Living richly; simply and debt-freely

Hopefuljoy

Hi there folks! Had no idea sardines would cause such a stir! I've looked in a girl called Jack's first book and in delia and their recipes are similar. Basically some olive oil, chillies to taste, an onion, clove of garlic, green beans and a tin of sardines warmed through in the above and served with pasta. Bingo! I used to cook something out of sheer necessity at university and it kept me going.

See you tomorrow peeps!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

See how early I haf had 2 get up in order to keep up with my own diary......:rotfl:

So, having trawled back 3 pages.......

rtandon - I hear what you say about the 'capsule kitchen', whilst it may work from a 'oraganised' point of view, it probably won't work from an MS point of view. Having said that, it could if applied to eg staples or kitchen gadgets. I suppose the gadgets would be more of a 'one off', but then if you slimlined your staples, and bought fresh to match them, then perhaps it would save money.

I did like your 'Growed up thoughts' compliment :rotfl: And thank you for sharing the pancake and the sardine recipe

nowpanicking - I'm ok with setting out the 4 week menu planner, and I'm still doing this even though I've changed to weekly budgeting/shopping, it'll just be sticking to the plans better that will be for 2015. I don't think I want to go down the weekly menu planning route..... probably not for me.... although I think it would assist flexibility in extremes of weather ie hot or cold.

7 week wonder - some new 'small plates' have snuck into Greying Towers, for the princely sum of £2, so mindful portion sizing is a go-go here - just gotta stick with it

gallygirl - lovely to *see* you and :rotfl: to your food de-cluttering philosophy

sugarpuss - I agree, Esio Trot was brilliant, really good. Good acting and it was engaging without any dips or lulls. Thank you for your kind comment and let us go onwards with our respective house and garden 'de-cluttering'

mothernerd - thank you so much for your timely and calm advice to Hopefuljoy regarding the sink. And you watched Esio Trot too, what did you think?

Hopefuljoy - :T to successful sink unblocking. My heart sank and I was when I read you call yourself an idiot and the not liking yourself much bit. Can we restore some balance to the thread? Can you post the *Yang* to that previous statement - something along the lines of, 'I'm competent and calm in a household emergency and my plumbing skills rock' .....? You and mothernerd are very inspiring with your squeaky tight budgets for this month

Lilty - Bicarbonate of soda is great for loads of things - as are Soda crystals. Mind, you'd have to be mindful of having an inquisitive *small* in the house if soda crystal are in your cupboard, as they are caustic. Soda crystals rock though.

And can I just say that I find it hilarious, *snort* that a conversation about sardines is in full swing..... on a vegetarian diary :rotfl: A very wise and kind person likened this thread to a 'community drop-in centre' - which given the multitude of topics that are discussed, on a seemingly daily basis, is not too wide of the mark....... :rotfl:

Today is all about chores. The weather is not going to be conducive to one job that we need to tackle outside, which is a pain, as it is insulating part of the shed, and temperatures are apparently set to drop below zero again tonight

DP is already in a good mood, so the day is shaping up to be a good one Tonight's dinner will be Loobia Polo - or green bean pilau.

Right, I'm away to get some brekkie.

See y'all later.

Greying

gallygirl

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Tonight's dinner will be Loobia Polo - or green bean pilau.

Had to google this and came up with http://honestandtasty.com/beef-and-green-bean-rice-loobia-polo/



Can I have the crusty rice at the bottom? Can I, can I, can I :j:j:j.

nowpanicking

judi24 wrote: »

Just popped in to say hello - I followed your old thread but didn't post so decided this year would be different! Love the recipe ideas - I am not bad a meal planning but do end up with the same things over and over and always looking for hearty veggie dishes so will be subscribing and taking notes!!!!

I'm the same Judi24... definitely end up with the same meals in the planner. I'm not veggie but do like to have 2 or 3 veggie meals a week. So getting lots of inspiration on here!

Upsidedown_Bear

Smilie of the day.

mothernerd

I like the way smilie is fully on-board with the spirit of the thread - using left over Christmas tree branches as wings.

I usually do the bicarb/ soda crystals regularly but still got the aforesaid blockage last year (I blame DS3 and his long hair - when DS1 had long hair I had to sort the bathroom sink at least once every six months, all the gunk clings to it). However DS3 did help me sort it as I couldn't do the untwisting - Mr previous owner and his power tools (have had to manually unscrew many crooked/ bent screws which he obviously just powered in any old way.

