A new royal start

QueenJess

themadvix said:

I know exactly what you mean about 'the rest of the world' not getting it. I think we definitely live in a little eco-bubble in this house - ethics guide most of our purchasing decisions and we are frequently amazed that others aren't guided by them (seemingly sometimes at all). I am entirely understanding of the fact that we are in a financial position (largely through our own hard work) to make some choices that would be unaffordable to others - but money isn't always a factor (and it can be quite the opposite - e.g. bought drinks in plastic bottles vs reusable bottle from home). Hey ho - it *is* nice to find like-minded company here! 😁

Food sounds lovely as ever. I must have a go at crumpets, but I already know they're going to end up a mess (and stuck to my spun iron frying pan!).

You should try them!  To be fair, they were quite easy, but I only had one metal ring to use which meant I had to cook each one individually and it took an age....  I used Nancy Birtwhistles recipe and they are very nice.

themadvix

Thank you! I've saved the recipe

QueenJess

Feels like time is passing so slowly at the moment... 1 week left at work and then I'm free!  Can't wait, but it also feels very weird.  Been keeping up with budget stuff for this month and not too bad so far, although I did pay for after school clubs next term .  At least I get points on my credit card for that... hoping I can cancel some of them later for my money back, but they get booked up so I needed to get it in as I have no idea what I'll be doing work wise by then.

Not happy with DS who decided to wash his rocks in the sink and managed to block the whole sink. Ended up needing a plumber.  So that's £46 I did not need to spend right now... We will be getting DS to pay a bit towards it, so hopefully he'll stop and think next time.

Trying to use up food in the fridge at the moment before we go on holiday for a week next week.  Used up all the hm pesto for lunch (pesto pasta with mushrooms, the never ending broad beans and parmesan).  Stewed a huge amount of peaches that refused to ripen with a load of pears we aren't going to eat in time.  That will go into the freezer for a future crumble.  It's difficult to get the fruit right with kids... one week they can't get enough of something and then won't even touch it the next week.  Last week I bought twice the amount of bananas as I wanted to make drop scones and every single one has disappeared!  

Watermelon is cut up for the kids (DD is addicted to it at the moment), I'll make some flapjacks this afternoon (that will use up the random small bowl of butter I tried to soften, but got distracted and ended up melting it completely - I refused to waste it so it's been in the fridge waiting for a recipe that calls for melted butter) and I am about to try and make some yogurt and strawberry lollies for the kids (treated them to some silicone lolly moulds a few weeks ago and not used them yet).  Still too much in the fridge, but that has significantly lightened the load and I have much less being delivered from Riverford tomorrow.  Oh - an I have too many chillis that I will be freezing whole for DH's future needs (he loves them).

Dinner I am not sure about... DH is taking DS out to some event round the corner for an hour or so which involves pizza (DS's friends will be there) and DD is having leftover tomato pasta.  Not sure what to have myself... I could cook a pizza, but seems silly just for me.  Might do some sort of salad or stir fry or something to use up some more fridge stuff.  Still got the bottomless nectarine and apple cobbler and hm vanilla ice cream for dessert.  No matter how much we eat of it, it doesn't seem to get any smaller!

Better run as rushing around as usual on my day off.  About to put the bread in the oven, then need to pick up DS, make the flapjacks and lollies before rushing him out to his swimming lesson.  It's never an actual day off...

QueenJess

Well that's it.  Work finished yesterday and no one actually bothered to say bye to me or anything, so doesn't really feel like the end weirdly.  I'm sure it'll sink in soon.  DS also finished yesterday and as we go on holiday on Friday, I'm rushing around trying to make sure everything is ready.  We are off to York as I've never been and it is meant to be really nice.

We've decided to have a mix of dinners at the rental place and out, and also do a mix of pack lunches and lunch out to save time and reduce costs a bit.  Plus it takes forever to have meals out with 2 kids!  DD is eating us out of house and home at the moment (major growth spurt), so I still managed to spent £100 on the food shop today, but some of it is the regular stocking of the cupboards and some we will take with us for breakfasts etc.  The kids insist on desserts, so we will take yogurt with us and I'm going to make a batch of muffins (half choc chip and half raspberry) that we can use for that.  I'm also going to make loads more snacks to stop the kids eating junk and I've ordered lots of nice fruit from Riverford to take with us for that and also for breakfasts.

