From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

badmemory - I do a version of that in MrL- try to load on the conveyor as I want to pack - cool/cold stuff together, bread together, tins together etc, then pack at the back counter.  But at least the usual MrL has space to pick up stuff as it goes through the till.  Our other/older MrL has a very short/angled space at the till, and it's difficult to keep up with the till operative - as are our MrAl's, hence why I dislike doing 'big' shops in MrAl - although they do have the big 'shelf' at the back of the store to pack at.  

Tea was Ethiopian Lentil Wat, rice and broccoli.  There was a portion for another day's tea plus a small 'lunch' portion left over.  LG ate it up nae bother, although they did slightly stall over the broccoli.  I used frozen BNS in place of sweet potato and it worked OK, although I drew the short straw and found 2 hard bits of pumpkin seed in my tea.  Not the end of the world, but just a nuisance really, as they were quite solid.  It would have been 'less likely' to have happened if I'd have prepped my own BNS.  

LG survived the school trip, and seems to have enjoyed themselves.  Not too sure it was worth the money though really.  It was a very 'basic' course - all things LG has done before.  DH and LG both had a piece of the apple cake for lunch and declared it delish 👍

I have been making my shopping list and giving some more thought to 'freezer meals' and/or stores for December/Christmas.  I was pondering whether it would be better to make/freeze a load of boiled rice to help with a speedy rustle up of a curry plate, or whether to purchase a couple of pouches of microwave rice.  The bought stuff wouldn't break the bank and wouldn't use up freezer containers for a (relatively) inexpensive ingredient, plus I could buy different flavours of microwave rice.  The biggest problem for me is always using things that i have bought for December/Christmas, well before Christmas/December.... 🙄🤭

The washing dried..... kind of.  We did have a breeze here for most of the day, but it was on the very edge of only just being enough to move the washing on the line a bit, rather than blowing consistently.  It wouldn't have turned a child's hand-held windmill that well, never mind a turbine.  So some of the washing was damp in places, or not wet, but not bone dry either.  So that has gone on the airer, and we've got the heating on for a quick burst.  It was worth doing..... just.

Today that I'm grateful LG enjoyed a day out, that HM cake got a 👍and I had all the ingredients to make tea, with enough for another day.  

EDIT- I totally forgot to say, when I was getting the washing in, just before 3pm, i heard a bird cheeping and I thought 'oooh, that's interesting'.  It was very close - either in next door's hedge, or in our holly bush.  All of a sudden, it broke cover, but was so quick, i couldn't see what it was.  It was small, but not the right sound for a wren.  It flew into a tree, but didn't keep still, so I thought I had missed it.  But then it came to a branch nearer to the fence - and it was a goldcrest (must make sure I am claiming to have seen the right bird).  It wasn't doing it's full 'song', more a sort of cheep, cheep, cheep version of it, as it moved about.  I am so lucky, I didn't see goldcrests for the first XX years of my life, and now we have seen them both at the rental house and now here in our garden.  

Ta for popping by.  I remain grateful.  Greying X

ladybird1106

Goldcrest beautiful bird.
love🐞

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

R2 are discussing whether it's too early to discuss Christmas......  Sorry if I have offended anyone discussing it on here 😳

If it's any help, I don't think we've got it "quite" right yet - in terms of balance.  But it remains about LG for me, I increasingly find all the 'hype' and influence about "how" you party/celebrate/find fun, distasteful.  Having said that, i did find part one of the waitflower advert quite amusing.  And at least MrAl have published 'which 6' they will be selling for 15p.  So.....

But I am finding balancing expenditure for LG for 'normal' stuff against 'presents' interesting.  We don't have the family network to pick up the 'big ticket' items (even if I thought it was a good idea to let them spend their money on stuff), so finding the sweet spot of having gifts, but not 'too many' is proving challenging.  I do like the concept of some gifts to actually open on the day, and still try to have 'something' that is surprising - although that is getting harder to achieve.  Mostly because LG is getting to the 'investigative' stage......... 🙄🤣  Apples don't fall far from the tree......... 🤣

Shopping today.  I'm just weighing up whether to brave possible traffic queues to go to our local MrL, or whether to lose time schlepping across town to the other MrL.  I think a trip to the next market town along is off the table, as whilst I have a list as long as your arm of 'stuff' that I'd like to look out for there, I don't think I have the time today to spend shopping.  Mea Culpa for not getting more chores completed at the start of this week, when I was distracted by other chores......

It's supposed to be quite breezy (in terms of drying washing) with us today, so I might sort out what to prioritise to wash.  The plumber is supposed to be coming tomorrow, so I'd be better making hay today I think.

Tea will be leftovers and made up as LG has club this evening.  

That's all I can think of for the mo.   

Greying X

peb

Just saying hello.   This amount of kit and money for things at school for LG is ridiculous.   I don't remember anything like this when I was at school - but as the child I may not have.

I'm back from the pool (WFH) via Lidl and the traffic was horrendous.    I'm so grateful that I don't have to drive to an office much now.  Hope your traffic isn't too bad.

