From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

redofromstart

Thanks Kayannie, I would guess I am 80 coping/20 not.  There isn't a lot of choice really but its also not in my nature to not cope, or indeed to ask for help.  

GP, I keep meaning to say that my first windows quote is for £400 per window fitted averaged (20 different sized windows, no scaffolding needed) which may help with working out your numbers.  Local company rather than big chain.

Greying_Pilgrim

redo - thanks sweetie, that is helpful.

Thinking of you & the fam.  GNU MrRedo. X

EssexHebridean

Oh heck Kayannie, what a shock. Glad to hear that he is hopefully now on the mend. 

Not sure if it is a reason - it shouldn’t be, as an establishment shouldn’t be doing something “outside of its lane” unless it knows it’s good at it - but to me a greasy spoon type place isn’t somewhere I would usually go for cake, as I simply wouldn’t expect it to be anything more than bought in “standard issue”.  Greasy spoon is for a cooked breakfast, or a bacon butty or similar , whereas for tea & cake or a nice lunch we’d be looking for a different sort of vibe to the place, if that makes sense. One of those sorts of things that you just pick up the feeling for the right sort of place through experience, I guess. 

Greying_Pilgrim

The last time LG and I went into that cafe (about 6 weeks ago) the cake (they had the same sort), was fine and my coffee tasted of something.  I think it's a family run place, so I'm not sure what had changed between the two outings.  You're right, the place does 'major' in breakfast (and anything else that can be fried), but although I've never had breakfast there myself, I've seen plates on other tables, and saw some food prep yesterday..... 😬Whilst I'm sure the prices £8 - £12 (depending on 'size') were probably on a par with many places, I'm not sure any degree of 'quality' was imbued in the meals. 

The owners would probably not be impressed with the 'greasy spoon' moniker, but that's what it actually is in terms of formica tables, faux leather banquettes, all day breakfast, apple crumble and mugs of tea.  You'd be hard pressed to order an avocado, latte, cruffin or panini in there......... 😉

Greying X

LadyWithAPlan

redofromstart said:

I am so sorry to read that @kayannie, it must have been a huge shock for you both but so pleased that he is on the mend.  

(That was hard to type, as I am both pleased he is on the mend and frankly envious because Mr Redo didn't have any chance.)

Feeling envious is a natural emotion in this situation.
Kayannie happy for you and your oh

Sorry your cake adventures not going well GP  - i do love a (gf) bacon butty

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening MFW'rs

Another grey, damp day with us here.  No washing attempted.  I'm up-to-date enough, certainly for the start of the week, so fingers crossed the weather improves, quickly.

The leftover 'minestrone like' soup yielded 2 portions for lunch and I made egg mayo sandwiches using the last 2 of the 'older' eggs.  We haven't had egg mayo sangers for quite some time (not LG's absolute favourite), but with the soup they were munched up.  

We did watch the rugby.  But I was popping in and out starting to prep tea. 

I used the plant-based mince that I got from MrL YS'd and cooked it up in the PC with soffrito, diced swede and parsnips, in a little water and a bay leaf.  Once it was cooked I added in some onion gravy and cooked it again. I made some mashed potatoes - using the wilja potatoes, and steamed some green beans to go with.  It was OK.  It was nice to be able to make something that was not tomato based, and it was significantly different texture to using lentils.  I'm not sure I would rush out to buy it 'proper' price, and I I wouldn't buy it regularly, but for an occasional recipe and especially at 89p for the main component of a meal for 3, it was worth experimenting.

No cash spent today.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening MFW'rs

At the risk of repeating myself, another grey, dull day with us here 😟

I did try some washing (lightweight activewear) out on the line, but it was a waste of time.  It didn't dry a jot, and faired better with an hour in front of the dehu.

Tea last night was a take on Nepalese Dal Bhat.  It wasn't authentic, but that was my inspiration.  I made my normal dhal recipe and made a vegetable coconut curry, to which I had added a tin of chickpeas too.  We didn't have any pickled vegetables or pickle, but I did boil up some basmati, which had been soaking whilst we were out at club.  There was 1.5 portions of curry and 1.5 portions of dhal in addition to what we ate for tea, so those went in the freezer for another time.  

