Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@EssexHebridean - Yes, they are such small injuries in the scheme of things, aren't they, yet feel more sore than they have any right to do!

Afternoon Campers,
Have had to take a layer off! Am sitting at my desk up in Foxgloves HQ & the sun is streaming through the window - got to love free heating while it lasts! 
Well, to try & keep the spirit of our 7-day steps challenge alive, I decided I would try on all my boots to see if any would be OK to walk in without making my blister worse or actually cause ancient crone hobbling. Turned out my old gardening boots are ok, so I found a bigger plaster & set off in those. Quite a pleasantly busy day - the budget-helping activity as follows:
*Used the last portion of the smallest of our 3 home grown Guatemalan blue squashes to make Indian Butternut Curry - a recipe from the BBC Good Food Healthy Slow Cooker book. I was sent some saved Guatemalan Blue seeds by someone who used to post on here years ago & had an allotment. I have saved my own seeds ever since. They are a large squash - a bit like a weird rugby ball, only bigger. They are very similar to butternut in flavour & texture....was so surprised the first time to cut through the grey-blue skin & find golden orange flesh inside! Now these squashes provide a lot of meals. The smallest one, which I have used up today, has made 8 portions of butternut macaroni cheese & there are 4 portions of curry in the slow cooker. We have 2 bigger ones stored in the pantry so they should be the gift which keeps on giving for a while yet. Also nice as a side veg, just roasted in oil, garlic & herbs or chilli. 
*Baked a batch of wholemeal rolls.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Sowed sweet-peas - these were the seeds I saved a few weeks ago & dried. I've still got some left in case I need to sow a few extra in Spring, but I usually do better with October-sown ones. I've used big yoghurt pots for sowing - 3 seeds to each - & they will be potted up individually around February.
*More big pieces of corrugated carboard packaging salvaged - I will cut moisture mats for the worm composter from those as these work just as well as the bought ones.
*Free fitness walk around the village. It was very dull - no cats to talk to & nobody out & about, but it has helped keep my lead in the challenge for at least part of another day.
*Did a few budget updates. Pleased with the grocery budget this month as despite it being a '5-week month', we still have £83-03 left for our final shop this week. A combination of batch cooking & our own veg garden harvest has played a big part here.
*Did a survey - I was soundly rejected for not buying the relevant product, but my 'rejection 6p' got me over the line for a £10 cash-out, so I claimed that & it is now sitting in the Pay of Pals. That will be going straight towards the tickets we purchased earlier this week.
*Perused this month's bill from the Cephalopods & updated my energy costs spreadsheet.
*Did a little bit of present knitting.
*Will also be doing a little bit more charity knitting (from stash)
*Am starting to ponder a few things for Big Budget Day which will be at the end of this week. I like thinking time.
Right m'dears, that is today's thoroughly un-scintillating activities. Off to have a general tidy-up now.....prioritising tidying which requires steps as I've got visions of Mr F having a good stomp around his workplace talking to staff, catching up with service-users & taking the stairs instead of the lift. He's competitive with this kind of thing & more to the point, hasn't hobbled himself with a stupid blister!
F x

KajiKita

You make you make me smile with your comment about Mr F being competitive. I was thinking exactly the same of you as I was reading your post - not a characteristic I would have associated with you before 😊

I think blisters are so very sore as they are just the surface of the skin that gets rubbed off so all the nerve endings are exposed. A bit like a deep burn is often less painful than a scald as a deep burn damages the nerve endings. 

I would love to try to grow squash but Mr KK despises them 😂 and there is no way I could eat enough on my own to make it worth while 🤷‍♀️😊

KK

ladyholly

I have recently decided to go up a size in shoes as I was struggling to find ones that are comfortable. It has been bliss. I dont whether shoes are getting smaller or my feet have spread. I know my Mum did the same as she got older.

rtandon27

Mmmmm - butternut mac and cheese sounds lovely! - any chance you have a link to the recipe?

foxgloves

It is yum, @ rtandon27. I don't have a link because all our favourite recipes which are 'keepers' are handcopied into a notebook. I am pretty sure it was a Waitrose recipe from one of their free weekend papers a few years ago, so you may well find it in an online archive.
Mr F suggested making it again this weekend & the WW lamb & marrow bake which is another seasonal fave in our house. We still have plenty of marrow & squash left so making one of each will feed us for 4 days.
Haven't even begun to think what I might like to make with our 2 pumpkins, but they are going to be part of my seasonal windowsill display first.
F x

foxgloves

@rtandon27 - Yep, it's online. Just searched 'Roasted butternut mac & cheese Waitrose recipe' & it popped up straightaway. We use guatamalan blue squash because that's what we grow, but they are golden inside with butternut flavour.
Hope you enjoy it if you do decide to make one.
F

rtandon27

oooo - thanks FG! - I've done a search and bookmarked!

We have a couple of butternut squash, an edible ghost pumpkin and a small culinary orange one which will need using over the next few weeks so I will make sure to have this recipe to hand for one of them!

foxgloves

@rtandon27 - You're welcome. The butternut curry I made yesterday is also nice. The spicing-up-the-squash part takes about 4 hours, then the chickpeas & tomatoes go in for the final half hour. Tasty, autumnal & filling. Mr F purloined a mugful for his packed lunch tomorrow.
F

Suffolk_lass

Re your blister, I am also prone to these on one heel, with any new footwear. I still buy second skin burn or blister packs - they used to sell them in good outdoor activities shops, you know, camping, hiking, mountain bike type places, and they used to come looking like they were blue. You peel the clear skin off the side facing your blister and then either stick a plaster over, or just a sock, for the blue skin side. They are a water based gel and give you the padding to protect and help heal. The ones I originally had have disappeared but this is the sort of thing (cut to size) - they really work well

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - Many thanks for the link. I am definitely going to look for something of that ilk to buy. I tend to get blisters in the same place - at the back of my right heel as I have a little bump there. Mostly it doesn't rub, but those gorgeous walking boots which I bought online during Lockdown & absolutely refuse to stretch, do sometimes cause a nasty blister so having a stock of something with a bit more protection than ordinary plasters would be a good move, I think.
F