Frugal, thrifty, make do, mend! Let this debt come to an end!

Elisheba

Evening all, 

The weather is very mild again isn't it? With all my layers I am very toasty and I've not even turned my heated hoodie on. 

I braved my discomfort and drove to the the community pantry at lunchtime. The chap there was lovely, and I picked up a large bag of green salad leaves I'll need to use quickly, a lovely unsliced loaf, and a bag of parsley. I also found out they can service and fix my bike for a very reasonable price. I still feel a bit awkward about taking free food, but it would end up going to waste otherwise I think. None of it would last long, so I'm not taking it out the mouths of hungry kids.

So I'm thinking for dinner I'll do a greenleaf, feta and potato salad with a bit of parsley, with sliced eggs on the side. Strange to have a cold dinner in November! I'll boil some extra eggs and make egg mayo (only with salad creme) and have that with some green leaves on a sandwich for my packed lunch for the office tomorrow. Then I might add the rest of the green leaves to a mixed vegetable soup on Saturday. I'll chop and freeze the parsley, and I might freeze half the loaf so it doesn't go bad.

I'm out for dinner tomorrow night so won't need anything for that, but I'll make extra potato salad and can have that with lunch tomorrow and Saturday as well. 

I've been looking at reviews for Instant Pot Duos, and Ninja Foodies. Both do pressure cooking and air frying, as well as various other things, and would pretty much negate the need for my big oven.

Both are pretty expensive, although the Ninja more so. I saw the IP Duo reduced to £120 earlier in the year, but the cheapest is £160 now. I'm wondering if I should treat myself if the Black Friday price goes down again. I would kind of prefer a Ninja Foodie but they are about £50 dearer. I'll think about it.

It would only be if I saw a price I liked, and it would be my Xmas present to myself. The thing about them is that they are one of those things that pay for themselves in reduced energy use, so good value even if a significant outlay.

Right, I'm off to do some dishes and make some dinner. Hope everyone has a lovely, relaxing evening 😊

SuzeQStan

Happy evening to you Elisheba - it’s is so mild! Your dinner sounds very nice & well done for making use of food that would have otherwise been wasted.  

Air fryers are all the rage right now aren’t they?  We have a basic but large 7litre air fryer cost £55 from Costco but  I know there are much fancier ones like the ones you mention. If you are going to make use of all the features then I’m sure they would be worthwhile for you, but for us we use ours like a mini oven - things cook faster and OH swears down that it costs less than our leccy oven - but I haven’t done any exact calculations. It has a stand so you can cook separate items. Then I picked up a slow cooker for less than a tenner at local CS. Between those two we are pretty well covered for soups, stews, curries in slow cooker & everything else in air fryer / microwave. Did some gorgeous pork steaks in harissa paste in the AF yesterday - was beautiful.  

There is a good thread on the airfryers on MSE
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6398318/air-fryer-v-oven/p11

Elisheba

Afternoon all, 
I've had a lovely lazy morning reading the paper and drinking oodkes of tea. 

I had a nice evening out with some work friends yesterday and got home at 10pm, which I thought was very sensible of me considering it's an hour's train journey home. I'll pop the money I spent into my monthly record.

I've no big plans for this weekend. I thought about having a look around the charity shops but that's just a route to spending money on things I don't need. I'll probably stay in except for a dog walk, and do a bit of house work, then either read of watch some telly. I have friends who are going out to see a band tonight and I might join them for an hour or two, but no longer as I need to be at a Remembrance Ceremony tomorrow morning.

I think I might try and make a pesto with the green leaves I have left from Community Pantry. I have some peanut butter, oil, lemon juice and cheddar so I can see how that unholy mix of substitutions works out 😂. Some of the leaves are already brown so I'll need to make it today.

I hope everyone had a brilliant weekend 😊

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like you're having a lovely day so far! That pesto mixture sounds excellent 😁

SuzeQStan

Happy weekend Elisheba - intrigued to hear about the peanut butter pesto! 😊

Elisheba

The pesto was excellent. I just threw in what I had around, so a bit of rapeseed oil, loads of the green leaves, a dollop of garlic from a tube, couple of handfuls of grated cheddar, some basil leaves, some lemon juice, bit of nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and peanut butter.

The peanut butter was instead of pine nuts @SuzeQStan. I read in a Jack Munroe book that they use it instead of tahini in hummous, and I figured that might work in pesto as well, and it did.

I mixed 2 portions through pasta with some olives, and had more grated cheese on top and it was really nice. Will have the second portion tomorrow. I've put the rest in a jam jar in the fridge. Not sure how long it will last - I might try and freeze it as I don't see me getting through what must be another 4 portions any time soon. 

SuzeQStan

That sounds delicious - and so clever to make use of what you already have in the larder.  Freezing individual portions such a good idea too. Love the idea of peanut butter instead of tahini - going to ‘borrow’ that idea! Have you seen the hummous varieties at Lidl Elisheba? The pine nuts one is so delicious but a little pricey so I only pick one up as a treat when it’s got a YS offer. Next time I’ll just get the plain one and stir a little PB through it - quite excited!

Elisheba

Evening, frugal friends, 

Busy day today. Had to lay a wreath at a Remembrance parade, then had the remembrance service, then went for coffee and cake (about £6 and they didn't take Amex 🙄).

After that it was home, walked the dog, cleaned downstairs - everything except the fridge and mopping the floors. Then I had more of the pesto for dinner, and finally sat down and caught up with Escape to the Chateau.

I feel like it has been quite a productive weekend, and I'm glad the house is presentable as my brother is coming down tomorrow as we have the funeral midweek. 

I think I might put a bolognaise in the slow cooker for dinner for us both tomorrow. Could make a fair bit and have it two days in a row perhaps? Then we'll be away on the Wednesday, and perhaps veggie mince and tatties for Thursday/Friday. I'll maybe think about it again tomorrow when my brain is fresher. 

Elisheba

Hi all, 
Just a little note to say I won't be posting here for the next week or so. Just got a lot on with a funeral and my brother staying, but didn't want anyone to worry 😊

SuzeQStan

Will be thinking of you Elisheba - take care