgence *nom* - wish I could have a kitchen big enough for a utensils pot let alone a coffee maker or cafetiere!

I am a relative newbie to coffee... when I was a kid it was all nescafe in our house and I couldn't stand it! (still can't!) So until I had Jellytot (where I completely went off tea during my entire pregnancy) I had never actually had it really. Then I decided to have it, and it slowly grew on me!

I can drink it black Apple... and you know I have an exceptional load of coconut oil here... but the question is.. why?!!? :D

This afternoon has been lovely. Jellytot, as seen by my earlier post, is rather full on at the minute. So we decided to go into the kitchen, sit on the floor with a mixing bowl and some flour, water, oil and food colouring. We made play doh!!! Yellow and green. Swish eh? my OCD kicked in badly.. not so much on the mess but on the cardinal sin of... *mixing up the colours* :rotfl: By the end I had given up and it was a giant green and yellow marbled ball :rotfl: Jellytot had great fun through! And then even though she had had a lovely shower this morning, she went in a bath with her bathsaver pirate blow up and a tonne of toys and alphabet foamies while I cleaned up! Love living in a flat where when I clean the living room floor, shes still in my line of vision. Not so great when you have to go to the loo with guests here mind... :o:o

Homemade pastry pizza with mozzarella, chorizo and mixed peppers for tea. Nom xx

giblet1979

What a lovely afternoon. Can I come and play please (and have tea too....yum!) x

supersaver1000

Hee hee me too. Exhausting but oh so funny. I used to love making playdoh and yes the colours end up nondescript - I know what you mean, it's just the way of the doh. :rotfl:

Glad everyone seems well and cheery. Yayy and hugs to all. Xx

apple_muncher

Note to self: make hm play doh with dd! Shop stuff has gluten in it!

Our craft today was painting and glittering some pine cones we discovered at the bottom of a box.

As to the 'why?' of black coffee + coconut oil to start the day.... Not sure! But it's a paleo/primal way to start the day, so it must be good! Think it's also callec 'bullet proof' coffee.

Hope all sleep well tonight x

liltdiddylilt

Been a nice day SS. And all are welcome to come for that tea anytime. Any excuse for me to make it again, it was lush!! Burnt my chippies talking to the lady downstairs mind you. So I covered them in mild piripiri sauce :rotfl: hothothot!

I need to talk facts and figures here.

An SOA of sorts.

My outgoings if I cut down to the bone, are £1300 (which includes my £300 regular saver as in my eyes that is just a bill for something in the future)
My incomings are just over £1500.

Whilst on paper this looks excellent. It isn't. It really is going to require meticulous budgeting and meal planning. My usual weekly shop includes £20ish of meat. I have cut this back and done so many veggie type meals over the last few weeks, but even still, that is my main cost. Jellytot is a little stinker who is fussy. Him has had an overload for most of his life on pork chops, spaghetti bolognese & roast chicken. So even though he professes it would be fine I can't in all god conscience repeatedly week on week buy these. Shame because the pork chops come in bulk,chicken makes a lot of meals & spag bol is very quick etc. GP has sent me some wonderful helpful recipes, but I still have to cater for a fussy Miss all day every day and a fussy Him 3 nights per week. Not to mention fitting food around work, etc. I've cut down the actual cost of my shopping to the bone. I can practically weigh things by eye, and I work in finance, I know how to figure out even through the clever marketing which product is actually cheaper. So I am buying the maximum I can for my budget. I just need to find some staples that no one objects to, to pad it out a bit.

I am very lucky with a lot of things I have. Mum and dad continually fund my laundry lol. They buy it in bulk for me then bring it down with them and refuse to pay. I have certain requirements such as cillit bang & dettol spray but everything else is a cheap brand called Astonish which is brill. I keep other stuff like toiletries next to zero. Most of mine is prescription anyway! Everything else is what happens to be on offer.

Point is, I am not high maintenance. I get my hair cut when I remember, Jellys religiously every 8 weeks. I don't really buy many new clothes but I ought to invest in some new work gear as it really is falling to bits. I just need to keep on figuring out what everything costs and the only thing I can't seem to pin down is the above 3! Groceries, toiletries, household.

Hey a diary post about finances. Who'd of thunk it?

liltdiddylilt

Oooh Apple thanks for the info!

HM play-doh

250g plain flour (gluten free for you!)
200ml water
2 tablespoons oil (any kind, I used olive, but the recipe said vegetable)
50g salt (this is to stop the kids eating it and helps preserve so I halved it as jellytot is very decorous and doesn't put it in her mouth)
food colouring

Four & salt together in a bowl, add water & oil & food colouring if only one colour and mix with a wooden spoon until it makes a dough. If more than one colour, split the dough, and then add colouring to the individual amounts, and use your hands to work the colour through evenly. May need a bit more flour

Afterwards wrap in cling film in a container (preferably airtight) and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks! xx

please-let-me-be-lucky

Lentils! That's what you need! Add lentils to everything to bulk it out!

We used to make play dough at the playgroup where I worked. There was one little boy who used to eat it no matter how salty, infact the saltier the better we discovered. We also discovered he liked to add his snot to it before he ate it :eek::eek:

liltdiddylilt

Oh Em Gee Lucky. What a bisgusting (Jellys new word) little boy he sounds... I don't know why madam doesn't eat it. Everything else goes in, animal, vegetable, mineral & 'other' so I think nursery must have strict rules, or a special ingredient that stops her cold :rotfl: I was surprised at the ease with which it was made. She helped me make it, then play with it, and then went in the bath whilst I tidied the minimal mess up & had a field day drenching the bathroom. Total time spent was over 3 hours and she was so tired she was in bed at 6pm again!

And lentils... do you use more than one colour? I have seen Puy lentils on offer currently, but I basically have red lentils. I like them, the flavour and texture is fine. But sometimes my meat-loving side seems to think they don't DO much. Then GP comes along with all manner of recipes!

I saw someone post about a sweet potato and lentil soup just now. Gotta try that! I even have the sweet potatoes which is good because I have £2 left to last me a week. :rotfl:

please-let-me-be-lucky

Nah, just the dried red lentils. I add them to the slow cooker to bump up casseroles and stews etc, use them in lasagne, and always in soups. Anything you want to bulk up and stretch further without paying for extra meat etc. As a veggie I can't guarantee it tastes awesome, but the rest of my lot never complain!!