The thriftyish way to debt freedom

thriftyish

@Kakiste   We are new to courgettes, which is why it's such a challenge Neither of us grew up eating courgettes, and so we have never bought them. We grew a few at our old allotment (not very successfully!), but gave most away and only really made courgette cake with the few we kept. I wanted one or two plants at this allotment, but FIL has a tendency to start lots of seedlings off (he loves growing, but gives 90% away) and this year gave us a tray full. And I hate waste, so planted what I could and gave the rest away. So now I have more courgettes than I know what to do with I am determined to like them a little bit, just because they grow so easily! I am not sure I like them individually either I read online of people making a kind of soup base, and then using it in sauces for pasta and lasagne - that's one of the things on my list to try - let me know if you have any tips! I know what you mean about overexposure, I think we may face that in a few weeks! 

Fortune_Smiles

Hi Thrifty

hope you don't mind me de-lurking 😀  We have a courgette glut too... and the marrows are starting in earnest now 😮  I usually post my meal plan recipes on my diary, and they are mainly courgette based at the moment if you're interested.  Although I've missed posting for the last week or so 🙄  (must get an update done today).

Your allotment looks marvellous.  So neat and tidy.

Fortune x

f0xh0les

You could make a lasagne / moussaka style layer bake with courgette instead of pasta  (diet food) -  Also freezes!

You can dust 'coins' of courgette in flour and fry them golden and crispy coated - serve with thyme,

There is a recipe for sweet dill pickled courgettes somewhere on the web.

Remember - there is no law that says you can't pick a small courgette or   you could put an honesty box of them on your front wall with a 'free or for donation' sign.  And you could put up a 'jars wanted' sign the day before recycling day.

My courgettes have been rubbish. They get to fish finger size and then wither. I am feeding them and watering them and swearing at them, there are loads of flowers, and then swellings, and then .. nothing.

Full of good ideas, but can't even successfully grow a courgette.

thriftyish

Thanks @Fortune_Smiles I will have a good read for courgette inspiration! I had a quick read the other day and your meal plans sound delicious.

@f0xh0les My diet is shocking at the moment, running was going so well but ground to an alt and rubbish food crept in. Will add the courgette lasagne to the list, also want to try courgette soup as a type of bechamel sauce, maybe not in the same lasagne, that might just be courgette overload. I can't seem to grow small courgettes, they hide until they are as long as my arm. I am aiming to pick them when small now. Sounds like you are doing the exact right things for the courgettes, maybe more swearing needed  The only thing I've found is they love sunlight, the ones in full sun at my allotment are going crazy but the ones at the back which have to compete for water and sunlight (the hedge wins) are struggling, and I've only had ~5 small courgettes from 3 plants. 

Food Shopping
The food budget for August is now at £277.65 More than I wanted, but to be expected because we sneaked another child-free chinese when the children had gone to bed. So although it's more than I wanted it to be, it does include over £10 in alcohol and £63.50 in takeout/eating out, which fed us only 2 family meals, and 1 meal for DH & I    So without the takeaways we would be less than £200 to feed 6 people. Our old budget was £400, so we are still doing well. I am hoping to limp through to Tuesday without visiting the shops.

Stocking up
DH and I have been talking a lot over the last few months about increasing our food cupboard. This morning I read an article from the BBC which talked about this year been a really poor year for wheat, and that harvests are down 30% or more, meaning we can expect rising costs of bread, and everything else that contains flour such as biscuits, cakes, ect. This could be further impacted by brexit, and DH is worried that a second wave of covid, brexit and another event (like flooding/a bad winter/fuel shortages ect) could be catastrophic. I worried, worried enough to spend a little bit more to prepare. So today I have started buying a few extra things per shopping trip. This will probably mean we spend more money on food for the next few months, but it's worth it for the peace of mind!

Clothes
The clothes budget is also out of control this month. But we have lots of winter clothes at a fraction of the cost I would have to pay towards winter, including all-new dressing gowns, lots of fleecy jumpers, and September is usually an expensive month for uniform & shoes - so it should even out.

Pets
The pet budget has also taken a hit, as we needed the new feeder and water dispenser, grit, more food, mealworms - most of which I bought in bulk because it was the cheapest way. 

Food
I made lots of courgette soup. We ate y/s fish with allotment potatoes chips for tea. Dessert was jam tarts with a pastry from the freezer. The fruit baskets are full. Tomorrows dinner is allotment veg, with something from the freezer.

I can't wait until the start of the month so I can update all the budgets and balance the accounts. Roll on Tuesday.

Happy debtbusting!

Honeysucklelou2

I’m very impressed with your  getting the food budget to £200 for 6. I  try to keep to £400 a month for us all ( large family) but struggle to do that. I didn’t know that about the wheat harvest so a good idea to have a prepared kitchen cupboard.

missymoo81

Love the sound of all the courgette related food! I love them! Your food budget is commendable. And I too am v guilty of the odd Chinese working it’s way into the budget! 

@f@Fortune_Smiles are you on the DFW board? I couldnt find you?

Baileys_Babe

missymoo81 said:

@f@Fortune_Smiles are you on the DFW board? I couldnt find you?

I think they are on MFW board.

Fortune_Smiles

Baileys_Babe said:

missymoo81 said:

@f@Fortune_Smiles are you on the DFW board? I couldnt find you?

I think they are on MFW board.

Here I am! 😁

Fortune x

Bluegreen143

I think courgettes are the most useful of veg - I put them in everything - grated or in cubes in pasta sauces, casseroles, soups (I often add some to any blended soup as it doesn’t actually change the taste but helps bulk it out and add an extra helping of veg), risotto, stir fry, curry, cake, a nice raw grated courgette salad - I love the constant courgettes from my veg box and I’ve even picked one small one from my garden 😂 It’s the weekly beetroot from the veg box I struggle to use, it’s not as versatile and I don’t want to turn every meal pink...

Re water bottles. I too have gone down the expensive eco friendly metal route - twice! And both times both Monkey and I lost them! And I’ve bought expensive really sturdy branded plastic ones and they’ve got lost too. And even if they aren’t lost, having one per person means you can’t find them when the kids constantly leave them in the garden, car, or they are in different bags etc. So I’ve bought them four (ie two each) cheap £2 sistena 350ml ones (perfect size for my kids as they are still wee) and it makes it easier to find one but I only wish I’d bought more! My friend has them too but she bought like 10 between her two kids and now can always find water bottles when needed. Radically she bought them all the same colour and then her kids can’t fight over them 😅 so given you have four kids I don’t think your 25 sounds that excessive!

Fortune_Smiles

I'm not a great fan of beetroot myself but I've found a couple of recipes I enjoy:

Beetroot, Halloumi & Cashew Curry
Creamy Beetroot Risotto

They are definitely worth a try 🙂

Fortune x