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Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015
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That was me :rotfl::rotfl: please don't leave out next time it's more a wry smile than a grimace now
Viv, I made your cucumber vichyssoise and it was yummy thank you,
What does the saying say.... When life hands you lemons, crack open the Gin......
Or as my Mum would instil, brush yourself down, tomorrow is another day or
Fake it, to you Make It
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5681736/dancing-through-the-rain-with-a-smile-and-good-cheer#latest
Last night I had LO veg from DDs sunday dinner, plus I found in the freezer two small bits of steak (really small, about palm of my hand small
Lunch today will be veggie soup and cheese and crackers with an orange for pud.
I have found my local independant greengrocer does huge oranges, very sweet for 3 for £1.20.Absolutely gorgeous they are as well, and Tosco's sell smaller ones (although they call them giants) for 4 for £2.20) no contest as my DGS would say.But I do like my little greengrocer as he will sell large cabbages cut in half which for a 'singly' like myself is great, as there is no waste and half will last me almost a week. He also does huge free range organic eggs at 6 for a quid and they are the sort I remember from my childhood with deep orange yolks, unlike the aenemic pale yellow monstrosities from the SM.
We have no market around here anymore The nearest one is probably Rochester (6 miles away ) and that is quite a bit of an 'upmarket' market .I really miss the old street markets of my home town of London ,although I dare say most of them will have vanished with 'progress'
Pre-packed cling-film covered food just doesn't have the same taste.Still, no good moaning, it won't bring them back.
Where my brother lives in rural France there is a weekly market on a Saturday morning and the veg was dug up the day virtually as there are lots of small farmers and market gardeners locally.
Well onwards and upwards.Just pottering around this morning I cut the two legs off DGS Jeans last night and will sew the bottoms up and then turn the tops down to make two drawstring bags to hold Christmas wrapping paper.I have found two left over trainer laces to make the draw strings with, so two bags with a little bit of sewing for free
Have a good and miminmal day chums
JackieO xxx
P.S. one of my favourite books is Norah Lofts The House at Old Vine
I've started to put all of the recipes into HM book that I have decorated in some spare fabric. Just need to give it a fab title to do it justice. I think it looks great that I am going to make a few more and give them to my friends for their BD's.
It's been snowing for the last two days and it is soooooo cold I'm dreading the heating bill.
Well time for lunch which is HM broth. Hope your all having nice day. x
I did buy something else which cost me all of £10 - an enormous salt-glazed nineteenth century pot-bellied jar complete with lid; ideal for my bread flour; it saves my spilling bits out of the paper bags. That was from the antiques centre in Louth.
I'm very pleased you enjoyed the cucumber vichysoisse, bubblesmum and of course, now you've reminded me I do recall it was you who had the experience with the pearl barley!!
JackieO, what a pity about there being a dearth of reasonable fruit and vegetable markets near you. I don't know how to break this gently - most of the market towns in Lincolnshire have at least two markets a week and some of them, like Louth have three. Louth also has two very good greengrocers one of whom daily reduces the previous day's fruit and vegetables to 25 pence a bag. On top of that, it has half a dozen or more butchers, fishmongers, game shops, as well as the cheese shop that won a Mary Portas award for the best small retail shop in the country 2-3 years ago. and Louth is a beautiful Georgian market town. No, I'm not on Louth's tourist board, honestly!
The House at Old Vine by Nora Lofts - I'd forgotten all about that - what a brilliant book. Didn't she also write under another name?
Recipes later, just need to get my rug quota in during daylight hours.
Beautiful sunny day here, but brass monkey weather!
Viv xx
Norah Lofts also wrote as Juliet Astley and as Peter Curtis...I love her novel 'How Far Is It To Bethlehem...it's one of my 'Advent 'Re-Reads every year!....Norah Lofts was from this part of the country, technically Norfolk and I now live in Suffolk.
Very cold here today...flurries of snow, but nothing serious...still jolly cold though!
I have just enrolled for a couple of the Open University free courses....I took my first degree with them.....(originally I tried to go to Uni to study German, Philosophy and Russian...but my health meant I left after two years, ...So a year or so later I joined the Open University and took my BSc in Maths)...they have loads of mini courses available for free online study...I've chosen a couple of modules to study in my own time, no pressure...'An Introduction to Music Theory'( I would love to be able to follow a 'proper' music score one day!...this is very basic but I need a refresher before I go on to more advanced stuff!)....and 'Studying Religion' (I was part way through a degree in Contextual Theology' - seriously considering ordination in the future!!!!...when illness struck me down again, which led to me being classified as disabled...I thought I'd just revisit a few idea with this reading course!).....in the future I think I'd like to look at doing some Latin....and maybe a Literature course....and almost certainly revisit Maths....lots to choose from!
Your glazed flour pot sounds wonderful Viv!
I need to go and sort out the laundry....at least one pair of socks will be relegated to the 'cleaning rag' pile...although there is a bit of me that is so tempted to make a couple of sock puppets!...I think it was because I was talking to Mum yesterday about how we used to do all sorts of craft things when we were younger...
And then I want another couple of rows of knitting done.
Dinner won't take long tonight...nor will it have cost much...some left over cooked veggies from Sunday ...which will become a cheese'n'veg omelette.
I've finished my rug quota and have decided not to do any more sewing today. Your energy amazes me, Prinzessilein -and by the way, thanks for the Nora Lofts info - I will really have to revisit her and also read 'How far is it to Bethlehem'; I'm not familiar with that one. Sadly, Bethlehem is over-commercialised and garish now (just in case you haven't been) but Jerusalem is a very beautiful and fascinating city whatever its political problems may be. Good luck with your studies. When I was at school, Latin was compulsory if you wanted to go to University and bits of Virgil and Herodotus etc are still lodged rather imperfectly in my brain.