We need lots of snack options because DD particularly likes the variety and also because she refuses to eat sandwiches, so she'll need lots of different bits to make up her lunch.  I have bread sticks, plain popcorn (I have a bowl you shove in the microwave so will make it as we need it), apples, bananas and carrots to take out with us.  I'm also going to make banana bread (mostly because my bananas are going black), cheese biscuits, oat biscuits with sultanas and cranberries (for the grown ups..) and flapjacks.  I've also got honeydew melon, strawberries (DD eats a huge number of), raspberries and blueberries for breakfasts.  I'll also take some raisins that we use as treats for the kids.

Really craving vegetables at the moment, which I think is something to do with peri menopause.  Such fun... I often feel changes in mood which have nothing to do with what I am doing and it is totally weird.  For example, I sometimes feel a bit depressed, but can't understand why as I am doing something happy at the time.  Anyway, eating healthily is meant to help and I told DH I wanted to eat more healthily and he said "what? You?!!!!".  Yep, as readers will know, I am completely obsessed with fruit and vegetables and love to eat as many as possible.  We don't always have dessert either anymore (the kids do though).  I always lament the lack of vegetables on the plate when we eat out, although the rise of vegan options on menus is sometimes helpful for that.  My mum asked me if I had gone to the doctor, but I have no idea what purpose that would serve.  It isn't bad enough to do anything (although 3 week periods are very unfun) and I prefer to see if diet and exercise can fix it.  I already go to gym twice a week now and might do a quick 10 min yoga in the morning to see if that helps.  Plus, my sister has been going through it for years and her doctor tells her that she's wrong because she's too young, despite there being a lot of history in the family of it.  So yes, it's early as I am only 42, but not unexpected given my family history.

Right.. need to stop wittering because I have a ton of food to cook and a million loads of washing to do before I get DS to his swimming lesson later.  Just about to eat lunch which is salad (Kohl Rabi, new potatoes, mixed salad leaves, avocado, red pepper, cucumber, pumpkin seeds, spring onion) with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.  Dinner tonight will be hm pizza (once I make the pizza dough...) with mozzarella and tomatoes.  Desserts for kids is yogurt and fruit.  I probably won't bother and DH will happily scoff some flapjack.

themadvix

Hooray to the end of work! Pity no one recognised it though - makes you wonder if they panicked this morning!

My friend is only a little bit older than you and is still have regular periods but did manage to get her doctor to prescribe HRT - she's found they defiintely help, so it might be worth trying with your doc. I think eating a healthy diet will only help so far - your diet is already healthier than that of 3/4 (7/8ths?! ) of the population!

The food you are taking on holiday sounds delicious. I know what you mean about the lack of veg when eating out - a really good vegan dish is a revelation for the amount of plants and the variety of textures and flavours though. 

Enjoy York!

QueenJess

themadvix said:

My friend is only a little bit older than you and is still have regular periods but did manage to get her doctor to prescribe HRT - she's found they defiintely help, so it might be worth trying with your doc. I think eating a healthy diet will only help so far - your diet is already healthier than that of 3/4 (7/8ths?! ) of the population!

I'll think about it, but I know it comes with risks when I am probably already at a higher risk.  It's not too awful at the moment, just tedious, so will see how it pans out.

The holiday was fun, although knackering.  DD is always very clingy with me and so I never get to spend as much quality time with DS.  She refused to let anyone else push the pushchair, so I certainly had a lot of exercise...  I took enough food to last almost the entire week of lunches which saved so much time each day and a lot of money.  Means we spent much less than usual, which was good as I didn't have as much in the funds as I wanted to.  DD was fine in a big bed and we put a bed guard on there for her.  She now hates her usual bed and to be fair it is getting small, so I've just ordered her a single bed.  Costs a fortune when you are starting from scratch and need a bed frame, a mattress, a mattress protector, sheets, duvet, duvet covers etc.  We've dug into our savings for that one and I am concentrating on slowly building up the joint account buckets so we can do this stuff in the future from the joint account instead.

Trying to not spend too much money at the moment (with a balance of still going out and doing things) and stay within budget, but I have a feeling I do spend a bit much money.  Food was over budget in July and so I am aiming to be better at it this month.  In that vein I am trying to not overbuy and considered my Riverford requirements very closely this week.  I didn't need much for the rest of the main shopping and so I just popped out for a top up shop to last us until next week.  I also filled an entire colander earlier with free blackberries I picked near us and intend to pick many more to use throughout the winter months.

I have some other categories slightly over budget, but most are just due to timing of cash flow since I reset everything at the end of June rather than trawling through all the spending in the months prior to that.  These should all reverse this/next month and be able to start building some categories up a bit.

It feels really weird not to have a job, but I'm genuinely not missing it at the moment and am enjoying the break.  After all I've been working for 20+ years with no break (having a child is not having a break in my book!), so it's nice to have some time.

