From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

MisterPym said:

Even a wee slug of vinegar out the jar of finished pickled onions ?

I realise that using up a 'by-product' is good money saving sense, but I do think it depends on what vinegar is in the pickle jar.  The wine vinegars are usually piquant (without removing the skin off your tongue), and add to the dish.  I'm currently taking organic ACV in water and it takes all my willpower to even take a mouthful, it's rank and overly powerful, even diluted.  Some vinegars are just too sharp imvho.

DH and LG have gone on a pootle about on errands.  I've washed DH's workwear and pegged out.  It's currently dry, sort of bright-ish and with a light breeze.  

The stew in the PC worked really well yesterday.  It would have been 'good' to eat yesterday, but today you can stand your spoon up in it 🤣 It will alter when it's warmed back up, but it did make me laugh.  There is enough today with champ and I put a pot in the freezer for another day.  One key difference is the potatoes I used.  I opened the Wilja bag from foodsfarm and they - as you know - are a wonderful floury potato and work well in stews.  Not that the Osprey weren't good in the SC version, but a) I left the skins on, and b) they didn't go as floury in the cooking time.  

Our SC tea of 'plant ball fricasse' worked well.  There was quite alot of sauce - in hindsight, I could probably have got away with only using one tin of the condensed soup, but as it was, it looked alot on the plate, but when you started eating it, and mixed it in with the rice, it worked.  We had no need to take up spoons to finish off the excess anyway, like we had with the SC Irish stew version.  I served the fricasse with basmati rice and shredded sprouts.  I shall use the remaining sprouts today, shredded into mash for a version of 'champ'.  LG declared that they preferred the fricasse version we had last night over the version I made with qu0rn chunks on Christmas Day.  They quickly added that they liked both versions, but the plant balls was definitely their preferred version.  Which is OK by me - I'm all about making food that we will all eat.  I don't think that brussels sprouts are LG's favourite, but everything got eaten, so that's a win.  I did totally forget to add in a cupful of the frozen mixed veg I'd womanfully lugged from MrS, but that was on me, and not the end of the world.  I used Reisling in the dish - a bottle I'd bought at Christmas time with the intention of pairing with a 'coconutty' curry, but as that didn't materialise, I used some to put in the sauce (from the start, so the alcohol cooked out), and then we had a glass with.  Very nice, and not super thuggish in terms of ABV.

I need to walk to MrS today to return some clothes that I bought yesterday for LG that don't fit.  It was a set of two items, one pair fitted 'ok' the other pair were clearly made in a different factory, to a different pattern, with a different sizing gauge. I should know better, this isn't the first time I have had this problem with MrS children's clothes.  

I can only assume that the Men's Welsh rugger team are still at the bedding in stage for young, inexperience players, as last night's game was a chore to watch.  We did watch it until the end, but should have gone to bed at half-time, for all the difference the second half made.  I knew Ian Botham's son was a rugger player, but was surprised that his grandson was playing for Wales last night - that made me feel very old....... I think the French team will have gained a great deal of confidence from the game, and will be tough opponents.  I have to be honest and think Ireland will probably beat England this afternoon too, but I hope that it's a good game.  England have alot to prove.

Right, best shift a tail-feather.

Greying X

rtandon27

GP - you are once again a wealth of knowledge - I had no clue that different varieties of potatoes would produce such different results!  In my head potatoes come tiny, small, medium, large & xtra large and that was the extent of it!  I do however miss the taste of a good PEI potato which I grew up eating, so I guess there is something to different soils producing different flavours.

EH & Vix - I must have all of the UK's surplus of tomato puree in my stores, as when Waitflower changed the packaging on their tube a while back our local branch yellow-stickered the whole lot of the old packaging to 75% off.  Given that it's dated May 2026, you know I bought as many tubes as possible! I tend to freeze into cubes once the tube is opened as even in a tube, I feel it goes off quickly once opened and we only use about a tablespoon at a time.

starnac

Did the Welsh team even turn up last night Greying??

