From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Shopping done. £45.62 on food in total (inc a small expenditure yesterday) and £1.80 non-food (actually yesterday as well).  

I did buy some carrots in the MrL PoTW, as they looked ok (8p per bag), and I bought tatties and parsnips in MrS (3 bags and 2 bags respectively).  I thought MrS parsnips looked better than MrL (in our particular store), but I have found one small parsnip going rotten, in the bags I did buy, so.....  There was plenty of stock of the veg - I think MrS started their promo today?  and to be fair, I was in the store at around 9am.  Although I did spot plenty of the half lambs legs (is that a correct description?) that were nectar offer around about £7 something?  Was that per lb/kilo? Not for the whole bit of meat, surely?

There were 7 or 8 green boxes in MrL today...... mostly full of....... potatoes 🙄  To be fair, one of the boxes did have a half full bag of apples, but that's one thing we've quite a few of at the mo, so I left them where they were.  

The only YS'd things I bought were some St. Clements HXB's and some large wholemeal baps. 20% and 50% reductions respectively.  The Hot X buns are 'OK', nothing thrilling, and the baps will come in for lunches at some point in the hols.  

Can't think of anything particularly spiffy to add, so I will shuffle orf to amend my siggie figgie.

Greying X

FrugalHedonist

I bought some of the Mr L green beans and the quality was 10 out of 10, might pop back and get some more later on in the week. I must admit it took me longer than it should have to work out whatst clement hxb were 😂
We wont be having a roast on easter but thinking hm pizza and we use all the veg up in our usual meals

Greying_Pilgrim

FrugalHedonist - the person in front of me in the queue in MrL had got some of the veg - including several bags of the green beans, and I agree, they did look good.  Meanwhile the swedes in our MrS looked awful, but as I didn't need one, I didn't feel cheated.  

The carrots that I bought from MrL....... mmm, probably two weeks ago now?  had started to go a bit mouldy and mushy ☹️  My fault for not using them up quicker.  So I turfed them out of the salad drawer, put the new stock in their place and made a saucepan of carrot and coriander soup for lunch for LG and I, using what was left after they'd been trimmed and peeled.    Just the weather for soup, as definitely cooler than it has been.  There was a portion left over, so that has gone in the freezer.  

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Pleasant start to the day with a nice sunrise.

I've got a wash on.  I'm not expecting miracles, but most of the wash is lightweight.  I think we're slated to stay dry today, but there may be insufficient breeze to fully dry things.  But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Tea last night used 3 of the 4 YS'd baps I had bought.  They were too big really for burger baps, but I had them so.......  We had the last 3 of the HM tempeh and black bean burgers and potato wedges.  I fried the burgers first, just to give them some colour on each side and then transferred them to the oven to finish cooking through.  They tasted nice - but as discussed before, didn't quite hit the texture profile I was after.  I'm still planning on giving vital wheat gluten a go at some point.  

LG is busy going through a growth spurt.  All of their things appear too small, all at once.  Sound familiar?  There is a bit of 'slush' in the CHB, as various club sessions were cancelled over the last term, so I will have to corral that and see what we can find.  They went off on a little mini-break with club at the start of the hols.  We'd been able to pay in instalments from the CHB, and I don't think that anything 'new' was needed on this occasion, but they've come back complaining of boots rubbing etc, so it's time to replace.  It's a difficult one isn't it - do you wear 'getting too small footwear' and have it rub, or buy new 'not broken in' footwear and have it rub?  Now is the time though, as we've 'breaking in time' available for several months. Although unfortunately footwear, as ever, will total decimate any funds that we've managed to accumulate 🫤

I can't think of anything else on an MSE vibe - although I've confused myself over my grocery budget - did I set myself the target of spending no more than £250 this month so that I "automatically" had £50 to add to March's savings - to then put into May's budget? 🤔  lawks, comes to something when you bamboozle yourself with your own hair-brain schemes!  I struggled to open a new jar of jam this morning too ☹️ 

