Family of 5 'shop from home'food storage challenge...

applemella

Sorry to sound so stupid, but what is a worm bin exactly? Are they easy to get and get going? Have tried to compost my waste, but nothing is happening!
Also got loads of cheap veg and fruit from Lidl (they have an up to 70% offer on fruit and veg at moment)Can anyone give me some advise on freezing some of it esp the veg? Thanks
Ps Jenagain cake looks fab!

ravylesley

DDD I hardly needed any encouraging as my cupboards are already bulging with my gadgets.But I must admit that if I dont use it then its got rid of so all my stuff earns its keep

Yategirl I was in a mad rush this morning and didnt realise there was more than one so ordered the cheaper one but on reflection and being sat down with a brew to actually read the specs on the two I cant see much difference.So when they arrive maybe we can compare notes

Jen I love the pics of the baking.But where did you get your gingerbread man cutter?The ones I can find are either too small or the neck area is so thin that the head snaps off before you can get it onto the tray to bake!

Lesleyxx

D&DD

ravylesley wrote: »

DDD I hardly needed any encouraging as my cupboards are already bulging with my gadgets.But I must admit that if I dont use it then its got rid of so all my stuff earns its keep

Yategirl I was in a mad rush this morning and didnt realise there was more than one so ordered the cheaper one but on reflection and being sat down with a brew to actually read the specs on the two I cant see much difference.So when they arrive maybe we can compare notes

Jen I love the pics of the baking.But where did you get your gingerbread man cutter?The ones I can find are either too small or the neck area is so thin that the head snaps off before you can get it onto the tray to bake!

Lesleyxx

Phew thats good then
Will be interesting to see how you get on with these ones they look very posh :T
Re the gingerbread cutter they have the large ones in TJ Hughes at the moment my one is just plastic but it does the job..mind you DS3 will only eat headless ones for some reason totally beyond me

D&DD

Applemella most fruits freeze pretty well too if you have lots
Most veg just needs trimming,chopping into portions and blanching in boiling water for a couple of minutes..then divide it into portion sizes and freeze (saves bashing it on the worktop to seperate a bit off);)

applemella

Meant to say up to 70% off offer! For example cauliflower was 59p potatoes 79p a bag!

kethry

Yategirl wrote: »

Well... I did get the flour out... and I have some dough sat here.... but I put the butter in at the wrong time and you know... this dough don't look right... has risen though so I'll give it a chance!

hey Yategirl - when did you put the butter in? can you take a photo of the dough? I've done just about everything wrong its possible to do wrong i think, absentmindedly! Anyway. if i can help, i will.

I think my ears should've been burning while i was away in brum this past weekend, between the bread and the onion marmalade! oh! someone asked if the onion marmalade was savory or sweet. It is sweetish, in the way that caramelised onions are sweet, but its a savory thing, you can use it like a pickle or chutney. Fab with cheese or cold meats, particularly stronger tasting cold meats. it is rather liquid, but i think its meant to be that way perhaps? i don't know. Don't expect it to set like a jam does, as it won't.

went to brum - to my mom and dad's - for a couple things last weekend.. 1) to visit family i wouldn't otherwise have seen at christmas, 2) to decorate mom's christmas cakes (she's got one for family, a big one, and one for her choir christmas do) - they turned out lovely, the big one was marzipanned and covered with fondant icing, and i used some wired ribbon to make the cake look like a parcel with a big bow ontop. simple, but looks lovely, i think. The other one was marzipanned and royal (rough) iced - mom found some choirboy christmas decorations in the german market in B'ham, so we got a tree too and snipped the ribbons off, then stood them around the tree on the cake. looks lovely and quite topical! 3) to take a whole bunch of home made christmas cards to mom's work's christmas fair, they do one for charity every year, and i sold 34! not bad going. It was a lovely weekend, i was spoiled and pampered by mom n dad (they don't get me on my own very often) and we had a lovely time, cooking together, shopping, and talking and stuff.

anyway, now i am back home.. and i have to get started on the *huge* list of "to-do's" for christmas. only three weeks left.. argh! okay.. breathe, keth, breathe..

keth
xx

D&DD

Hi Kethry Glad to see the fair went well was going to wish you luck but read your blog too late :rolleyes:
*I have my fingers in my ears singing la la la you didn't just say its only three weeks til xmas*:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

kethry

D&DD wrote: »

Hi Kethry Glad to see the fair went well was going to wish you luck but read your blog too late :rolleyes:
*I have my fingers in my ears singing la la la you didn't just say its only three weeks til xmas*:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

OHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes i did...

OHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh no she didn't..

OHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh yes i did i did i did i did!!!

