Preparing for Winter V

dND

Thanks Floss,  I was pretty sure as I followed a lot of Jackie's advice back then 😁. 
Once I get my own place again I'll be back onboard here.  I've been trying with my son and daughter - bought curtains from the cs for the back door - but they're both out of the house for around 50 hours a week and aren't really interested in DIY when they are home.  xx

London_1

Yes dND I was, I stopped posting for about two years when the format changed.I had been a member almost from the beginning of the site.

My family and I often got to the IoW, and fingers crossed my youngest DD ,my son-in-law and I and the three dogs will be moving there next year to live

My DD's five children have all grown up now, and the eldest girl is a Mum of two little girls now, and of the four boys Ben the eldest is a primary school teacher in north London,Jack the next boy down is also a teacher and teaches at a private boarding school in Kent where he lives now
 Henry the third boy works as a merchant banker in the City, and the 'baby' of the family Mikey is in his second year at Uni in Essex.

My eldest DD's son Danny lives in New York with his wife and new little baby girl, and her daughter Holly is a primary school teacher in Kent .So the grandchildren have virtually all grown and flown now  

When I eventually returned to the site I couldn't register with my old name for some reason, so had to use a different one, so chose London1 as I am an ex Londoner.
But still used my name as it was my late husbands nickname for me from when we first married in 1962. Well done on remembering from so long ago  

JackieO xx

sammy_kaye18

@nicki_2 that is an extensive list for you to do. Make sure you rest up and take it easy though and just do little bits when you can. 

I have been AWOL this week a bit as husband has been off and I have focused on cleaning the house from top to bottom. I have blitzed all the rooms now in a sort of late spring clean attack and have made sure to move beds and things away from windows and outside walls. Last year I realized that my daughters bedroom was so cold because her bed was against the radiator so we have moved it now and her desk is next to it. Its all open though so the air will be able to come into her bedroom. 

Whilst I was de-cluttering the airing cupboard though I have found some thick curtains which I think have a thick backing so I'm not sure if they are to keep light out or retain heat but either way I may hang them between the kitchen and the living room to keep the heat in. I do need to get another curtain pole though to hang the second one since our downstairs has 4 doorways and only 2 doors. 

Also have been getting myself ahead with washing and have all the blankets washed and ready for the sofas and living rooms. New bed sheets arrived and I will be making sure the kids have their duvets, big pillows and fleeces on hand if they need them. They each have 9ft U shaped blankets to snuggle in so they will be more than snug I think. 

Also was sent two pairs of house slippers by my Canadian friend. They are like a slipper boot but they are light and very comfortable so that will be my feet nice and snug for the winter, which reminds me I need to look out husbands fair isle socks and get them washed for him. 

My main focus for the next food shop will be looking into building up my store cupboard again so I can avoid shops this winter, starting to prep a Christmas cupboard and stocking the medicine cabinet. 

@London_1 thats a fab idea about prepping veg for the week on a sunday and just using it sparingly over the week when you need it. I might have to try that as I loathe preparing veg and worry so much about food waste. I have also been looking up easy and quick breakfasts for my mob too especially with them all out of the house by 7.45

I am going to look through my material stash too and see if I dont have a some material to make some bowl carriers too for when I have used the microwave for things like soup and porridge. Lots of cosy meals and recipes saved so far to try this winter which should be inexpensive, freezable, filling and warming.

TracyS66

All throws and dog blankets washed and ready for the cold weather, got my slippers on today as my feet are cold! I use my slow cooker alot during the winter so I have stocked up my store cupboard with extra tins of lentils etc. I have a freezer list and it's quite full so will be eating from there, I was made redundant at the end of August so money is shall we say lean! We won't starve as long as my Bill's are paid we will be fine. Also got 2 new hot water bottles with fleece covers on so they will be well used. Loving the thread, sharing ideas etc

Laura_Elsewhere

sammy_kaye18 said:

@nicki_2 that is an extensive list for you to do. Make sure you rest up and take it easy though and just do little bits when you can. 

