Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

zaxdog

Feeling very chuffed this afternoon as I work for a wholesaler and we get the chance to by things for pennies when they are on the BB date. Today I got:

5 x fillet steaks (1 for dinner, 1 to make tandoori, and 3 to freezer) - 50p
24 cans of Coke Life - 50p
3kg tin of Quality Street - 50p
85 portion tandoori marinade paste - £1

So when I carted that lot home I made a tandoori beef to have with some Indian rice for lunch tomorrow.

The Quality Street is for Mr Zaxdog to take to work (he is a chef and the staff love something to grab on the way in and out of the kitchen) :rotfl:

Pile of dog toys to mend tonight

misstara

Evening all

Had a good rummage in the fridge earlier and used up all the slightly past it veg for tea - had lamb chops, wedges and roasted veg. I've made flapjacks to take to work for snacks and also got my lunch organised for tomorrow to take with me.

Not much else to report, having a fairly relaxing evening, just need to finish the ironing and do the dishes.

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Well done all who are working so hard!!! Isnt it amazing what we can save by cooking for ourselves!!

On that note I went to L!dil today - the first time for 2 weeks (I think!) I spent £22 but bought a lot of protein and coffee (the plastic type in a jar - I dont like it much but visitors do, and should I have to finish it up then it has to be vaguely drinkable so I dont get the cheapest!). Apart from a bit of fruit and lettuce type stuff I wont need to go shopping next week! :j:j

Have just been given a huge tin of HM Scottish Tablet by a grateful student and grandparents. :eek: Very kind but I cannot possibly eat it all - I will end up a size 128!!! Have enlisted help of a friend with 2 teenage kids and am gonna take it up to her house tomorrow night! Phew!

Today has been full of flippin paperwork but I feel better now that it is done!!! I spent yesterday getting one of my short stories finished for review by my writers group. I went completely off grid and so found the end of the story (I had been stuck) All i did was cook and wash up apart from write. Feel very lucky that I can do that! But it is very MM&M in that I am making do with the food that is in the house; minimising by getting 'must do' actually done; and mending because I am finishing and making whole the story!! Also NSD! And no heating needed because I wrap myself up in a blanket in order to think!! :rotfl:

but on the decluttering front have done well-another 3 files sorted and gone - 2nd big bin bagfull ready for the bin men on Thursday!!

Keep on frugalling folk!

vulpix

Evenin.

Viv I forgot to say,well done on finishing the rug,I would love to see a pic too.

The drive has been dug up,new drains laid and back filled,toilet and sink being delivered tomorrow.Things are slowly but surely coming on.I thought that I wouldn't have the downstairs loo finished before my op.I could possibly be drawing my pension before my op! I hate it so that I dread the post,the longer the wait the more anxious I get.

Had to go to the smoke today (hospital) so mooched round the shops and got a few xmas stocking fillers.I love Christmas but hate going shopping near Christmas.I have almost finished my xmas shopping.My friend and i always used to go to Chester near christmas just for the atmosphere.They do a mummers play through the streets which is a spectacle.

Morrries have some good offers on on tea bags and coffee.I have found that i am using loads more than usual with all these workmen.

I am having a full day at home tomorrow for a change,nice to get out n about but nice to have a potter too.I want to do a little in the back garden now the shed is moved and i must do a spot of cleaning and tidying.I cannot wait to have some storage so that things are not permanently being moved from one place to another.The novelty has worn off now and i want a clean tidy house instead of dust and clutter.

Laters Vx

[Deleted User]

Hi chums making do by using up stuff from my freezer this week:) ,mended some of the boys socks for school later this week(why do boys socks get such holes in the toes so quickly )DD was impressed as she would have probably binned them:)My late Mum taught me how to darn pretty neatly.I also had some name tab sewing to do on their blazers.
Did a bit of minimising on some paper clutter, so yesterday was quite productive.
Last day of the school holidays today,so I may,if the rain holds off take the boys to the local woods in hope of getting some blackberries for the winter freezer store.I love apple and blackberry crumble when the weather is really cold,its a reminder of summer (though this summer has been a bit on the damp side :))
NSD yesterday and hopefully none today either.
won a bottle of wine at the pub quiz last night There is enough in our stash for us all to have a bottle each in the team now.We save them up until there are enough for a share out in our floating team of around 8.Its a great night out at £2.00 including supper. Part of my entertainment budget so I don't have to touch my food budget ,plus I get a night off from cooking :)
Right onwards and upwards chums
Cheers JackieO xx

vhalla1478

Hello again, Everyone,

I'm trying to get my motivation back for MMMing ;very necessary as my DB and I are hoping to go to Prague next month - holiday slightly delayed as he has no work at the moment and then DDil and I are having a few days in London in November plus I've had a very kind invitation to have a long weekend with a friend in October, so belt tightening time is upon me!

