Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

[Deleted User]

Prinzessilein wrote: »

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!

I know exactly what you mean, the marriage of ginger and chocolate in a cheesecake is almost a venial sin I am a total ginger nut lady
I once carted several packs of ginger biscuits away with me on holiday to the U.S as the thought of being deprived of my cuppa and ginger biscuits was sooo depressing .
I have actually given up biscuits for Lent and my family are amazed that I am hanging on this far:D and I haven't yet cracked :):):) But I shall be firm and put all thoughts of those crispy little bicuits out of my head for a few more weeks Then I shall treat myself the the biggest and poshest pack of GN biscuits that I can find :):)
Get thee behind me satanic biscuits :):):)

misstara

Prinzessilein :rotfl: it does sound amazing though.

Didn't get round to doing the mending last night as I was too busy ironing and packing. I'm currently traveling down to spend a weekend with my friend in Durham, haven't seen her for over a year and she had a baby 3 months ago so very excited to see her

Doubt I'll get a chance to post over the next few days so hope everyone has a good weekend.

silvasava

Ooooh - 2 ginger biscuits and a cuppa are my 'heart starter' for the day - the more gingery the better. I love it in all its forms, raw, cooked, crytalised, in syrup, in jam, covered in chocolate..........goes off dribbling

celtic_moon

Hi all!

I would like to introduce myself, my name is Celtic and I am an addict - severely addicted to this thread! :rotfl: Seriously, every time I start feeling a bit fed up with our situation, I come on here and read all your lovely posts and I am excited again at all the possibilities that cost little or nothing. Thank you all!

Viv my DH is salivating over your cheesecake recipe - I fear a sharp rise in blood sugar! I made the best possible use out of the aldee vouchers and manage to pass some on to some lovely peeps who seemed so grateful. One lovely older gent thought he'd misheard, his wife had to tell him 3 times for him to say 'so she's just given us £5 for nothing? Well I never!' Bless him. I got 2 of the five bird roasts and 2 of the hog roasts - all half price. Once cooked they will be sliced into portions and put into boxes with gravy. I will freeze them and then we will have enough meals for our weekend trading for most of the summer and I won't have to eat another burger bar burger again!

We have had to buy milk at 'expensive' places recently - our local supermarkets seem to be selling out before we get home at teatime but we have made the most of the 2 for £2 offers at the co and sp@r so we now have several of the 500ml pop bottle full and in the freezer for our trading weekends as the 4pint bottles don't fit in the caravan fridge.

It means I have gone well over budget and had to put a little on my cc but I managed to pick up a day extra work so it will be paid at the end of the month and it will massively help over the next few months too. Then I can put what I have saved towards the rent etc - phew!

I still haven't got around to sowing my seeds or going through my material I have put aside Sunday for sowing and finishing sorting the spare bedroom so I can get sewing! My bestie has had to put her mum into a home and is emptying her house. So far I have lots of crockery, cookware, bedding, curtains etc coming and 2 WHOLE BOXES of material :T - I am beyond excited, it's like Christmas has come again!!! Yet another reason to get the spare room sorted - although with encouragement like that.......

I will bake her something nice to say thank you and hopefully cheer her up a little - she's having a tough time at the min.....

Better go and get my planning done for tomorrow's teaching. Will be checking back regularly (did I mention I was an addict? )

Take Care all xxx

vhalla1478

Hello again,

Celtic, I know just what you mean about being addicted to this thread; it's like I've a whole new circle of girlfriends who are full of brilliant ideas, and funny with it and when I'm fed up with being on my own, I read everyones' posts and am cheered up no end.

I've done pretty well this morning, although my plans changed somewhat. I've just made an ordinary wholemeal loaf as I didn't think the lemon curd I made (one for me, one for the family) would go particularly well with sun-dried tomato and garlic bread! I then made pesto as my basil had seen better days. Tell me what I'm doing wrong with it, please? Someone told me to water it from underneath and that worked for a week or so but it's now dying off again. There was a small amount of cabbage left so together with a couple of sprouting potatoes I've made a hash (half an onion left in fridge and half a small tin of corned beef - in a box not in a tin! from the freezer ). The remaining anchovies that are also languishing in the fridge will be used for the broccoli, anchovy and pasta recipe for tea (limp third of a head of broccoli in fridge). And I suspect there will be some hash left over; this is a good leftover recipe.

