Things can only get better

beanielou

Had a pie with haggis neeps & tattie last night 

Sun_Addict

Thankfully the 3 hour meeting was over in an hour. I took a break to take the dog for a run on the park. Also managed to fit in the bums & tums session at lunchtime. I'm on flexi time so can dip in and out as long as I do my contracted hours and it fits in with work commitments. 

The window cleaner has been so another £10 spent. Drew the money out ages ago as you never know when he's going to appear. 

Should be on target for an underspend on groceries this week and next. Although I have the added expense of the kitten, DD buys quite a bit of stuff for her. I think I've gone over budget the past couple of weeks because I've been buying Mr SA's meat in bulk plus some other things that will last a while. Going to try this week and next only buying what's needed. I also need to only buy things needed for that week's meal plan as I'm a devil for buying things with no plan for what I'm going to do with them that week. DD buys most of her own food. I have noticed prices creeping up or staying the same price for a smaller amount which is very crafty.

milann

I’m another who buys with no particular food plan. I tend to plan from what I have in….but only a day or so in advance as I never stick to it 😏😂😂😂
The kitten is so naughty - bet there’s never a dull moment.

Sun_Addict

I prefer to have a meal plan in place but often buy random things first then plan later. 

Got out what I thought was a portion of rice from the freezer to defrost to go with my Thai veggie curry only to find when I opened the bag it was grated cheese 🤣🤣 Fortunately I always have a packet of microwave rice in the cupboard. I’ve had half and the other half has gone in the freezer, labelled this time 😆 No idea if you’re supposed to freeze microwave rice but I always do and I haven’t experienced any adverse effects. The Thai veggie curry is lovely, I just cooked some butternut squash, red onion, sweetcorn, broccoli, cabbage and edamame beans in a small tin of reduced fat coconut milk and a kafir lime and ginger stockpot 😋 Made two decent sized portions. 

foxgloves

That curry sounds lovely & fresh, @Sun_Addict. I have a recipe for a Malaysian-style fish curry which uses coconut milk, citrus, etc, which is really light & tasty.
We always meal plan & find it keeps us to within our grocery budget. I'm still flexible if I need to alter it but this would just be for a different meal I can make from existing stores rather than anything necessitating a supermarket visit. I think for us, regular weekly meal planning became quite an important part of living within our means...... which of course, we failed to do for over two decades.
F x

badmemory

All the info about rice used to be no - no reheating.  But more recently I've seen articles that say it is okay.  It seems to be connected to how it is stored firstly & secondly how it is cooked.  Left out for 24 hours - bin it.  But cool it asap & then reheat it thoroughly, then it is okay.  Reheat as in microwave so it steams.  Just warming it seems to be a bad idea.  Don't know specifically about microwave rice as although I do sometimes use it there are 2 of us & we use a full packet, but I can't see why not as long as it dealt with fairly quickly.

Cherryfudge

My food hygiene course taught me that it's possible to reheat rice but the key thing is to cool it as soon as possible after cooking (i.e. not when its been left out for a while). There's a nasty little thing called bacillus cereus that can grow and leave toxins on starchy foods when they aren't chilled down, and reheating doesn't eradicate the toxins.

Bacillus Cereus: The Bacterium That Causes 'Fried Rice Sydrome' | Live Science

Sun_Addict

That’s useful advice @Cherryfudge.

I don’t cook the microwave rice before I freeze it. I just take out what I need then freeze the rest. I love the microwave pouches as I can just take out a small amount and use to stuff a pepper then pop the rest in the freezer. It’s more convenient for me as I’m the only one who eats rice in our house. 
 

warby68

We have the micro pouches for odd single meals - very useful. Favourite is Tilda Lemon Rice although own brand is about a third of the price.Never thought of freezing it. I have a rice cooker when we're all having it and love that too. 

Sun_Addict

Happy Wednesday, half way through the week.

It will be NSD 11/15 today. The kitchen blind is being fitted this morning but was paid for a couple of weeks ago when he came to measure up. It will be good to be able to pull the blind down over the patio doors again, it just feels safer at night.

Noticed this morning the kitten has a little bald patch on her shoulder, looks like another fight injury. Hopefully not another abscess. She hassles the older cat to death and I'm not surprised she lashes out at her.

I'm going to take a break this morning and go for a walk when it gets light. I feel much better when I do this. I will be walking the dog at lunchtime and after work too. Exercise sessions are a short stretching session and a live Dance Fit session early evening.

I need to use up a bag of fresh sweet potato gnocchi before it goes out of date so will roast some veg and make a tomato sauce to go over it for tonight's dinner.  It makes two portions so one can go in the freezer for another day.

No work meetings today happy days 😁