Living richly; simply and debt-freely

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Well, I've been out and about, doing a speck of food shopping - luckily mrL had brazil nuts in today - they were all out yesterday But it seems that the imminent start of 'Bake Off' means nothing to the mrL management, not a crumb of baking powder nor bicarbonate to be found on their shelves! No space where it should be either The manager was suitably vague about 'not having any' - he had no clue whether they did or didn't really In mrT, the drO stuff is twice the price So i'm hopeful that I can get to mrAl before I run out.

I did actually buy some greek yoghurt from mrL as I didn't get round to making any yesterday However, I had the incentive to now get and make my own, as mrL has put the price up 9p to £1.38

I was going to get some basics hard cheese from mrS for tonight's tea, but mrT is *supposed* to stock a version for the same price in their EDV range - £2.30 for 200g. Needless to say, our local hugmungous mrT doesn't carry it So I had to fork out 20p extra to get their own grana padano at £2.50 This was, however, cheaper than mrL, so....... (although to be fair to mrL, I can't quite recall if it was grana padano or parmesan for £2.69 - if it was the latter, then it would be more expensive )

Dinner this evening was a version of Leanne Brown's creamy Zucchini Fettucine which is in her 'Good and Cheap' cookbook - pg 89 iirc. I didn't use fettucine, as I hate eating that sort of pasta - it detracts from enjoying the dish as far as I'm concerned - and I apologise to all Italians reading, as I know that certain types of pasta are made to go with certain sauces, and that there is a science to it, evolved over hundreds of years...... And it probably means that MWC's family will never share another recipe with me again ..... But I used casarecce instead. Which has actually gone down in price to 49p/500g in HB :j It was 55p.

In addition, I ground up a little bit of coriander seed to ramp up the citrus note, which meant I could use up 1/2 a lemon I had left over, rather than cutting into a new one. I added in extra lemon zest from my pot in the freezer. The courgettes were from the stash we snagged from last weeks S6 in mrAl. I used greek yoghurt rather than cream. This is because it works well with heat and generally doesn't split, it's a few less calories (I'm guessing) and we like the savoury tang, rather than the cloyingness that cream can sometimes have in pasta dishes. the basil was supplied by the 2 YS'd plants that I have actually managed to keep going in the kitchen :j



Edit: I forgot to add, when I was looking for the link to G&C, the internet search brought up a courgette and bacon recipe. For meat eaters, bacon or chicken would be an excellent addition to this dish. Just a thought. It wouldn't have been in Leanne's original recipe, as this is her $4 a day cookbook.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

the support of MSE'rs - you ROCK

the smell of freshly mown grass - well, it was Sunday, afterall

lazy brunches - summat quite decadent about eating brekkie (albeit a budget one) mid-morning! :rotfl:

Thanks everso for popping in, reading and contributing. Although for the record, can we please all remember that the 'Joy' measure is totally the concept and work of Ms. Kondo - all complaints about undone housework, non-ironed Y fronts and unreconciled cheque books should be directed to her.... not me :cool::rotfl:

See y'all later.

Greying x

killerpeaty

That looks absolutely delicious!

Sorry that you didn't get your baking stuff

supersaver1000

Hi GP and friends.

DD made some bread this week, if I had dropped it on my toe a trip to A&E would have been required :eek:

So I've been making it into breadcrumbs in the food processor today. I needed 5 tablespoons of breadcrumbs for this easy treacle sponge recipe:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1993657/easy-treacle-sponge

Sorry I didn't take a photo before we ate it, it was yummy.

I have now got a box of breadcrumbs in the freezer ready to make lots of treacle sponges, hope the crumbs don't freeze together

SS x

Nargleblast

GreyingPilgrim - if you are about later the Alphabetty thread needs a G!

starnac

Greying I must admit before I start that I haven't entirely caught up on the thread from the weekend yet so please forgive me if I am purely seconding what someone else has said. But I do feel that I need to put my two penneth in as it were over the book of face comment.

I am a regular user of said book and yes it gets on my nerves. Especially showing off pictures/posts. I use BF to keep in touch with people I no longer see due to having lived in various places. I do not use it to have people shove things down my throat. If, towards the end of the month, I am sat eating my beans on toast, I do not want to have to see ANOTHER post of some fancy pants meal in a fancy pants restaurant.

This thread however is different. I come here looking for your food pictures. It gives me inspiration, it does not make me feel sad or mad, like a lot of the book pictures do (or try to do). You are not posting a "ooh look @ me & DH out again at Greying Towers. its not 5 stars 4 nothin u no *wink* *lol* etc" (I think I have punctuated that correctly :rotfl: )

A lot of posts on the book are mearly (sp?) attention seeking. Your posts here are down to earth and inspirational. If I am sat here with my (not so) hypothetical beans on toast and see one of your posts, I can think, "ooh let's try that tomorrow/I wonder if the budget will stretch to a courgette" so please don't stop posting pictures of your food.

I'm off to catch up on the thread now to see if I've just made a fool of my self in the above post

muddywhitechicken

:wave: Greying

Just catching up after my business trip - nearly had a panic attack a couple of pages back when I thought that there might not be any more recipe links/pictures :eek:

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

I didn't use fettucine, as I hate eating that sort of pasta - it detracts from enjoying the dish as far as I'm concerned - and I apologise to all Italians reading, as I know that certain types of pasta are made to go with certain sauces, and that there is a science to it, evolved over hundreds of years...... And it probably means that MWC's family will never share another recipe with me again ..... But I used casarecce instead.

