Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

[Deleted User]

SILVASAVA would your 60 year old friend like not a present but a day or half day experience of something in which he has an interest, I remember He Who Knows was given a half day as fireman on the Watercress Line Steam Railway for christmas one year and he loved it. They got me a Hot Air Balloon flight which was amazing and we in turn got our nephew a gliding lesson. For christmas this year DD1 has got us vouchers to go 'Walking with Alpaccas' from a centre just outside of Winchester, yet to be done I add, sometimes a present that is not a material thing is a lovely change? Hope that helps, Lyn xxx.

villagelife

I try and shop at least a day later each week. It's much easier to do when DS's are both at uni and the cost is much cheaper!
Both my DS cook DS2 more so but neither will bake but DS2 will make pastry for steak pie. If I give him links to cakes/bread on youtube he may start! Ineed to bake probably tomorrow as I have bananas which need eating.

I took home madesoup to work from the freezer which was much needed as I was hungry by then and soup is filling.

Prinzessilein

Evening!


It has been a quiet day....had the blood tests done - took the nurse a couple of attempts to find a vein....she told me that I should have a nice quiet day, so I took her medical advice


I enjoy baking - mostly bread....one of my brothers bakes too - bread and cakes - he also makes his own butter, and smokes meat. (the meat-smoking probably classes as a 'man' thing!)


Re the present for a 60 year old...(SilvaSava?)...how about a subscription to a magazine they enjoy?...that way they get a present every month!


And it has been years since I went to McDs!...and even then I was not impressed! And KFC brings back bad memories! (I went with some friends many years ago...and was at the GP the next day....as were a few other people who had dined at the same place!)....I am not against all takeaway food...when I was a student I developed a slight addiction to stotties from the near-campus bakery!

MrsCD

We were on holiday a few weeks ago, and stopped at a motorway service station for breakfast as we were picked up by the coach at 3am!! We looked at all the cafe options, and as we didn't fancy a heavy breakfast, because we were travelling to Belgium and the journey would take a good few hours, we decided to try one of the new breakfast wraps at McDonalds. It was a bread-type wrap with an omelette and cheese, freshly made, and I found it very tasty. I know McD's have had a bad press over the years, but they have pulled their socks up and now provide some very nutritious salads etc., all their eggs are free range, their beef is good quality - British or Irish (can't remember off the top of my head), and they have a full dietary list of all their foods on the tray liner, so you can check exactly what is in the food. I don't have any connection to the company, but I just wanted to say that if you haven't been there for a few years, it might be worth taking another look at them. It's not somewhere I'd go regularly, but for an occasional bite to eat, it's better than some of the others.

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Sorry to burst McDs health image bubble - but its very cleverly written advertising. For example they claim their burgers come from Ireland, and, indeed they do. what they dont tell you is if the meat is born and bred in Ireland or imported as carcasses and then processed in Ireland. According to the law - they can still claim their burgers come from Ireland. Indeed, they do now do salads. If you add the dressing and crutons provided - the calories are more than a big Mac and so is the saturated fat. Sorry folks but - if you look around on the net you can substantiate my claims - indeed it was pointed out on one of the BBC food programmes recently.

Having said all that - I occaisionally treat myself to a Burger K!ng - cos I love burgers

Viv - my boys both bake (cakes and bread) and when not with a partner cook from fresh each night (unless going out for a celebration!) They also use markets and YS goods. They can also mend a plug and sew a seam and a button. They have always paid bills on the nail and been frugal. I was a divorcee for 20 years and so I was determined that they learnt to survive without me - should anything happen to me (ex would have been useless and neither of us had close relatives). They love cooking - one specialising in Korean cooking and one has recently turned vegan - so now they are both teaching me!!!

Tonight I cooked my gammon joint in the oven with honey marinade - and then in the last hour put in some HM wedges and salad - yum!!! Plus loads of nice ham for the week!! And to freeze down too!
An NSD today :-)
Have frugal day tomorrow folks

kittym

Morning peeps

The threads gone all shiny since I last posted. Need my sunglasses on it's so bright. Is there anyway we can go back to the old way?

You have all been so busy over the last few days. I have been enjoying the beautiful weather and keeping out of trouble. Got some YS bread and buns in Mr M's yesterday. :T
I too have a couple of freezers and slowly make my way through them every month.

Thanks for the tips with regards to the kindle. I love mine as I can make the words extra large. It goes everywhere with me, however I do still love a book as well.

The nappies on the washing line took me back to when my DD was little as I too used the cloth one's, as the disposable one's where expensive.

Looks like another lovely day is upon us again so today I am going to potter in the garden, then out for tea as a treat for DD. It was parents evening last night and she did fab. She's on course to achieve A and A* with an aim to go uni.:T

Hope the weather is lovely for you all and have a smashing day everyone. xxx

Rosanna79

What a ghastly layout this new look is! I mostly lurk and with the old look was able to enlarge what I was reading just by pulling my fingers apart on the screen of my tablet. Now even changing my font size setting the screen print remains stubbornly small. I can read it BUT I LOATHE small print with a passion! What is going on? Interesting reading everyone's different ways of making do etc. I also like burgers or kufta (minced meat) kebabs but always make my own even if it's a large quantity for a barbecue as well as the veggie ones. I like to know what's in everything we eat. OH is rather fussy, will not touch meat with any fat on it so it's time consuming preparing it to his likink. So it's always more economical in our case to buy the best /leanest cut I can afford, have less of it and use more veg. I've tried using cheaper cuts in my slow cooker but any hint of fat will literally make OH gag and the rest of the meal would go in the bin as he wretches. I am extremely fussy about fish even though we are supposed to eat more of it. I found at a very early age in school cookery that having prepared a fish from scratch I couldn't bear to eat it! So I consider the money spent on a fishmonger having done all the work! We grow a lot of our own veg which is always a pleasure, especially come harvest time and have a large second freezer in the garage which works well with gluts. Otherwise frozen veg commecially bought particularly compared with fresh veg like broccoli can be so much cheaper when out of season.

Rosanna79

Sorry for the typos! This tablet seems harder to correct than my laptop upstairs! Anyway I meant to say that the fishmongerdoing all the work is money well spent for me. Quite funny for me to be so squeamish when I was nurse for 43 years!!

camelot1001

I buy salmon, chicken and mince at Costco and portion it up in little plastic bags. These go in the freezer along with some frozen peas, bread (we use so little it's a waste if it's not frozen), veggie meatballs and a pizza. The freezer isn't very big but does for DD and I as we are now very near shops. I also put in left overs so DD can take them for lunch.

Not a huge fan of any fast food chain but once in a blue moon wont do anyone any harm and sometimes a little of what you fancy ...........!

DollyDabbler

If like me you prefer the old version of the forum, follow the link on techie support. i have had to do this every time I have logged on, but can now enlarge the print when reading from my tablet.