From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Baileys_Babe

We buy the Stamford Street grated mozzarella (usually when on my/nectar price😉) and freeze it in family size portions if we are not going to use it by the date. It freezes and defrosts beautifully.

Staffordia

Must be the season for mouldy Mozzarella, ours was from Waitflower. Fortunately I spotted it as I was sprinkling on a wrap before anything else was added.

Greying_Pilgrim

Staffordia said:

Must be the season for mouldy Mozzarella, ours was from Waitflower. Fortunately I spotted it as I was sprinkling on a wrap before anything else was added.

Oh no!  I wouldn't have wanted it to happen to anyone else ☹️  How disappointing (to say the least!), but thank goodness your food waste was minimal.  If I use shredded cheese again, I am going to be paying much more attention to the smell, first and foremost, and the contents.  I bought my cheese on the 18th, and it was opened for the first time last night as I prepared to use it. It was BB 20th January 2026, so it shouldn't have been mouldy, unless there's an issue in the factory ☹️

Greying X

Humdinger1

You say we're kind @Greying_Pilgrim; we reflect you! Together we create a corner of the web that's genuine, considered and full of love.  Thanks for your diary which enables us to be who we are.  Happy Christmas to us all love Humdinger xx

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Cold start with us.  I think (hope) we're due some sunshine, but it's probably not going to be a good wash day, so I don't think I'll be pegging out.  In the end, the breeze yesterday didn't seem as strong with us as forecast.  We did have a breeze, and KajiKita was right - it was clearly from the East 🥶 But the workwear dried better than I thought it would, as I didn't put it out for as long as i'd hoped.  When it came in (around 3pm it caught the very last sunshine that is beginning to hit the garden again - not full coverage, but not to be sneezed at, either!), it was pretty dry, but I put it in front of the dehu for a couple of hours, and then it was dry enough to be folded away.  Actually, I also washed some waterproof overtrousers of DH's as well, and they didn't dry fully.  I left them in the garage, so they can be pegged out today - maybe turned inside out so that they dry fully.

Tea in the SC worked. It was just a leek, mushroom and qu0rn bake, using YS'd mushrooms, a leek from a MrL box several months ago, some white wine and a tin of mushroom condensed soup and a bag of qu0rn pieces - along with the usual soffrito and frozen mixed veg.   I used up the last of the 15p sprouts to accompany - which I'm glad I did, as they were BB 26th/12, and had started to look a bit ropey.  I also used up a box of the bulk cooked rice from the freezer - that was a great 'cheat', and preferable to microwave rice; although I have used microwave rice, and will use it again, but prefer the taste of home cooked/frozen rice.  

We all had yoghurt for pud.  I hadn't intended to cook the other Christmas pudding, and didn't have the oven on to make a crumble or whatever.  It isn't like we weren't stuffed. Lunch was soup.  I made Carrot, fennel and lentil soup - which is a Sabrina Ghayour recipe from her book 'Bazzar'.  We all had a cheese and onion roll with it.  

I haven't made the fisherman's rolls for today's fish finger sandwiches.  I might pivot and make pizza instead.  It depends how the day pans out.  And yes, we are blessed to have choices and not go hungry, planning has little to do with it, our cupboards and freezers are full.  

LG is coughing - it's come on over the past day or so.  But it is only a cold. In hindsight, they fell asleep for several hours in the day - a few days ago.  That's usually a tell-tale sign that a virus is on board ☹️  But they are ok in themselves, it is just a common cold/cough.  

Right, my coffee cup is empty.  Off to search out a second cup.  Ta for popping in.  

Greying X

KajiKita

Still got an easterly here and I have my bedding blowing around it (my Christmas Day reward for all the endless cooking was fresh sheets! 👏🤩😊). I am so channelling you! 😊😉

So glad the slow cooker concoction worked out well 😊 I’m with you on the pouch rice - definitely prefer pre-home-cooked and frozen! 

Hope LG’s lurg doesn’t come to much and you have a lovely day 😊

KK

Greying_Pilgrim

Aw, thanks KK.  We're just back in from our walk, and there is definitely more breeze now than when we set off.  But I had wanted to do bedsheets/towels today, but didn't dare, as I didn't think they would dry.  The sun is lovely, and making it seem warmer than it is, but the garden is (currently) in shade, so there is no way sheets would have dried, and drying space for large sheets is limited indoors - even with the dehu.

