2021 Frugal Living Challenge

StrawberrySuze

@pregnancy_parking and @Frugaldom Thank you very much 😊

Frugaldom

MingVase said:

Nice to see you back after such a long time Frugaldom!

Not sure what you mean as I haven't been away anywhere.

Oldstylethriftylady

Morning all, it’s feeding the sourdough today so will be making scones for the other half and wondering whether I should make some cookies as well, I’ve told myself I’m not allowed to buy any and if I want any I’ll have to make them. I’ve also managed to miss calculate my soup for two weeks so now I don’t have to make any next week as I’ve got enough in the fridge to last.

Oldstylethriftylady

Also I’m wondering if anyone has any recipes to use up egg whites, I’ll have a couple spare from the carbonara and unsure on what to do. Never made meringues or anything like that before.

Nonnadiluca

Coconut macaroons: 50 g of sugar and 50 g of coconut and 1/2 tbsp of plain flour to each egg white, mix together with a little vanilla extract, put dollops, (technical term meaning about a tablespoon-ish) on a baking tray lined with greaseproof or baking parchment. Cook for about 15 minutes at 160°. 
Add extra egg white to scrambled eggs, omelette or quiche?
Feeling hungry now!

Oldstylethriftylady

@Nonnadiluca oooo I didn’t think of coconut macaroons, I will have a go at them. Yum!

skint_chick

I've been busy using up everything in the cupboards, and now barely have anything left, which is a great feeling. Defrosting the freezer this weekend and washing all the fridge shelves and boxes. Got an email about selling items on ebay for £1 so sold a couple of higher value items - ghd straighteners and one of those fancy sonic cleansing brushes I got as a gift a few years ago. Have some batches of fabric to organise and list this week, along with 2 pairs of shoes that hurt my feet. Need a new drawer runner for kitchen drawer, and our gas boiler needs a service. Hopefully that's all I'll be spending in February - going to make OH a Valentine's card from all the craft supplies I have. Our Sky deal comes to an end in March, so we've looked at all the other options and have decided to go with Virgin for a £29.99 TV and fibre deal with cashback. I use the broadband for my business, and without the TV package the cheapest was still £25 so with TV licence and additional cost that's an extra £17 a month! I would rather not bother but OH is keen and at the moment it is our only entertainment. I would rather spend my free time reading, listening to podcasts, gardening, and going on hikes, but OH likes to watch reruns of tv shows.

Hughesfamily

Cold but bright and sunny here today so afternoon walk planned to get us out of the house - been in for 5 days solid and need some fresh air. LO has requested "diner tea"  which is basically all the odds and ends of chips bags, chicken nuggets, chicken strips etc that have been in the freezer for a while - not enough on their own but as a sharing platter it looks more than enough and I can also use the one corn on the cob and 1/4 box of coleslaw that are languishing in the fridge. 
If the weather holds we will up in the green house getting it ready for the spring planting. LO is planting seeds to start off in the windowsills and we have spent an enjoyable hour planning the plot out as we want to use it a lot more this year.
Just seen a one orange marmalade recipe on YT. One orange to a quarter cup of sugar, wash orange to remove wax, blitz up (skin included) put into saucepan with sugar and heat on medium / low heat for about 10-15 minutes and then you get marmalade. Could easily use grapefruit or lime I imagine.....might be useful if anyone has some left in the fruit bowl. I had an apple that was bruised on the one side so grated that in with my yogurt this morning and chucked the core into a bag in the freezer in case I get the urge to go jam making with our usual glut of blackberries later in the year. 
Fridge gravel soup for lunch and home bake rolls - determined to use up what we have before shopping. Off to meal plan the weekend food from what we need to use up next.

zafiro1984

Oldstylethriftylady said:

Also I’m wondering if anyone has any recipes to use up egg whites, I’ll have a couple spare from the carbonara and unsure on what to do. Never made meringues or anything like that before.

Meringues
3 egg whites beaten to a stiff consistency - peaks
115g caster sugar - keep beating whilst you add the sugar. Add one teaspoon at a time (if you add it all in one go the meringues will 'weep' when they are cooked) The mixture will now look very shiny
115g icing sugar - just fold it in 
oven 100c - I just leave them in, checking every hour or so, they feel light and airy when they are ready. Shells usually take about 90mins - give or take

The mixture makes a couple of bases for pavlovas, I usually do a a mixture of a round or oblong pavlova plus a few shells.
I've used this recipe for years, it's failproof, 

mumtoomany

If anyone has a farm foods nearby, their cheese is now only £3.99 per kg, go!den wonder crisps £1.99 for a 32 bag box, Maltesers five packets for £1 and pineapple jaffa cakes for 19p pack. HTH, mumtoomany.