Preparing for Winter V

Grabs39

I've tried using dried beans before but just couldn't be bothered with having to cook them (plus now the cost of the gas!).  I can see how they would be more beneficial if you are bulk-cooking and they do have a better taste and texture, but for now I just stick to Aldi's 30p tinned kidney beans.

Bargain of the year yesterday, I bought a freezer on Gumtree for £10; looked up the manual when I got home and found the same model "refurbished" for £180 from a few sites.  Fits nicely in the tumble dryer gap (we don't have one).  Should now be able to cook in bigger batches, and keep more fakeaway type food in for when I can't be bothered to cook, which hopefully will save us a lot that we waste on takeaway food.  Plus we might need to store breastmilk.

Curtains from IKEA was a bit of a debacle; whoops.  The ones we were going to buy were awful and all their other ones only come in 145CM widths.  Luckily The Range saved the day and we now have curtains over the doors, just need to take up the ones for the window and we're set.

Painted the decking yesterday.  Hate the thing but have to live with it so at least now the wood is protected and it's less slippery as we head towards the wetter and colder weather.

Just updated the thermostat settings so it will now be at 15 degrees through the night for baby (instead of off at night which last year meant some mornings it was 12 in our bedroom) and 16 through the day.  We'll have to see how it goes and see if it needs adjusting at any point.

EDIT to add - forgot to say, my wife bought me a Primark fake-oodie - it's very warm and comfy and ideal for WFH. 

London_1

Eenymeeny said:

Hello Uniscot97, I wonder how many people are long time posters? I think some people have changed their name or have deleted user next to them now? I stopped posting around the time the forum was 'updated' as I was receiving too many notifications which I couldn't seem to stop. (I used to receive one per thread every morning) 
The 'light in pocket' tip arose from when my Dad became infirm and needed hands free when walking around during the night! I still keep one near the bed for myself now! We even take one down the garden if we're sitting until it gets dark
JinJinBlue, my brother keeps a bar type solar on his landing window which he says is enough to 'light their way'

Hi There I too took a break when the format changed but had to change  my main name when I returned ,but I'm still alive and kicking ,a bit older, greyer, slower but still being as frugal as ever

JackieO xxx

Primrose

London_1 said:

Eenymeeny said:

Hello Uniscot97, I wonder how many people are long time posters? I think some people have changed their name or have deleted user next to them now? I stopped posting around the time the forum was 'updated' as I was receiving too many notifications which I couldn't seem to stop. (I used to receive one per thread every morning) 

Hi There I too took a break when the format changed but had to change  my main name when I returned ,but I'm still alive and kicking ,a bit older, greyer, slower but still being as frugal as ever

JackieO xxx

I also took a break when the forum format updated.  I found it very unfriendly,  there wasn't a proper tutorial up front, and I found the whole set up very confusing.   I never understand how these "techie experts" never seem to realise how important it us to keep updates and processes t in a similar format as much as possible, especially as habits die hard..   When you're offering a service which older users need to use, processes need to be kept simple.   

 Hoping I don't live long enough to have to try and master yet another "update" though !

Uniscots97

Eenymeeny said:

Hello Uniscot97, I wonder how many people are long time posters? I think some people have changed their name or have deleted user next to them now? I stopped posting around the time the forum was 'updated' as I was receiving too many notifications which I couldn't seem to stop. (I used to receive one per thread every morning) 
The 'light in pocket' tip arose from when my Dad became infirm and needed hands free when walking around during the night! I still keep one near the bed for myself now! We even take one down the garden if we're sitting until it gets dark
JinJinBlue, my brother keeps a bar type solar on his landing window which he says is enough to 'light their way'

Apologies I didn't see your reply till JackieO posted. I think a lot may have changed names. I always loved this forum. I'm finding the new format a bit of a challenge and the notifications don't always come through. I'd posted recently on a newspaper article about cost of living with some tried and tested tips and got a 50/50 split of red and green arrows. The red arrows I'm trying not to take personally as some people you just can't point in the right direction 

Si_Clist

ariarnia said:

... by bean bag' you mean a bag which contained the dried beans or a bean bag that you sit on. 

Sit on type.  Can't imagine why it would get wet unless you left the lid off the pan, but whatever, ours works a treat as a modern-day version of a hay box and has done for years now 

BTW @Primrose is right about soaking/boiling time: the older dried beans are, the longer they take to cook.  Most of the ones we found in the shops a few years ago were deader than a dead thing.  A dried bean should not look shrivelled!  If it does, good luck cooking it ...

ariarnia

Si_Clist said:

ariarnia said:

... by bean bag' you mean a bag which contained the dried beans or a bean bag that you sit on. 

Sit on type.  Can't imagine why it would get wet unless you left the lid off the pan, but whatever, ours works a treat as a modern-day version of a hay box and has done for years now 

because pan lids are a thing! of course they are. im an idiot you can tell i only cook a few things again and again. 

Happy_Sloth

i've got an electric pressure cooker, it's been a game changer for dried beans,  i've never had much luck doing them on the stove top.  i'm never organized enough to pre-soak them and even when i do they turn out like bullets. 

I got an electric pressure cooker earlier in the year and even if i did nothing else with it it's worth it for dried beans.  this evening i did black beans from dry in 20 minutes, no soaking needed just straight in, switch on the beans setting job done! 

Primrose

Happy_Sloth said:

i've got an electric pressure cooker, it's been a game changer for dried beans,  i've never had much luck doing them on the stove top.  i'm never organized enough to pre-soak them and even when i do they turn out like bullets. 

I got an electric pressure cooker earlier in the year and even if i did nothing else with it it's worth it for dried beans.  this evening i did black beans from dry in 20 minutes, no soaking needed just straight in, switch on the beans setting job done! 

Goodness, didn,t realise electric pressure cookers existed!

Need to bring mysrlf into the 21st century. 

 Still using the ancient Prestige "Skyline" model we were given as a wedding present 50+ years ago, having bought  an identical replacement for around £3 , for obsolete spare parts,  at a car boot sale about 3 years ago ! 

Happy_Sloth

Primrose said:

Happy_Sloth said:

i've got an electric pressure cooker, it's been a game changer for dried beans,  i've never had much luck doing them on the stove top.  i'm never organized enough to pre-soak them and even when i do they turn out like bullets. 

I got an electric pressure cooker earlier in the year and even if i did nothing else with it it's worth it for dried beans.  this evening i did black beans from dry in 20 minutes, no soaking needed just straight in, switch on the beans setting job done! 

Goodness, didn,t realise electric pressure cookers existed!

Need to bring mysrlf into the 21st century. 

 Still using the ancient Prestige "Skyline" model we were given as a wedding present 50+ years ago, having bought  an identical replacement for around £3 , for obsolete spare parts,  at a car boot sale about 3 years ago ! 

mines an all in one deal it can be used as a slow cooker or pressure cooker i love it and it's much cheaper to run than a traditional one on a gas stove. 

Primrose

Happy Sloth
Please can you share details.  We do an awful lot of casserole cooking in winter in our electric oven (in a big Le Creuset cast iron casserole so at least it's batch cooking) but this might be cheaper option