Talking of the Middle East, here's a falafel recipe, serve tucked into pitta breads with spoonfuls of salad and yoghurt or tahini.
Falafels - makes 8
15 ounce can chickpeas, drained, a crushed garlic clove, 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, 1 tbsp. chopped fresh mint, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tbsp. fresh breadcrumbs,1 tsp salt, freshly ground black pepper, oil for deep frying.
Grind the chickpeas in a food processor until they are just smooth, then mix them with all the other ingredients until you have a thick creamy paste. Add pepper to taste. Using wet hands, shape the chickpea mixture into 8 rounds and chill for 30 minutes so that they become firm.
Meanwhile heat about a quarter inch of oil in a shallow frying pan and fry the falafels a few at a time. Cook each one for about 8 minutes, turning carefully just once.
Drain the falafels on paper towels and fry the rest in batches, reheating the oil in between. Serve tucked inside warm pitta bread.
Falafels can be made in batches and frozen. Leave them to cool, spread out on wire cooling racks. Open-freeze until solid then place in a plastic container. To re-heat bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes.
Viv xx
Finished cushion no 2 - will try to get no 3 done this week. 3 & 4 are the first ones I did with the rep so I've now got some experience with the awkward shapes. The last one is HUGE & I already have to wrestle to get the foam in the smaller ones as there's no dacron to cover it & I'm too tight to spend any more! Think DH may come to the rescue!
Louth sounds right up my street VhallaNot been there yet so I'll put it on the list
Forgot about Nora Lofts - have read both but many years ago. I also liked Pearl S Buck - think its about time I revisited her too.
Vhalla - Love the chickpea receipe - I'm spoilt though 'cos I have some relly's in Israel & when they visit they bring me the 'mix' as not far from where they live there is a spice farm and its WONDERFUL - huge bowls of all the spices, seeds dried fruits that you can imagine & you can smell the place as soon as you get out of the car. Its set in fields where they grow a lot of the things they sell & they have little leaflets spread about telling what the spices & herbs are good for in natural medicine. I have to go there whenever we visit 'cos its just so beautiful.
Energy?????/ Me?????!!!!....Seriously, I am the least energetic person going!...I do, however, like to have a few different projects on the go at once...mainly because some days my hands won't let me knit...so I need a sewing project...or if I can't do any handwork I like a couple of reading/study options....at least one reading option will be on the Kindle for days when I can't manage the weight of a 'real' book (the Kindle is also a Godsend for times when I go to hospital...how did I cope without it!...a whole library to take in my handbag!)
I love homemade falafel....and have been known to bake rather than fry them...they come out rather dry but still tasty enough in a pitta bread with salad and joghurt!
World book day is upon those of us with primary school age children and with 2 days notice I have managed to repair and improve on dd's Hetty Feather costume that I made a year or so ago, now that I have my overlocker. a bit of old sheet from my scraps store repurposed into "beautiful bows"
ds wants to go as Luke Skywalker - I have tried telling him that Star Wars isn't really a book...... so that will be my job for tomorrow night
DS loves them cooked and then mixed into baked beans, sausage, bacon etc , in the same pan and heated through again, as in those Big Breakfast tinned meals. The falafels soften and do taste very good.
Not done very much MMM today although baked a loaf and done a little more knitting this afternoon. When DH is off work our feet tend to not touch the ground as we're rushing here, there and everywhere to catch up with things and people.
His rota at work was unexpectedly changed so he's got a couple of days off and isn't back in until Thurs eve except for a meeting tomorrow. Most irritating that all meetings seem to be on his days off and he has to go in. Never mind. To find a job you love in these times and to be able to change direction when you turn 50 is such a joy not to be taken for granted.
Tomorrow I'll be whizzing around again but I've organised dinner to make things easier. I've lifted 2 slices of leftover pizza from the freezer and I'll make up a quick batch of coleslaw and a green salad to go with that. I don't fancy pizza for myself so will have either a tuna salad or a herby omelette and salad.
I think lunch will be something simple like boiled eggs and fingers or beans on toast. I'll see how we all feel. Breakies will be Weetabix for them and yogurt, banana and honey for me with a slice of toast and marmite.
My spends today were:
DAY 3
Money Spent Today - £6.20 Vouchers Spent - £0
Money Spent in Total - £8.70 Vouchers Spent in Total - £0
Money left in purse - £0.30 - Float left- £7.06/£15
Jan non-foods left- £10.30/£15
We nipped off to Aldis while on our wanderings this morning and I spent £6.20 from the grocery budget on Milk @ 89p, Sugar @ 49p, Aerosol cream @ 89p, Malt vinegar @ 21p, Pasta & Sauce @ 39p, Onions @ 59p, 100g Dark chocolate @ 30p (for baking), Mozzarella ball @ 43p, Lrg Low Fat Natural Yogurt @ 45p, 1.5kg Steak cut chips @ 79p, 1kg bananas @ 68p and Pack of Beetroot @ 39p.
From the non-foods budget I bought Paracetamol x 2 @ 19p and Ultra towels @ 69p.
The extras Budget was attacked as we were missing our liquor hot chocolates (and winter is nearly over after all.
I've got all I need now to make my chilli jam which I'm hoping to get made either tomorrow or the day after, depends if I visit mum in the afternoon instead of staying in while DH is at his meeting for work.