Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

silvasava

BIG confession - I've fallen off the wagon big time :
I went to my local fabric outlet shop (very upmarket stuff but fab bargains) & bought 15 metres of fabric for my boat cushions. In my defence I wasn't too happy with the cotton rep I used - didn't think it was heavy enough for the abuse it will get. So......I saw this beautiful heavy navy fabric reduced from £35 to £6.50 a metre.
I know its start again but at least having done the two I can put the experience to good use .....so here I go again.

vhalla1478

Quality always counts, silvasava and it's not as if you're paying anywhere near full price for it; good luck with the sewing.

The only reason I know about Dunelm, littleowl, is because I have an acquaintance who works there. I commented quite some time ago about the Dorma prices being cheaper and he told me that Dunelm had bought them out.

This is a lovely recipe; it sounds odd, but if you've the inclination, do give it a try. I use vegetarian suet for a lighter crust. If I wasn't bothered about my waistline I'd eat it every week in the winter.

Plough Pudding 4-6 servings

225grams plain flour, 125grams shredded suet, salt and black pepper, 2 chopped onions, 125grams bacon bits, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage and/or parsley, 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar, 125-225grams pure pork sausagemeat (best to take good quality sausages out their skins rather than using cheap sausagemeat)

Mix the flour, suet and a little salt and pepper in a bowl and add enough cold water to make a firm dough. Roll out on a floured surface to make a rectangle about 1cm thick. Mix the onions, bacon, herbs and sugar with the sausagemeat and spread evenly over the suetcrust. Season well, then roll up into a sausage shape. Roll this securely in a well-floured cloth (I use a large, white table napkin) tying the ends with string and plunge into a large pan of boiling water. Cook over a moderate heat for just over 2 hours. Unroll the pudding, put it in a baking dish and bake in the oven at 190 degrees/gas mark 5 for about thirty minutes or until lightly browned. It's fantastic served with redcurrant jelly and cabbage, greens or carrots.

Viv xx

cheerfulness4

That Plough Pudding is right up our street. I like all the fattening things unfortunately.

We had the Juicy Orange Chicken and it was marvellous. Now I know I didn't do it exactly right because I used chicken breast meat and cooked it in a cooking bag. It didn't go sticky and dark as the meat absorbed the juice for the most part but there was a little light 'gravy' and it was delicious. Really fresh and citrusy and very evocative of summer days. The orange really was beautiful. We ate it with a pack of Chinese Rice with extra rice added to it. It was just lovely.
We often eat orange, garlic and honey with chicken in summer or lime, chilli, ginger and garlic. Love those combos.

Silva, I don't blame you at all. I wouldn't have missed that bargain and the boat will look very classy. The other fabric served its purpose because you made your mistake with it and now you're ready to go with the best fabric.

I think when it comes to saucepan sets that buying quality will mean they last a lifetime. I got through so many cheaper sets and then purchased a Kenwood set many years ago from Argos, priced at £99.99 but in the sale for half that. I used vouchers from survey and didn't pay a penny of 'real' money.
Now DH is famous for burning the veg on a Sunday. No matter how black the pan it comes up like new with a good clean.
Occasionally I've had to do the rhubarb trick but its always come completely clean in the end. They look as good today as when I bought them.

A few spends today:

Day 14

Money Spent Today - £4.25 Vouchers Spent - £0
Money Spent in Total - £41.67 Vouchers Spent in Total - £0
Money left in purse - £0.33 - Float left- £2.08/£15
Jan non-foods left- £1.85/£15

Today we spent £4.25 from the Grocery budget on: Aldi's Hot Oat Cereal @ £1.49, 2x milk @ 89p each and 2x 1kg sugar @ 49p each.
From the Extras budget we decided to splash out on a carton of Single Cream @ 65p to make a treaty meal of Carbonara. Hope to make some HM garlic bread to go with that on Monday.

Stocks are definitely getting low now. Scraping around in the freezer for something to roast tomorrow I fell upon my little stock of lamb chops which we usually have in Delia's Irish Stew but tomorrow they will slowly roast in the oven with roasted veg and maybe even a little yorkie pud.
DS will have the last chicken breast as he hates most meats other than chicken.

Got some free food yesterday when mum bought us 2x sml uncut tiger loaves, 2x bottles pop, a pot of YS clotted cream and a pack of scones to have with it. She likes to get us a little something for taking them shopping each week now dad can't drive. She's silly but we are grateful as they're things we wouldn't treat ourselves to.

Lynplatinum

Evening All

Thanks for all your support re going out to the cinema by myself - I often eat out alone and can walk into a pub and order a pint on my own but this was the first cinema visit!! I've been on my own for 20 years (with the odd bit of company) so I am used to doing stuff by myself but this was a first!! :-)

Well today I went out to my local Seed Swap (yet another new thing!) run by a local gardening club. £1 entrance; tea 50p; cake £1 (beautiful HM - it had to be done!) and seeds at 50p a pack. I will go next year and take along some oof my own seeds. Am really looking forward to planting them and seeing what I can grow in pots this year (Have always done herbs and toms)

Then I went home via Mr T. My friend is coming next week and she eats Bran Flakes for breakfast - over £2 for 500g!!! Blimey!!! I only eat HM museli; HM porridge - made with value stuff and dried fruit and nuts from Co$tco! So cost of this make me jump! However, she is the very dear friend who looked after me when I broke my leg last summer - kindly having me to stay with her when i was totally incapacitated - so nothing is too good for her!!
Have a good money saving day tomorrow!

cheerfulness4

BTW Silva, I'm unpicking again. :mad: That will teach me not to watch Death in Paradise while knitting. I know I get easy lost if I concentrate on one and not the other.
Its waiting until tomorrow to be sorted. This waistcoat just may take a very long time.