Greying X

kayannie

I noticed in our local leisure centre that they have a place where anyone can donate trainers etc that no longer fit or are no longer needed. These are freely available for anyone to take. Maybe there's a similar scheme in your area? I've not noticed children's boots, which I know is what you need at the moment for KG, but maybe worth bearing in mind when trainers are required. KA

Greying_Pilgrim

kayannie - that is something that I have never heard of, so thank you for mentioning it.  I'm struggling to think where the leisure centre is in Greying Town 🤔(sports opportunities seem to be divided up into single endeavour, or are private sector providers)  but for sure there are centres in the market towns dotted around, so worth having a look when passing.  When we were in town just now, we bumped into one of LG's classmates who was..... going trainer shopping!  Theirs are branded 😬  Perhaps the ones they were wearing were too small, but I couldn't see alot wrong with them....... 

We have boots anyway.  So that is a start.  

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Friday, Good Morning MFW'rs

Damp start with us ☹️

LG and DH have gone out doing 'shopping' chores 🙄  Not for food, but DH has to pick up a prescription and some greetings cards - so heaven knows what they'll exit MrT's with 🙄

LG now has footwear for 'everyday/at home/out and about' type useage.  We've sourced 2/4 items of footwear and burned through about 50% of the available budget (I think).

In the past 2 days we've had 2 'near misses' - cars not stopping at zebra crossings when LG was on it; and an item not secured correctly on a vehicle, that swung into our path yesterday 😱  We were stationary in the car, and there was nowhere for us to 'get out of the way'.  How it didn't hit us, I don't know - it passed within millimetres of the car body/top of the wing mirror 😱  So, today, I shall be STAYING AT HOME - on elfin safety grounds - uttering grateful thanks up to whoever, or whatever put their protective cloak around us on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tea last night was the last of the plant based lamb kebabs from MrS.  I cooked them up and then sliced them, and we made wraps with them, lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot, and a garlic, miso, mayo dressing.  The wraps were wholemeal.  LG ate quite well (they'd lost their appetite a bit), and the 'boofay' presentation appealed to them.  That was the last of the PB kebab things - that are probably discontinued now.  I got them for 56p a box of 4.  I've probably mentioned, they were OK for that price, but expensive for £2.25 for what were in effect 4 meat-free 'sausages'.

The dreich weather is crying out for soup for lunch. I have some Hot X buns too.  Not too sure whether to make quorn fricasse type thing for tea.  Or pizza may be an option - although I think I have forgotten to pick up some replacement jars of black olives, so that may be a no.  I'll have to check.

I've no food shopping in mind for today.  So may manage a NSD.

Can't think of anything else particularly MSE.  I won't get a wash on today, but yesterday's things have dried and need to be put away.

Ta for popping in.  Appreciated.  

Greying X

greenbee

Your near misses sound terrifying. Definitely stay at home! I had a near miss several years ago on a zebra crossing in the US (and yes, it was a state where pedestrians have priority, and yes we were on it LONG before the car approached) and was probably saved by my boss dragging me out the way. I hope LG wasn't too shaken by it (I had a couple of large margaritas afterwards, but I don't think that's recommended for children ). 

kayannie

Near misses can really shake you up, but thank goodness you weren't physically injured. 

How do you make your pizza base? I've tried making it in bread maker but can never get it into the right shape or thickness. Mine end up either much too thin or thick!
KA

Greying_Pilgrim

greenbee - the only 'good' thing about yesterday's incident, is that I now see that in my mind, rather than constantly seeing the zebra crossing incident....... 😬  Does 'margaritas as treatment' extend to 'parents of' - asking for a friend....... 🤭

kayannie - I make my pizza dough by hand, but as I have a rectangular tray I make the pizza on (which gives 8 slices), I do roll it out with a rolling pin once it's had it's first rise.  Whether the dough gets a second rise on the tray is usually dependent on how close to the wire I am with getting tea on the table.....  Our house is rarely warm enough for a second rise anyway.  Is that any help?

Greying X