Tea this evening was a soup recipe that I remember muddywhitechicken describing to me years and years ago - before LG was a twinkle in fact.  mwc had been to Italy, and visited her uncle and aunt.  Iirc, the uncle had a garden/allotment/patch of land, and he made this soup one evening - using beans and tomatoes he'd grown???  I think the first time I made it, I still had beans that I'd grown and dried, and I used them in the recipe.  Tonight I used MrS tinned cannellini beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes.  There is pasta in the soup too, and it does amuse me that I had this recipe long before LG started taking a liking to soup, and that their favourite soup is now 'anything' with pasta in it 😁  The soup is made by the inclusion of parsley, and I happened to have some chopped up in the freezer, left over from Christmas time.  There was enough for 3 bowlfuls and I used some of the YS'd wholemeal rolls to accompany.  mwc's Uncle's name was Antonio, so the soup is in my recipe index as 'Zuppa di Zio Antonio'.  Pud will be yoghurt and banana. 

No money spent today - which is a relief, but the cupboards and shelves are slowly but surely starting to get depleted, but we're not out of food yet, and there is still some money left in the pot and a couple of vouchers.  I'm not convinced I will have any more vouchers available from MrS before the end of the month - it would be no more than £2.50.

Can't think of anything MSE to add.  Ta for popping by.

Greying X

edinburgher

Soup sounds lovely, is there a recipe?

Greying_Pilgrim

edinburgher said:

Soup sounds lovely, is there a recipe?

It was just what mwc said was in it, so I kinda made it up in the proportions you do for soup;

Olive oil, onion, celery, garlic, white beans, veg stock, a tin of chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes if it is the season/you have grown some), a bay leaf, salt, pepper, ditali pasta, parsley (I used fresh tonight, but would also use dried).  I also diced up (really small), a carrot - as a soffrito is usually how you start off an italian recipe.  Tonight's soup used 2 tins of cannellini beans - but in the past I've used dried white beans, which I've cooked and then made the soup with.  I have at the back of my mind that mwc's uncle cooked this soup for quite a while - so the beans may have been fresh picked, or cooked from dried.  I part-cooked the pasta and then added it in the soup towards the end of cooking (thickens the soup up lovely), but if you're putting dry pasta in, I suppose you would add it earlier.  

Is that any help?  I remember mwc saying that her Uncle was an instinctive cook, 'a handful of that', some of this, a pinch of that, so there was no actual written recipe for this soup.  I seem to recall that a meat stock (chicken?) or bone broth was used in the original recipe - I of course used veg stock (a cube tonight), but a meat stock with the beans would of course give you loads of flavour. 

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good morning MFW'rs

....for the second time..... the first version of this disappeared mid sentence of paragraph 3 🙄

I have pegged out a small load of DH's workwear.  It's not ideal drying weather, but I am behind from last week, and there aren't enough 'spares' to cover the working week 🙄  It is slightly breezier today, but still cold and overcast, so I suspect I am on a hiding to nowt, and will be getting the dehu out later 🙄

I am thinking I will go shopping for non-voucher, non-MrT things today, along with several non-food items that we're low on/have run out of.  I'm also making a list of things to make to put in the freezer.  I've noticed that several things - I'm looking at you Red Kidney Beans - are apt to constantly get overlooked, so they need to be used.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is a challenge, not a punishment, and the budget is super-tight.  I've not 'failed' if I end up having to re-adjust, but also the incentive is high and we need those replacement windows.  Working on redo's 'ball-park' figure, we would have sufficient to do the house and doors (in theory), but traders in Greying Town have a tendency to 'charge high'.  But I need to park my 'whataboutery' and just make a start with getting prices - which as we know, is a blessed job in itself.  There are times I wish DH would take a lead in these things - he won't, but moans when we get ripped off, or the job is half-arsed...... 😟

I need to sew a button onto a pair of DH's work trousers, they're clean, but out of rotation because of it, so I need to shift myself on that.

Count down to half-term.  These first few weeks have been up and down.  Quite a few successes, but they all seem to have been overshadowed by some appalling behaviour in class and around the school.  

DH's work/employment 'admin' is changing to 'online', so we've sorted out access to the relevant site for that.  I think that it can be accessed by phone - and there is doubtless an 'app' for it - but to register/set it up etc, it had to be done by computer, it wouldn't work by phone.  It never ceases to amaze me that we're encouraged into doing 'everything' online, and yet how often access falls at the first hurdle.....

Right, best make a start.  

Ta for popping in.  Greying X