Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Prinzessilein

Afternoon all....


Very quiet day today...still can 'feel' the tooth that was filled yesterday! I think he might have touched a nerve or something.....but it should pass!


Still, it gave me an excuse to spend an afternoon knitting! I did a few rows of my latest bag.....and then googled 'knitted flowers'...I have a few oddments of yellow, white and purple wools...and have decided to knit a small nosegay of daffodils/narcissi for Mothers' Day...I think Mum will appreciate them...something 'different anyway - and considerably cheaper than the overpriced bouquets in shops!


No spending today...the only time I left the flat was to pop across to Mum for a midmorning cuppa.....Dinner will be spag bol ...sauce is defrosting (I like to make a batch, freeze in individual portions and then 'pimp it up' to turn it into spag bol sauce...or cottage pie base...or a quick chilli)


Sewing Bee tonight...and while that's on I intend emptying out my small-change piggy bank...he is getting quite heavy and I will bag up the contents...hoping to get a few pounds out of him! (I only 'feed' him 1p 2p 5p and 10ps)...I'll report on the amount tomorrow!

SailorSam

I've just cadged some new windows, I was walking to Tesco and there's a double glazing place just up the road from me that had a skip of all thrir old stuff in. I went and asked if i could take some 'cos i'm wanting to make a cold frame for the garden. Lady said take whatever you want. So i've been back in the car, only took 3 side openers but that should be enough. I've got a big sheet of plywood in the garage that should do to make the box part.

cheerfulness4

That was brilliant, SailorSam. Right time, right place for you. Wish I'd come across that sort of thing.

Playing catch up again. Firstly my spends for today and yesterday.

DAY 4

Money Spent Today - £2.79 Vouchers Spent - £1.80
Money Spent in Total - £11.49 Vouchers Spent in Total - £0
Money left in purse - £0.51 - Float left- £2.37/£15
Jan non-foods left- £10.30/£15

From my Grocery budget we spent £1.50 on my market for 2x large cauliflowers. We then went to Tescos as I had a couple of coupons to use and bought 1x dbl concentrate lemon squash @ 42p, 2x spaghetti @ 20p each, 1x YS 400g Extra Mature cheese @ £1.35 and 1 x peanut butter @ 62p. With my £1.50 and 30p coupon along with some extra points coupon I only had to pay £1.29 out of my grocery budget for these items.

I then spent £4.69 from my Extras Budget on 2x YS Lemon meringue Pie @ £1.30, 5 pk Extra stong mints @ 99p (but 30p off coupon used), YS 400g Extra Mature cheese @ £1.35. I decided to use some of this budget to buy extra cheese as my grocery budget woudn't allow for me to buy more this day and I thought it looked good and would set us up for cheese for the month. Plus I was thinking of the 2 large caulis I'd already bought off the market and my love of cauli cheese.

THUR 5 MAR
DAY 5


Money Spent Today - £3.36 Vouchers Spent - £1.80
Money Spent in Total - £14.85 Vouchers Spent in Total - £0
Money left in purse - £0.15 - Float left- £1.98/£15
Jan non-foods left- £10.30/£15

A quick mercy mission to Morrisons for DS is still not himself and has only fancied hot choc to drink so 1x 500g hot chocolate @ £2.48 and 2lt milk @ 88p.

I chose to also spend 39p from our extras budget on a pk of 4 breakfast mushrooms @ 39p. That was an amazing price and I shall stuff mine and oven baked as they are massive.

We have a little more unexpected food come our way when DH got me 2 wicker hampers for storing my jigsaws ( I have now cut the pics off the boxes and stored the pieces in bags to minimise space) and when we looked inside we saw they were full of food and were leftover xmas stocks.
Not really the kinds of food I would have bought but lovely and welcome all the same considering we only expected to get the baskets for our money. We paid £4.99 for the larger and £3.99 for the smaller. The foods inside included lovely chutneys, jams, ground coffees and teas, haggis, chocolate, biscuits and shortbread, tinned ham (yuck, going to mum who loves) and different pestos and sauces ie cranberry,horseradish etc.


Must get my bread out of the oven and then make DH's snack for work as we're going out in an hour and then he'll be rushing off to work afterwards.

Catch you all later.

vhalla1478

Good Afternoon, Everyone, and well done on your acquisitions Sailorsam and Cheerfulness; I love it when a windfall appears.

I've finished my oven glove and it's hanging over the oven door, brightening up the place; there will be a 'Mark 2' somewhere along the line, but I have several other projects in the queue (the rug, daughter-in-law's dress, 2xgranddaughters' rag dolls, another tapestry cushion I haven't even started!!) so I want to get on with those, otherwise experience has taught me that guilt at not finishing them means that they get hidden away and I've promised myself that I'll no longer do that.

