I'm back! Trying to spend less on food!

tooldle

@thriftwizard How far west are they? Plenty of choice in Swansea if they pass that way. I believe there is a spice shop in Haverfordwest  and a zero waste store in Narbeth that sells herbs and spices. 

mumtoomany

Every scrap of tea was eaten by all of them. 
The chicken thighs I put in the slow cooker are cooked. Some will be used for a meal as they are, a couple will be used with some leftover ham joint, from last week, to make a pie. I also got out a joint of pork yesterday. That will be cooked today or tomorrow. At least three days sorted now. 

I will be going into town today for some shopping, we need chicken feed and bread.

I inventoried the freezer in the hall yesterday. Lots of peas! I also found two margarine tubs of pomegranate seeds, they have been there for around eighteen months, I think. After not knowing what to make with them, that anyone will eat, I decided to fetch them out for the chickens. The pomegranates would have come from a box at the veg shop, so cost a few pence. So why does it feel wrong to "throw them away"? I got out two cakes I had frozen too. Pudding sorted.
I still need to list the kitchen freezer and the one in the barn, and hopefully empty that one and turn it off.

Back later, Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

mumtoomany

Hello all,

I was going to serve the thighs as they were, then changed my mind. Instead i stepped the meat from four of them, put it in a casserole dish with sliced onions, carrots cut into sticks, a bit of stock and two packets of chow mein sauce. Served it with mash and braised red cabbage. The remaining thighs have also been stripped of their meat, all bones, skin, etc now boiling for stock.

Yesterday's shopping went well. Milk biscuits and a reduced loaf from Iceland, all with10% discount, (for being old). Eggs from home bargains, wish our hens would start laying properly again, getting an egg every other day! Two 20p loaves, all they had, a stuffed crust frozen pizza (£1), and a bag of about 20 triangular pastry things for £1. The problem with the cash and carry is, sometimes they put things in the freezers in blue plastic bags, with no information on them. Pot luck what they are or if you'll like them, makes shopping interesting. I cooked one, with the pizza for lunch, when we got in. They are some sort of breakfast pastry, sweet and filled with an almond paste type thing. Quite nice. Veg shop had lots of £1 boxes, I bought four and a punnets of grapes for £1.25. One box had ten peppers and eight large chillies, (ideas for what to do with those, please), the other three were these. There was also a punnets of raspberries in the box with the mangos, I ate them on the way home! Total spent £25.17. Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

popthekettleon

One box had ten peppers and eight large chillies, (ideas for what to do with those, please)

Possibly stuffed peppers? This is the recipe i use but change out the pack of rice for plain cooked and add some seasoning, cajun or similar. https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedtastyuk/videos/10160454193805402/

Chillies, I chop up in one go and freeze then add to dishes as needed. 

beckstar1975

When DS was little I used to make him a sauce from roasted peppers as he was allergic to tomatoes - so roast a load of peppers, then fry carrot, onion, garlic, celery and add in the roasted toms and stock then season and blend. need to add more carrtos/celery/onions to give it bulk (or some rice) but was just as nice.

Else always fajitas in this house, kids will eat loads of veg if sliced and fried in fajita seasoning (ie cumin, paprika and garlic with pinch of sugar) and served with greek yogurt and cheese with tortillas

sammy_kaye18

Roasted tomato and pepper soup is nice and warming - you could also add some chillies in as well. 

Maybe dry the chillis to make your own chilli powder? that way then youll have a nice stock of that too to add to warm up dishes. 

I'm not actually a spice fan so my knowledge of chillis is fairly limited but I remember my step dad drying some he had grown and they nearly blew my head off. 
Wonder if you could make your own version of a sweet chilli sauce some how too? 

Other than stuffed peppers  - I know peppers freeze really well so you can always add them to your freezer and just grab a handuful as you need them for dishes, like on pizza, in omelettes or mince dishes etc

Husband tonight is having a bit of a weird day and has requested one of his favourite school dinners that he can remember of pizza, beans and mashed potato so Im going to go for a walk later to grab some bits and pieces for tea. He can have that and me and the kids will have sausages or something instead with ours. Cant beat a comfort dinner every now and then. I also have a few bags of apples to use so may make apple crumble for pudding with them and grab a custard too. 

beckstar1975

Ooh thanks @sammy_kaye18 I've been wondering what to have for lunch but I think I'll have cheat frying pan pizza (self raising flour and greek yogurt base) as I've been craving a school pizza with cheddar on top for ages and this'll do it!

mumtoomany

Hi all, thanks @popthekettleon, @beckstar1975 and @sammy_kaye18. Thanks for all the great ideas about the peppers. It's the chillies I'll have the most problems with I think. Non of the grandchildren like "spicy". I'll just have to be sneaky with them I think. I may try planting some of the seeds from them, they look really good, not seen chillies quite so big for a long time.

Cooked the pork joint last night. Had with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, peas, broccoli, Apple sauce and stuffing. I made an apple crumble, with the apples left in the bowl before i put the new ones in. Used up the oven space.

Tonight will be chicken and ham pie, just made the pastry. I've been outside and found two stray onions, in a bed I thought I'd cleared of them last year. Sadly they had caught the frost, but I've managed to salvage about half of each one. Something has dug a tunnel in the poly-tunnel. It's big! Maybe a fox! None of the remaining veg in there seem to have been touched. Let's hope it's gone before I put new seasons plants in.

The broccoli does seem to have fared slightly better by being blanched first. The flowers don't seem to have fallen of so much.

Right, time to look at making that pie, hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

mumtoomany

Good afternoon. 

Pie was good, served with carrots, potatoes, and HG kale. Finished of the apple crumble, and the children had HM cake.

Risotto tonight, the rest of the chicken thigh meat, onions, peas etc. Have made a strawberry trifle for dessert. Frozen strawberries, four punnets £1 last year, YS jelly, HM trifle sponge, custard made with YS custard powder, and the last of the cream from christmas. 

Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

mumtoomany

Hi all,

Tonight i used the last of the roast pork, cubed, carrots, two tins of beans, passata, onions, mushrooms, the last bit of kale from a couple of days ago, all mixed together. Served with potatoes. Finished the trifle.

Trying to decide what to cook for tomorrow. We seem to have had a lot of pork and chicken lately, but I'm not sure what else is in the freezer. Will have to delve. 

Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx