Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

KajiKita

badmemory said:

It has been so overcast here for hours that I just keep wishing it would chuck it down & get it over with.

It’s been positively dark here all day! We get torrential downpours but the light level doesn’t shift … 

KK

Makingabobor2

We had lots of rain, thunder and lightening yesterday from around 4pm, right into the evening here in Leicestershire....almost Warwickshire.  Then it rained all night and still pouring down this morning with lots more lightening.  Stopped for a couple of hours and now raining again.  How much more can there be ??

Sun_Addict

I don’t live far from WB (about 3 ish miles) so we got the lightning here. I live in the super hilly place east of the city 🙂 It’s 3.5 miles from my house to the office so yes it’s a decent walk. We are in the new building opposite the train station 😉 

foxgloves

Ah, I did think you might live in the very hilly bit to that side of the city. Yes, a good walk. No wonder you are so fit!
F

2Scratters

It just shows how wet this summer has been I have 2 water butts which give me 1k litres and they have between them never been empty and I power washed the footpath and flagged area which is not small. As we are on  metered water this helps keep our bill down still haven't got it to under the £200pa yet. This year was £217, even with the roofers using best water to check the roof and gutters it could have been worse.

Must dash

2 Scratters xx

foxgloves

Evening all,
Thanks for your comments & contributions, which I always enjoy reading.
Have just got my ample backside into a chair for the first time today, except for just stopping to eat my breakfast & lunch. Soggy day but I needed to get on with assorted kitchen witchery anyway. Budget helping activities:
*Did laundry & it has been drying pretty well on the heated airer with just the odd burst of dehumidifyer action.
*Rubber chickens...Mr F insisted on roasting 2 yesterday as he could only get much smaller ones than usual. They provided roast dinner yesterday, we will have chicken fajhitas tonight & I have frozen a container of sliced chicken breast in gravy for a 'free' Sunday dinner at some point & also made 4 portions of chicken & vegetable bhuna. Remaining odds & sods of chicken frozen for next Man Stew & have also made 3 containers of stock in the slow cooker.
*Used our homegrown scotch bonnets to make a batch of hot mango chilli sauce (one of my own secret recipes). Bottled, then sterilised to lengthen its keeping time.
*Skinned & chopped 1.6kg of the ripest tomatoes ready for batch cooking gigantes plakis tomorrow. This has not made any discernible dent in the tomato hoard which was a little dispiriting but plenty more batch cooking planned.
I had several other tasks on my virtual list for today but have simply run out of time. Also have a headache from day 1 of reducing my sugar intake for a couple of healthy months & so am looking forward to some serious sofa time tonight.
Cats fed up with the rain & Soot is telling anyine who will listen.
F x

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
Mr F has just set off on his commute & I am sitting with a ginger tea & Ash on my lap (Soot has just been told off for mountaineering up a tall bookcase) thinking about what I'd like to achieve today. Much of this is potentially money saving activity. I'm thinking.....
*Sort 3 loads of dry laundry really well to minimise ironing.I really dislike ironing so will get that out of the way asap.
*Get gigantes plaki ingredients into the slow cooker. Am hoping I can fit in a double batch so as to stash some extra portions in the freezer.
*Prep tomatoes for another slow cooker batch-cook tomorrow.
*Label the chilli sauce I made yesterday & store it away in the pantry.
*Do budget updates bearing in mind Friday will be my Big Budget Day so I want everything straight.
*Wrap a giftcard/birthday card in a way which disguises contents (last one I posted was clearly stolen on route).
*Cast on 2nd sock of one of 2 pairs I'm knitting for Mr F's birthday.
*Compile next library wishlist.
*Number crunch recent energy bill & add figures to my log-sheet.
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast
& ....
*I'd better check for surveys as my September earnings are looking v low. Mr F has already earned over £100 on PA this month.
I expect there'll be other things too but I'll do them as & when they arise.
It looks to be a drier day here today. Yesterday felt as though it barely got light. Wishing all my readers a productive & peaceful day,
F x

Makingabobor2

How long do you cook your stock in SC? I tried it in SC a couple of times but recipe I found said to do it for about 14 hours, which seemed rather excessive.

foxgloves

Morning @Makingabobor2,
Well, I don't really have a hard & fast rule. I generally shove in the chicken carcass (I sometimes freeze one & wait till I have two for a more concentrated result) & the usual additions & give it about 8 hrs on 'high'. I don't really vary this for meat bones. It seems to work. I prefer to get the stock portioned up, cooled & frozen before bedtime as it would be of potential interest to a certain nosy black cat! 
F x

Makingabobor2

Mmm, 8hrs seems a more reasonable length of time.