*looks behind her to make sure there's no ugly sister there.. *

yep, its three weeks tomorrow. What makes it worse is i got news about winning an appeal for a specific benefit about 2 weeks ago, which will be backdated and a nice lump sum will be coming to me. What i *don't* know is whether it will be with me in time for christmas.. arggh!!!

the fair was actually really good. there were some lovely people there, including a guy who owns his own small holding, and he was selling some of his own lamb meat from his own sheep. so i splashed out and got a lamb shoulder. Going to cook that tonight. make the OH happy! although i might leave it till tomorrow. Tomorrow is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands so a special meal will make him happier.. its just i bought the lamb on friday. hmm. decisions decisions! Might cook it tonight anyway, and fend him off with a stick and serve it tomorrow.

Today's about catching up with things like MSE, paperwork, doing housework and stuff. Going to take it easy: i had to lug a heavy suitcase down to Brum, and a heavy suitcase back up from Brum and my back is a little tender this morning. Period pain doesn't help any either!!

keth
xx

ppppst. three weeks. you know it. i know it. next door knows it. stop denying. although the singing is nice..

Yategirl

oh stop it!!!!! 3 weeks tomorrow :eek: I know it... ds1 tells me at every opportunity but :eek: :eek: :rotfl:

Kethry - I have the dough in pans on a second rise... it seems very heavy. I actually mixed the flour and the water and bringing it together to make a dough when I remembered the butter (actually it teaches me a lesson to write the recipe out proper instead of a scrappy bit of paper - I made myself a lovely gorgeous recipe box... and I am still using scrappy paper :rolleyes: )... ah well... we'll see what happens! Excellent news on the card sales! What about seeing if your mum could take a regular batch of birthday (and other) cards in - more sales

Dee - stop it!!!!!!!!!!!! i can't buy anything else... as much as I want to :rotfl:

Lesley - I'll be interested to see/hear what is different... from the pic... I would have said they were exactly the same!

Applemella.... if you hang on... I will copy and paste the info I gave to someone else re: composting... Worm bins are literally that! you have a bin with a tap at the bottom to draw off the worm wee.. in the bin itself (and there are many designs) you have some bedding and then you feed the worms leftover veg cuttings/teabags (not citrus or onion skin) you can have them specifically for dog poo etc etc... I really need 2 bins for a family of 4 but I have a compost bin as well. Essentially though the worms digest the food and give you worm poo (casts) and that makes wonderful compost!

Yategirl

Compost.... ok.... best tips - put in ALL your veg peelings... chop biggish pieces up small (if you can be bothered!!), save ALL your tea bags, put torn up pieces of cardboard and paper (but not glossy stuff) in - try and layer up between veg peelings and card... empty the hoover bag out in the bin (but if you have the paper bags then u need to take the "dust" out of the bag or it won't compost well) grass cuttings can go in but not a big layer at once - can be slimy, try and layer with cardboard/scrunched newspaper. Obviuosly dead leaves off plants, old tomatoe plants etc.. if you re-pot a plant make sure the spent compost goes in. If you can get to a starbucks (or similar chain) ask for their used grounds - brilliant stuff - put it in the compost (or sprinkle round plants if you have a cat/slug problem!!). Urine is a brilliant accelerator!!!!!! At the mo, I empty the potty in to ours but that will be stopping soon as we move ds2 on to the loo fulltime. If you can persuade dh's/ds's to water the bin (maybe in the dead of night or in a bottle/bucket/watering can) then that would be good. Female hormones not so good I am afraid For now.. just build it up... when the weather warms up, turn it - literally lift the bin off, move it to a new position (or move the heap out the way and put the bin back) and then re-fill the bin (with what you have just taken out) this allows the heat to re-build up, adds oxygen in and increases decomposition. If you find any worms... throw them in! Slugs and Snails are fine in the compost bin too. I did this 2 times this year and have had the best ever compost from all these tips! Another tip... make friends with a chicken owner and gets some chicken poo to go in Finally... 1 bin is never enough!! I am desperate for another one or two! When you take the compost out to use... sort through it - put the stuff that hasn't broken down enough back in the bin, try and put alot of the worms back in the bin (tis much better than a worm bin for worm farming!). Egg shells never break down fully but they are good to compost to when you add them to your compost bucket (you *need* one in the kitchen!) crush them well. Another thought..... potatoes/potato peelings etc... not good for the compost heap... they have a habit of sprouting and growing new potatoes.......(!) and I assumed you know about not putting cooked food on the heap especially meat or fish cause of rats and other undesirables .. )there is a special bin which supposedly you bury the bottom part and then you can add cooked stuff but seems a bit iffy to me )
Doggy/cat poo is a no-no Any dregs of tea (from the teapot as no milk to go in) or if you use cafetieres are fine - you want the heap to be slightly damp for the worms etc..


hope that is helpful? Am sure there will be other good advice coming