Corned Beef Hash

A roughly chopped onion, butter for frying, 2-3 diced boiled potatoes, some chopped boiled cabbage or Brussels sprouts, small can of corned beef, pepper.

Fry the onions in a little butter until soft. Add the potatoes and cabbage and fry gently until they are warmed through. Cut the corned beef into chunks and add to the frying pan. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time, until the corned beef has mingled with the other ingredients into a sort of mush. Use a little more butter if the mixture looks dry and in danger of sticking to the pan. add pepper - I don't add salt because, to me, corned beef is salty enough. Real peasant food!

Viv xx

janb5

vhalla1478 wrote: »

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

Hi Viv- do you think this recipe would freeze well? Have you ever frozen it yourself? Sounds absolutely lush! xx

cheerfulness4

I'm thinking I'd better get that Chocolate and Ginger cheesecake recipe linked on the first page or there could be an outcry. Arggh this will be so tempting and DH and I had just decided that Monday sees us begin our cutting back on the sweet stuff and getting fit for summer.
I had no idea until I read back on my shopping just what a sweet tooth we had developed. I was always a savoury girl growing up.

It is really chilly here today but stunningly sunny. It so lifts your spirits. I can't wait for it to warm up so I can get out in that garden. All the crocuses are flowering away that we planted and the other bulbs leaves are popping up everywhere. There was not one single plant in the garden when we moved here last summer. Well, weeds were here, and plenty of them.

I kept all the cardboard from my jigsaw puzzles that are now stored in the hampers as I'm going to have a play with those and see if I can make some drawer dividers with them as the card is very strong. If it works I might cover them to make them look tidy.
Will have to see how that goes.

Sowing some seeds this afternoon to include some Cosmos. Can't imagine a year without cosmos in the garden.
I've grown these before and loved them so they're being sown today.

I must get my lettuce and rocket sown too if I can find my module trays. They seem to have disappeared, although I've spotted a couple blowing around the garden.
I know the outhouse cupboard might be where DH has stored them but I've still not plucked up the courage to look in there since we moved in. Its dark and cobwebby so I was told. Not keen on sheds and attics. I avoid them but needs must.

Better get stuck into some work then now DH is in bed. Need to clear the kitchen and get those seeds sown, then I'll have a knit until DH has gone to work and I can get in the bedroom to begin making my drawer organizers.

Oh will post todays spends (after now having amended my totals yesterday that weren't complete!)

DAY 6

Money Spent Today - £2.44 Vouchers Spent - £1.80
Money Spent in Total - £17.29 Vouchers Spent in Total - £0
Money left in purse - £0.71 - Float left- £1.98/£15
Jan non-foods left- £10.30/£15

A little spend while we were taking mum and dad shopping of £2.44 on 1x YS bag of Rocket @ 19p, 1x YS bag salad @ 19p, 1 x lime @ 30p and 2x milk @ 88p each.

Reminds me, must get DH to dig my salad box over and get some Rocket sown as it grows like a weed and saves me a bomb.

vhalla1478

Hi again, All,

JanB, I've never frozen it, I'm not that strong-willed; but you can buy frozen cheesecakes so I can't think why not. I think I'd do a little test and try freezing a slice, just in case it doesn't work, so I didn't waste a whole cake!!

Viv xx

[Deleted User]

I have just read your post vhalla and corned beef hash is one of my all time favourite meals My late OH used to do a great one as he,like me, loved corned beef.
Years ago when I was working on Saturday nights (I worked 6.00 a.m. until 12.00 lunchtime then went home and slept for the afternoon then was back at work from 6.00p.m. until early hours of Sunday morning.He would cook it for me for tea,he also did brilliant corned beef fritters and saute potato's

Just the thing to keep you going..Shift work is a killer when it comes to food though, as your eating at all the wrong times of the day.

I am sitting here salivating about a corned beef hash now :):) instead of which I have some crispbreads and sliced tomato and philly Still probably a lot healthier for me

Another NSD today which was good, and none for several days to come as my fridge is full, and tomorrow I shall do a wee bit of ironing then its feet up and relax with my knitting and the wireless for company.I like Saturdays as I can please myself with what I do and don't even have to get out of my dressing gown if I don't feel like it :):) I like to live on the wild side :):)
Have a good evening chums
JackieO xxx

Hard_Up_Hester

We're already eating HG lettuce & our tomato plants are about 6 inches high, hubby takes over the spare bedroom & uses it like a green house.