Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Afternoon,

Very motivated by your winter plan. I met a friend on Monday and said i wanted to buy a torch and she said i could have one of her spare ones  
I also need to check the number of HWBs i have; bought a new one in the summer to replace a leaking one.
Already bought a blanket for my bed.
I leave skin on my tomatoes when i make pasta sauce!

love Deni x

DawnW

marionmgcars said:

I must remember to skin tomatoes as you mentioned, I made sauce last year but did not skin tomatoes- onward and upward 👍

I have an old fashioned hand operated mouli - you put in a ladleful of roasted tomatoes, turn the handle, and the pulp is squeezed through the holes, leaving behind the skins and pips. When you have finished, it is easy to dismantle it and wash it up in the sink (I don't put it in the dishwasher). Well worth looking out for one in charity shops, ebay etc. I bought my current one at a flea market for the princely sum of £8. It is vintage and Italian, with a selection of screens (the disc with holes that fits in the bottom of the implement).

foxgloves

@Cheery_Daff - Got to love the opportunity of a garden re-plan. If you are intending to re-do flower borders, one of my best tips for getting a homogenous look for not too much money is to choose about 5 perennial plants which you really like, then to divide them up & dot them around all over. You can plant other stuff in between, but those touchstone plants will give a really nice together look. If you already have some that you like, then just divide them up.....Autumn is a good time for this as the soil is warm enough for stuff to get established before winter, but not so warm that new stuff struggles. If you need new stuff, my Mum's tip (which I now always do) was to have a good look right down into the crown of the plant at the garden centre & choose ones which you can tell you'll be able to divide in a season or two. I used to spend a fortune on plants back in the Spendy Era, but it was always one each of heaps of different things. If I could go back to when I was establishing those gardens, I'd do it differently now. I'd buy 3 each of just a few things to make more impact. The best thing about gardening though is that it's never finished, always a work in progress & new things to try.
F x

foxgloves

@marionmgcars - Yes, it really pays off to skin them....easy to do in a bowl of boing water, & then you don't get those annoying little sharp rolls of tomato skin in your sauce.

@Tescodealqueen - I am a bit of a stickler for nose-to-tail eating these days. I've never had any urge to become a vegetarian....I eat a wide variety of meals including plenty of meat-free ones, but I do think that if an animal has been killed to feed me, then it behoves me to eat it all. I have never noticed any odd flavours from making leftover meat into other dishes, so it's interesting that you can detect this. Do you notice if you simply eat the chicken or meat cold with a salad, or is it only if you cook it into something else? Mr F is currently turning the Weds portion of rubber pork into Man-Stew, as it's jacket potato night here. I'm having a leftover portion of quorn curry from the freezer on mine as I don't eat Man-Stew, lol.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Wednesday Pence-Wranglers,
I've been busy with a project most of today, so haven't been particularly productive on the frugal front. I woke at 5.40 & decided 5 mins later that I may as well get up, so it was nice to have an early coffee, toast & get started on my day. Apart from using up leftovers for tonight's nosebag, today's small wins have pretty much been kitchen-based. I was out early with my basket picking up more windfall apples by 8 am. It's been muggy but with a breeze, so quite a few more had come down. Windfalls are generally the fruits affected by codling moth or are not as good as the ones which remain on the tree to grow to full size, but for those of us with the dogged determination to spend time cutting out the bruises & nibbles, they are perfectly good for cooking. So that was most of my morning. I started a new audiobook, prepped 2.5lbs apples, gathered all the other ingredients from stores & got the cauldron bubbling with a batch of apple chutney. I've tried a different recipe this time & it's made 5 big recycled mayonnaise-size jars plus 1 standard jam jar size & a tester pot. It needs to mature for a month now, but I did try some of the tester with cheese & crackers for my lunch & it does taste very promising. I think my overall favourite apple chutney recipe is the Apple & Ginger one in the original Cranks cookbook, but it is nice to try different things & to experiment....& there is going to be no shortage of apples around here anytime soon, that's for sure!
Postie brought me 2 bank statements this morning, but no new credit card. The pin number letter arrived last week & I had the impression they'd be arriving much close together, so I'll give it till Friday, then get in touch to see if they've actually dispatched it, as I know letters containing cards can be intercepted. Not a lot of use when it hasn't been registered & without the pin, I'd have thought, but I know card crims can be resourceful people. I expect I'm overthinking & it will turn up tomorrow.
Well, I'd better see if there are any surveys, then sign off for the night. Looking forward to watching 'Shetland' tonight & just reading my book. Mr F has a new gizmo (bought with his Spends) to sort out, so will be happy getting on with that. Cats are full of dinner & lying around like sated Roman emperors atm.
Love F x

foxgloves

@DawnW - Interesting to hear about the mouli. I don't have one of those, but your post reminded me that years ago my Nana bought me a mouli cheese grater from her church jumble sale. We used them at school in cookery lessons, so I thought I was proper cheffy having one to use at home! I can see that the big one for vegetables would make for a quicker job with tomatoes. I always have a look for vintage cookware in charity shops. My flour dredger came from a charity shop (needs replacing now but has lasted me for years). I also once bought a 1950s potato masher......which was hopeless at mashing potatoes. I got rid of it, then realised much later (from friend who does 30s re-enactment & gives talks about domestic history) that it was actually a spinach presser for getting the last of the water out of drained greens! 
F x

foxgloves

Forgot to add my pic of this morning's efforts. Coffee on the go while I was labelling jars as usual. F x

Tescodealqueen

@Tescodealqueen - I am a bit of a stickler for nose-to-tail eating these days. I've never had any urge to become a vegetarian....I eat a wide variety of meals including plenty of meat-free ones, but I do think that if an animal has been killed to feed me, then it behoves me to eat it all. I have never noticed any odd flavours from making leftover meat into other dishes, so it's interesting that you can detect this. Do you notice if you simply eat the chicken or meat cold with a salad, or is it only if you cook it into something else? Mr F is currently turning the Weds portion of rubber pork into Man-Stew, as it's jacket potato night here. I'm having a leftover portion of quorn curry from the freezer on mine as I don't eat Man-Stew, lol.
F x

It is fine if I eat it cold with salad or on sandwiches it must be how I reheat it and I have tried curry, stir fries, pies etc. it’s just not quite right. I have sliced and frozen in gravy and that’s slightly better to my taste but my OH doesn’t like that. So we try and use it up for lunches day after day and package some up for my dad but I wish I could get to the bottom of it.

foxgloves

Well, it's good that you are still using it & it isn't going to waste, but it's curious what is causing the problem. I use leftover roast meat, chicken, etc for the sort of meals you mention, plus others, & haven't ever noticed a change in flavour. We're all different though, aren't we? Horses for courses & all that.
F x

penny_less

Foxgloves, I applied for my JL card on the same day as you and have received no card but have had the pin, so hopefully for both of us they are on the way. I also realised that I only received one pin and wasn’t asked for my husband’s details when I applied for the card (he will be a second cardholder), so today I downloaded the app and applied for him to be an additional cardholder using the app (just in case this helps someone else!)