From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

rtandon27

@Greying_Pilgrim - in the old days I always thought - a potato is a potato what's the big deal! - but you have opened my eyes to all the different varieties and their tastes and textures - we ended up with a bag of 'roasting' potatoes the other week, but for some reason OH steamed them and they were the loveliest fluffy texture, which I've come to realize is my favorite way to experience a potato!  We will be looking out for these on sale again.

Greying_Pilgrim

rt - for tea we had veggie sausage 'hot dogs' using the YS'd finger rolls I picked up the other day, and to accompany, I made wedges with all the potatoes in the house - that was, the 2 remaining 'baking potatoes' (Bella Blonde or whatever they were called), and one other random tattie that was in the box, which for sure wasn't the same variety, as the flesh was much 'whiter' in comparison to the bakers 'yellowyness'.  I'm pleased to report that whilst there wasn't much 'quantity', the wedges were chunky, and they cooked beautifully - and although not quite as crispy as say, you'd get in a pub, they looked the part, and were fluffy and tasty on the inside.  I would be delighted if I got these on sale again - they made the best HM wedges we've had in an age.

Greying X

rtandon27

We too had wedges today & used up the remaining roasting potatoes.  TBH I preferred them steamed!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs,

Late appearance by me, but I've been up and out and spending money this morning, so.....

I drove over to a nearby market town - they have a hB and I wanted to see if they had the yoghurt we buy,  thankfully they did (alternatively there is a MrL also, so my back-up plan was to call in there), so I bought 6 pots (it was dated into July), and fingers crossed that will pretty much keep us in yoghurt for June or until our hB gets it's re-stocking policy in order 🙄 along with apples I spent £9.94 on food, and £2.57 on non-food.  I then went into h3r0n f00ds and picked up a couple of jars of Wh0l3 3arth peanut butter for 89p a jar, and some peanut butter, chocolate cookies (the chocolate coating tastes dire 🤮) for 69p.  So £2.47 food spend there.  We then went to track down an artisan maker who had a stall in the town, and I purchased some raw materials from them - not food related tho - so not part of the grocery budget.  

It was interesting, how LG wanted to buy something from the maker too, and it's very difficult to have a conversation in front of a small business owner - to point out to your child that there were many things on offer, so did they really think it was best use of their money to purchase precisely the same item as we bought last time.......  They wouldn't be dissuaded (although I suspect they thought I was going to pick up the bill......).  And yet when we'd left the stall and moved onto a charity shop, they got 'buyers remorse' (sound familiar ed?) and wanted to take the item back and get their money back.  I refused to let them, as there was nothing wrong with the product, and it's not fair to expect small-business owners to refund folk who've simply changed their mind 🙄  I hope a lesson has been learnt there, but somehow, I'm fearing not.  LG also pestered for a carton of milkshake in h3r0n, so they were again reminded that they had their own purse and their own money - fair do's they paid for the carton - and promptly drank it in front of me 🤣  I did share the peanut butter cookies 😉 and there are some left for DH to try too 😁

So I need to update my siggie - £ £12.42 on food and £2.57 on non-food.

Lunch was carrot and sweet potato soup - made using some of the sweet potatoes from the bag that was in the MrL box.  I cut up some of the white YS'd baps to go with.  Tea tonight will be black olive pizza and oven chips.  

Right, away to update siggie figgie.

Ta for popping by.  Greying X

edinburgher

@Greying_Pilgrim - Certainly does!

Luckily DD1 is turning into a bit more of a savvy consumer, a decent blend of her own ideas, her mum's thriftiness and her dad's saviness coupled with occasional impetuosity

May I ask what is so magical about the HB yoghurt (and what type is it)? I just buy the 0% fat Greek or "Greek style" stuff from Lidl, maybe Fage if they have the bucket sized container on offer in Sainsbury's, but that's a twice a year sort of deal.

Greying_Pilgrim

ed - nothing magical about the yoghurt, it's just a brand that hB stock (it is stocked elsewhere inc. MrS) - it's the Lancs. (as in the English county) Farm brand - they just offer it at a better price. 

I did previously buy the MrL greek-style yoghurt, and that's what I would have got yesterday had hB been OOS.  I have always bought the full fat version - when they were smaller, LG didn't really like milk.  They certainly never had a glass of milk as a drink - favouring water.  They vacillated between liking cheese and 'no-likey', but would eat yoghurt, so I used this as a vehicle to know that they were getting some calcium content.  I remember A LOT of blueberries and yoghurt in LG's past 🤣They will at least now drink milkshake - although it's an occasional thing, and I'm not sure any flavourings and colourings don't make this not such a great choice.  Thankfully they've always favoured natural yoghurt.