I have been AWOL this week a bit as husband has been off and I have focused on cleaning the house from top to bottom. I have blitzed all the rooms now in a sort of late spring clean attack and have made sure to move beds and things away from windows and outside walls. Last year I realized that my daughters bedroom was so cold because her bed was against the radiator so we have moved it now and her desk is next to it. Its all open though so the air will be able to come into her bedroom. 

Whilst I was de-cluttering the airing cupboard though I have found some thick curtains which I think have a thick backing so I'm not sure if they are to keep light out or retain heat but either way I may hang them between the kitchen and the living room to keep the heat in. I do need to get another curtain pole though to hang the second one since our downstairs has 4 doorways and only 2 doors. 

Also have been getting myself ahead with washing and have all the blankets washed and ready for the sofas and living rooms. New bed sheets arrived and I will be making sure the kids have their duvets, big pillows and fleeces on hand if they need them. They each have 9ft U shaped blankets to snuggle in so they will be more than snug I think. 

Also was sent two pairs of house slippers by my Canadian friend. They are like a slipper boot but they are light and very comfortable so that will be my feet nice and snug for the winter, which reminds me I need to look out husbands fair isle socks and get them washed for him. 

My main focus for the next food shop will be looking into building up my store cupboard again so I can avoid shops this winter, starting to prep a Christmas cupboard and stocking the medicine cabinet. 

@London_1 thats a fab idea about prepping veg for the week on a sunday and just using it sparingly over the week when you need it. I might have to try that as I loathe preparing veg and worry so much about food waste. I have also been looking up easy and quick breakfasts for my mob too especially with them all out of the house by 7.45

I am going to look through my material stash too and see if I dont have a some material to make some bowl carriers too for when I have used the microwave for things like soup and porridge. Lots of cosy meals and recipes saved so far to try this winter which should be inexpensive, freezable, filling and warming.

I use the inner-bags from cereal as freezer-bags for vegetables - if I buy a cauliflower, I spend an hour turning it into various things which all go into the freezer!
Firstly, 400g of cauliflower florets go into the big pyrex dish, and I make a cheese sauce from scratch to keep the salt and additives down, and that gets browned in the oven and portioned up into four portions of cauliflower cheese. Then the rest of the cauliflower florets are put in the big saucepan and boiling water poured in and lid on, left for 5-6 minutes and then drained (keep the water); that's tipped out onto a clean tea-towel to steam-cool and dry off, and then goes into a cereal-bag to freeze, to just grab a handful whenever we want cauliflower as a veg, to ping in the microwave. Finally, the leftover bits and stalk and leaves are put in the big saucepan with the water used for blanching the cauli, and cooked up til soft enough to blitz with the stick blender; then I make another batch of cheese sauce from a roux, and blend the two together, and there's four or five portions of cauliflower-cheese-soup to freeze. 
I also freeze carrot slices, sliced runner beans, and savoy cabbage, the same way - blanch in boiling water, cool on a clean tea-towel. 

dND

Hi JackieO, I loved reading about your family and all your tips plus I think you were the first person who mentioned a Remoska.  I have just become the owner of one as a friend gifted me one.  Once I can get it out of the storage unit where my life currently resides, I'm looking forward to using it. XX

London_1

dND Good morning, I am now on my second Remoska and they are fabulous. Need a new element in my oven as my old one is on the blink (works as and when it feels like it ) so I use my Remoska virtually every day to cook with, or reheat things that need a crispy top.That, and my microwave works fine.

They are certainly not cheap to buy ,but oh so useful and quick to cook stuff.My slow cooker earns its keep, especially during the winter for casseroles and over night rice puddings, cheap as chips to run.

