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The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

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  • Can I ask an ingredient related question? How long does truffle oil keep? We were gifted some handmade by a chef. The truffle and bay leaf etc are visible. It had been forgotten at the back of a cupboard for a few years. It’s in a kilner jar so well sealed. I’m afraid to open to check it in case I would start the decay.

    Is it likely to be ok and might it keep a bit longer if opened?
    Mortgage at 01.01.14 £119,481.83:eek: today £0 Emergency fund £5.5/5.5k & £200/200 cash.:jWeight 24/02/19 14st 7lb now 12st determined to stop defining myself by my mistakes. Progress not perfection.:T100%through my 1% mortgage challenge. 100% through my pb challenge.
  • Good Morning :hello:


    Excellent work lovely Greying :kisses3:

    What does today bring?


    Nothing exciting - just a bit of pootling. And BG asked for lunch 'at home' today....... :rotfl: I was a bit surprised, as I thought they liked getting out and about :D Still, anything can get repetitive, I guess :D

    Can I ask an ingredient related question? How long does truffle oil keep? We were gifted some handmade by a chef. The truffle and bay leaf etc are visible. It had been forgotten at the back of a cupboard for a few years. It’s in a kilner jar so well sealed. I’m afraid to open to check it in case I would start the decay.

    Is it likely to be ok and might it keep a bit longer if opened?


    Ooooh, gosh inod - I don't feel qualified to answer that question. I'm afraid I would consider whether if it hadn't been used in a few years, whether I would immediately start using it now? Sorry, really don't know what to advise.


    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £7,005/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend July 2025 £292.82/£300 
    Non-food spend July 2025 £96.71/£50
    Bulk Fund July 2025 £9.10/£10 
  • rtandon27
    rtandon27 Posts: 5,618 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ...How long does truffle oil keep? We were gifted some handmade by a chef...

    Hello INOD - We just had the same dilemma, as I was gifted a posh bottle of this by a former boss. Given that we use simple ingredients in our everyday cooking, it was relegated to the back of the cupboard "for best" :rotfl:. OH just rediscovered it a week ago & this is the best answer I found! We are loving that website, as it gives us more confidence when purchasing short-dated & reduced items! OH has been using the oil to turn his morning 2-egg omelette into a gourmet delight ;) and he's still here :rotfl:
    ...And BG asked for lunch 'at home' today....... :rotfl: I was a bit surprised, as I thought they liked getting out and about :D Still, anything can get repetitive, I guess :D...

    GP - your reports on little BG's exploits constantly bring a big smile to my face! :D Such a sweet request!
    4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)
    (With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)
    ...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)
    New projection - 14 YEARS 10 MONTHS LEFT OF 20 YEARS (reduced by 15 mths)
    Psst...I may have started a diary!
  • Good Evening :hello:


    Ha ha rtandon - I think BG made the request to squeeze in a crafty 'afore lunch' snooze! Ironically though, when we popped into the little green space - that we've previously used to have our picnic lunch - for a little run around and to nose at what was going on today, BG asked if we were 'going to have lunch now.........' <rollseyessmilie> :rotfl: But I don't want anyone to think that BG is sweetness and light 24/7. They can be norty and exasperating too. They were mucking about as I was trying to cross a road today - why? why? why? why? why???? But I certainly do try to relish the delightful, as we're all new to this as a family, and time is already whizzing - it's only going to speed up, and BG won't be wee for very much longer at all :( I know that means there will be different stages/phases to look forward to and enjoy, but this time currently IS precious :D


    So I only bought what was on my list today :D and then I may have just gone and bought a tent.............................. :o But we had already discussed possibly getting one and it was on special offer, so................... :o I suspect that it will be the only way we can afford to 'holiday' in the future - although i'm not sure we'll do 'a fortnight away in the Dordogne' in it. But overnight stops - maybe weekends. Get out and about - explore 'local-ish' walks and cycle trails. Show BG the great outdoors whether they want to see it or not............ ;) We have camped before, and did retain some of our kit, so it's not a mega-expensive 'start-up from scratch' enterprise. I think we'll be able to 'make do' for the first few trips anyway. Perhaps gather extra bits of kit as we go along or renew what we have as it gives up the ghost. Tbh I want to try to travel as 'lightly' as we can - make it easier to 'grab the tent and go' if the weather is nice, or an opportunity arises IYSWIM.



    So apart from accidental purchasing of camping equipment, today has been fairly uneventful :rotfl:


    I made a vat of lentil bolognese - there was enough for all of us for tea, with pasta, plus I have put a dinner-size portion into the freezer for the end of the month. That makes 2/7 of my 'ready meals' prepped thus far.


    Can't think of owt else to report. Better shuffle orf the 'puter before I accidentally purchase anything else!


    Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

    enough food for today & 'tomorrow'

    adventures to look forward to - discovering my inner 'bear grills' :rotfl:

    feeling a little bit less under the weather - turning a corner hopefully :T


    Ta for popping in. Appreciated.


    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £7,005/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend July 2025 £292.82/£300 
    Non-food spend July 2025 £96.71/£50
    Bulk Fund July 2025 £9.10/£10 
  • Sounds like a great day and honestly, the tent sounds like a good investment. It'll pay dividends in comparison to hiring a caravan or renting and hotel room etc.

    I wish I could camp more but most of the people in my life wouldn't be up for it and it's not the best idea to do alone, I don't think! Haha.

    Hope the rest of your week is a good one.
  • Oh please post your camping exploits. I haven't done a lot of it as my parents were definitely not into it, we used to stay in chalet when we went to the seaside. I often do the cheap hols you get the coupons for but would really like to try camping but I'm put off by all the 'stuff you apparently need and I'm not even sure what you need or whether doing it on your own with a child is even wise!
  • Rtandon, thank you for your help. I’d never thought of using it for an omelette but it does make perfect sense.
    Mortgage at 01.01.14 £119,481.83:eek: today £0 Emergency fund £5.5/5.5k & £200/200 cash.:jWeight 24/02/19 14st 7lb now 12st determined to stop defining myself by my mistakes. Progress not perfection.:T100%through my 1% mortgage challenge. 100% through my pb challenge.
  • UncannyScot
    UncannyScot Posts: 2,070 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    Great to hear that you guys are gearing up for outdoor adventuring with BG :j:j:j
    I was very fortunate as a youngster to be taken oot n aboot to experience the great outdoors and firmly believe in involving the wee folk with all things ootdoorsy as early on as possible :)
    If you need any info or advice on gear etc just gimme a shout, ok
    BUGGRITMILLENIUMHANDANDSHRIMP I TOLD EM! - Foul Ole Ron
    It is important that we know where we come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you do not know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you are going. If you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong.
    R.I.P. T.P.
  • Good Morning :hello:


    Hope the weather OK with you all. We've had everything, all at once, and mucho sunshine when rain was forecast...... which I was a bit annoyed about, as we stayed in a.l.l. day yesterday, when we could have at least got out and about for a breath of fresh air and exercise. But still the sun kept shining when the met office had said it would be thunder 'n lightning........very, very frightening :(



    Thanks for all your tent/camping good wishes. I shall be honest and say that whilst we had 'done' camping before, my muse is a lass on IG that has taken camping to a whole new level. I won't name them, because it will appear that I'm being beechy - which is not at all my intention. Their every camping post looks as though everything has been done, simply to make an IG post....... And of course, what I'm really gutted about - green.with.envy.about. is of course, that MY life is not one long Instantly-grammable photo opportunity :D But I can't dispense with my practical gene, and point blankly refuse to take the walnut armoire, the chandelier, the enamelled baby bath and our copper 10-pan set, just to make 'mood setting' easier................ :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I hope you realise that I'm sending myself up - not this poor lass, because the point of this ramble, is that her insperation to me in not on HOW she camps (still envious tho....... :rotfl:), but it's that they 'just do it'. They are lucky enough to live somewhere that caters well for camping, vanning and caravaning - and they take advantage. So they scoop up the kids and GO camping, even if it's to a site 2 miles down the road, even if it's on a school night, even if it's just for one night. THEY GO. That is, actually, the very important bit that i find utterly inspiring :D


    Great to hear that you guys are gearing up for outdoor adventuring with BG :j:j:j.........................


    If you need any info or advice on gear etc just gimme a shout, ok


    Thanks for the offer sweetie :D I think we've got enough to make a start. This will the 4th tent we've actually had :o But I think it will offer the perfect compromise of being big enough (including to stand in), have room to sit if the weather isn't great (out first tent didn't - even with only 2 of us, it was a steep learning curve! :D). There is just enough room to sleep in - bit tight, but it will do for a few hours per day, which is all you need. And hopefully, easy to put up/take down, so that it adds to the spontaneity, of just getting on and getting out :D Duvets and blankets will do in the short term (we did give away our 1970's sleeping bags to the homeless shelter some years ago), until we work out whether, in fact, individual sleeping bags are now required, rather than a double for mum & dad ;) I suspect we will need our own individual bags, to cling onto the few square inches of air-bed edge we will be allowed to have by BG :D


    Tea last night was HM black olive pizza and wedges :D I also made chocolate cherry cake with some l/o jarred cherries that I'd had since the last time we'd made chocolate cherry cakes........


    Tea this evening will be curry of, as yet, undecided flavour :D


    Right, can't think of owt else to mention in a :money: vein. So best shuffle orf. Ta for listening :D


    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £7,005/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend July 2025 £292.82/£300 
    Non-food spend July 2025 £96.71/£50
    Bulk Fund July 2025 £9.10/£10 
  • Good Morning :hello:


    Not alot to report from the Towers :( Certainly nothing extraordinarily :money: going on. Although I suppose there have been no more 'accidental' purchases, so that's good :D


    Tea on Saturday was curry plate using l/o lentil and mandarin curry and l/o lentil dalcha with rice. Bit heavy on the lentils, but the curries were sufficiently different to make it not too samey. Filled a tum :D Sunday we moved onto toad in the hole, roast tatties. mash, carrots, green beans and onion gravy (granules). Definitely filled a tum and DH declared it 'delish' :D Last night we had chunky veg & bean chilli with rice. Plenty for tea and it made a portion for another day - bringing my ready meal tally to 3/7. It also used some of the gifted HG courgettes we were given :T People are so kind :D


    Right, a few 'ordinary' bits and bobs to gather today. And household chores to accomplish :( I did find great hilarity and joy in having BG help change the beds the other day though. They did very well - although they are no help what-so-ever when it comes to putting the duvet cover on :rotfl: But it was fun, and we had a lovely time together. Cost nowt too :D


    Ta for popping by. Appreciated.


    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £7,005/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend July 2025 £292.82/£300 
    Non-food spend July 2025 £96.71/£50
    Bulk Fund July 2025 £9.10/£10 
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