Escape to the country & living off savings

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks MF ☺️ I’m trying not to dwell on the situation but things are not the same. 

Aquafit today & I will pick up a hot roast chicken after. 

I have just ordered my sis a book (paid from Xmas/bday pot) and added a slow cooker low carb cookbook £6.99 for me which means free delivery for both. Postage for just one book would have been £3.99. Hopefully it will have some new to me recipes. Meals I have made in my slow cooker are

Curried parsnip soup
Butternut squash soup 
beef stew 
chicken casserole 
pork & apple casserole 
pork & reggae sauce
Beef or chicken or lamb curry
Moroccan lamb stew 
Fish stew
chilli 

Today I am making pork & apple casserole 

~FlowerPot~

I hope the slow cooker recipe book is good. We have a slow cooker here but rarely use it as I havent yet found a recipe that has worked/ that everyone likes!!!  This is partly becuase I have fussy children and1 inparticular doesnt like different foods touching!!! but even so i would still like to try again. you have prompted me to take a look for a new receipe to try

flowers x

Skint_yet_Again

Good luck with your slow cooker flowers. I wouldn’t be without mine. 

I have placed my mat Alan order. There is an offer starting today for free delivery with a £19.99 spend so I removed the expensive top from my basket and just purchased duvet set, double sheet, knickers and a white t shirt £36.50. Hopefully I have ordered the right size clothes. I prefer to try tops on before buying so I will schedule a trip to the nearest store to buy a few more for this summer. Some of my old favourites are getting a bit shabby. 

thriftylynny

Ooh your dinners always sound delicious & healthy plus you really know what you're doing with the slow cooker , practice I suppose ..wen I use mine the meat always goes  tough or the sauces too watery !! Thanks for the heating/thermo info SYA  i'll try that method rest of this month while it's still chilly x

SuzeQStan

Pork and apple casserole!! Please tell me how you do it - I need inspiration as my last slow cooker meal attempt (chicken thighs in tahini) was an unmitigated disaster (I didn’t remove the skin it was GRIM)

Skint_yet_Again

I cheat SQS 😆

I buy skinless & boneless thighs. I chuck everything in with meat on top & half fill with water & herbs/spices or use a jar of sauce instead. If the sauce is too thin I use tomato purée for tomato sauces, milk & cornflour for fish casserole, gravy granuals for meat sauces. Pork casserole will have sliced up apple added towards the end of cooking. To be honest I make it up as I go along. 😆

eta if I am making stew I use a few ox o in the water to cook & mix up meat & veg & then thicken with gravy granuals at the end 

Have had an email from tv licensing & will now be £15 for April. Have updated my budget planner. 

SuzeQStan

Thanks SYA - I’ll give it a go and let you know.

bit of a shocker seeing tv license go up - it’s been the same for years now.  If they are abolishing it in 2027 I don’t see how they can justify any rises

Skint_yet_Again

Pork shoulder steaks were £2.99 in aldee for 4 but I usually use pork loin steaks. Cut off any fat & cube the pork with onion, couple of carrots & 1/4 swede chopped up. Added an aldee chicken casserole packet mix 36p with 400ml water. 4 hours on low then added a peeled chopped apple. (You could use some cider or white wine in place of some of the water. You could add mushrooms or butternut squash whatever you fancy. You could probably even buy a Somerset pork packet mix in asd@). I am going to thicken mine with some gravy granuals. 

Aquafit was lovely and warm today. We were all surprised! It was like getting in a warm bath ☺️ Picked up a hot roast chicken & had sandwiches on lower carb bread and a gravy dipping pot 😋

DF has painted my kitchen ceiling this morning. I went up to his house to do some washing & towels are now blowing on the line. 

Tomorrow we are demolishing my little (rotten) wooden shed to make space for next doors metal shed to come over as they want it gone. It can sit on the pebbles for now. I’m still waiting for my friend to take the summer house (I’ve been waiting over a year!) & then the new shed can go on it’s base. 

SuzeQStan

Thanks for the recipe SYA - I love pork with apple so will defo be giving it a go.

Yay to new shed - do you think the old shed will come down easy enough?  Our old shed ended up breaking every power tool we had to get it down LOL - but I’m rubbish with stuff like that

Skint_yet_Again

DF said once he gets the roof off the rest will probably fall apart 😆🤞