2014 Frugal Living Challenge

skintygerlinky

Evening Frugalites xx

Unexpected trip into town today! So spent a fiver on train ticket and a couple of quid on Chinese New Year cards for two friends. And although I'm 38 I'm not above being treated to lunch by my mum!! We had a lovely time and it was very much appreciated. I've taken next week off work so am really hoping to spend absolutely as little as possible, continue with the meals I had planned and don't need to shop for anything extra for and hope to make it through to payday on Friday!
What's everyone up to this weekend? Hope it's a good un for everyone here on this lovely thread.

nannygladys

Had a lovely day with daughter and granddaughters (on tablet and predictive text) and very low spend-just milk

Another portion of bean stew for me and pizza and chips for grand daughter and that's about it really. Hope everyone has a good night
Nanny g

DawnW

LionessInWinter wrote: »

Is there a table that shows how long food can last past their best before dates and even their use by dates? We adhere to the dairy dates pretty strictly but we're a little flexible on canned and dried goods but would love to know what others use as a guideline.

Thanks

It really depends on where and how it is stored. For example, if it has got damp, kept in a warm place etc it will keep less well than if kept in a cool dry place. To be honest, I never check the dates on canned or dried goods

We make and grow a lot of our own food and so use by dates etc aren't relevant. If it looks and smells nice, I will use it. The only things I am a bit cautious about are fish and poultry. I'm afraid I don't worry about dairy products at all If milk smells a bit ripe I use it for baking - makes lovely scones. Things like yogurt, butter and cheese are after all traditional ways of preserving milk, so if they seem ok, fine by me. I do keep them in a fridge kept at the proper temperature though

macwah97

Evening. Just finished my batch cooking and first batch of twinks hobnobs. Mmmmmmmm has anyone ever tried freezing them? That's if they have any left. ?..

nite nite and good morning

COOLTRIKERCHICK

morning all,


I would like a polytunnel for up the smallholding, BUT.. I really cant afford one, with sooo much work needed to be done on the house... soooooo I am going to try and get one via swagbucks .. ok it will take me well over a year+ to get anywhere near the amount of amazon voucher codes, BUT at least I will have a dam good go.. If not, at least I might be able to buy some equipment for it..lol..


Reflecting back on January.. I really could have been better, and there were some blips here and there..mainly on the food side of things....


So I need to start using the contents of the house freezer ( our chest freezer is full up to the brim with our pork) so I can batch cook and freeze.




I have always thought you could not re-heat pork.. but I have seen the sainsbob advert, where someone is re-heating pork in a casserole etc.. is this ok? and why did I always get told you cant re-heat pork? I have been told this form a very young age, and I am well into my 40's

skilly

Hi all, can I join in please going back to page 3

DawnW

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I have always thought you could not re-heat pork.. but I have seen the sainsbob advert, where someone is re-heating pork in a casserole etc.. is this ok? and why did I always get told you cant re-heat pork? I have been told this form a very young age, and I am well into my 40's

I have always been happy to reheat any leftover cold meat if it is done promptly, has been stored properly in the interim, and is served piping hot. I have never heard of this 'rule' and I am older than you - do you think it might be something that goes back to the days before most households had fridges?

I sometimes make a sweet and sour with left over pork. But cold pork is very nice too, isn't it? Or sometimes I freeze the remains of a joint, and defrost it at a later date for use in a cooked dish.

Do you sell your home grown pork, as there seems to be a lot of it? We used to have our own home grown meat, but it would only be a couple of lambs a year and a dozen chickens, odd ducks and rabbits etc, but your set up seems a lot bigger, and you must have a large amount of pork for one family?

DawnW

macwah97 wrote: »

Evening. Just finished my batch cooking and first batch of twinks hobnobs. Mmmmmmmm has anyone ever tried freezing them? That's if they have any left. ?..

I would just keep them in a biscuit tin or plastic container to be honest. I am sure they will disappear within a few days

COOLTRIKERCHICK

we bought 8 piglets in the summer, and some were ear marked to be used for spit roasts at some bike parties , BUT 2 dogs got in and attacked some of the piglets, and they had to be stitched, and anti B's had to be given so they could not be taken to slaughter for a min of 28 - 30 days after that, SO they could not be used on the spit roast... etc... our abotoir only slaughters their own pigs in December, as they have their own shop etc..


We took 3 pigs in, but due to the timings etc,, they had gone too fat really well over 100kgs each dead weight, so basically it would be like the weight of 5 porkers lol...


The other 5 that are left will be going to market over the next month or 2..


We do sell some meat to family and friends..as the meat is all butchered, vac packed, labelled etc...




I think with this lot of pigs.. timing wise, things just went all to pot, so to speak...


And we still have the bacon and gammon to come on the 14th of Feb too.....hahaha

DawnW

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

we bought 8 piglets in the summer, and some were ear marked to be used for spit roasts at some bike parties , BUT 2 dogs got in and attacked some of the piglets, and they had to be stitched, and anti B's had to be given so they could not be taken to slaughter for a min of 28 - 30 days after that, SO they could not be used on the spit roast... etc... our abotoir only slaughters their own pigs in December, as they have their own shop etc..


We took 3 pigs in, but due to the timings etc,, they had gone too fat really well over 100kgs each dead weight, so basically it would be like the weight of 5 porkers lol...


The other 5 that are left will be going to market over the next month or 2..


We do sell some meat to family and friends..as the meat is all butchered, vac packed, labelled etc...




I think with this lot of pigs.. timing wise, things just went all to pot, so to speak...


And we still have the bacon and gammon to come on the 14th of Feb too.....hahaha

Things don't always go to plan with livestock do they, but you won't be going hungry, that is for sure

I miss those days - we only have 3 chooks and a little veg and fruit garden now.