I can't complain, though as I had a wonderful bank holiday weekend with my DB and I'm not saying you all have to buy new hats yet, ladies but things are definitely moving in the right direction. However, my DB just has a problem with his DS - 28 still at home and no intention of working, but might go to Australia with his mother - he certainly needs to get a life. However, I say very little - he is my DB's son and he loves him and feels protective towards him as his mother repudiated him when he was 14 and sent him back to the UK and his father so although she is now trying to build bridges, she did do severe emotional damage to her son.

Anyway, to get back to MMMing, I don't mind as I have a freezer and a larder full of food, a wardrobe full of clothes and a cupboard full of toiletries, so will hopefully just be buying veg, fruit, cream and milk for the foreseeable future. Please keep me on track, ladies.

I'm also considering starting another rug as I have so much wool left from this one (thank you for the congrats, Vulpix and I am thinking of you - horrible waiting for that letter - the sooner you can get the operation over, the better). It would keep me busy as the autumn and winter draws in.

Here's a fab recipe for autumn; I was going to do it today but my local supermarket had neither butternut squash or hazelnuts in stock!

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Creamy Goat's Cheese - serves 2 as main, 4 as starter.

1 butternut squash (about 1kg), 100g goat's cheese, crumbled, approx. 12 sage leaves finely shredded, plus a few extra for serving, small bunch of chives, finely chopped, 100g toasted and roughly chopped hazelnuts, plus a handful to serve.

Heat oven to 180degrees, gas 4. Cut squash in half lengthways leaving the seeds in as they are easier to remove once cooked. Place on a baking tray, cooked side up. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 50-60 minutes until the flesh is soft when pierced with a knife.

Scoop out the seeds and carefully remove the flesh from the squash, leaving a 1cm rim next to the skin.

Mash the squash in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and divide between the shells. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the filling turns golden on top.

Heat 1 tbsp. oil and gently fry a few of the sage leaves in oil until curling at the edges. Pour the oil and sage leaves over the squash and scatter with toasted hazelnuts.

Gosh, I've been rabbiting on a bit - sorry about that, have a lovely day, Everyone.

Viv xx

FairyPrincessk

Oooh Vhalla--that does sound intriguing!
LynCongrats on the short story!

Normal work day for me, although I'm a bit scatterbrained today. Woke up to good news--both a job for next term and acceptance at my favourite conference of the year.

I put some washing on a bit ago as the forecast had been revised to say sunny all afternoon...and now it is absolutely chucking it down--torrential, hail, wind, heavy rain. Oh well, I guess the clotheshorse will get an airing.

I've made some tzatkiki to go with our lentil rissoles for tea. Uses up the remainder of the yoghurt from a dinner last week and tea will use up a spare pepper and only required spends on a few salad bits. Might do an apple and blackberry crumble for puds as per JackieO's inspiration.

We're trying to crack down a bit on the MMM after our glorious summer. We're saving for a house and although we are several years away from being ready to choose an area, we want to have the downpayment all ready to go when we are ready. I'm thinking of finding a few pictures of 'dream' homes and putting them up on the fridge!

vulpix

Well done FPK,I hope you enjoy the new job.

By the time I got organised and had many distractions it poured with rain here so I have 2 clothes airers with wet clothes in the kitchen.I didn't achieve as much as I would have liked but happy with the progress.

A LOT of boxes have been delivered this afternoon for the down stairs loo.Very nice driver who I ended up giving some plants to.

Man came from the gas board to see about loft insulation.He has the power!!!!!!!! to give the go ahead for insulation.We do not have to wait for 6 months.He is however going on holiday next week(familiar story recently).This will give me time to take up all the boards in the loft and expose some of the roof to see if there is any felt or not.He said this scheme is paid for by green tax on fuel so I don't feel too much of a scrounger.As he said if you have ever bought fuel you have paid the tax which is used to make homes more energy efficient.