We had a lovely walk, took some hot chocolate and biscuits.  Swerved away from the park, as it was heaving - found a quite bench and enjoyed our drinks and biscuits.  As we were stepping away from the bench, and literally one step away from the path, I managed to step in some 🐕💩  I was sooooo *****y annoyed!  Irresponsible, lazy dog-owners!  There is a litter bin literally right by the path!  My fault I suppose for choosing a bench that you have to take about 6 steps over grass to get to.  OK in the summer, but not so great in winter.  

Apart from that, we had a lovely time and I'm glad we got outdoors.  Several shops were open (we saw people carrying bags), and several cafes - and we passed several pubs that looked as though they were gearing up for opening, possibly at midday.  We came back along a little lane that I don't think we've ever used.  We saw some snowdrops out 😱 I suppose based on variety (plus these were by a house wall, so possibly a cultivar), that's not so odd, and we did spot some Lenten roses, that I pointed out to DH (who was standing right by them, and was looking all around saying 'where'? 🙄), some of which were still budded, and some which had opened.  I don't know what type, but they were the all green ones?  

I don't know what to do for lunch.  Soup probably, as whilst we're warm after our walk, it's a bit cold.

Greying X

teapot2

Snowdrops coming up in the woods round here too.  Bah to the dog 💩

Greying_Pilgrim

Thanks teapot - I seem to spend most of our walks pointing out p00 to my companions, that it was blessed typical that it was me that misstepped today ☹️

Lunch is munched.  I went for tomato and bell pepper soup in the end, with cheese & crackers 😁  The crackers were the £1 box from bee&eM.  Well worth it!  Certainly as a 'general' selection.  There were lots of biscuits and interesting types.  OK, so no Cornish wafers, but not full of water biscuits or creamcrackers either.  Really glad I took a punt.  We polished off the crackers between us, and there were a  few slices of cheese left, and most of the pot of garlic & herb cream cheese too - I have more crackers.......... 🥰🥰🥰  There is a bit of soup left over.

Gosh, the temperature seems to have dropped rapidly.  The sun is still shining, but it's getting low in the sky now ☹️  I must go and grab those over-trousers in.  

No money spent today, but we've had a nice time together, and we're all stuffed full.  I'm feeling very blessed and grateful.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW's

White over with us - but with frost, not snow.  Very cold last night.  

I've not put a wash on - although I now need to with towels and bed linen.  The breeze is supposed to build up during the day, but it isn't enough, for long enough to get anything dry at this time of year in our garden orientation ☹️ By noon-ish, it will be a useful breeze, but heavy weight fabrics need more than about 3hrs to get to dry-ish.  Naturally (currently) the beebeecee are forecasting light breezes until the next rainstorms - when the wind will pick up to 'useful' levels again ☹️  I foresee a launderette in our future ☹️

I definitely think it will be another 'soup for lunch' day.  

Tea last night was fish finger baps and curly fries.  I used the YS'd white baps from hB that I'd picked up on Tuesday.  I made some faux tartare sauce, and there was tommie sauce for anyone that desired it.  The curly fries were from MrAl, and they remain the least 'spicy' ones I think.  I don't quite understand why products such as wedges, or fries, or skin-on fries have to be doused with chilli in the packet.  Surely there are variety of spices, and if you're mad about chillies, you can add anyone of a number of chilli products to your food - powder, seasonings, sauces......  Anyway, MrAl's are still OK, although LG did say - after they had eaten all their portion up 🙄that the curly fries were 'a bit too spicy for them' 🙄🤔 They had the curliest fries out of the packet (par for the course - curly fries seem to consist of a lot of 'bits' 🙄), and enjoyed uncoiling them (🤔), and eating them with their fingers - which was OK in this instance, as there was a cloth on hand, and not every meal has to be about 'fine dining', does it?  We rarely have these curly fries, so for us, it was a "treat" - but I'm still grateful to MrAL for not ruining their recipe with copious amounts of chilli.  We all had yoghurt for pud. 

Halfway through DH's extended time off.  He's moaning that we are out of apples - that would be because everywhere was out of 'affordable' apples for about a week before Christmas, dear........ 🙄 And was wittering on about going to the shops.  Good luck with that.  Everyone will have the same idea.  We saw a crashed car (thankfully no apparent injuries) on our walk yesterday, as the roads (although actually gritted) were slippy, and today's weather is worse.  Ditto walking on pavements (which won't be gritted), I think I would forsake a bag of apples and stay at home.  If push comes to shove, I could cook up some of the apples in the freezer to make apple puree to top porridge.  

Right, I can't think of anything else at the mo that constitutes active MSEing, or contributing to house 'savings' so I'll shove orf.  My coffee cup is empty, so I'll go in search of a second cup.  

Ta for popping in.  Greying X