Interesting about the tomato puree. I had noticed the lack of it on the shelves but had no idea why. 

edinburgher

I have never heard of putting vinegar in lentil soup, could be an intriguing way to use up some of the stoorie bottles that I have in the kitchen cupboard!

You are very right to say that the rugby last night was a chore, I was more than happy to go to bedtime when it finished. In some ways, it was a typical performance for recent era Wales, with plenty of energy and no ideas. France were electric for the first half, they have definitely set the bar high. The Stade de France is a lovely looking stadium, I'd like to visit it for a game one day. Hoping for a bit more excitement today, Italy will likely come out all guns blazing, and will not want to take home a wooden spoon.

Greying_Pilgrim

themadvix said:

Rather than being Italian tomatoes, they were Chinese, and farmed with slave Uighur labour. 😢

The MrL tommie puree I bought could still contain Chinese tomatoes for all I know - as it states 'EU & non-EU' tomatoes....... 😟

Greying X

themadvix

I love a Riesling GP - in fact, I think German wines generally are under rated.

We get jars of puree here and also freeze - one of those silicon baby food portion freezing things here - one end usually has puree, the other homemade curry paste.

edinburgher

Agreed @themadvix - we once went to Boppard in the Rhineland and trying all the unfashionable bottles of old, sweet wine was my highlight of the trip

LotsOfTea

Thanks for the tip about adding the vinegar to the lentil soup @Greying_Pilgrim, I used a splosh of a bottle of balsamic vinegar I've had for ages. DH & DS both detest vinegar so it only rarely gets used but of course it's not noticeable in a recipe like that, it just brightens things up like a splash of lemon juice does.

My mum used to drink cider vinegar in water 30 odd years ago as she had some book that promised it would cure her arthritis. She absolutely hated it and forced it down for quite some time before giving up. I'm not sure it did anything for her arthritis but it certainly did give her face a workout when she was trying to make herself drink it! 

I'd completely forgotten condensed mushroom soup existed until you mentioned using it in your casserole. I used to use it to make a sauce for a baked broccoli gratin type thing with a cheese & breadcrumb topping or a pasta sauce with a splash of wine added and some fresh mushrooms. I'm tempted to add a tin to my next grocery order but I need to concentrate on using what I have before buying random new stuff so I shall resist. 

Greying_Pilgrim

LotsOfTea said:

My mum used to drink cider vinegar in water 30 odd years ago as she had some book that promised it would cure her arthritis. She absolutely hated it and forced it down for quite some time before giving up. I'm not sure it did anything for her arthritis but it certainly did give her face a workout when she was trying to make herself drink it! 

Lawks - I know entirely what you mean, it really is dire. 

I got the mushroom condensed soup from h0me bArg1ns.  Dearest redo reminded me that they stock batch3l0rs brand for 79p a tin, mushroom, chicken or Tomato.  

Well, I'm not surprised at the rugger result - last second, bonus try for England, but Ireland were the worthy winners. Well played Scotland too - I didn't see all of that match, as I was running around folding laundry and setting up tea, so that it was just a re-heat job in half time in the England match.  Stew and Champ munched.  Don't think it was entirely LG's cup of tea, but they did eat it all up.  

Apparently it is Yorkshire Pudding day tomorrow (and Groundhog Day in the US), so I shall look to perhaps do veggie sausages, yorkies and mash for tea.  LG likes to make the batter, so we'll see.

No money spent today, I just returned the clothes to MrS and came straight back.  DH's clothes dried reasonably well today.  I think the wind was a tadge on the chilly side, so the clothes weren't bone dry, but - as ever - I'm grateful to have got them so far along on a winter's day.  They are now on the airer in front of the rad.  

Thanks for popping in.  

Greying X

rtandon27

Greying_Pilgrim said:

...No money spent today, I just returned the clothes to MrS and came straight back...

So the money is back in your handbag which is firmly shut for the moment! 🤣 I'd say that is a sucess!