Viv,how very exciting.Please keep us up to speed with developments.I too need to regroup with MM&M.I am hoping when school starts again ,next Wednesday that we can get back into more of a routine.It all seems to have run away with me since my last op and the house move.I haven't been spending but we do seem to be out a lot and not having time to cook much.I wish I could be as disciplined as you Jackie O.

I want to buy a few things on eeeeeeeeeeeeebay tonight.light fittings and a side table.Light fittings are so expensive in the shops.I bought a lovely old brass fitting last week which will need rewiring but is just perfect in this house.I paid £15, in a shop I think it would be at least £100.

We are helping MrV's son buy a house.We did drive bys yesterday and he is going to view one tomorrow.He is a single lad who works hard as an ambulance driver (not paramedic).He would never be able to save a deposit and pay rent so we are giving him a leg up onto the property ladder.He has had a rough time of it with his own Mother too she threw him out at 17.Luckily his Gran took him in and he has turned out well,He is 30 now.

Have a nice evening Vx

[Deleted User]

Made a tasty dinner tonight out of odds and ends.I fished out something from the freezer this morning, and didn't look that closely at it as I was in a bit of a rush.When I got home tonight I pulled it from the fridge to find it was a herby potaoto cake-type thing that I must have bought Y/S.

So I had some left-over trimmed mushroom stalks . So they got cast into the frying pan along with this potato cake .Once it was all browned and golden (did it in garlic infused olive oil so the flavours were lovely) I then whipped up a quick one-egg omelette to go with it and topped it with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce brought back from my holidays, added the left over half a tin of baked beans from the fridge .

Very tasty, and cost nothing as it was using up odds and ends from the fridge really. Pudding was last of the small pack of black grapes chopped up with a couple of dollops of plain low-fat yoghurt, sort of grape eton-mess type thing only with yoghurt instead of ice cream :)very filling and everything came from my fridge & freezer so no outlay to me:)

I love meals made out of bits and bobs in store it seems to make them seem almost free :)

Weather was too doubtful to go blackberrying I am hoping to go at the weekend though.

My youngest DGS Mikey starts at senior school tomorrow, bless him it feels like the last of DDs babies are getting so tall and grown up now.

I have been looking after him since he was 2 when his Mum had to return to work to help out with the bills, can't believe he is 11 now.Where has the last 9 years vanished to.
right as Zebedee would say Time for bed'

Good Night all
JackieO xx

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

It occurred to me today as I read your posts; Jackie O (disciplined); Valhalla (saving with a definite purpose); Vulpix (doing house renovations + waiting for op + coping with Summer hols spends) how we have all done SO well!!! We have been supporting each other and keeping on the MM&M for 8 months. Yes, we may all be having to pull our purse strings back into the shut mode (in my case due to house repairs!) but 1) We all know how to do this in a way that works for us 2) we are all supporting each other to do this 3) we are all on the lookout for ways to minimise spends and maximise income - which we then bring back to the community on here.

From me personally - thanks for all your help; advice and support! I am sure we will all get back on track now the Summer Madness is over!

Yep - weather is not being consistent and even the BBC got it wrong in our area!! Took 2 days to get towels dry!! they had several heavenly rinses!!!

Um Valhalla - I dont suit hats except for Fedora s - devil of a job to find - you'll have to give me plenty of notice!! :rotfl:

For me today its been v busy. did more flippin paperwork this AM!! Yep - more plopped thro the door!! :mad: Also put a bacon joint to marinade (special offer L!dil) which I will bake alongside a potato for lunch tomorrow. today I ate totally from freezer and supplies and, despite being in pubs on CAMRA business (lovely part of my volunteer job - telling folks that they have got into the 'recommended pub book' ) I resisted temptation and did not buy a beer and/or crisps!! Dont want to break into my 'entertainment'stash until Saturday!
Spent most of day working and then went round my friends and 'downloaded' the chocolate fudge on to her and her two teenagers. It was lovely fudge - only the tin of Scottish Tablet to go! Such a lovely and kind gift - but too much for me on my own - so I just spread the love! Would have shared it with you guys so please each help yourselves to a virtual piece!!! :A :rotfl: