The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well here we are at the weekend already.

DH has been tasked with getting some of the cheese that is on special at mrL. There are strict instructions not to get into any scraps over it (think it's going to be a popular draw) as whilst it is the cheese we normally purchase and it would be nice to get it at a bit of a discount, if people need it more than we do, then fine, let them have it.

Tea last night was fush, chups & mushy peas. The meal cost £1.10 per person + electrickery. Was it better than F&C from a top-notch chipper? Certainly not. But was it better than anything from outlets selling F&C around this bit of Greying Town? I have to say, yes it was. DH actually enjoyed it, so it may be a regular occurence yet.

I didn't get chance to make the veggie sausage rolls, so that is a job for this morning.

Tea this evening will be curry. Definitely there will be beetroot curry on the menu, making use of my mrAl S6 beauties. I'm not sure how pizza is going to fit in to future meal plans. But still, that's not exactly the worst problem in the world to have, is it?

I finally got around to retrying the dun31m website again last night. It appeared I can now order those brown curtains that I am so desirous of! I hadn't gone thru the cashback site though, as I was just checking, so that is another job for this morning.

Right, I need to get a leg in a pant and get moving. I've also a brush to put through me hair - it's a bit :eek:, I may be some time........ :rotfl:

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Imagining you looking a bit like Marge Simpson :eek: :rotfl:

Mmmm pizza. It's on our meal plan as an 'extra' this week as @ldi didn't have any mozarella and we've not been anywhere to pick any up. Might see when we're out and about today

Have a good one! :j

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Mmmm pizza. It's on our meal plan as an 'extra' this week as @ldi didn't have any mozarella and we've not been anywhere to pick any up. Might see when we're out and about today

I'd lob you several mozarella out of our freezer - but they're potentially lethal weapons when frozen! Otherwise I'd gladly share

Have a great day yourself - doing a park-run?

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Er, no not even got as far as downstairs for breakfast yet and parkrun is already finished! :rotfl: :rotfl:

Greying_Pilgrim

OK, have officially had it with dun31m. The website will allow me to add nothing to the basket this morning. It doesn't matter if I am signed in, signed out, going through cashback, not going through cashback.

Humpf!

I've better things to do than waste my time with technology that is supposed to save time and make things easier.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Well, at the risk of being an auld whinge bag, I see the gubbment have been wasting our taxes again. I've received an invite to; 'Change my Summer' and sign up to the NCS (national citizenship scheme?).

It only cost £50 quid for 4 weeks - and I was getting purty excited as I read; Phase 1 - Adventure - 5 days and 4 nights away from home........ :j

The NCS is for 15 - 17 year olds.

Baby Greying is too wee and I'm too bl00dy old!

For goodness sakes!

Oh, and in balance, i had something odd - nice odd - happen to me in the bank yesterday. A stranger came up to me and asked if they might have a look at Baby Greying - they oohed and ahhed and made nice comments and then squeezed my arm (gently, but purposefully, if you know what i mean) and said, 'Well done, well done'. They didn't actually ask if BG was mine, but clearly were taken with BG, and I was actually taken with the fact that a complete stranger could take us at face value (ie mother and child) and frankly be more demonstrably happy for us than some members of our own family........ It doesn't take a lot to say a few nice words does it? (and it costs nowt!)......

Veggie saus rolls are made, cooked and are now cooling.... tempting me to try one.... soooo tempting...... tempt.....tempt..... tempt.....

Greying.... trying ever so hard to resist........X

Moneywhizz

I don't post often but enjoy reading your diary. Can I just ask if the £140 is your food budget for the month, and you have a separate amount for household items? I think that is an amazingly low amount considering the lovely looking meals that you post on a regular basis. We are at a stage in our lives where we don't have to count the pennies too carefully but I am not one to waste money, and our food budget is a good bit higher than yours, probably around £200. So I would say you are doing remarkably well. Bg sounds adorable and you sound like a great mum.

mcculloch29

Just a quickie comment, re the Her0n F00ds staff, I agree, they are the friendliest shop staff around, in general. Always a friendly word at the till and a reassurance that there is no need to rush.
On the odd time when I don't have my own bags with me theirs are the best around for strength and durability - and the assistants pack my shopping for me.

I said as much about ten years ago when a Her0n shop was opening opposite my workplace in quite an upmarket market town. The local paper had a 'Do we need them here?' article. My students then were largely people on restricted incomes. My emailed letter was printed, and then I sent it on to my local paper, as after all, it praised the staff in our store.
It was printed, and the staff were delighted.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Moneywhizz - yes, anything 'food' is in the £140, so; carrots, apples, bananas, flour, butter, milk, bread, cheese, pulses, rice, coffee, tea, salt, chutney, cereal, tinned tomatoes, oven chips, spices or lemons........ Stuff like haircuts, soap, tv guide, stamps, printer paper, laundry detergent, batteries etc comes out of a separate budget that was £40, but will be £60 going forward.

mcculloch - I think our h3ron staff could teach most (with 2 exceptions) of the waitflower staff and pretty much all the m&$ staff a thing or two about friendliness, helpfulness and old-fashioned courtesy.

Hope you all had a brill weekend as did we.

First NT visit and picnic lunch under our belt - in January :j still, the weather was cold and murky, so I'm afraid we weren't sitting outside munching it, but retreated to a building in the garden that is open to visitors. But, starting as we mean to go on, so I ain't complaining We took the veggie sausage rolls (1 each) and some egg mayo sangers - YUM!

Saturday night was curry night, as slated. Although I did think at one time I wasn't going to be able make one from scratch, too tired. But a second wind kicked in from somewhere and we had a version ofRick Stein's Beetroot Curry (I added coconut milk into mine, because I had some), lentil dhal and rice. Not the most attractive looking of combinations, but tasted nice.



Tea last night was 'bottom of the fridge pasta bake'. I was going to make a cheese sauce to make it a cross between mac 'n cheese and cauli cheese, but in the end, a thought about Nigella's onion sauce wandered through my mind - I think the recipe is in her first book, 'How to cook' iirc - so I made a version of that (don't have recipe and book long since donated to a chazza) which was the right choice, as it added lovely savouriness, rather than stodgyness. There was cooked pasta (ditali), chopped cauli, chopped green beans, grated carrot, onion sauce, herbs, paprika flakes, salt and pepper in the bake. I topped it with chopped sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds and walnut pieces. Served it with a portion of YS'd 'Supergrain' salad that I picked up in M&$ for 70p - should have been £2 :eek: And yes, something 'green' on the plate, broccoli/salad/cabbage would have been an improvement........ Picture here;



Tea this evening will be based around a baked tattie, beans and anything else to hand........ Can you tell we're at the 30th......

Right, must jump to it. BG is beginning to stir again.

Ta for popping in, reading and joining in. Appreciated.

Greying X

joeyjimbles

I feel like I've eaten so much dhal this January - love the soothing texture and all the spices. I do very much like the Rick Stein tarka dal recipe but have recently been revisiting old Nigel Slater books and have unearthed a couple of forgotten recipes that I'll try out in February. Only one has coconut milk which is good as it seems to be getting pricier and I can no longer find dried which I used to eke out with some regular milk/yogurt.