What small DFW things will you do this week? W/C 6 August

PurpleFairy26

Thanks Dawn sounds yummy and useful for my current feta mountain :rotfl:

foxgloves

Morning Sunshades,
So far on the frugal frontier:
*Washed hair - no straighteners today....it doesn't stay straight long in this humidity so am saving electricity.
*Half price overnight laundry pegged out to dry for free.
*Watered veg.
*Picked another squash to add to stash of our home grown veg in the fridge.
*Made bread dough - it's proving atm.
*Chilli in slow cooker using 250g l/o beef chunks from freezer. Nice to be using our own peppers now.
*Free fitness bailing bathwater out onto flower beds & boogie-ing non-stop to half an hour of 1970s tracks in my bra & pants......no pricey fitness gear here!
*Unblocked a drain. Stinky work but infinitely better than a plumber call-out charge when all it usually takes is a few pokes & a bowlful of hot soda crystal solution.
Still to do:
*Ironing.....loathsome task so will only do what really needs it.
*Wash fabric prior to attempting to cut out my new top.
*Make a picnic for tomorrow - mr f working a.m only in home town so we are strolling to the riverside/castle afterwards for a picnic lunch.
*Decide which chutneys to make this year to make best use of our produce.
*Pick blackberries.
*Knit.
I may get more done as I go along, but those are all my planned jobs.
Have a good day, all......esp. CCL on holiday. Enjoy the break.
F x

DawnW

Hello again,
Just realised that I hadn't actually done my list
Was going to look after GD today, but her Mum asked if we could swap to tomorrow, so good incentive to get stuff done. It is also cooler, which makes it all less effort!

Done so far:
Raspberries and blueberries from garden for breakfast fruit
Got fish and ginger out of freezer for a fish curry later. This will also use HG French beans and cherry tomatoes

Ironing, only a few bits, but I hate it hanging around!
Checked banks, updated spreadsheet with yesterday's spends
Sorted out sink area / dishwasher on

Helped OH to carry a wheelbarrow load of wood offcuts and half the side of an old shed back from outside a neighbour's back gate - neighbour asked if we wanted it for the wood stove

Still to do:
Strip off bed and wash linen washed it ok, but OH was trundlng up and down the garden with firewood (our garden is quite wee, and the washing line is alongside the path, and wheelbarrow loads of wood and hanging sheets aren't a good combination :eek: Then DD and kids appeared, so it didn't get done ... then it rained :j Will peg it out to dry in the morning.
Peg out on line to dry see above
Contemplate £9 off a £60 shop voucher from Sainsburys. I shop in there often, but don't spend enough for their liking. They are therefore sending me these quite big vouchers. Earlier this week, I used a voucher to get £7.50 off a £50 shop. Trouble is, they are for a very big (for me) shop. Probably worth using them while they are sending them, to stock up. Previous experience tells me that they won't keep coming for long! I might do an online shop for a change.... Discovered the printer has run out of ink This will account for a chunk of the £60 spend - it is a business cost, so is tax deductable, but I still have to spend out in the first place.
All food from home, leftover spinach and feta pie for lunch, will make curry later for dinner Done, fish curry was yummy. Lots of sauce left over, so I might just do the same again tomorrow, with additional fish and veg
Water whatever needs it in the garden It rained :j
Pick any produce that is ready Not done
Restock camper van coffee and tea supplies, and put GD's car seat in there ready for tomorrow Not yet
Do something with fallen apples - might get the dehydrator out and do some dried apple rings Done, must put them away when cool

Best make more coffee, and get the washing machine on

uphillstruggler

Afternoon all,

Dawn thanks for the recipe. Love feta

Had a good NSD yesterday and popped to the library for some new books. Today will hopefully be a NSD too.

Today I will/have:

*B/L/D from stores
*[STRIKE]get expenses sheet to the accountant[/STRIKE] - done, phew
*quick clean of house
*beautify myself in some way - use up some of the products on my shelves
*try to get the garden waste to the tip
*check accounts and outgoing payments
*find out who has paid £200 into my account... can't work it out for the life of me but not spending it in case it goes away again!
*check credit file. I've tried the MSE club but for some reason it won't allow me to join - maybe it doesn't recognise an address. I did live at a place in the last three years that doesn't have a Royal Mail Address...maybe it's that? I put Cl**rscore on my phone but it has me down as, well, in rather a better situation than I truly am. Something is not quite right. Any suggestions for an alternative?

Have a lovely day all,
US

carrielovesfanta

Hi folks

I am here. Just having the most insane week at work and trying to keep my $h!t together...

At least today is my Friday. Will post a nice frugal list tomorrow for my weekend.

Love you all

clf x

carrielovesfanta

DawnW wrote: »

Spinach and feta filo pie:
You need:

About half a pack of filo pastry (the other half goes in the freezer for next time)
Lots of spinach - I can't give weights as I never weigh it, just use what I pick. A big stockpot of uncooked spinach pushed down tightly if that helps!
One or two packs of feta (or Sainsburys basics Greek salad cheese) to taste. You can also add any ends of leftover / dried up bits of any other cheese if you like / have any.

Olive oil, salt and pepper.


Wash spinach and put into a large pan, cook over a highish heat till it wilts down. No extra water needed, apart from the washing water that clings to it. Drain in a colander, pressing as much water out of it as you can. Put back in the pan, then crumble in feta (and grate in any ends of other cheese if you have it) and season well with salt and pepper, remembering though that feta is quite salty.

