The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Also love the idea of spiced hot chocolate - do you mind me asking what you put in it to make it spicy?

Ay up Cheery - I put a smattering (a very scant 1/2 tsp?)of mixed spice (prob a bit old and lacking punch.......but) a pinch (a very scant 1/4 tsp) of ground cloves (too much and it overpowers everything), a bit of powdered ginger (no more than 1/4 tsp) and a dusting (1/4 tsp at the very max) of cinnamon. Put it in with the chocolate powder before I added the milk. I also put some coffee powder in to intensify the chocolateyness - like you do in baking. The hot chocolate was spiced, but as per usual, and despite vigorous whisking, the powder had settled in the bottom of the flask (not a huge amount, but a bit) and some of the spice had also settled - so I inadvertently poured the last bit into my cup and it was a little..... too much...... Note to self, leave the lees; like you would in a decent bottle of wine or beer.....

Funnily enough, as I was pouring out the hot choc into the cups (I was resting everything on a wall) a robin flew up onto the wall, literally a foot away from me - it clearly wasn't expecting to see anything, let alone a great huge human-being looming over it. I don't know who was more startled - but it flinched first and flew off :rotfl:

Tea has been munched. No pic, I'm afraid. The soup was orange, and the sandwiches were hot. I had high hopes of the soup - I like carrots, I like caraway. It was simple and inexpensive to make. It did improve having stood for a little while, but it just....... didn't do it for me I guess. It struck me that we have upwards of 48 soups a year, an average of 4 per month. If I had to rank this soup, would it be in my top 50? Mmmm, have to say, probably not...... Disappointed, as I have a high regard for Rose Elliot. I guess this is just not a keeper of a recipe for me. I served it with a swirl of yoghurt and a sprinkle of sumac. Still underwhelmed...... :rotfl:

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

that our walk to a marvellous panoramic view cost nothing and yet kept us absorbed and entertained for ages (as did the plethora of wildlife)

that we could bring a smile to someone's face, just by being 'us'

that we can be warm at the flick of a switch

Thanks for popping in, reading and joining in. Appreciated. Greatly.

Greying X

BOBS

GP I have totally gone off carrots this week too ..... made carrot muffins from a new recipe - recipe enough for 16 muffins and used 450g of carrots!!! On reflection way too high a ratio of carrots and they really dont taste good at all. Have frozen a dozen of them and really cant face the thoughts of defrosting to eat any time soon !! Maybe the birdies would appreciate them ....... hate the waste but .....

Would have loved a nice walk in the fresh air today - was lovely and bright here as well but loaded with the cold and energy levels weren't at their best to anything on top of my norm. Now reading this wish I had of made the effort.

Keep smiling GP

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, we've been out and about to see what we could see - and we saw lots We only spent £1 (pesky inflation!) yesterday, but it was for parking, not the other 'p' :rotfl:I saw - for the first time at close quarters - a redwing. We were in a forested area and ironically, the most bird life was actually in the car park! There were blackbirds, robins and song thrushes a-plenty. Then, as we were leaving, and waiting for someone to finish parking their [STRIKE]HGV wagon[/STRIKE] car, I spotted a bird scampering across the undergrowth. It was the size of a thrush, but had a dark brown back, with a distinctive blaze across its eye. I thought it was a redwing, as I had looked up fieldfares/redwings a couple of weeks ago, and lo and behold, on rechecking, it was! One of the many free things that delighted us yesterday Lunch was a pack up, and we'd had spiced hot chocolate (vanilla and a cardamon pod made it into the infusion yesterday - cardamon pod removed before putting in flask) and a HM chocolate bun in the forest during our walk

We called in at a farm shop on the way home. We had a 25kg bag of wilja potatoes for £4.99 and a 10kg bag of onions for £2.50. I was tempted to get a net of carrots too, but being practical, they would be more difficult to store. They were a heck of a lot cheaper per kilo than the blessed supermercados are charging at the mo tho! If we eat nowt else this winter, we'll be good for tatties and onions! I haven't opened the tattie bag yet, but in previous years they have been good - grown on a local farm. £5 for a bag makes them 20p a kilo, ok, so they are unwashed for that, but again, they make supermercado prices look absolutely outlandish. But I do realise that buying from the farmgate has its drawbacks. Storage in our case. We would also be stuffed if we didn't have a car to transport the goods home.

I'm going to try to make it to the community hub today, and we've lots of itty bitty bits to get on with.

Tea is a buddha bowl, I've no idea yet what it will consist of.

Right, best get started, daylight is a burning!

Ta for popping in, reading and chatting. All good. All appreciated.

Greying X

EssexHebridean

Storage is our problem too - I'd LOVE to be able to buy big bags of tatties like that but even in the col, dark larder, the wretches thing STILL sprout inside a few weeks, so the biggest I'll risk buying is 5kg at a time. Just think of all that potato-loveliness though....and on that subject,. I'm going to add some for of potato, onion and cheese bake to the meal plan for the week....hang on, BRB...


***

Right - back - and sorry about the bacon! :rotfl: It might even end up being a homity pie come to think about it. Now THERE'S a favourite that's not made it onto the list for a while! The "chunks" of Wyke farm cheddar are brilliant for anything like that though as the slow melting is perfect for it so it's a good time to add it in!

Redwings are LOVELY little birds! That eye stripe is usually a good giveaway, but as they fly you often see the distinctive red "armpits" too - beautiful! First time we saw one we had absolutely no idea what we were looking at!

