From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Banking done, and we have a bit of folding and a bit of shrapnel to sweeten our way next week when DH is home.

I spent 54p on a YS'd aubergine in M&$.  I figured with the gifted courgettes I could make a ratatouillesque type dish - and aubergine will just add to that, whether I use it 'now' or pop it in the freezer for a later date.  I always have grand plans for making a lasagne (or equivalent), for the 24th December, or even the 25th, from 'bountiful' summer produce, but the mix never usually lasts past October...... 😂

I also bought some pesto and a couple of other things in hB, so a total of £4.10 spent across both shops.  Must add to siggie figgie.  

LG thought M&$ was busy (it wasn't - for a Friday), but overall I thought Greying Town was quiet.  Perhaps the visitors hadn't woken up yet and we were there before the masses descended on the cafes and coffee shops.  

I actually managed to accumulate quite alot (for me) of n*ctar points yesterday, so I'm within spitting distance of having £12 to spend.  I'm wondering how to run September's grocery budget.  Do I try to do an 'economy' one, or do I leave it until October?  Trouble is, there is a HT in October, and I tend to find holidays difficult to manage on overly 'tight' budgets 🤔 September has the advantage of only having 30 days, which seems to make a difference.  

Hmm, will have to give it some quick thought 🤔  

I was wondering if we could take our lunch out for a different view (the local roads seem strangely quiet - perhaps everyone went on their travels yesterday 🤔), but LG is 'tatting' and making summat in the garage (so reminds me of me, when I was that age - drove my dad mad using all the tools 😂), so I don't think a pootle out will hold much appeal today - the project is 'all' 😂

Right, siggie figgie and then I've a small wash of extremely filthy workwear (hopeful not so much now) to peg out.  

Greying X

rtandon27

haha - I love that LG is entertaining themselves with the simple pleasures of crafting!  Again, GP, you are bringing up a lovely child!

Greying_Pilgrim

Dearest rt - you are sooooo supportive.  Wot LG has made does actually function (colour me flabbergasted), but put it this way, I dunna think the 2nd Earl Snowdon need worry about his furniture empire being 'out-designed'  nor 'out styled' by a wee kiddo 🤣

Lunch munched here - by request of LG (the pull of the Phillips screw - is strong....... 🤣).

I think I am going to go for pizza and wedges for tea.  I will make the ratatouille mix, but I'm going to make it and freeze it.  If all else fails, it will be a good standby for next week.  I have the 'posh pasta' (pappardelle)  I bought - sorry JO, but it cost the same as the fresh lasagne sheets, and you don't have to fluff around slicing it up - if I want to go down a pasta meal route.  The pasta will keep in the cupboard, as it's dried this time.  

Right, best get shifting again.

Greying X

badmemory

But the current Earl Snowdon got that on a plate.  LG isn't even a teenager yet.  Give it 10 & we will be online bidding for it!

Greying_Pilgrim

badmemory said:

But the current Earl Snowdon got that on a plate.  LG isn't even a teenager yet.  Give it 10 & we will be online bidding for it!

🤣 

Greying X

VintageHistorian

With the Nectar points, do they have a time limit to be used by (we have no close Sainsbury's so I don't have one) or could they be held until November to take advantage of seasonal offers or be used for a few festive treats?

Greying_Pilgrim

VintageHistorian said:

With the Nectar points, do they have a time limit to be used by (we have no close Sainsbury's so I don't have one) or could they be held until November to take advantage of seasonal offers or be used for a few festive treats?

I think that there is possibly an 'ultimate' time limit, although these points have accumulated since..... June?  So I think your point about using them in November is entirely valid.  I wonder?  I wonder if what I bought in November would last until December......... 😂  But certainly something to think of - thank you VintageHistorian 😁

Just watching the rugger - c'mon England!  Bravo Sunderland Stadium and the fan base - superb! 

Greying 🤠

VintageHistorian

Yes any Christmas treat bought before December has to be well hidden in our house 

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep.  Went downstairs and then eventually crept back into bed after 5am and slept in until 8am.  Not feeling great - my stomach is feeling a bit wobbly, but there is no real pain, so I'm not sure if I have a bug, or whether it's meno.  Certainly gut issues are something that I am increasingly experiencing as time marches on, so I'm thinking that hormones are possibly to blame.  There is a 'sort of' pattern to it - albeit not one you can totally pin down. 