I went through DS's wardrobe recently for winter and got rid of loads of stuff he'd outgrown.  I have a standing list of their minimum requirements for each type of clothing and so could compare what he had left with what he needs.  Luckily he only needed 2 jogging bottoms, 1 winter coat, 1 long sleeved top and 1 jumper.  The winter coat my mum is going to buy and the rest I found online second hand for under £20 total.  I need to do the same for DD at some point.

I've also been creating gift lists for DD and DS thinking about Xmas and birthdays since they are all really close.  It's good to spread some of the cost and be prepared and I've been liaising with my parents as well to ensure the kids get a balanced range of gifts.  It's looking relatively organised at the moment and I'm watching a couple of things online that are second hand (good time whilst everyone is on holiday as you can get some bargains).

Lunch today was smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on sourdough bread with a side salad.  Dinner will be hm pizza with whatever I have in the fridge to put on it.  Dessert is fruit, yogurt and/or ice cream.

QueenJess

Not much happening here, although I just cost myself more money by accidentally breaking the straw bit of DD's water bottle and had to order spares.  At least you can order spares and tbh, it'll be useful having more than one as then we can have one in use and the other in the wash since the kids never go anywhere (including bed) without their bottles, so there is little time to wash them (the spares only come in packs of 4). Oh well.. that's why I brought a brand that did do spares and a lifetime guarantee.  DS has had his for 5 years now and it's all working fine.

Definitely will be baking happening next week, but I'm currently deliberating what to make as there's always lots of things I'd like to try on the to do list.  I'll likely open the fridge and see what needs to be used up as my inspiration.  Still got lots of food in and am trying to put off the food shop for as long as I can.  The joint account doesn't look great, so I need to not overspend and possibly should think about making more things for the freezer whilst I have time next week to save some money.  Bread, pizza dough and wraps etc should be high up on the to do list somewhere.  I will definitely be doing some more blackberry picking as well as I have lots of freezer space I can use up and we have never been able to have too many of those for the winter!

Anyway, today's dinner was salmon (with a red pesto crust for the grown ups) with broccoli, green beans, peas and carrots (was trying to use up the end of lots of things in the fridge!) and roasted squares of potato I tossed in olive oil and rosemary.  Made dessert before there was some sort of a riot - a lovely chocolate and almond bundt cake that I've made before and lasts really well.  Off to browse the internet for some baking inspiration or more likely add to the never ending list of things I would like to try and make

QueenJess

Been really busy using all my time to catch up and get ahead of the big list of stuff I never get to - it's been anything from getting the carpets cleaned, ordering repeat prescriptions to ordering myself a passport (not that I've left the UK for 8 years, but you never know!).

As a result of getting stuff done, I've also spent a fair bit, but it should be coming to an end now I hope.  I've even planned (and partly bought) the kids xmas presents which will cost £110 in total (helped by some Buy Nothing items).  Looks like my old, old company want me back to do some urgent work for a fixed 3 month period starting next week.  Not signed the contract yet as I am checking something with them, but that's another reason I've been running around tidying, doing washing, baking etc to make sure I'm on top of it all.  It's going to be hectic for at least the next 6 weeks, so I wanted to be prepared.

I've looked at the funds again and I really just need to curb the spending a bit and start building up some pots.  I spent £200 on food last week *looks embarrassed*, which is utterly ridiculous.  As usual I think I bought far too much and so I am hoping I just need a small top up shop for a few bits next week and even the week after that won't be too bad.  I will be going blackberry picking a few more times to get myself lots of free berries over the winter and I've been rummaging through the kitchen cupboards and making sure everything is getting used up.  I've also been on a bit of a baking spree and have been filling up the freezer with goodies... DH says the garlic bread (roasted garlic kneaded into bread rather than the usual garlic bread) I made was absolutely amazing when he sneaked a taste while cutting it up for the freezer.  There are two loaves, so should last a while I hope.

I've stared feeling slightly anxious about DS taking lunches to school as it'll be up to me to ensure we have a good balanced lunch for him.  I've been encouraging him to try lots of new things and he has actually done that and liked at least 85% of them, so I'm feeling a bit more positive about it now.  I've booked him into holiday club for 3 days next week, so it'll be a bit of a trial run.  Really hoping I can convert him to my hm hummus as he is a bit of a bean fan generally, but for some reason or another didn't like hummus when he was younger.  It's definitely time to try it again.

