The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, just HOW is it the end of May?? It's barely just been Christmas!! :eek:

Ooh Greying, I was just lying in bed bemoaning the fact that having had the last four days off, I have neglected to make enough time to make soup for work

Was going to pop to the supermarket on the way, but with your mention of sticking picky bits in the oven... i think I'll get up and bung some crustless quiches and chocolate brownies in there instead :j Will probably only save about £4 but it all helps! :money:

Thanks (as usual) for the inspiration! :j

You have a good day

EssexHebridean

All sounding good with you Greying - and never forget that the smallest things contribute to the end goal somewhere along the line - it can just sometimes be tricky to work out exactly how, I know!

Agree with Cheery that this year seems to be rocketing through - that's us done with Bank Holidays now until August, isn't it - never mind just been Christmas, it'll be here again before we know it!

Sweet potatoes...Mmmm! Enjoy!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Cheery - don't thank me, I had a :eek: I've got to do picky bits moment this morning :rotfl:

EH - you're right, absolutely. I just wish things were a little more concrete and that there wasn't so much to do. We were struggling before BG came along, and now it's ever so slightly impossible. Although I know that I'd rather have BG in my life - s0d the house!

I have achieved things today, not as much as I wanted, and time evaporated whilst I was up the high street this morning, don't know what went on. I only went for a peek in one charity shop, and wasn't in there long, as it's not a very big shop, and I was only interested in the kiddies section!

I have something to take tomorrow, and another couple of things that I could make this evening/tomorrow morning as a 'back-up'. Anyone else never want to appear mean when catering? whether informal, or whether their Royal Highnesses are dropping by......

My challenge is formulated as much as I want it to be at this point. I don't want to be too rigid, as if there is no flexibility, then I'll fail from the get go. I want to try to start small and gain momentum. Don't know if it will work, but that's how I'm going to play it this time. The challenge period is 13 weeks from the 1st June, 2017 to the 31st August, 2017.

The broad plan is based on the word 'Trimester'.

T = 'Things', we need to purchase. ie a new fridge, the old one is *******d We have the money saved for this type of purchase.

R = 'Renovations', of the house, and I'm trying to keep it feasible for 13 weeks, so actually, there will be no scaffolding...... unless we really get on fire with this challenge!!!! :rotfl: Renovations can mean 'anything', so painting, or sticking on a bit of architrave, moving a socket - that sort of thing.

I = 'Involvement' - family time in effect. I want to make use of our natty trust cards, and have a target of 10 visits during the 13 week period, 4 of which are to nt places we've not been before. We do have a 'staycation' in the challenge time - we're not using every weekend to go gallivanting! I also want to visit an NGS garden and use the visit to see an elderly relative who has yet to meet BG!

'ME' = well, Me! Back to the old chestnut of losing the babbie weight and getting fitter. I've an ongoing health..... niggle? worry? Which I hope can be sorted in the challenge period and we'll know where we stand....

'ster'= a suffix meaning 'associated with'. That'll be Family Greying - what can we do to improve our lot, have fun, build memories together, grow and develop as a family within 13 weeks? This is particularly pertinent, because I remember so vividly marking progress each week when I was pregnant - what size was the baby? what could it do this week that it couldn't last week, what outward signs could mum detect? etc.

I don't want to lose sight of 'Family Greying' because of wall-papering, artexing or cleaning grout.......... we'll never get this time again.

Some things are already under the relevant headings, and some will appear as we go along. If we make good progress, I hope that will enable more chores to be added. If we fall behind, perhaps I'll remember to be realistic, rather than beat myself up about lack of progress.

So that is kinda it......

__________________

Tea this evening was falafel burger and sweet potato fries, with roasted garlic and lemon mayo and tommie ketchup. The burger and bun were HM out of the freezer, the roasted garlic done in the oven with the fries, and the sweet potatoes were the YS'd ones I got the other day - lightly spiced with zanzibar spice mix. No green on the plate My bad, but as we eat like this only occasionally, I'll let it slide on this occasion. Picture here;



Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

e-mail correspondance from friends

a thank you note we received - it was for a little thing that brought me great pleasure to do anyway.

my fabric stash - might have sorted a temporary problem with a temporary solution, for nowt

Ta for popping in and encouraging me. Appreciated.

Greying X

greenbee

I'm after some help GP

I have a glut of pasteurised milk (nice unhomogenised organic stuff), so thought I'd make yogurt with it. However, as I usually make it with UHT I'm not quite sure what I need to do about heating it (or why!). Do I need to warm the milk up before it goes into the yogurt maker or can I just use it the same way as UHT. I can see that as the latter is usually room temp, and the pasteurised is currently in the fridge it may work differently.

Greying_Pilgrim

greenbee wrote: »

I'm after some help GP

I have a glut of pasteurised milk (nice unhomogenised organic stuff), so thought I'd make yogurt with it. However, as I usually make it with UHT I'm not quite sure what I need to do about heating it (or why!). Do I need to warm the milk up before it goes into the yogurt maker or can I just use it the same way as UHT. I can see that as the latter is usually room temp, and the pasteurised is currently in the fridge it may work differently.

Yes, it needs to be heated..... to 80 something degrees if memory serves.... let me try to find the instructions I wrote out on my diary.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Normal milk has to be heated up to 85 degrees centigrade, then allowed to cool back down to 46 degrees centigrade.

Are you going to use milk powder too?

Greying X

greenbee

Thanks GP. I thought I didn't have a thermometer, but just realised I can use the probe on the oven thermometer

No milk powder. Just a pot of yogurt and a LOT of milk ... I had granola with the top of the milk this morning which was delicious.

Greying_Pilgrim

Just found my instructions again greenbee. Yoghurt Making using ordinary milk

Greying X

greenbee

Thanks GP. I'm going to work within the limits I've got - no milk powder, and as much milk as I can cram into the 1 litre pot! I've got a small pot of yogurt as a starter. And rather a lot of milk left.... I may be making cheese sauce tomorrow!

greenbee

Cooling the milk is boring... I think I'll probably stick with UHT for everyday yogurt making. It takes too long this way to do it regularly. I'm sure it'll be delicious... (It had better be)