Anyhoo.  I ate a banana - we've still 2 box ones left and 3 of the ones I'd bought in MrS last week, prior to dropping on the MrL boxes.  The MrS ones were the least ripe, but they've caught up now.  They look like leopards on the counter top.

DH and LG have gone adventurising.  I knew DH was immediately going to drop into DIY mode the moment his holiday started 🙄 He's roped in LG in his subterfuge, and they've trundled off to a nearby city for a spare part.  I'm not too bothered, as I had nothing concrete planned for today.  LG had mentioned about going to an event tomorrow.  It would cost £35+ for us all to attend, and we did go last year (for the first time).  I'm conscious that it's one of these events that runs with a similar format year on year - which is great, it works, but I think our cash may be better spent seeking out something we haven't done/seen before, and DH wasn't keen to go again, so I've vetoed that idea.  LG was OK about it.  What we are going to do instead is go to a little show that is very informal, based on enthusiasts and is £10 per car admission.  It may be fun, it might be rubbish.  It is an all-day thing, but we can leave after a little while if it's carp, without busting the bank.  The last event we went to at that site was when LG was a toddler, and it was homespun and a little raggy around the edges, but we had a good time, and folks had tried very hard to make an interesting event, so I think it'll be worthwhile - and if it isn't, well, we don't have to bother going again, do we? We'll pack a picnic lunch, and either eat it there, or take it on somewhere else if we leave early.  There are plenty of nice places in that locale. 

Tea last night was black olive, Detroit style pizza and wedges.  Then we had a HM ice cream cone for pud, using the MrL waffle cones and some raspberry ripple icecream.  The waffle cones were slightly smaller than I thought they might be, but having said that, I managed perfectly well to pop a ball of ice cream atop them.  They cost "approximately" (the ice cream serving is difficult to work out 'scoops per tub') 40p each - possibly less.  And although we didn't have a flake (couldn't have stuck it in the ice cream like a Mr Wpy), I don't think it lacked flavour, the MrS ice cream was nice.  

I made a vat of HM tommie sauce.  Some was used on the pizza, plus I had 2.5 tubs of sauce to put in the freezer, and I used the rest to put in with sautéed, onion, celery, garlic, courgette, aubergine and bell peppers, to make a ratatouille style sauce.  This filled 2 large pots that will either make 2 family pasta meals, or one special lasagne.  Everything is now in the freezer, along with 3 pieces of last night's pizza.  

Tea tonight will be from the SC I think.  I've just been watching seemindymom, on YT, and there was a dish she made (she made it on the stovetop with a large lidded fry pan), that I think would work in the SC if you cook it for long enough (the rice has to cook/absorb stock).  For all intents and purposes, it is another rendition of 'dirty rice', so I'm getting to be a bit of a one-trick pony 😔 I think Mindy called it 'rancher surprise', or something similar - her mom used to make it, and it seems like an adaptable recipe.

Today is shaping up to be a nsd.  Much needed.  

I have put a clothes wash on.  chocolate stains on LG's clothes haven't come out 🙄despite pre-treatment and soda crystals in the wash 🙄 Ah well, such is life.  They are certainly less noticeable than they were.  

Ta for popping in.  Appreciated.

Greying X

KajiKita

You do impress me with how you use food up 😊
I don’t eat much of the same food as you (although I’m veggie too) but you have inspired me to buy wholemeal rolls for me, for burgers last night and then use the left over cheese slices from Mr KK’s beef burgers (I had halloumi and field mushroom) as a lunchtime sandwich today with a bit of pickle. I’m also gently steering Mr KK towards using his leftover white burger bun for his sausage butty for his lunch today 😊

Totally agree about the show options, I’m glad LG could go along with it. 

Hope the Rancher Surprise works out well 🤞😊 And we are all ‘one trick ponies’ when it comes to meals and food as there are so many limiting parameters! 😉 Other people’s tastes, allergies, costs, seasonality, availability etc etc. Maybe talk it over with DH and see if he has any suggestions for other options or things you haven’t done for a while, or maybe he could cook once a week? (I never read you mentioning him cooking?) The other thing I find is that towards the end of a season (atm, summer) I find I get very bored of eating what we’ve been eating all season and I’m start looking forward to what we eat in winter, and vice versa at the end of the winter months - could this be part of it?

KK