Despite the forecast being for wall-to-wall rain for us yesterday, it turned out to be a dry day, with occasional bursts of sunshine.  I didn't put some of DH's workwear in to wash until I came back home at lunchtime 🙄But thankfully the tops dried pretty much on the line - there was a decent breeze - and they've finished off on the airer overnight.  I've put the rest on to wash today.

Can't think of anything MSE-related to add at the mo.

Greying X

EssexHebridean

I have never liked milk as a drink either Greying - and indeed as a child didn't really want anything to do with it, it took a good few years before Mum realised that it wasn't cereals I didn't like, but the fact that they were always served with milk (she found me raiding the box and eating cereal dry one one occasion which was the giveaway!). To this day I still eat cereal dry (or with yogurt, on occasion) and only use milk in tea, and in things like porridge. I find there is something very texturally unpleasant about milk, and combined with an aversion to foods that "should be crunchy" but have gone soggy, it's no surprise I always refused cereal with milk!  It's actually only quite recently that I realised that about the texture of the milk itself, though. 

Bluegreen143

I make milkshake for the kids with frozen banana or mango whizzed into milk (you can use 1/2 frozen and fresh fruit, but it’s too thin in texture and not as nice if you use all fresh) - you can do berries too, but you need the banana as well, as the berries are too tart on their own. Peanut butter is also nice for those who like the taste, or adding cocoa powder to the banana type. I freeze browning bananas cut into chunks for this, as my DH doesn’t like banana bread anyway. 

My eldest has never liked milk, though he will have it in cereal/porridge. When he was a baby, he took to weaning really well and naturally cut down breastfeeding quite quickly by himself. I was very concerned that he wouldn’t drink milk from a cup or bottle as I didn’t know any babies who didn’t have milk before bed at the age he dropped it! He’s always been healthy though so I tried not to let it bother me. 

My DD was quite the opposite, had to be forcibly wrestled from the breast as a toddler and then drank copious amounts of milk for years afterwards with all her snacks 🤷‍♀️. 

Greying_Pilgrim

I was never a huge milk lover either EH - a bit embarrassing given we lived on a dairy farm! 🫤 But the thing that really tipped me over the edge with milk was being 'of a certain age' to have to endure 1/3rd pint milk bottles in school.  In the winter the damn bottles were frozen, in the summer they had gone off by 10.30am 🤮  God knows what the source of such yukky stuff was - bl00dy vile.  I can see the nutritional idea behind it, but as everything, it's execution was done on the cheap 🤮 I only have milk in drinks now - and natural yoghurt.  I forced myself in pregnancy to have fruit smoothies based on milk - but I've rarely had anything smoothie-like since 😔

At least I've not spent any money (well, not grocery budget) in the past couple of days.  I did have to go into Greying Town to move money around yesterday and we now have ownership of the - new to us - car.  I went into several charity shops yesterday, but literally nothing caught my eye.  I couldn't be bothered to schlep back into town today to check out the details of the food waste diversion scheme as it was raining first thing - that really drenching mizzle that falls in a curtain and soaks you within minutes.  No fun in walking around in that unless you have to.

Tea in Sunday night was cheesy beans on toast for DH & LG - i wasn't hungry.  We all had yoghurt and fruit for pud.  Tea last night was lentil bolognese and pasta, as we are back into the routine of activity.  Tea tonight was a sort of caponata/ratatouille thing - again with pasta (my bad).  At least I was able to use a waste diversion aubergine, so that was good.  We all had enough and there was some left over sauce for the freezer.  

The focus now really has to shift to saving up enough money to get the (priority) windows changed this year.  Plus I don't think the fencing panels will survive another storm season, so we need to make headway with changing them over, but I'm not looking forward to it - it's not a half-hour 'slot in each one' job by any means.  I think the initial installers must have done it on a Friday....... The incentive is still with us to marshall every penny - trying to still have fun and enjoy life, whilst not frittering money.  Actually, we're quite adept at not frittering - it's just the cost of 'normal' stuff that's causing the issue 😂

I did shuffle bread around today - LG had a couple of the YS'd white baps for snap.  Given that there is enough fruit and fibre in their diet, I don't see this 'one day' of white bread sangers as too detrimental.  It did mean that there is sufficient wholemeal bread left for breakfast and snap prep tomorrow.  

Can't think of anything else MSE to add.  And there's a senior men's England footy match to endure watch 😁

Ta for popping by.  Greying X

rtandon27

We walked past our community centre today and popped in to ask if they had any use for a few things we wanted to get rid of.  They did not want what we had to offer, but did press upon us various white bread options & reduced stickered veg from Land'of'Ice which is located a couple of doors down. We had not gone prepared to schlep home with any grocery goods, so declined but the volunteer looked so sad that we had to promise to stop in next time!  TBH we have lots of assorted salady bits that we are working our way through and do not like to take for the sake of taking!