Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Cheery_Daff

Thank you for sharing the story about your mum's bag with us Foxgloves. I'm glad it's brought you some relief to let it go, even if it's been difficult. Glad you are all nicely prepared too, hope that bag stays tucked away in your linen closet 😊 xx

cuddlymarm

Oh Joedenise
Green tomato chutney brings back memories of when I was a little girl. Our neighbour always had loads of tomatoes that didn’t ripen because autumn arrived a lot earlier than it does now and we lived further north so mum made chutney and then they shared the jars. We also had a cooking apple tree and mum made apple jelly from the windfalls and then used the good ones over winter for crumbles, pies and apple sauce.
Those were the days were the Sunday roast lasted well into the week. Roast on Sunday, cold meat and chips or spuds and veg on Monday, then rissoles, soup, sandwiches etc from the scraps and bones for the rest of the week. Beef wasn’t often, we tended to have lamb as that was a local meat and chicken if lamb wasn’t available. No food was wasted and I can’t remember our bins ever being full like they are today. As food is getting more expensive we can learn a lot from planning our menus to use what needs using up rather than what we fancy.

PennysIntoPounds

That must have been very poignant for you foxgloves, but as you say, a good letting go. You absolutely deserve that (budgeted) magazine, and do allow yourself a couple of days to feel a bit emotionally funny if you need to. The stages of grieving go on for the rest of our lives in small ways, don't they x

PennysIntoPounds

All the best to your and yours @cuddlymarm If you're looking for cooking and preserving motivation, foxgloves' diary is definitely the right place!

Humdinger1

Yup, UPF are indeed a complete and utter menace! I've always been keen on cooking from scratch and I was warned about the impact of ready meals when I was diagnosed with diabetes, now luckily reversed.  I was able to say that these don't feature in our diet.  As Dr. Mike M says, you can't outrun a bad diet.  I'm sure @cuddlymarm you'll be able to make a big difference to your overall health and well-being with your plans.  Can I join @foxgloves in saying welcome.   This forum (and this thread is champion) is full of like-minded people.  We are not the oddities that some like to portray us as and even if we were, so what?! Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
I’ve got a stew in my small slow cooker which should do two decent meals for me. Then tomorrow I’ll use up some of the glut of carrot and parsnips I’ve got roasted with sausages. 

I’m using up all the odds and ends while OH is in hospital and need to run the freezer down a bit so I can start putting bits away for Xmas, while keeping my spends as low as possible.
it’s definitely more autumnal today but not enough to need the heat on luckily.
Look after yourselves 
Cuddlymarm 

foxgloves

@weenancyinAmerica - I saw a TV programme which covered the high-fructose corn syrup being added to lots of stuff in the USA. I seem to remember it may have started as a by-product from something else which the 'food' industry then needed to turn into a profit. I should think it carries a strong link to diabetes levels, esp if it is in lots of soft drinks.
Re preserving....absolutely no reason why you can't have a go! Chutneys are incredibly easy to start with. Basically, bung it in a cauldron & simmer until rich, thick & sticky then transfer to jars. I'm on a UK Facebook foraging group & because of that, I get posts from various groups with allied subject matter popping up on my FB feed. A couple of them are food canning/dehydrating groups in America. I know canning is big in America (or 'bottling' as it is called here) but honestly, I had no idea the range of foods people are bottling over there. It has been completely eye-opening. I will admit that I have sometimes thought 'But WHY?', but it is still interesting. I think my pantry is full, but the photos of some of these people's pantries & cellars are amazing, even if a lot of it is stuff I can't see myself ever bottling.
@joedenise - Chutney is a good use of green tomatoes. It was the first home made chutney I ever tasted, as my Nana used to make it when we were small. I loved it in my packed lunch sarnies & started making it myself when I was in my teens. I don't think I'll have any green tomatoes this year. I picked lots of green ones as wanted to take the plants down before blight appeared & took some of the late crop. I always put them on a tray in the conservatory & remove the red ones to the fridge as they ripen. Any that refuse to ripen are put into a brown paper bag, which I peg closed & put in the pantry. I check it each week & removed any red ones. I don't think I'll get to the bag stage this year though as have only got a small bowl of green ones left & they are still ripening quite well. I did make a double batch of red tomato chutney as we have had a big crop this year.
F

foxgloves

@cuddlymarm - Roast chicken tonight & I can assure you that it will provide meals into the week here too! I will strip all the remaining meat off tomorrow morning & will expect to have sufficient for both our Monday & Tuesday night dinners, as well as some soup, probably a couple lunches & a container of stock for the freezer.
@PennysIntoPounds - Yes, they do. My parents were professional musicians, so for me, it is sometimes hearing a particular piece of music. I tend not to dwell on mourning on death dates, but instead aim to do something small but meaningful on their birthdays. Dad loved my home baking, so I aim to bake something nice in his memory. Mum loved to go out for cheese scones & cappuccino (as do I!) so that is something we do on her birthday.
@Humdinger1 - We are perceived as "oddities"? Excellent!!
F

foxgloves

And here are today's budget-helping positives:
*Drafted out a shape for next week, taking into account stuff I'd like to get done & relevant timescales. 
*Picked another seasonal posy for some free floral indoor colour - calicarpa berries (LOVE these!), a small spray of berries from our whitebeam tree, sedum spectabile & michaelmas daisies. I very rarely buy cut flowers these days. Am conscious that so many of them have been grown abroad & flown in. I pick from our garden or look for the occasional interesting stem when out on walks i.e those tiny alder cones, witch's hair, etc.
*Divided up Mum's winter-flowering iris so I can gift a free plant to my sister when I next see her.
*Potted up the 3 free redcurrant bushes my friend gave me. They won't actually go into the ground until this time next year (their space is currently occupied by something else) so it was important to get them into decent sized pots as don't want to lose them. Used a mixture of garden soil, home made garden compost & bagged (we try to eek out the bagged stuff as much as possible as it has really increased in price in recent years).
*Mr F lifted all my container-grown agapanthus into the greenhouse so that I don't lose them in the cold weather as they are quite expensive to buy.
*Worm composter also moved into greenhouse (its winter quarters) to keep the wigglers alive & active. If they don't get too cold, they will carry on chomping kitchen scraps over winter, meaning that I can harvest a tray of compost nice & early in Spring.
*Rounded up all receipts from this weekend so as to get a decent head start on Monday morning's budget updates. 
And those, m'dears are the only tasks I intend to do today. I am heading for a biscuit, drink & a few chapters of my book. I actually found another magazine I asked Mr F to pick up for me a couple of weeks ago which I forgot I had, so feels like a free one! So that is 2 mags to enjoy also. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sundays all,
F x

Cheery_Daff

I think that's quite enough for one day! Well done! 😊