A new royal start

QueenJess

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81991700#Comment_81991700

I was looking into that, but was struggling to find the specific one I was looking for. Hopefully that’s a good sign!

VintageHistorian

Do you know anyone that has one they might let you borrow? (Or have a Library of Things nearby) Might help if you can have a little practice first to see if it's easier than expected or a bigger faff than expected.

QueenJess

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81991934#Comment_81991934

Sadly no - people look at me oddly when I say I bake everything or make everything from scratch! No library of things round here either :( I have been reading lots of reviews to get an idea of how easy or difficult it is to- to be honest, it looks fairly straightforward.

I would definitely use it, I am just wondering if I would use it enough to justify the process given that I can make my own no churn version.

QueenJess

As I didn’t have to get up early today to go food shopping, I am celebrating in my own way! I am currently making beetroot relish (courtesy of a recipe I found on here on an old thread), which uses up all the beetroot from my Riverford box this week and also some excess apples. Plus I am the only one with a serious beetroot obsession - no one else in the house likes it (weirdos..😂), so it’s a way of preserving them.

It’s a bit out of my comfort zone as I am new to the preserving scene, but happy to try something new. I’ve come a long way since teaching myself to cook about 10 years ago!

Lunch today will be leek, pea and cheese orzotto to use up the last bit of leek in the fridge. Dinner is duck legs (rescued from the bottomless freezer - a Jan sm offer), with greens, purple cabbage (leftover from Xmas) , carrots and potatoes.

Dinner tomorrow will be a rack of lamb (one of two ys deals just too good to pass up), with more purple cabbage, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, more greens and cauliflower. Lunch tomorrow will be eggs, toast, beans and mushrooms. That blasts through most of the veg in a weekend!

Desserts we are scrabbling around for as I try to reduce the freezer, but there’s always yogurt as well and of course the hm hobnobs :) I’m sure I’ll cave at some point and whip something up.

Hoping to get out into the garden later with my little helper (DD). Will be sowing more free veg seeds courtesy of my local zero waste shop. I’ve not got much space left now, so likely to be limited to salad leaves and herbs now.

QueenJess

Bit of a stressful day today as I am trying to fit a full day of work into 3/4 of a day as I have to take DS to a hospital appointment to be stabbed and see how many nuts he is still allergic to soon (spoiler alert - it'll be the same ones!). Given we could be there hours, I made dinner at lunchtime so DH can reheat portions for him and DD and we can have ours later if required.

Lunch today was duck spring rolls (a ys bargain from the bottomless freezer) served with a massive salad (leaves, shredded carrot, onion, potatoes, radishes, sundried tomatoes, red pepper, asparagus, a few broad beans and possibly something else I've forgotten!). The fridge is very much cleared down veg wise, so I'll need another larger box delivered this week. Dinner will be cauliflower and macaroni cheese (using all the cauliflower of course). Desserts are the usual… biscuits, yogurt and fruit and I think there is still a box of hm ice cream that needs eating up. I still have a box of unopened cinnamon knots from xmas! No time for baking now until Thursday, so we will continue to dredge the bottom of the freezer and cupboards.

Better run and get my loaf of bread in the oven and have a hot chocolate to calm the nerves 😂 before I get DS to the hospital. DH is dropping us off and then we'll try and get the bus back. Impossible to drive there as you can be there up to an hour just waiting for a parking space 😱 and I get stressed trying to be there for an exact time plus factoring in getting lost in the enormous maze that is the hospital. Hence DH is dropping us..

On the plus side, my fancy new ice cream machine has just arrived! No time to deal with it until the weekend though, although probably just as well given that we are trying to defrost the freezer on Friday!

beanielou

Hope all goes well for you & DS.

South_coast

Yay, so pleased you bought the ice cream maker!

TallGirl

Yeah to the icecream maker we have just got a Ninja Creami it is great but more of a glorified blender than an actual icecream machine. My sister got the Ninja Creami Swirl that is rubbish as the tubs are so small and it cannot do frozen cocktails. Yes you will need freezere space.

QueenJess

I had one of those days yesterday when a few shocks happen and you get snapped out of your daily routines and realise nothing is forever. Lots of it only impacts me indirectly, but my investigations at work came to an unexpected end and I suddenly realised that there is now a risk I won’t be renewed past the first week of August. Even if I am, I don’t think it will be for long as I am slowly sorting stuff out, but at the same time doing myself out of a job!

So definitely a focus on the budget and fixing the joint account. I do need to reduce my outgoings where possible and would feel more comfortable with my contracting if I had a lower bill base as the variables like holidays etc are controllable if needed. Annoyingly, the decrease in mortgage payments next week has already been wiped out by an increase in our window cleaner rates, an increase from this month for water and an increase yesterday from our cleaner. I don’t begrudge cleaner rates increasing as they are totally fair, but doesn’t help the budget!

I will go back down the budget line by line, but I think there’s little I can do about most of the bills and I already switched to something lower or am on a fixed rate. I will still have a check though as it’s good to challenge whether you need something or not. Obviously I don’t “need” a cleaner, but I don’t work a 9-5 job and neither does DH. He also doesn’t see dirt so it would all be down to me. So it’s more a marriage saving expense plus buying me time with the kids 😄

Last night I did plan ahead for DD’s wardrobe as her biggest clothes are now fitting her. To save money on the next set I scoured Vinted and found a big bundle for a really good price that had only just been uploaded and snapped it up. So £9 for most of her winter needs and I should just need a few odd things like a coat etc. Bargain! Hopefully that’ll save some money from the clothes pot. Also my mum likes to buy the kids odd things, so I can let her know some things that are missing from her wardrobe.

DS’s hospital visit was interesting. Still definitely allergic and some of his lumps were huge, but a couple that had the worst score before had dropped dramatically. It likely means absolutely nothing as they fluctuate anyway, but there is a small chance (not scientifically proven, but a theory at the moment) that him eating almonds (he had been able to eat them since a hospital challenge) has reduced that score. Given his age, I do feel like there is a chance to hit these more, even if chances are slim. On the way back the traffic was bad, so we got off the bus early and walked. We had a chat about upf’s the theory about eating similar proteins as nuts and how a wider diet improves your gut microbiome. Obviously I also said that nothing may change, but it is worth a try at least.

Upshot is that I need to get DS to eat almonds in as many ways as possible, get some seeds into his diet and also introduce peanuts (he isn’t allergic to those). It’s going to need a bit of thought and small changes, but the worst that will happen is his diet gets better. He took yogurt with mixed seeds and dried fruit to school in his lunch box today. I shall be scouring the shops and internet for some ideas. He wants to try roasted seeds with spices on, although that didn’t work when I tried to bake them in the past. Might have to build up to that! At least DS is always willing to try new things and likes most of them (unlike DD who is extra picky at the moment and tries to exist on yogurt and beans!).

Any thoughts welcome, but as always the key is making small changes over time. As a starter I noticed my ice cream machine has a recipe for almond ice cream.. I mean that is obviously going to need to be made!

Bargainhunter30

I put nuts into granola. Would he eat that for breakfast/snack?