2022 Frugal Living Challenge

joedenise

Pollie said:

I soak mine overnight in water and then stir in about half tsp milk powder before microwaving and adding fruit or golden syrup.

I'm not organised enough to do that as don't always know if I'm going to want porridge the next day but if you're one of those people who eats it every day or on certain days of the week I'm sure that would be better than the 10-15 minutes I do!

Siebrie

Alternatively, a pinch of salt also gives more taste to porridge. Besides, it's cheap stuff, you can experiment.

Primrose

My porridge is cooked for 3 minutes in a big Pyrex bowl in the microwave on medium setting.  Fairly quick and trouble free. Just then throw in some stewed fruit or a blob of jam. 

weenancyinAmerica

I add a little bit of cinnamon to mine. It is also supposed to help with diabetes to level out the sugars. Just make sure not to use too much. It can be pretty strong if you do. 

Primrose

It's surprising how many variants you can add to porridge to liven it up.  One of the things I do sometimes is chop  two or three of those cubes of crystallised ginger, or a bulb of stem ginger with a drop of syrup.

London_1

I have always made porridge with water and put a cup of oats to a cup and a half of cold water into the saucepan the night before sprinkle some salt over it pop the lid on and in the morning it takes only a few minutes to cook. poured into a bowl with a splash of milk around the edge nice cheap hot breakfast to keep you going until lunchtime on cold winter days.My late little Scots mum always made it like this and I think I would be as she would have said 'scunnered' to put sugar or syrup in it  

I usually only eat porridge in the winter ,but if I have had an upset tum, or just feeling a bit 'off' i will replace a meal with a plate of porridge oats.

JackieO xx

cw18

I prefer porridge made with milk, but if I make it with water it then gets milk poured over it and a sprinkling of demerara sugar on the top.

And it never, ever, ever sees salt !

But I'm not a 'salt' person.   Every so often my body screams it needs some by producing a craving for salted peanuts, but other than that I rarely reach for salt.   I've never had it on my chips either - salt coated fries (without asking) was always my first complaint at certain fast food outlets.   I have some in the house, but it's purely for when I use my bread maker.   I never add salt to any other cooking, and it's never out for adding to meals once plated up either.

Jellytotts

I can't stand porridge, I've tried it all ways as a child and adult but just can't do it.  I'm a toast for breakfast gal....(although GF bread is pretty hideous at times, it's still better than porridge).

Had our boiler serviced last week and there was a bit that needed replacing so that's being done today (under warranty so no charge to us).  We are first job of the day so expecting him any second.  

I've managed to create enough leftovers from the last few days meals that I won't need to cook meals at all this week.  I've got some spuds that need using so will bung those in the halogen to bake and they'll get used for "pick and mix" style meals.  

Our utility fix changed last week so we've now got an idea of the newer prices and my goodness what an change it is.  Luckily our new fix isn't as high as predicted pricing but as we'd just come off a 2 year fix our unit prices were very low compared to normal now.  It's going to throw a lot of people off course.  It now takes our utility bill to 25% more than our mortgage.

newlywed

I am currently trying to use more of the economy 7 hours (we seem to be stuck on e7 meter because bulb are awkward)… so washing machine is going on at 7 am each morning, rather than just whenever I feel like. Will see what change that makes.  Worked out that we saved about £2 last month by turning the electric shower off at the switch. 

Picked blackberries -about 500g stashed in the freezer, the same given to mum, and 250g baked with some eating apples into crumbles to stash in the freezer (if I can find room!). A tall older guy helped me pick some riper apples from an apple tree and then told me where a cooking apple tree is nearby, but not ripe yet.  So all I need to do is master home made custard that can be cold for OH and heated up again for me. And I will be able to walk up the hill to pick fruit instead of down the hill to a shop!

have also been making mayo because I am fussy mayo I like holy spirit gone up to nearly £4 for a small jar… and even using olive oil I can make the same amount for less than £2 and add as much mustard or garlic as I feel like.

have my thermal leggings for wfh in winter and plenty of fleece jackets and blankets. Hot water bottles were bought last year. Just need socks or slippers so might get crocheting as I hate hot feet so don’t want them too cosy!

next elec experiment might be slow cooking overnight… but then we wake up really hungry as the whole flat smells of food even with the kitchen door shut!

luvchocolate

Whenewlywed said:

I am currently trying to use more of the economy 7 hours (we seem to be stuck on e7 meter because bulb are awkward)… so washing machine is going on at 7 am each morning, rather than just whenever I feel like. Will see what change that makes.  Worked out that we saved about £2 last month by turning the electric shower off at the switch. 

Picked blackberries -about 500g stashed in the freezer, the same given to mum, and 250g baked with some eating apples into crumbles to stash in the freezer (if I can find room!). A tall older guy helped me pick some riper apples from an apple tree and then told me where a cooking apple tree is nearby, but not ripe yet.  So all I need to do is master home made custard that can be cold for OH and heated up again for me. And I will be able to walk up the hill to pick fruit instead of down the hill to a shop!

have also been making mayo because I am fussy mayo I like holy spirit gone up to nearly £4 for a small jar… and even using olive oil I can make the same amount for less than £2 and add as much mustard or garlic as I feel like.

have my thermal leggings for wfh in winter and plenty of fleece jackets and blankets. Hot water bottles were bought last year. Just need socks or slippers so might get crocheting as I hate hot feet so don’t want them too cosy!

next elec experiment might be slow cooking overnight… but then we wake up really hungry as the whole flat smells of food even with the kitchen door shut!

When I had economy 7 I used 70% through the night. 
I did struggle though waking up in the morning to the smell of braising steak