From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Mmmm, I know I'm biased but that was the right choice for tea. I was trying to remember, which cuisine uses green pepper in it's 'base' for dishes (the equivalent of sofrito or mirepoix), and of course it's Cajun/Latin American. And I have to say, YAY! it is so goooood….. 😁 We had 2 veggie sausages each, and I cut them into 'coins' and put them on top of the lentils. I then deglazed the pan with a splodge of wine, and poured that over the sausages, and then topped it all with a cherry tomato - we had 3 left from last week's green box. It was nice, savoury, filling and reasonably frugal. It also felt a little more "special" than lentil bolognese. The lentils I used were simple green lentils. Would lentilles verte have been better? Well, yes, but it was still a nice dish and I didn't have any lentilles verte, so….. I asked LG whether they liked it, and they said they did - and as they finished their tea first, I count that as a win.

I don't slavishly follow any vloggers. But there is sometimes something that I pick up and use. I've made lentils with vegetables and set sausages on top, many times, so in this instance it was the inspiration - sometimes it's the actual recipe that you use, sometimes it's the ingredients. I watch quite a few US based frugal vloggers. They are often meat-heavy, so not always things I can use - although you can adapt recipes without meat. But I was watching a vlog today, and the SC dish was chicken based, and the vlogger also decluttered a cupboard. Not really my collective cup of tea, BUT she mentioned something that made me think. As you are aware, the US is far more advanced than us on cable TV, subscriptions, and streaming etc etc. But she mentioned that increased 'administration' also came with the changing methods of accessing content - apps required etc - to the point where she was looking to see what DVDs they had, and which ones they may acquire in future to be able to keep watching films. I know I'm a luddite, and I'm old-fashioned, I acknowledge that. But there was a grain of…. 'analogue' dependability, in what she was saying. Every company, thinks that their app is vital to you accessing their service or goods. Which is fine, but how full are our devices going to be? I'm doubtless in a minority, but I think about these things, and don't want to get to the point where I have to choose whether to delete my banking app, over my health service app, over my tax/pension app, just because my device is full…….

Isn't Gus doing well in the half-pipe - YAY! Where will the Princess Royal be tomorrow? Watching the Curling or the rugger? Mind, I suppose William could be in Cardiff, couldn't he? I hope our athletes are supported, where ever they are 👍

Greying X

in_need_of_direction

and the more apps on phones, the shorter the intervals between charging. Not very green at all

themadvix

There’s also the privacy issues - all the data being given to (mostly US, owned by far-right billionaire) companies, plus the risk of hacking plus the reliance on having internet access for all of it. I’ve never been a ‘prepper’ but in this increasingly unstable world, there’s definitely an argument for analogue as being resilience.

Am I being stupid? What’s the difference between green lentils and lentilles vertes apart from the language used? Dinner sounded delicious btw!

Greying_Pilgrim

Oh tmv - I meant I used the larger green lentils (brown lentils are a similar size), I class the lentilles vertes (which can be grown in any country), alongside the Puy Lentils (specifically grown in France) which are a smaller lentil - and often (not that it matters when cooked) are a darker green. I think Beluga lentils - whilst black - are a similar size to Puy and lentilles vertes. I used the 'bigger' green lentils that you're more likely to find in the World foods section of the supermarket, rather than the beans and pulses section. It didn't affect the taste, nor cooking - smaller lentils would just have been a bit more dainty is all. If Nigella or Nigel were doing Saucisson et lentilles, they would be more likely to use the dainty small lentils.

My lentil mix was jam packed with veg, so it was a low cost meal to make - using the smaller lentils would have bumped the cost up. Am I being dense, or are green and brown lentils just red lentils, "with their jackets on", whereas Puy and LV are a slightly different thing? Aren't green and brown lentils, and red lentils essentially the same thing, but in a different form? A bit like chickpeas and their 'de-jacketed' counterpart channa dhal?

I would welcome correction if I've written anything that is inaccurate - that is just my understanding about the different types of lentils.

Greying X

themadvix

Ooh, I am definitely no expert, as you can tell! I don’t think I’ve come across lentilles vertes then - although I’m familiar with puy. Thanks for theexplanation!

rtandon27

…sneaks on to say OH just reminded me why we don'don't have lentils in the house…

"You pudding - we don't have those in the house because you have a legume allergy - this is why you have anti-histamines at the ready"

…oops…

I now formally withdraw myself from all talk of lentils 🤣🤣🤣

greenbee

Where do coral lentils fit in GQ? Clearly we need to set up a lentil research project… ETA - just looked this up, and it looks like these are whole red lentils…

Green and brown are apparently different but can be used interchangeably.

Greying_Pilgrim

Oh gosh, greenbee I haven't heard of those. I just had a look in my Rose Elliot book, and she only lists 2 lentil types - one that she terms 'continental' lentils, which I think may be the green (larger) lentils, and red lentils. How we've moved on since the 1980's! 🤣

rt - heavens, that's serious! No wonder you don't have them in the house. Do you have a peanut allergy too? I'm thinking (possibly wrongly) that they are the same family?

Thank you everyone for your thoughts about apps. I know I'm a luddite, but my feelings aren't actually derived from that as such. It's more based on logic. If all services move to app-based, then you'll need so many apps, just for the living 'basics', never mind the nice to haves. Perhaps it's just a case of ordering the relevant app onto the relevant gadget - but I hadn't even considered the energy drain, thank you inod.

So we're at Saturday. It's been a good week, although yesterday was a bit of a let down, as we didn't do much because of the weather. I thought LG might have appreciated a 'down' day, as we had done quite a bit of going 'out and about', but no…… Still, that's my preference over having to drag a kiddo away from a screen of any type. And I know this time won't last for ever 😢so I'm trying to enjoy it all - even the grumpy "do we have to" ness.

I've got a workwear wash on. I'm not too sure if I'll get it dry naturally (or part way would help), but I shall peg it out just now, as we've a breeze at least. Rain is forecast, but fingers crossed it appears later than the beebeecee anticipate. I still need to sew a button back on.

I'm contemplating doing soup for lunch - something 'thinnish' not a rib-sticking potage, I don't think. Tea is currently a mystery - the Wales v Scotland match is the teatime gig today, and I would like to see it, so don't necessarily want to be stuck in the kitchen whilst it's on. Need to get my frugal thinking cap on. Oh, I forgot to say that one of the oranges I got yesterday was a blood orange. Naturally I made the mistake of telling LG that, and they wouldn't touch it with a bargepole 🙄 but gosh it was lovely and sweet. I did at least show LG the orange, so they could see the colour difference. There was the slightest blush on the outside skin, it wasn't really red-skinned like they can sometimes be.

I can't think of anything else on a money-saving/frugality vein at the mo. Ta for popping by. Greying X

Blackcats

I have enjoyed some blood oranges over the last couple of weeks too - so sweet and juicy. When I was a child my older brothers told me they had real blood in them and I was very much like LG and wouldn't try them. Mind you they also told me that the main ingredients of horseradish sauce were horses and radishes so that was also a definite no-no for a very long time!

edinburgher

I just thought lentilles vertes was a joke, like we talk about "Chab-liss" as a posh white wine 😆