It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

EssexHebridean

The lamb man at our farmers market usually has liver but my goodness you need to get there early as it flies out! I must check and see if T's round our way still sell chicken livers as well - I used to buy those occasionally to cook and make pate from. I also seem to recall that Morrisons used to be very good indeed for offal of various types. 

Toonie

YorksLass said:

Some years ago I had a trapped nerve in my back that flares up every now and again and I find it responds better to a topical ibuprofen gel than to oral tablets.  Consequently, I always like to have some in my first aid box and was quite shocked at the price of the branded one I usually use - admittedly, it is some time since I last bought any.  Lots of other branded ones to choose from but I have to avoid the ones containing diclofenac that doesn't agree with me.  The good news is that the SM one is only £2.  Not the same PL number but the active ingredient (ibuprofen) is in the same 5.5% proportion.  A new tube arrived yesterday with my grocery delivery that was all P&C with just one (acceptable) sub.

I use Ibuprofen gel for my shoulder and knee and buy it from Poundland, where it is indeed a pound (they have some other bits which are more than a pound). It's 5% gel so not far off from what you get, if you have a Poundland near you.

basketcase

JIL said:

basketcase said:

Longwalker said:

Do you have a big plastic mixing bowl? Thats what I use in the microwave.

Cut the spuds to size, chuck into bowl, rinse off and dont be careful about draining all the water off. Cover with cling film, pierce a hole and nuke for 5 mins. Remove and test. If some are near tender and others not, give a good shake and give another few minutes. You have to judge this for yourself but I never usually go past 8 mins. Then tip into colander and cover with tea towel to steam and dry

You should be left with cooked through spuds which wont break up when added to hot fat

Thanks @Longwalker

I do have a mixing bowl, but would have to check if it's MW-proof.

I also have a Sistema rice cooker (which I can highly recommend if you fancy a rice cooker but can't afford the electric ones). Wonder if that would work...

I use my sistema rice cooker for all sorts of microwave steaming it works really well. Corn on the cobs are especially good.

Sometimes if I'm making roast potatoes I just nuke the potatoes, whole and skin on, cool them a little and then take the skins off. No excess water to deal with. 

Thanks for that @JIL - good to know.

Bluegreen143

Really surprised. Last month Shell was recommending we increase our DD to £300p/m. I put it up to £275 but refused to go higher at the moment. Well now they are recommending we reduce to £250 (these figures don’t include the £66 discount which they take off on top). Seems mad that their estimate of how much we will use could vary so wildly from one month to the next.

As for the £66, I don’t have a specific “energy bills” savings account/pot I put it in. Everyone budgets differently. But we are contributing very hard to our emergency fund right now so it is getting effectively saved and it’ll be there if we need to tap it later.

skogar

Yorks Lass - The PL number indicates who holds the licence and the number of the licence for that product so 2 different licence holders would have different PL numbers even if the product was exactly the same. The compositions can vary between manufacturers (excipients etc.) so it is best to check if you are allergic etc. Also manufacturers can change product composition so best to keep checking.

London_1

Good morning chums ,although its absolutely tipping down here in Kent at the moment, so no way am I going out for anything today. The library can wait, I found a book to read on my bookshelf instead. 

Re the offal. I remember when my late husband used to really enjoy a nice pork chop with a kidney attached to it, haven't seen those for years now
He used to also like lambs kidneys diced up, and cooked in thick gloopy bisto gravy (made with the powder not the granules) and a crumbled up oxo cube spread on slices of thick buttered toast.
A man of simple tastes bless him.:) 

My local butcher now and again would have lambs kidneys or liver, but when the pandemic happened he stopped stocking it strange really, but another tasty cheap (or it was ) dish went by the wayside.
 I adored Liver and Bacon casseroles in the winter with some creamy mash and veg, real tummy warmimg food,old fashioned by many folks ideas but delicious.

My SiL make a beautiful one bless her when she comes to stay if I can get the lambs liver. I too love chicken liver pate and my DDs BiL makes a beautiful one every New Year when we go to their house for a NewYears Eve family get together. Its his signature dish, and he always makes an extra amount for me to take home bless him.

YorksLass we definitely are sisters from a different mister, as I too cannot take diclofenac, and always have problems as I have osteo-arthritis and my joints are dreadful when the weather is bad. For some reason the diclofenac gives me a really bad reaction .Today as the weather is really bad I shall be spending most of it in my chair, or on the sofa under numerous throws.

Luckily I have plenty of HM ready meals to choose from, so no standing cooking today its a 'whizz it up in the microwave' day today. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be drier, and my joints will be in a more moveable condition. My eldest DDs ma-in-law is off to ipswich on a trip out to a Christmas Fair from her home in London ,I hope shes got a brolly.