:mad::mad::mad: at the bran flakes! Thank goodness she's a good friend!

wilsooon

I'm still playing catch up with this thread, so a quick congratulations to everyone taking part!


I've finally finished taking in a needlecord skirt (M &$ via CS) using a video found on Utube


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFsfYUUI5lQ


Much simpler than methods I've used in the past, and worked very well sewing by hand.


I need to have some fairly major work done on my poor little car, so am on an even smaller budget than usual - a posh 'new' skirt gave me a real lift and makes the cost cutting seem worthwhile and do-able.


Thanks everyone for the inspiration!

[Deleted User]

I only like bran flakes for cereal and found that the Aldee ones are pretty good and are only about 80p odd a box.The box gets decanted into a storage box anyway then the cardboard goes in my small stash for DGS school projects :):) the lining paper is used in lining a tin when I make a cake so nothing gets wasted in my house.

The 'Dorma ' brand was fantastic and I have a pair of pink striped sheets that I bought in Kennards in Croydon in the 1960s for my eldest DD when she moved from a cot to a single bed to make ways for her new baby sister.I still have the bed ( a passed on one from a friends cousin, whose five sons had slept in it and was bought pre-war ) and the sheets which cost me then around a fiver. Which I saved for with my 8/-(40p) a week family allowance that started when my second child was born. £5.00 was quite a bit of cash in those days when my housekeeping was £8.10.00.(£8.50p)

The bed is an iron frame with lattice diamond pattern open fret base and wooden head and tail board. I have over the years changed the mattress and its in my spare room, and is one of the most comfortable beds you could sleep in.

It was bought in 1934, and had as I said five different boys in it then came to me in the 1960s and both of my children have used it over the years and now anyone who stays the night gets to sleep in it and everyone says how comfortable it is .

I sometimes sleep in the spare room in the summer as its at the back of the house and is a lot cooler in the evening.The sheets I washed this week, as last weekend my sis-in-law was down and stayed for the weekend. They are as good as the day I bought them, even though they have been washed countless times over the years.One of my 'best buys' and every time I wash them I remember my eldest DD getting so excited about being a 'big girl' with a grown up bed :):) She is 48 this year :) and a wee bit bigger than she was then with two grown up children of her own now :):)
My DDs said 'never get rid of the bed Mum as it reminds us of growing up' I wouldn't anyway as its a perfectly good bed and mad to last ,well it had for over 80 years now, I wonder how many other folk have got passed on things that are still servicable.My ironing board is a huge 'Beldray ' one that I got with saved green shield stamps in the 1970s and is still fine,if a bit heavy to carry around :):)but then I was a lot more agile 45 years ago:):)

vhalla1478

Good morning, Everyone,

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day - I'm hoping my romantic meal will be tonight - fingers crossed.

Wow, JackieO, you certainly brought a lot of memories flooding back to me. I had a maiden aunt (I don't suppose those exist any more, certainly not by that name) from my father's side of the family, who lived in Surrey. My widowed mother, my grandmother and myself would go down there for a holiday every summer (luggage collected the week before by train, seats reserved, porter to help you on the train, and that was in a second class carriage) and one of my treats as a little girl was to go to Kennards and have a ride on the horse which I think was in the basement; awful when you think about it now, but obviously not considered so then. I also seem to remember there was the Sharp's Toffee Parrot there, which I think we were told was over 100.

I've also got stories about Dorma bedding; my daughter has some from when she was a little girl and she will be 48 (!!!) next birthday.

Anyway, enough of that, here's a lovely salmon recipe off a Sainsburys recipe card dated April 2005.

Thai Salmon Fillets serves 4

Marinade
zest and juice of a lime, 15 grams root ginger, 3 tbsp. clear honey, 2 tbsp. sesame oil.

4 salmon fillets, 2 tbsp. vegetable oil, 125gram pack baby corn, 150 gram sugar snap peas, a red pepper deseeded and thickly sliced, 110grams couscous .

Mix the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish and put in the salmon fillets, cover and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove salmon from the marinade, reserving it. Heat a tbsp. oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook fish. Reduce heat, add the marinade and heat through. While the salmon is cooking heat the remaining tbsp. oil in another frying pan. Stir-fry the vegetables for 2-3 minutes. Cook the couscous and serve with fish and vegetables. Drizzle over the warmed marinade from the pan.

Have a good day, Folks.

Viv x

silvasava

Just popping in to say Good Morning everyone & comiserations Cheerful I like Death in Paradise too
I have a timeline to do the cushions as the boat goes back in the water on Easter Saturday so I've GOT to do at least 1 a week.
Its nice & sunny here this morning so defrosting a joint of beef for dinner tonight (Aldee) & a couple or three hours scraping the bottom of the boat - sigh

kittym

Hi all, Is there room for a wee 1?

I have been dipping in and out of various forums over the last few weeks and I have to say that the MMM is by far the nicest, kindest and most helpful when compared to some of the others. I have mended and made do over the years, but have let things slip of late due to ill health and moving. However you lovely peeps with your fab tips, wonderful pics and delicious recipes have given me the confidence me to pick myself up and get back on with things.

I have over that last week or so tried several of the delicious recipes, and although not great on my waistline especially (toffee) 1, they are gorgeous, and my DD says a massive thank you as she is chief taster.

vhalla1478 I think your magic. I'd had a rotten day and then when I read your post on sowing your lovely scarf in with your work, well I had to laugh with you as it's the sort of thing that would happen to me.

Without knowing the lovely things that you all post and share with each other really gives confidence, inspiration and a feeling that you are not so much on your own to people like me, so a massive thank you to you all and I hope to be able to add some things to this lovely forum as the weeks and months progress.