You seen the Pick o' the week and SS offers this week? I think they may appeal!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, a redwing, how lovely! :j think i've only ever seen one once. We did have a blackcap in the garden the other day though, cheery little thing

Greying_Pilgrim

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Redwings are LOVELY little birds! That eye stripe is usually a good giveaway, but as they fly you often see the distinctive red "armpits" too - beautiful! First time we saw one we had absolutely no idea what we were looking at!

You seen the Pick o' the week and SS offers this week? I think they may appeal!

ooof, EH, I'm loving the sound of your oozy, melty, cheesy smashingness

I was surprised to see the redwing on the ground - daft, I know. Also, it was 'notionally' on its own. I mean, I only saw one, and then we drove off. The forest was actually 'alive' with birdlife >But I thought they were the sort of birds you always see in a gaggle......

Mmm, just been to mrL and mrAl. I didn't notice the oranges on the poster as I was standing waiting in line to pay - curses - but I'm confused, as the poster said 59p each. Online it is showing as 49p each. I would have snagged the oranges, you are right. I just didn't fancy the mrL offering this week, but I did buy some wild rocket that was on special at 65p a bag. I have also bought some 'Skyr' - it was 39p for a 150g tub. I now have to look up what to do with it! All it said was 'protein' on the packet. Am I supposed to put it into my power building green smoothie shots, that y'all know I have each day.......:p

FB donations dropped off. Decorating sheets dried at the laundrette, so they can be packed away.... finally.... last decorating was done before BG arrived....... and we've picked up some provisions from mrAl and mrL and some frozen veg from fArm f00ds on the way home. A good use of our time and the car I think. Still no idea what to have for tea, mind...... it'll be a rocket sandwich at this rate..........:rotfl:

Right, best shift a red-tinged tail feather and go and do a bit more

Edit: ooof, that's norty. On mrAl's SS website, the coconut is at the top, saying 49p each, and none of the other f&v is priced - until you click on them, THEN they stipulate 59p each. Tsk, tsk, tsk MrAl!

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Cheery - How brill to have a blackcap in your back garden. I think I've only seen one once or twice - and hadn't at all until a couple of years ago - and mentioned it on my diary of the time!

Tea has been munched. In some ways it was a 'true' buddha bowl, in as much as it was what was available. But that is also known as leftovers, so call it what you will. I'll call it 'Tea. Gone' :rotfl: We ended up having the leftover (frozen) Mujaddarah with an extra (small) portion of brown rice thrown in, the left over sausage casserole - how to make 1 sausage stretch between 2 people....... and some green beans. For dessert we had the last mrL pear (from a week or so ago) chopped up and marinated in cloves, ginger and cinnamon served up under a 'duvet' of natural yoghurt...... And yes, I am being facetious

December has started as I mean it to go on. I'm really looking forward to 2 'special' meals in the month - well, 2 minimum, 4 maximum. All our other meals are going down the 'simple fare' route. Jack Monroe's section of the recipe index is being well used this month DH and I are reasonably healthy, and I'm slowly getting back into shape after being....... well, 'baby-bump' shaped.... :rotfl:i'm not seeing the need for a 'stuff yer face' at every meal - fest. I got slightly niggled listening to a commercial classical music station in the car, both yesterday and today. There was an advert on for a chain of garden shopping centres. It started with, 'December is Christmas month'. 'What?'

2016 has been a wonderful year thus far and our lives have been transformed in a spectacular way But it's also been hard work, mentally and physically draining and we've had to focus on doing certain things at the expense of others. As the year is drawing to a close, we are getting better at doing some things, some things have become a whole lot easier, certain things and 'friends' have fallen by the wayside, and priorities - mostly new - are emerging. I think I would like to enter 2017 in a much leaner, much more focused and much more energised fashion. Of course, food is only one (realtively small) aspect of that, but we're still weighed down by a lot of 'stuff' - and actually, 'stored food' is part of that. We've not got 473 tins of beans under the bed.... but there is still sufficient stuff here that causes storage stresses. I love diverse foods and I love choice. But my aim now is to have options and variety, whilst operating within a framework of simplicity. So yes, within a year, I may have 6 different types of beans to work with, 4 different types of lentils, 5 varieties of rice.... but I don't need to have them all in stock at the same time.......

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

that we can afford to run a car - achieved so much with it today (and, indeed, this week)

for the sunshine - but not the dropping away of temperatures tonight

for time to think, plan and action.

ta very much for popping in, reading and for your ongoing support of me and this diary. Know that you are appreciated. Greatly.

Greying X

beanielou

We appreciate you GP

BOBS

Love following you diary GP - I wouldnt know where to start making mine sound so interesting.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Thank you Beanie and Thank you BOBS

Ah ha. Friday already

Dinner this evening should be pizza, I'll be making one (hopefully) today, as we had the last 2 pieces out of the freezer for lunch yesterday.

It'll be simple - most likely cheese and tomato. The wedges will be HM, but I have some h3ron f00ds tatties left, so may not dig into the wiljas just yet. Although I'll do a quick check as to whether there is anything on the planner that they will better suit being incorporated into.

i've made a list of the bits and pieces that I will need to make meals for next week. I think shopping is pretty much confined to mrAl, mrL, HB and with a smattering of h3ron.

Right, I'm away to stick a brush through my hair. We've stuff to do and people to see today. I've not yet finished my coffee, so need to shift-a-tail feather, sharpish!

Ta everso for making the time to pop in, read and encourage me. Appreciated.

Greying X