Looking at the news is pretty depressing as well so I am going to have a news -free day today I think I so far haven't got much shopping to buy just yet so will wait umtil possibly Monday or Tuesday before going near the shops. One of the upsides of having a food stash of basic bits and bobs it means if the weather is grotty I can stay indoors in the warm, yet I still see folk toiling past the window with their brolly up and being blown inside out its not cold though and no CH needed just yet ,fingers crossed, only 52 more days until Christmas, and as yet not bought a thing, but will be making a list today of what and who I need to buy for.
I have 6 birthdays before then !!!.
have a good day chums and stay safe in the bad weather 

JackieO xx

Elisheba

Morning all,

Grey and showery here today.  I have my absolutely hideous, but very warm and cosy woolen jumper on.  I got it in a sale in Sainsbobs years ago.  Its a mixed cream and orange and green wool that looks like vomit, and the cable is squinty on it.  No wonder it was sale  .

I requested a refund from Shell Energy on my credit last week but no sign of it yet.  *sigh*.  I suppose I'll have to chase it up as some point but it feels such a hassle!

I wasn't feeling great at the weekend and had some TV days.  Just checked my energy app, and the electricity seems to be almost a pound more expensive each weekend day.  Its seems strange that the TV would do that, as I have my lap top and second screen on each weekday - but I can't think what else it could be to make the usage jump like that.  The TV really is far too big, and is a relic of my ex husband's gaming, but it was bought with my money and it was super expensive 11 years ago, so I don't want to get rid of it until it dies a natural death!

Still no heating on, but it was colder yesterday so I used my heated hoodie a fair bit.  I hope everyone is wrapped up warm, and enjoying the Autumnal weather with lots of hygge activities - cocoa and candles to the ready!

RobM99

Hi all, hope you're not all sloshing around in rainwater!

Emptied the camping food box, lots of tinned stuff not munched. Soup, tinned veg' (green beans, spicy chick peas, mac' cheese) so maybe a culinary challenge.

I'm one for looking for the best bargains now, not because I need to but out of principle, really. I've always looked for VFM (Value For Money), some think I'm 'tight' but not really the case.  If I think "Ooh, that's worth the money" then OK I'll pay. I'd rather pay £100 n a meal out and think "That was fabulous!" rather than £20 and think "Oh. Not much good, that".  Not often  obviously but you see the point.

Wednesday2000

Elisheba said:

Grey and showery here today.  I have my absolutely hideous, but very warm and cosy woolen jumper on.  I got it in a sale in Sainsbobs years ago.  Its a mixed cream and orange and green wool that looks like vomit, and the cable is squinty on it.  No wonder it was sale  .

That is funny. It sounds like one I saw in a charity shop around here a couple of months ago. It was in the £1 rail and it did look warm, but the pattern was so horrible that I didn't buy it.

EssexHebridean

Elisheba a TV that old might indeed be quite power hungry - I'm assuming you fully switch it off when it's not in use too as I'm fairly certain that sort of age would be before the restrictions on standby power were introduced. Still, £1 a day is still a cheap price for lots of entertainment isn't it! 

MrEH is WFH today and has just let me know that he's popped the dehumidifier on in our bedroom through the Tapo plug - so I'm now keeping an eye on usage from that. So far it's maxed at just under 200w power being drawn, I've got a mental not to check it after an hours use and see what the verdict is. He's also popped the little digital thermometer in there with it as well so we can see how much it reduces the humidity and also whether it makes any discernable difference to the temperature. (Noting that the starting point for today's energy use on the plug was 324w)

Our new flooring was completed in the hallway this week - it looks absolutely stunning but will hopefully also make a difference to the temperature in the building as well. As well as the flooring our little internal porch area has been plasterboarded and skimmed as part of the works - it was just bare brickwork in there so again that should make a difference. the flooring in there is just ceramic times to match what we also have in the kitchen & bathroom so probably not much insulation there but still better than the bare concrete previously I guess. A job for the weekend is to use the insulating strip stuff round the inner front door frame too I reckon - it all helps after all. Having felt a proper draught coming from under the larder door last night I think it is probably also time to break out our improvised draught excluder (it's just a tightly rolled bathmat but does the job perfectly!)

Our heating is also still off (still aside from 2 hours of towel rail in the early mornings) but I'm going to switch to the heavier weight duvet when I change the bed on Sunday I think. My little fleecey throw over the summer weight one isn't quite doing it for me now - MrEH will just have to stick a leg out if he gets too warm! 

Just had a quick session on Trolley and so far I can't see any more silly price increases on anything I can think will be on my shopping list this week...I'd love to think that the food inflation had slowed down a bit but sadly I suspect it's just the lull before the next storm - we'll see!