Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2018

dolly84

dND - sorry to hear about your poor chickens.

On the making do front I collected my new slip covers for my sofa yesterday. I have a large faux leather sofa in the dining room and the seat covers had cracked badly, I had a very large piece of fabric which I've been holding onto for years so I had them made using that. I can sew myself but haven't for a long while and thought this all looked a bit complicated to tackle. The sofa looks really good again now.

I also asked them to cut a new piece of foam for our armchair in the living room, we have had the suite a long time and the fabric on the seat has stretched so they are cutting a new piece and wrapping it etc for £25. Much cheaper than buying new furniture.

mcculloch29

I'm making do by eating out of stores at the moment. Jack Monroe's recipes are ace for this, she is testing my patience with the silence on the book myself and thousands of others crowdfunded, though, Some have what are effectively proof copies, but after being one of the very first backers, I don't. Bit grrr about that.

Jack reckons she's lost ten grand on the enterprise. Oh well.

Anyway, her pearl barley risotto is lovely, for which she can be forgiven much. It can be made vegan if you do as I did, and substitute sundried tomatoes and capers for the feta.

This followed up the lentil and spinach dal. Ultra easy and economical, both.

[Deleted User]

Jack Monroe's first book I bought and was quite pleased with the recipes, she knows how to make the pennies streeetch doesn't she

I have been making do and minimising at the same time, I am a woman on a mission to use up the stuff that's lurked far too long in my freezer and I am hoping to be able to defrost before Easter
so very little shopping this month and using everything that I can think of instead ,its made for some 'interesting ' meals at least :)

I shall be attacking my tinned fish stash this coming month so lots of fishy based recipes for me

On the mending front I am still sewing knitted squares together for the Making Miracles charity.

I don't mind, but sometimes I find different folk knit at different tensions so the squares aren't all the same size .

So I either have to unpick the cast off row and knit a few more or unpick it and take a few off :)then once they are sewn together I pick up and knit a border all the way round. Good job I have a lot of patience, but its a good little local charity .

Right time to get a wriggle on

Have a good weekend chums what ever you are doing enjoy yourselves

Chhers Chums

JackieO xx

dND

Thank you crazytree and dolly84.

This year I'm making a point of looking for the positive slant wherever I can. So the positive about the chickens is that it would have been pretty quick - there was very little disturbance in the chicken house. They were all 5 years or more old so they had already had a pretty good life as well. xx

silvasava

did - glad you can find a positive view on losing your chickens - so many people have a rosy view of foxes and don't realise that they will kill indiscriminately rather than just for food I'm another one trying to minimise my freezer stocks - I've lots of fruit from the garden - I kept freezing it and there's only two of us! Still we'll never get scurvy.
Just poodling today and doing Sunday roast - have a good day all

[Deleted User]

I know that feeling Silvasava, we seem to have the European blackberry mountain in our freezer and it doesn't matter how many packs I use, they just keep surfacing one after the other. I always say each year that I won't freeze as many but then they ripen and hang there shining and lusciously black and I pick them and freeze them rather than lose them.....and on and on and on!!!

dolly84

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I know that feeling Silvasava, we seem to have the European blackberry mountain in our freezer and it doesn't matter how many packs I use, they just keep surfacing one after the other. I always say each year that I won't freeze as many but then they ripen and hang there shining and lusciously black and I pick them and freeze them rather than lose them.....and on and on and on!!!

I am the same with blackberries, they are like little jewels on the bushes and I can't bare to leave them to waste but they take up so much room in the freezer.

[Deleted User]

But isn't is great to have a taste of last summer in the depths of winter and normally for free as well. I get from neighbours a bag or two of fallers from their apple tree and every one is peeled diced cooked in a little honey and water ,cooled and frozen and I love the apple pies,crumbles that I can make from them during the winter which help to give me my apple rations during the cold weather
foraging is one of the nicest things I find to do with my grandsons as they are always so pleased to help fill up Grannie's stores :0They get to eat them when I take around a crumble or pie and its taught themn a good lesson in that not everything has to be bought from a supermarket.a couple of years ago at our rented holiday house on the Isle of Wight there were a couple of trees in the garden which my Grandson Henry climbed and picked me some ,the next day he went fishing in the solent with his mum and brothers and they brought home a big sea bass which we gutted and filleted, and my son-in-law cooked, and we had it for dinner that night with a lovely apple crumble to follow The boys were so pleased to have help to provide us with dinner that night and never forgot about it Every year when we go back to the Island on holiday on the ferry one of them will say 'I wonder if we can find some apples and fish this year' :)making them memories was wonderful.

Today I am doing a few odd jobs around the house, mostly hanging a few pictures that I have had sitting around in their frames ready to be hung for awhile Procrastination could be my middle name

Making do with freezer stuff for lunch as I am out to dinner tonight at Dds, I have already made a mincemeat tart to take with me for pudding
So MMM all done almost bar the nail knocking in

Have a good Sunday chums

JackieO xx

Floss

We have strawberries, rasps & blackberries in our freezer - DH makes wine from the strawberries and beers with the other berries, but right now they are taking up an awful lot of room and I want to defrost it!!

cafelady

Hello all and happy New Year!

Well so far this year I've...

Minimised a bag of ragged clothes to textile bin (well the boot of the car, waiting to be dropped off).

Also minimised a bundle of single bedding that was no longer needed via Freegle.

Got another bag of clothes ready for the charity shop.

Mended a pair of DS's boxers.

Hope everyone's doing well!