EssexHebridean

My parents always dealt with the issue of possible investigation of presents by ensuring that they were popped away in a wardrobe in their room Greying, where of course I wasn't allowed without permission...we weren't "presents under the tree" people at that stage, as the dog would have cheerfully ensured that anything left there was processed into small pieces...! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Hello back to peb 👋 and EH

I did a quick tot up earlier and already this half-term has cost nearly £25 on school trips and £45 on 'extra' clothing 🙄  On top of that we have had/will have £1 here and £1 there for poppies, CiN, harvest festival donation, wear this colour for this, and wear that colour for that days....... 🙄  And I know that there is at least one more excursion to come - which may or may not have a charge attached, plus the 'nativity' play that may involve a costume/entry fee etc.  I have to say peb I don't recall having to have so much 'stuff' for school either - particularly not primary school.  Secondary was slightly different, but  whilst some days you needed a wheelbarrow and sleigh to cart all the 'stuff' to school, it was PE kit/home economics/certain textbooks etc.  It wasn't snow suit, flippers, spare wand and a skateboard helmet territory..........

And breathe.

Shopping done.  Traffic wasn't too onerous.  There were lights, but they were changing quite quickly, and traffic was flowing relatively freely.  It was more of an issue on the return journey, but only to the extent that we had to wait 2 changes of lights to get onto the main road - but then the works lights were on green, so I wasn't sitting in traffic.  I'm glad that my punt paid off.  I think this is the second week of works - so two more (potentially) to go.  Will have to try to plan better next week.  

I spent £25.02, which wasn't much, but a) I've already done the MrS shop this week and b) I didn't get everything as they were oos of frozen veg that I was after and I left the celery where it was.......  I did buy an aubergine in the PoTW, they were quite big and nice and glossy and firm, so worth 69p.  Our particular store seems to be having something of a shift around of stuff.  As it happens, it didn't affect anything I would buy, and to a certain extent, perhaps things were placed more logically in the store?  I did pay 30p more for the potatoes I bought, but that was purely because all the small bags of basic tatties were all small, whereas the bags of 'baking potatoes' - which were all individually a reasonable size, were marked up as being the 'Fandango' variety.  I was impressed with the bag I bought last week, so paid the extra for them.  Besides which, it does give me the option to cook a baked tattie for DH and I.  I must think up some "interesting" dish that I know LG likes - perhaps along the lines of sausage casserole 🤔 and serve it with baked tatties - try to get them eating them a bit more.   Although I have to say, I am always caught in the dilemma of 'you don't have to like everything', so where is the sweet spot?  Is liking mash, boiled, roasted and chips/wedges enough of an expectation for LG at this age?  I know that I had likes and dislikes in vegetables when I was little - some of it down to taste, some of it down to being HG produce that had to be used, despite the fact it was tough/stringy/bitter etc and partially down to my mum's propensity to cook everything to oblivion (not helped by moveable meal times - an occupational hazard on a farm, though 😞)

Right, I have put the washing out, and it is wafting in the breeze.  I'm not sure how 'dry' it will be when it comes in - but fingers crossed.  The stuff that I brought in yesterday dried/aired overnight, although the heating blast helped.  

Better crack on, amend siggie and start the chores - the list is as long as my arm 😳

Greying X

badmemory

Not sure if these comments will help with the veggies at all but.  DS didn't have too many likes & dislikes.  Always really really disliked brussels sprouts & still does.  Never liked broccoli but will eat it.  The interesting one, although not really a veg, was mushrooms which he definitely did not like until he was well into his teens.  The mushrooms & broccoli was based on texture & so became acceptable especially mushroom which I often sub for a lot of the meat.  The sprouts have never & will never be acceptable & I am not a fan.  It seems some people find the taste far too metallic.

Greying_Pilgrim

I recall not liking sprouts badmemory - a possible difference being that ours were always HG at home when I was little,  and I am pretty sure that I am right in saying that plant breeders have worked particularly hard on reducing the bitterness of brussels sprouts, so it figures that we found them unpalatable.  But I like sprouts now - but rarely eat them boiled and whole.  I am much more likely to shred them and steam them.  Love them that way.  I was (pleasantly) surprised to see a bag of sprouts in....... MrS?? a couple of weeks ago - I thought they were quite reasonably priced.  I didn't buy them, as I think it was the week before HT and I didn't think we would eat them, but the one downside of having less bitter sprouts year round is that the price has rocketed 😞

Greying X  - in between tasks!

redofromstart

I am the only one who likes jacket potatoes here, so I would make them for all, mash the contents of theirs with some cheese and re-fill the skins.  May be worth a try so LG gets mash in a shell as a different texture?

rtandon27

I love the brussels chat! - I've only discovered over the past few week the enormous difference between organic farm-grown brussels and baby supermarket sprouts!  Needless to day the sweet mass produced ones are the ones I find palatable.  The ones that were in our veg box are strong, bitter and earthy - a novelty for me as I'd never experienced that type of brussel before!