Autumn is definitely on its way as this morning its a wee bit of a nip in the air, and here in north Kent its been raining (free watering for my two rows of winter second crop spuds though )

I don't mind the rain as its been in very short supply for awhile and it freshens the air up a bit. (free car wash as well )

 My tribe are all flourishing at the moment. I have my DGS Henry due to pop in this morning on his way back to London He has been in Madrid for a week with work, and says he will drop in as he has a little present for me bless him he's a good lad, and as I have the decorators supposed to be coming tomorrow to paint my kitchen and conservatory our Henry will shift all the heavy bits from my kitchen to the sitting room for me .

He's a big strapping 6'2" chap who is a bit of a gym bunny as well so where I would be hard pressed to lift anything heavier than a kettle, furniture is a child's game to him Handy have nice large grandsons around, and well worth a couple of 'Nanny cooked bacon rolls'  

All the throws have been washed by my DD for me and ready for use as the weather turns. I have dug out my furry slipper boots from the spare room as they are lovely to keep my trotter warm.

It's odd ,I suppose an age thing, as I am getting fairly aged now but its always my feet that feel the cold more than anything else, bad circulation I expect.

 My DD found a lovely long thick wool cardi/coat online in the summer for me. Its very long on me, as I'm only 5'3 so mid calf, on me almost to my ankles, it was reduced from £60 to £14.00. I think because its colour, its a sort of weird dark red carmine colour , and would probably stop traffic if I wore it out, but as its belted and nice and thick it will be ideal to wear when sitting watching tv at night, or knitting, as its very soft and thick so I was very happy to get it. As I'm the only one to see it indoors I'm not fussed about the colour but the draught excluding properties for me it seemed ideal .

I have one loooong hot water bottle which I had last year,(lovely to wrap around yourself, but I want to get another couple of ordinary ones before winter as I like one on my footstool to keep me cosy.  

Keeping warm is important to me especially as I have joint problems with osteoarthritis, and when I get cold my joints tend to be on the creaky side, like an old gate in need of some oil  

I'm trying to shop from my cupboards at the moment as I seem to have quite a lot of tinned bits to use up and I'm slowly getting some wriggle room in the freezer. 

Hope every one is getting ready for the winter as I like to lay in extra bits for that just in case moment batteries for torch (in case of power cuts ) basic pasta and rice and UHT milkier always useful as well 

JackieO xx

Floss

TracyS66 said:

...I use my slow cooker alot during the winter so I have stocked up my store cupboard with extra tins of lentils etc. I have a freezer list and it's quite full so will be eating from there, I was made redundant at the end of August so money is shall we say lean! ...

Pulses are cheaper if you buy packs of dried and cook & freeze them, then they can be added to anything.

Laura_Elsewhere

A very kind friend gave me a Remoska back in 2005 when I had no kitchen and was living on salads in freezing weather, bless her... I still use it, but am careful now only to use it for what I think of as "dry cooking" - ie I don't do soups or stews or stock in it any more, because apparently those "wet cooking" things have a tendency to short the electrics... and I want it to last as long as possible! 

I've looked at the new ones but I really don't like them - mine is the old sort with a stand made of thin chromed tubing, and two round pans that can equally be used as cake-tins in the conventional oven, and then the lid fits onto the pan in the stand... the new ones have the handles built onto the pan and it all looks a lot less easy to clean, less versatile, etc. 

I use it for bread rolls, jam tarts and biscuits and little sausage rolls, baked potatoes (I ping them first in the microwave, then Remoska them with a dab of butter and black pepper and Colman's powder to make the skins lovely), all those kinds of things... and sometimes I do chopped-up potatoes, onions and a slice of bacon or ham snipped into shreds, with herbs and garlic and Hungarian paprika, and sizzle that all up together! 

Siebrie

Floss said:

TracyS66 said:

...I use my slow cooker alot during the winter so I have stocked up my store cupboard with extra tins of lentils etc. I have a freezer list and it's quite full so will be eating from there, I was made redundant at the end of August so money is shall we say lean! ...

Pulses are cheaper if you buy packs of dried and cook & freeze them, then they can be added to anything.

I'm with TracyS66 on this: I have tried the dried pulses, but they never come out nice. The only pulses I cook from dry are red lentils, that only take 10 minutes.