My scribbled note next to this recipe says, 'exceptionally tasty' and while tuna is expensive, it's been my experience at my nearest Morrison's that it is quite frequently reduced.

Seared Encrusted Tuna Steak with Fresh Coriander and Basil Serves 4

A small dried red chilli, tbsp. coriander seeds, half a clove of garlic, handful of basil, picked and finely chopped, handful coriander, picked and finely chopped, salt and freshly ground black pepper, juice of a lemon, 4 tuna steaks 225-285 grams each, about 2 cm thick.

Grind the chilli and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. Add the garlic, basil, coriander and lemon juice to taste. Mix together and season. Lay out the steaks on a tray, rub the herb mixture on both sides of the steaks and season.

Rub either a griddle or frying pan, which you should get extremely hot, with a little oil on a piece of kitchen paper, then put in the tuna; you want it to toast, fry and brown - it takes very little time, a couple of minutes on both sides. I press it down with a fish slice to ensure it browns evenly. Great with marinated sun-dried tomatoes, olives and basil.

As the weather has turned horribly cold here again, I'll find a naughty pudding for later after the Sewing Bee!

Viv xx

[Deleted User]

Good evening chums and a good haul from aldees this morning and only 78p over the £35.00 budget set by myself this morning so I am pleased and my cupboards are full and the veg and fruit are all topped up so no more spending for me for a week or so at least:):):)

kittym

Wow, sounds like you've all had a fab day with your MMM and bargain finds. Well done.
Sadly I haven't done much of either, as DD has had me helping her with her revision for her mock GCSE exams. She will take a total of 19 next year as some of her subjects have 3/4 exams. Still keeps my brain ticking over.
Thanks for the reminder about sewing bee I love this programme.
Hope you all have a good evening. xx

vhalla1478

Well! Is it going to be Neil or Lorna winning the final or will Matt surprise us? My money is still on Neil; what do you think? My DS has threatened to enter me for the Sewing Bee on more than one occasion, but it's one thing making something in your own time at home and, I would think, an entirely different one working against the clock, surrounded by cameras and people - terrifying.

Here, as promised is a yummy pud, (shades of the 1970's) but just as nice to eat with coffee or tea in the afternoon, or the morning or for a midnight feast! Not frugal though, but hey, we all have to have a treat now and then and this is a real treat.

Ginger Chocolate Cheesecake 6-8 servings

150 grams stem ginger biscuits, broken up, 50 grams unsalted butter, plus extra to grease, 250 grams marscapone, 200 grams fromage frais, 2 large eggs, 35 grams caster sugar, 150 grams dark chocolate with stem ginger, broken into pieces. To serve 200 grams crème fraiche, 1 tbsp. stem ginger syrup, 2 pieces stem ginger, icing sugar to dust.

Heat the oven to 190 degrees/gas mark5. Put the biscuits into a food processor and blitz to fine crumbs. Tip into a bowl and mix with the melted butter. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 20cm round cake tin with a removable base and level out with the back of a spatula or a large spoon. Bake for 5 minutes, then set aside to cool. Lower the oven setting to 170 degrees/gas mark 3.

Whisk the marscapone and fromage frais together in a bowl until smooth. Add the eggs and sugar and mix well. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water and then gently fold into the marscapone mixture.

Pour the filling over the biscuit base and bake for 50-60 minutes. The cheesecake is ready when the filling is just set - it should still have a slight wobble in the centre. Remove from the oven and run a thin knife round the edge of the tin. Leave the cheesecake to cool in the tin, during which time the filling will continue to set.

Before serving, flavour the crème fraiche with the ginger syrup, folding it in until evenly blended. Finely slice the ginger into matchsticks. Carefully unmould the cheesecake onto a plate. Serve cut into slices with the ginger crème fraiche, a scattering of ginger and a dusting of icing sugar.

Have a nice evening, Folks.

Viv xx

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Am gonna go to bed at midnight tonight - this site hadme up till 2 am this morning!! Not much to report except another NSD. :-)
Viv - your recipes sound great!I havent had much time for cooking for the past couple of days and have been eating freezer meals etc . To morrow I aim to plan properly for next week so I can find time to make some of your ideas.
Have a good and frugal day tomorrow folks!

Prinzessilein

I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!


I will not make a chocolate ginger cheesecake that serves 8 and eat it all myself!

vhalla1478

Prinzessilein, you gave me my first smile of the day, thank you - it's a good start with my coffee!

Lynplatinum; although I love cooking and food, I cook in spurts. You start with one thing, possibly lemon curd for me today as I promised the tribe some, then I'll look in the fridge and decide what to make with any leftovers, tapenade comes to mind off the top of my head. I could also do with a loaf of bread (must try a new recipe) and, as I've just eaten the last of the made up frozen food yesterday, I need to do something creative to make a few main meals to freeze for the rest of the month. so that's my morning sorted out.

Have a good day, Everyone.

Viv xx