Thursday 25th Feb - What small DFW things will you do today?

foxgloves

Hello Frugal Friends,
Just getting my post on before lunch, which I intend to watch while catching up on this week's episode of 'Happy Valley'. More productive day so far than yesterday......only got 1 cat sewn up,due to getting epic phone call in the afternoon. So, today's efforts:
*Changed bed linen & loaded washer for cheap overnight wash. Done.
*Cleaned whole house using minimal products & a washable microfibre cloth & one from the rag-bag. Done.
*Measured the vast portion of biscuits given to Cat this morning by the lovely mr f & discovered it to be TWICE the amount a large cat should have. Tipped the excess back into biscuit sack for another day. We're not made of biscuits! Done.
*Checked propagator for veggie seedling progress. More chillies have popped up overnight. Aubergines still going strong, so glad I kept that old out of date seed. Done.
*Negotiated with mr f over which day will be my Car Day next week.
*mr f rang to say he's booked car in for MOT early next month & remembered we had a 50% off voucher. Done (by him, not me!)
*Did a few surveys. Trying to get back into the habit. I like cashing in my Toluna points for Sainsbury's gift cards, then I use those as grocery budget & pay the equivalent money into the Car Fund. Done.
Still to do today:
*Make lunch - am using up a portion of baked beans from the freezer.
*Do meal plans for next week.
*Have a good sort out of the fridge freezer & pantry & use findings to inform the writing of our shopping list.
*Gather together all financial bits & pieces/paperwork/diary/calculator, etc, ready to go upstairs for tomorrow, which is my Big Budget Day.
*Sew up some cats. I have 8 to do. Well, 7.5, as I've got a grey one who only requires his face, tail & whiskers doing. They do look funny, all sitting in a line on my bookcase.
*Finalise weekend plans with mr f. We've pretty much decided to visit a big NT property in neighbouring county, take a picnic & pedometers & get a few healthy steps done. Need to sort out picnic, as mr f seems intent on his being a more calorific event than I was kind of intending mine to be! Hmmm. Separate boxes, I think! Have explained that 5'3'' women of a certain age don't burn calories quite as effectively as younger males who are built like brick outhouses!
*My mascara tube is still yielding the goods. It was what the manufacturers would like me to think of as 'empty' 3 weeks ago, but popping the tube in a mug of boiling water for just a couple of minutes before applying really does soften it up enough to get a lot more uses out of it. Have come to the conclusion that the bigger, wider tubes are not necessarily any more economical than the slimmer tubes. If the brush can't reach right to the edges of the plastic on the wide tubes, then that product is just going to dry up & cling to the sides. Maybe more of the product is actually reachable in the slimmer tubes. The science of mascara......I will sound like I'm making a fuss over such a small thing, but I wear mascara every single day, & am always surprised just how quickly a tube seems to run out these days. Done
*No downstairs heating on yet - will put on at around 5pm.
OK, lunchtime. Have a good day all.......& Ally, if you DO cycle straight into the canal, I think photos will be a must.......
f x

Baileys_Babe

Foxglove I don't ware make up any more but when I did instead of mascara I used to get my eye lashes dyed, no need to buy mascara or apply it or take it off again in the evening or making a mess all over my face if I go to to hot or cry etc and no problems bought trying to get the last bit out of the tube.

HelleBelle

Thanks for the warm welcome

Baileys Babe - I write my meal plans on a white board so no no previous ones to harvest from.

I will have a search on here and see what I can cobble together. I'm a spreadsheet geek so perhaps this is the way forward then put each week's on the whiteboard so hubs can see.

lego_mum

HelleBelle, going forward you could take a photo of your meal plan with a phone for a few weeks and look back at them that way.

I'm currently stood my the grill (getting some ot the heat on my legs ) and grilling dh's leftover beef & hummous sandwiches that he didn't get round to eating

Baileys_Babe

HelleBelle wrote: »

Thanks for the warm welcome

Baileys Babe - I write my meal plans on a white board so no no previous ones to harvest from.

I will have a search on here and see what I can cobble together. I'm a spreadsheet geek so perhaps this is the way forward then put each week's on the whiteboard so hubs can see.