Sorry to disappoint but I have just taken bacon from the freezer. Having a lazy day (leg has been aching and have now cut back to the point I have to remind myself that I am allowed to take one of the painkillers). Also gained a day because I really thought it was Sunday until I turned on the computer. Checked the car park and there are 28 cars (not been more than 12 on previous occasions) but traffic is still at Sunday levels and people weren't rushing and only saw one person with one carrier bag. To be fair the 'commercial town centre' has moved over time, so they could be trampling over one another with full trollies on the far side of the bus station.

I seem to have finished off the small batch of goodies I got out on NYE but don't have much inclination to cook (or do anything really - was thinking I should start to have 'proper Sundays', now possibly 'proper weekends' - ie a time of relaxation, with different activities). Years of children (funny how they let their fathers read a newspaper undisturbed) and jobs requiring 6/7 day attendance have made it a distant memory.

Have been eating 'what I felt like' whether that was something special or 'ordinary'. Remembered that 'bacon butties' have been mentioned on some of the programmes I have watched on i-player (loved Esio Trot and also 'Gangsta Granny' - written and including David Walliams with a cameo from Robbie Williams. Loved 'The Bishop's Wife'. Other than that it has been mostly Christmas versions of the news quizzes and Celebrity University Challenge - fellow Whovians should check this out, as David Starkey (elf in Xmas special, normally Strax) was an invaluable member of his team and also demonstrated the benefits of education (as opposed to a concentration on things which will attract funding/sponsorship) as his degree was in Norse and a couple of other 'dead languages'.

Any way bacon butties elicited a Pavlovian 'not had one of those for a while', so a packet has been disinterred. Will need (and want) to cook at some point but still struggling with the not a lot of room in the freezer if I start cooking large and have a couple of ideas for leftover bacon - found a recipe for leek and bacon 'breakfast muffins' (may have had cheese but will save that for other recipes). Had bacon soup for breakfast (well it was 11 o'clock). This has been at the bottom of one of the salad drawers for 3 weeks (checked at the beginning of the week if it was damaged but it had just frozen itself).

May just chop up leftover aubergine/ wrinkly pepper/ red onions from pre-op shop and baby tomatoes (had an ulcer so stopped eating them for a few days) and toss them in a bag with garlic and herb dressing (I use the little pots that come with DS3's takeaway pizza) and use either as 'roasted med veg' or will then chuck them in recipes when I feel like cooking. Will make rice salad also - goes with lots of things and good on it's own for breakfast/supper.

If leg is not hurting tomorrow, may attempt the all the way round the library walk. Meanwhile I am finishing off a number of small embroidery projects - this will be all week and beyond. I have small projects to take a break from a large piece and to use up small quantities of leftover thread. Some have a specific purpose, others I just like a particular design and want to do it (even if I don't have a suitable recipient in mind). Hoping I can complete a few (sometimes I only have some of the colours required, then put them away until I have another batch of leftovers - starting to sound like our cooking) and then dispose of the patterns (despite several culls, think there are still 3 large files). Probably far too much Christmas stuff - large designs take a long while and then (even if I was comfortable with having my own work displayed in my own home) it's only out for a short while every year.

I was interested to hear in the QI Christmas special that 'Christmas' (the original not the hijacked 'Christian' version) should actually last from Martinmas (11th November) to Candlesmas (1st February) and decorations should actually come down on January 31st (don't cry). This would make sense when we were largely agrarian and it was a dead time of the year so the best thing to do was to huddle together in front of the fire and conserve (pool) resources.

I've never understood why we don't hibernate and wonder if I could aim for my own version of this. I shopped pre-op on the 8th November and again on 20th December. Presents and cards (mine and mum's) were done in advance. I have been doing a monthly bulk buy and get a taxi home since I started to slow down (time saved on transporting cat litter tinned goods and toilet roll is enough to cover the cost of the taxi) and am wondering if I could extend this to every six weeks. I am aware that I am missing out on ys bargains but then I look at what I have and I have plenty. Suspect I would need more land and better soil to fully implement my plan (so hg veg would replace the ys) but if I only did one big shop every six weeks and continued to plan ahead for Christmas, think how much spare time I would have for proper walks, reading, sewing, gardening and social activities (I did seriously consider it, when someone was advertising for a {paid} hermit several years ago - they are supposed to be wise so I would have been allowed books, surely).