Brush a baking dish with olive oil and line with several layers of filo pastry, letting it overlap / over hang the sides. You need to dab the layers with the olive oil brush to make them stick together a bit - but you don't need much.

Fill with spinach and feta mixture - you can do half, fold pastry over and do another layer if you like, but I usually don't bother. Fold over flaps of pastry overhanging the edge of the dish, again dotting with olive oil where they need to stick together. Add more filo to the top if needed.

Brush over the surface with more olive oil and bake at Gas 6 or 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Now the slightly tricky part - get out the pie which should now be nice and brown on top, invert onto a baking tray and slide back into its original baking dish to brown the underneath. This is only tricky because you need approximately 3 hands. The pie will stay together well, and won't break up unless you drop it on the floor!

Back in the oven for another 10 or 15 minutes, it will look nice and brown when done.

Nice hot, warm or cold


Hopefully this makes sense - let me know if not. It is surprisingly difficult to write down a recipe for something you have just made for years. It is pretty easy though, much easier to do than write!

I have made very similar open topped pies (flans??) with grated courgette and feta (squeeze the water out of the courgette first) and roasted butternut squash and feta.


I tend to bind the mixture with a couple of eggs too. Great flexible recipe

PurpleFairy26

Morning all :hello: hope you are able to relax at the 'weeekend' CLF

Few things including some from yesterday:
Used butter wrapper to grease a cake tin
Used some frozen lemon zest to bump up the one lemon I had to make a lemon drizzle cake
Froze half a stock cube (gelly type ones)
Picked a massive tub of blackberries and wild raspberries, will find something to do with them today. Ideally not going in the freezer as still have some from last year that I put in crumbles - I'm thinking jam
Check banking
Check for surveys
Pick some more tomatoes
Quick vacuum through
Research printer ink - thanks for the prompt Dawn I only remember when I go to print something and then forget when I walk back down the stairs.
Out for walk wth friend tonight for free exercise and out the world to rights

determined_new_ms

Morning Just about coming round now - dunno why but recently it takes me a while to get bushy tailed in the mornings!

I'm off again today and feeling in need of some down time, so no plans to meet up with anyone today. So intend to potter around, and do some of the annoying jobs that are outstanding:

* sort out the kitchen - use cleaning products in (really minimal here! :rotfl:)
* use a paracetamol to clean bottom of iron
* get sewing machine out and take up dress - got in a cs a couple of months ago but it didn't fit and now it does :cool:
* repair a zip on a playsuit I got for a couple of £ last year and still haven't repaired
* investigate if I can repair torn jean - they are torn anyway but over the years the thigh tears means my whole front of my thigh is exposed! :eek::rotfl:
*[STRIKE] take library books back and get some more[/STRIKE] - will do this shortly as it's set to rain today - all day - and heavily later on
* do a house insurance search
*[STRIKE] reminded oh he owes me money [/STRIKE]
* hang up washing (sadly I didn't get it together to do it yesterday so will have to be inside)
* make a cucumber salad to use up tons of cucumbers
[STRIKE]* make a bean chilli[/STRIKE] & freeze in portions
*[STRIKE] check banking and transfer some money[/STRIKE]
* take photo of meters and send to supplier

Ok that's more than enough! Hope you all have a lovely day :A

DawnW

Morning all

Hope you get a break after today CLF Your pie ideas sound good too - I imagine they would be a bit like a quiche? I will certainly be trying the courgette one soon!
Picnic with GD today, thought we would go to the canal flight of locks quite near us, and go for a walk along the canal and look at the boats. Picnic packed, camper van ready to go, but holding off till about 11 as she will want to go for a picnic straight away, and we would end up with a very early lunch :rotfl:


So far I have:
Pegged out washing that didn't get done yesterday - doesn't look much like drying though!
Picked and froze a colander of French beans - open froze them on a tray to avoid having to use whole bagfuls of them at once!
Picked some raspberries and blueberries to put in picnic for GD
Picked a courgette and a cucumber, plus a bowlful of cherry tomatoes
Replied to a message about an item on ebay


To do later:
Roast a trayful of cherry tomatoes with some garlic, herbs and olive oil and put through the mouli to make some sauce for freezer
Put fish in marinade, as I have curry sauce left from last night's fish curry - so I will cook more veg and fish in it and we will have the same again tonight to use it up! We don't mind having the same thing twice running if it is nice
Pack 2 ebay items ready for posting tomorrow
I will need to water some of my large pots even if it does rain -not all though!

Gap up rows of seedlings with more seeds now it has rained a bit - germination was very sporadic!


That is enough for today I think!

Happy_Kitties

Afternoon everyone

Bit of a topsy turvy morning.
Meeting first thing
Then as h. barg@ins is nearby I popped in to get a couple of bits needed. Picked up a couple of colouring/sticker sets for my Christmas boxes for 29p.....bargain compared to paying 99p for basically the same product from the c. f@ctory

Back home to check banking, everything good as have a d.debit going out tomorrow
Washing in and more to go out on the line.
Big parcel now all packed and ready for picking up tomorrow
Cashed out in quidco

Still need to do a Bolognese in s.cooker ready for tea
Package up an eBay item ready to send tomorrow
Do a full disinfect of cat area
Need to wrap some birthday presents.......going to use the plain foil wrapping out of the Christmas packs rather than buy a roll especially
Think that's about it from me.
Off to get a cuppa and a snack before I start on the afternoon stuff

Have a good afternoon everyone and CLF enjoy your weekend, sounds like you have really earnt it.x