We also write ours on a white board (easier to adjust), but once it is finalised now I also make a Google document which I share with OH, so we both no what the plan is where ever we are, no excuses. In our house we plan together (including the children), I do the vast majority or the shopping and OH does most of the cooking and making the bread by hand (I use the machine). We do move the meals around based on how we are feeling or what we are doing. Occasionally meals are planned for a particular day because of external events or we need to eat one meal before another so we have ingredients ie Roast chicken before chicken risotto and chicken and ham pie.

make_the_change

Does anyone have any beef casserole recipes that can be done in slow cooker? OH loves his veg, I just fish it out lol but looking to maximise flavour and have with mash and French bread x

HelleBelle

Lego Mum great idea!! I do already tale a picture as that's where I write my shopping list, then I photograph my shopping list to take through to the lounge and do my online order! I always delete them though as space on my phone is a precious commodity (always filled up with pics of the kiddos:))

Baileys Babe I love the idea of planning together with the kiddos too. Normally it's me and hubs - he's getting much better at meal planning even if it does predominently feature "frozen pie & chips":rotfl:
We have business card size magnetic white cards that we write the meals on (wipe clean) then we can move the week's meals around as we fancy.

Thanks for the tips

DawnW

make_the_change wrote: »

Does anyone have any beef casserole recipes that can be done in slow cooker? OH loves his veg, I just fish it out lol but looking to maximise flavour and have with mash and French bread x

I don't really use a recipe for beef casserole, but rather use what I have in. For veg, the basics are onions, carrots and celery, but obviously you can add whatever others you like. I tend to make different 'types' of casserole rather than recipes.For example, a Mediterranean type would have garlic and herbs, tinned tomatoes and a splash of red wine if I have it, whereas a more traditional kind would have lentils and pearl barley and maybe a splash of beer if OH had a can open or if there was some left. I might add dumplings to this type

These are just two examples, it depends on what you like and what you have, but whatever, to make it, put a tablespoon of flour and some seasoning into a bowl, add meat and stir it about to coat it, then brown it in a little fat or oil on the hob, add chopped up veg and soften for a little while, stirring every now and then (this helps ensure the veg are cooked properly, as root veg can take ages in a SC). Add liquid (water with stock cubes is fine if you don't have actual stock), tinned tomatoes if using, lentils and pearl barley if using, bring to the boil and tip into the SC. The liquid needs to only just cover the solid ingredients, and don't worry if it seems a bit thickened by the flour. How long you cook it for depends on the setting but I usually put it on in the morning to eat in the evening. Be guided by the recipe ideas in the manual for your SC (google if you don't have it). If you want a more prescriptive kind of recipe as opposed to improvising as above, try http://allrecipes.com/recipe/14685/slow-cooker-beef-stew-i/

If you want to add tinned veg, such as beans or sweetcorn, add this towards the end as it only needs to warm through. Frozen needs a bit longer.

If you want dumplings, use 100g SR flour and 50g shredded suet, a pinch of salt and enough water to make a sticky-ish dough. Roll into balls with floury hands. You need the liquid boiling well when you add these, so if it isn't, turn the SC up to high setting and get it bubbling before you put them in. They will take about half an hour, so add at the end of cooking, turning over half way through

foxgloves

Hi Make the change,
I don't use a recipe as such, but always make my slow cooker beef stew like this:
500g stewing beef or cut up a piece of beef skirt
1 beef stock cube
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 onions roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, sliced
1 leek, sliced
2 big carrots, sliced
2 tsp worcester sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp dried mixed herbs or 1 tbsp fresh
3 tsp cornflour
Salt & pepper to taste
I usually brown the meat a bit first in a spoonful of oil as my slow cooker crock is ok to use on the hob, but if yours isn't, use a separate pan, or don't bother, though it does give it more flavour. Then I put the meat, veg & everything else in the slow cooker. I make the stock cube up with just enough boiling water to cover everything. I always cook this on Low for 8 hours. After 7.5 hours, I mix the cornflour with a little cold water, add some of the casserole liquid, then stir it all into the slow cooker to thicken up the liquid. Then I taste it for seasoning & leave it for its last little bit of cooking time. This will make enough for 4 people but you can easily stretch it by adding a bit more chunky veg. Swede is cheap & filling so chunks of that can go in too, esp if you have bought one of those vegetable stew packs.
If I haven't got a leek, I sometimes use frozen peas instead, but a leek will add more flavour. The trick with slow cooker stews is not to put too much water in, but if this does happen, you can always use any spare liquid as the basis for a cheap & tasty beef & vegetable soup. Nothing wasted in my kitchen, lol, except by cheeky cat!
Hope this is helpful to you at some point,
F x

make_the_change

Thanks all. I don't like cooked veg but OH does and my staples are usually onion, swede and carrots. It's more intensifying the flavour I think. Maybe I use too much water! Will try your tips out Monday