I could be my own special hybrid of the 'Not buying it' thread and the 'Early retirement' bods (the one I looked at all seem to be high flyers who require more pension income annually than I have earned in my entire life).

I've wittered enough, I'll go and have a lie down now.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good afternoon :hello:

Well DP has gone hairing orf to help a family member with something. This is entirely typical of the nature of the man, but I can't help feeling that were the boot on the other foot, they wouldn't do the same for him/us.... in fact, history has proved as much. Of course, it doesn't help the guilt quotient one iota that it is one from 'my' side.....

I must admit, I was beginning to wonder if an alien had taken over DP today.... He woke up in a good mood, has been amenable and helpful all morning, and when we got back in from our chores around the city, he made a start on his de-cluttering...... <knockmeoverwifafeathersmilie> In addition, he was going to chuck/recycle a camera manual - I'm glad that he made a comment about not using the camera anymore (its a film/manual/point and shoot simple thing), as I said, 'well why don't you declutter the camera to the cs then, along with the manual?'. He readily agreed :j

Still, what is actually the best bit is that he seems to be functioning a little better, so may be the lurgification is finally taking its leave. I do hope so, I don't like to see my DP under the weather

gallygirl wrote: »

Can I have the crusty rice at the bottom? Can I, can I, can I :j:j:j.

Ah, now you see gallygirl - you have exposed me for the fraud that I am - as although I call it 'pilau' (or polo as it is in Persian), I don't actually cook it in the authentic pilau fashion. I cheat and do it all on the stove-top Still tastes great, but not authentico So I'm afraid that you're out of luck, we have no crusty bottoms at Greying Towers May I award you the pick of the paella pan, next time you are out and about that way?

mothernerd - what on earth are you gonna be like when you are back firing on all 4 cylinders???? You're a 1 wumman whirl-wind!

I found 5p *roadkill* in the carpark outside mrL. It was absolutely pouring with rain, and I guess whoever dropped it there must have thought better of getting soaked to retrieve it. It was a quick bend down for me though - although it did cross my mind, with the way people drive around that carpark, t'would be a sad state of affairs to get mown down for 5p! :rotfl:

I've been having a think about *challenges* in January with regard to the meal-plan. It's not very exciting, but I think that I am going to continue *thrifty Tuesday* soup nights, and each Thurday will have a Buddha bowl. I'm not counting NSD's - just trying to be mindful of my budget. Nothing else has grabbed my fancy really. Perhaps I just need a month of *ordinariness* to consolidate weekly budgeting, portion control and mindful spending - perhaps that would be sufficient? Oh, and I forgot to add, we are still continuing with our food bank donation. I think I'll stick with UHT milk. They always have it on the list, and you can get quite a lot of cartons if you shop wisely, so that will be most *useful* from my perspective, I think.

Greying

7_week_wonder

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

a dollop of yoghurt (mrL) with some sumac sprinkled over.

That is inspired - I will try that for the top of some hm soup tomorrow. Why do I never think of things like that?

One New Year's Resolution here is to try to adopt a bit more of a mediterranean diet: so more veg, fish and nuts. I've read so much about the benefits, especially against dementia. Since my mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year I have been a bit obsessed about anything that can be done to reduce the risk. Plus any eating plan that encourages red wine is a good thing in my book

Have a good Saturday evening everyone.

moneyistooshorttomention

rtandon27 wrote: »

SS - give this one a try - it was in this week's MrW's Thrifty Special free paper - amazed how many easy to make recipes were there this time, I usually recycle the whole thing but looks like we'll be making a few recipes from this issue!

Thanks for that. I reckon that should work with some fresh sardines I have sitting in the freezer that I was wondering what to do with, considering that I don't have the fennel (yet...on the planning list for my garden....) to do yer proper Pasta con Sarde.

Didn't realise Waitr*se website has recipes on...will do some scanning. I was only checking that website earlier today (more in hope than in anticipation) that there might just be a Waitrose somewhere get-at-able from where I live now. Conclusion was = precisely 2 Waitrose in the whole of Wales by the look of it:(.
Now got an Aldi nearby that I wasn't bothered about having personally...can I swop them over?:cool::rotfl:

Off to browse the rest of the recipes....

kdalwayskint

Crikey! It certainly moves fast in here :rotfl:

Just a quick hello from me

I definitely need to get on and do some meal planning, a job for tomorrow as I'm not at home today and then sort out the clutter to find some stuff to sell too.