Too much baking and freezing of stuff in the last 3 days alone to even be able to type it out here!  Today I made pesto with the carrot tops from the Riverford delivery and also a ginger cake to use up a large amount of black treacle.  I also cut up the orange peel for the freezer to be turned into candied peel as my annual xmas treat (it's so good dipped into dark chocolate, but takes so long to make!).  Lunch was a use up job from the fridge, so we all had different things - last of the butternut squash soup (with hm cheese and courgette muffins I rediscovered at the bottom of the freezer), last of the tomato and veg pasta, one slice of pizza, half a tin of beans and toast.  Dinner was spicy (for the adults) chicken with hm chips (mix of pots and sweet pots with rosemary for the kids and smoked paprika for the adults) with the rest of a bag of mixed veg from the freezer.  Dessert for the kids was greek yogurt and apple (they already munched chia seed flapjacks earlier as a snack) and we are going to have the last of the apple and blackberry crumble with hm vanilla ice cream.  Ginger cake is on the cards for tomorrow - apparently it's better to sit for at least 24 hours before you eat it.  Never made one before, but it smells amazing!  I still have a big list of things I would love to try baking, so I think lots of new things will be tried over the next few months.  When the kids decide to eat the same things as the adults, the baking definitely disappears a lot faster.  At least they see my excitement around food and us eating lots of different things, so it is encouraging them to try lots of different things too.

Not too much excitement on the money front for a while as I am really hanging on whilst I set up this self employed thing, but also get through the last year of horrible nursery fees.  Once that is gone, things should get easier.  I would love to overpay the 10% allowed on the mortgage this year (ends Jan), but it's paused for now.  I will liaise with DH once he finds out what his bonus is for this year and how much he wants to pay in, but I currently feel pension and a larger cash emergency fund is a higher priority.  I'll re-evaluate in a few months.

QueenJess

Gosh, I really think I’m in the wrong profession. It would be a dream to bake all day and try cuisine round the world.

Fell down a wormhole this evening of fascinating recipes and now my list of things to try has got even longer! I ended up making an apple and oat batter for breakfast pancakes tomorrow - to serve with Greek yogurt and fresh berries or banana. Will let you know how they work out as no sugar added.

QueenJess

QueenJess said:

Gosh, I really think I’m in the wrong profession. It would be a dream to bake all day and try cuisine round the world.

Fell down a wormhole this evening of fascinating recipes and now my list of things to try has got even longer! I ended up making an apple and oat batter for breakfast pancakes tomorrow - to serve with Greek yogurt and fresh berries or banana. Will let you know how they work out as no sugar added.

Just back to report that the pancakes were unusual, but a lovely taste of apple and cinnamon and were really nice with some fresh berries and a blob of greek yogurt.  DS wolfed them down, but DD refused to try them because she hates change of any kind.  Not sure if they will freeze well (don't see why not), but not sure we will have any left to try that!  Added to my recipe app, so will be part of my repertoire now.  It does have 1tsp of sugar between 10 pancakes, but frankly I don't think it's needed anyway as the apple sweetens it enough. Recipe is here if anyone is interested (I had to find a converter to figure out what on earth 1 decilitre or dl of oats was - spoiler, its 78g).

I love to find new recipes we will have again and even better if they are healthy and have normal ingredients I always have in the cupboards. My mum is a good baker, but absolutely hates cooking and has no imagination at all.  Every mealtime was quite bland in flavour as a child and usually the generic 2 veg, pot and meat.  I'd never even had spag bol as a child and a very limited range of veg.  To be fair, I can sympathise as cooking takes ages, you have to feed a whole family and if you are disinterested in the whole thing, it's another time consuming and annoying chore.  Since leaving home, I've slowly been educating myself and trying stuff to see what I like to eat and cook, so I'm probably far behind the curve, but catching up.  This is why I like to find recipe inspiration online as it's also how I figure out how to cook.

My current theme is adding some variety into all meals (including breakfasts, which are hard as I want the kids to have less cereal) and also more flavours/spices as my knowledge of using them isn't that good.  My current obsession is smoked paprika (goes on all the chips and often on roasted veg unless I've used cumin seeds, another favourite) and I've managed to somehow use half a jar in a week!  Sadly I will have less time when I am working for 3 months, but when I can I do cook in my lunch hour.  The benefit of working from home

I think lunch today will be a big salad with feta cheese, pumpkin seeds and for those that get hungry, a piece of hm rye bread I made this week.  Kids won't eat that yet (although they watch me prep the salad and DS has been brilliant trying lots of it recently), so either sandwiches with carrot and cucumber sticks or possibly beans on toast for them.  They will probably then have greek yogurt and apple slices or greek yogurt and compote.  Dinner is the defrosted hm spag bol and we have ginger cake and hm vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Not sure the kids will like the cake, but they are willing to try it.  Otherwise they can just have the ice cream.