What are you making for dinner?

goldfinches

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81970548#Comment_81970548

Oh @Brie you do sound fed up and thoroughly disenchanted with home life at the moment. Perhaps you should go on strike for a couple of days or even go away for a weekend on your own. Could you fancy a residential art or craft course this May? Hope you feel better soon.

I had another portion of the marry me cauliflower with some salt and pepper tofu and cous cous.

Brie

@goldfinches - thanks for the kind thoughts.

fed up with my covid/cold not disappearing quickly and feeling tired. but I know I'm getting better just not as quick as I'd like.

also annoyed that bits of life can be so unnecessarily stressing. i.e. I finally got round to contacting a gardener as my last went just wasn't reliable cancelling for emergencies every other time which stretched a monthly visit into every other month. I had bought bulbs to be planted in October and she cancelled then we were away and then I got a vague text about was I wanting her back in January….. So I got hold of a different gardener last week who does the neighbours and he said he'd book me in for next week and text me the details, costs etc. Nothing received. I'll send him a msg to ask what's happening. It should be easy but often isn't. I'd like to get a cleaner as neither of us is great at keeping things reasonable but the OH thinks it will be too intrusive (for him).

so to amuse myself I'm looking at booking a holiday for my birthday (ending with 0) but that wouldn't be until December. OH always books the holidays and always grumbles about how hard it is but I think he makes things overly complicated by booking different locations with concerts at each and restaurants researched. They're always lovely but the "woe is me!" beforehand I can do without. So considering either a drive to Leipzig and Karlsbad or a flight to Prague. We were in Leipzig last December which was lovely but have never made it to the Czech State. (I keep wanting to say Czechoslovakia, which shows my age)

p.s. last night ended up with me making pasta sauce from scratch - shallots, mushrooms, courgette, passata, slug of left over red wine, fresh basil etc. OH cooked the pasta and served up and I told him strictly just a small portion for me which meant there was pasta left over (chucked out as we wouldn't use it) as well as some of the sauce. I saved that as there's enough to go on a jacket potato which I know I will enjoy.

and on the plus side our chiropodist is expected shortly which is always nice and relaxing. and I will think about the "days away" if I can find something I like.

goldfinches

@Brie - what would happen if you gave him the choice between doing the cleaning himself or having a cleaner? Which option do you think he would choose? Go get the cleaner! Be like Nellie McClung, her quote in your signature is very inspiring.

laptopguy111

i used to be really dubious about meal prep deliveries but I am now saving loads of money and not throwing away unused food.

but today is fish and chips friday

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975184#Comment_81975184

Ha! I can ask but…. Actually he's very good at cleaning once he gets going but does it differently than I do. I mean I would dust all the way through. And then I might hoover everything. He will pick one room and clean it to quite a high standard but miss something out - like not doing behind an open door. Anyways I'll think about making him choose. I don't mind which happens in some way because I think I'll have to be organising it all no matter what. Yes I should be a bit more Nellie.

goldfinches

@Brie - that does sound as though you're carrying rather a large mental load which must be exhausting for you especially when you've been ill so I hope it works out.

And yes, I think I'm going to try being a bit more Nellie as well. A great idea to live by.

On the subject of dinner, yesterday evening I was in a Zoom forum from 6-9pm so I had a hasty early dinner and then a late supper of various leftovers from the fridge which wasn't very satisfying but my Riverford box came this morning so tonight's dinner is going to be a gourmet salad!

Brie

@goldfinches

I think I'll write out a list of things I do exclusively on a regular basis (laundry, arranging all the appointments, household finances etc ) and ask him to pick one to take on with the promise that I won't interfere but he must insure will get done. It would be better for both of us I'm sure. We both cook and wash up so that's already sorted.

And speaking of cooking….as I was at my art group yesterday (marvellous session) he went to the market by himself. Plaice was bought from the fish guy and he'll be cooking that for dinner tonight with jersey potatoes. He also bought burgers and goat from the meat guy (as well as the regular duck and chicken eggs). He's planning something middle eastern with the goat which should be interesting (in a nice way). I'll likely cook the burgers, maybe Monday and hopefully on the bbq. Or maybe Tuesday as the gardeners are coming that day so we might want to eat outside to enjoy the tidied space.

goldfinches

@Brie - that sounds like a very good idea to me, I hope you find it relieves the pressure on you and gives you space to recover from your illness. Those market purchases sound delicious and I do envy you having a reliable source of duck eggs, I have to snap them up whenever I see them because they're so rarely in stock where I do my shopping.

I had Baby gem with tamarind and lime dressing, avocado crema and crispy croutons for dinner and it was so tasty that I had two portions. I had planned to have the last of the strawberries for pud but didn't have space so will eat those for breakfast instead.

goldfinches

@Brie - I think I may have thought of a good argument for having the cleaner now which is that you may need to have carers in your home in the future so it would be a good idea to get used to coping with that type of help now while you're both hale and hearty.
Whatever you decide, good luck.

For dinner this evening I made Carrots, Tahini, Lime and Pumpkin Seeds because I worked out it had the shortest list of ingredients to buy and it was delicious. I had a green salad and a wrap with it followed by fruit and yoghurt.

Brie

last night's dinner was a bit of a disaster. OH had decided to use authentic jerk paste to marinate chunks of goat meat. He'd mixed it with yoghurt as he knew it was pretty strong stuff. We both tried some straight from the jar and it truly did clear my sinuses!! Anyhoo - he put the meat on wooden skewers and cooked it on the bbq. Did not work well. The skewers got well charred, the meat was tough and nearly impossible to get off what skewers were underneath. The jerk was still massively strong and to eat any I had to take each bite with a big dollop of more yoghurt. Lesson learned. We won't chuck out the jerk paste - I think a very small amount added to a marinade for pork or chicken will work nicely. The goat should have been slow cooked to soften it. Oh well - we had some ice cream afterwards and that was nice.

OH does think the bbq needs replacing as it's not heat regulating the way it should. Well it's a stonking big Weber propane - 3 burners with a side ring. We bought it maybe 10 years back and have used it very frequently until the last year. I think the original price was something like £1k but because we bought it at the end of the summer, off the showfloor, without a box etc etc etc we only paid something like £200. We've definitely got our money's worth. I would like to coax it through this summer as I'm loathe to pay spring time full price for a new one and I won't bother getting something cheap.

I'd be happy to use a good bbq most evenings and have the propane delivery company on speed dial as we were emptying the tank (11kg) at least 3 times a year, maybe more. I'll try cooking something on it sometime in the next week to see how sustainable it is. It may just be needing a good burn off to get it sorted and if that works I'll be using it for the leg of lamb we bought for Easter and had to freeze due to covid.