:shhh: I won't tell, if you don't :shhh:

Uncle Tony does indeed have a shelf in his cellar dedicated to the right type of pasta for each sauce! Along with numerous bottles of HM wine and plum tomatoes canned by his sister :cool:

MWCx

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

killerpeaty - mrL's loss - i'll just get them from mrAl, I need to go there for some little gem lettuce in the S6 anyway. Just mystified as to the fact that the gap on the shelf was non-existant for BP and Bicarb too - quite a lot of keen bakers use mrL as it's good.

supersaver - I know the weather has been pants, but you're taking us into autumnal puddings already?????? Am I remembering this wrong, or do you use breadcrumbs in treacle tart too?

starnac wrote: »

This thread however is different. I come here looking for your food pictures.

Wot? You don't come here to read my erudite and pensive insights into the key matters du jour? No? Oh

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

starnac - I shall rely on you, as you know what I mean about 'those type of pics', to ensure that I don't get like that here How about that?

I was thinking too, the good thing about MSE is the fact that as a 'quite big site', you can actually find what ever level you are comfortable at, or need at this moment in time. For example, I think that my food is.... reasonably budget friendly. I work on the basis of £100 for all food (no takeaways/restaurant meals) for 2 adults per month. Now, that will be less than some folks spend, but much more than others. However, as I mentioned, dear Butterfly Brain over on OS has a brill thread going to create menus/recipes for 4 people for £20 per week, plus there are all the menus on the grocery challenge thread to help folks out. So, room for us all I guess

muddywhitechicken wrote: »

Uncle Tony does indeed have a shelf in his cellar dedicated to the right type of pasta for each sauce! Along with numerous bottles of HM wine and plum tomatoes canned by his sister :cool:

MWCx

Ha! KNEW it! :D:D Oooh gosh, my favourite ever documentary was one that I watched via Rhonda Jean's blog. It was an Australian series and they went to seek out the food traditions of folk who had migrated to Oz and now called it home. There were about 10 episodes, but the 2 stand out ones were the Italian family gathering to can tomatoes - they were sterilising/sealing the jars in an oil drum over a firepit they were canning that much!, and the Korean family who made festive food for their harvest celebration - the moon cakes were made out of aduki beans and were the most wonderful pressed designs. Does his sister grow the tomatoes too?

Well I've had fun whipping up a relatively simple meal tonight - but one which is actually infinitely adaptable, and open to having 'bitsa' put into it Needless to say, I had me nose in Good & Cheap again, and made Leanne's Vegetable Jambalaya from pg 97. I threw some red kidney beans in, along with the chopped up 'ribs' of the cabbage. I also used jarred red pepper rather than green bell pepper. I'm also apt to cook the rice separately and then mix it with the sauce, but if you are adept at 'one pot cooking' then give Leanne's method a go - it saves fuel and on the washing up! I also used a tin of chopped tomatoes, rather than fresh tomatoes. It made enough 'sauce' for 4 portions, so I'll freeze the extra sauce and make up another batch of rice another day Served with frozen broccoli and shredded cabbage, steamed in the microwave;



Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for the sight of the local sparrowhawk - so graceful and silent

for 'Joy' measurement - been pondering more applications

for cheery staff at the PO - didn't go to the 'usual' so that might account for it..... :D

It occurred to me that last night's 'tea' and tonight's have been pictured and linked to before - if not on this thread, then on the other - I had a yellow HG (by the parental) courgette to hand last time I made Leanne's courgette dish, so shout up if it gets too repetitious - I won't alter me menu-plan, but I will rail back on the pics . Tomorrow night's meal is a 'new to me' recipe, which hopefully will be yummy, but budgetary

Thanks for popping in, cheering me on and telling me about faceache. You've confirmed what I thought I knew, and why I always smile when folk in the family 'admonish' me for being such a luddite for not being connected to it.....The biggest proponent of it is currently extraditing themselves from the wider Greying clan, so I guess they found what they were looking for in another direction.....:(

See y'all later.

Greying x

joeyjimbles

Sometimes I feel twinned with you GP - well I'd be blessed to be so.

Anyway Jambalaya in this house too - a very old Marie Claire version by Nigel Slater that still survives in its splattered torn page format. Well that was the base but it worked with leftovers of salami and sausages that came back from the festival goers. Its an all in one method and only entrusted to the big still-going-strong Le Creuset buffet dish which I must never drop as it could never be replaced. Really yummy if I do say so myself.

Greying_Pilgrim

joeyjimbles wrote: »

Well that was the base but it worked with leftovers of salami and sausages that came back from the festival goers.

joeyjimbles - Oh infinitely so! sausage, salami or a bit of chicken, shredded up ham.... anything really. I was just thinking too, was it mrS that used to do a bag, in their 'basics' range of seafood? The sort of seafood that you'd use to make a fish pie? I don't know because I don't eat fish, but I've got a dim memory of..... Ms Monroe???? using it for something.....Yep, knew it rang a bell HERE

Greying x

starnac

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Wot? You don't come here to read my erudite and pensive insights into the key matters du jour? No? Oh

i assumed that was a given Greying
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

starnac - I shall rely on you, as you know what I mean about 'those type of pics', to ensure that I don't get like that here How about that?

Greying x

DH will not be happy with you giving me *whispers* responsibility :eek: he claims it goes straight to my head. Personally I think he's sore because next week is our holiday club and I'm in charge of the whistle!! :rotfl: