From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Bright start with us. Workwear wash on, and will be pegged out just now.

Checked my n*ctar price/points reset. What a larf. There are two premium (and gees, I mean premium) clothes washing products that a) I don't use, b) have never bought those brands at MrS and c) have never bought the particular products from anywhere, let alone MrS - because they would set off hives for our family. What's the betting that if I bought a box of their own brand, non-biological wash powder, they'd put that on discount the very next week, even though I make a box last an age (by other consumers standards) 🙄 Clearly MrS don't bother reading feedback from their customers 🙄 I really wish there was a "I don't buy this, please stop this kind of offer" button on the account - and yes, I have already suggested it.

I'm going to make a curry plate for tea tonight, Not too sure what to use yet, but - and I know I'm blessed - there is plenty of choice. Oh, I did have one "miss" from the green box this morning, but I wasn't surprised. There was a lone avocado in the bottom of the box. It wasn't terribly big and appeared to be 'rock hard' on Wednesday. By today, I knew i had to check it, and on cutting it, it wouldn't "twist" around the stone, but the flesh was coming away from the peel, and I could see that it was all mottled. I don't know what 'issue' it is, but I have had (full priced) avocados like that before, so it got binned ☹️ A pity, but to be fair, it was only one, rather than a punnet or net full.

21st March - isn't it officially spring today? Not meteorological spring, but 'calendar' spring? 🤔

Right, I can't think of anything else particularly MSE spiffy to talk about, so I'll shuffle orf as the clothes pegs are calling my name….

Ta for stopping by. Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good evening MFW'rs

The washing has come in dry, I shall put it on the airer just now.

Lunch was vegetable and borlotti bean soup. I used the stick blender to partially blend the soup, which made it just right. There was enough for 3 bowls and a tiny splodge left over which LG slurped up.

Tea was a curry plate, as slated. I did make the sweet potato, red pepper and mango curry. The sweet potatoes were share table, and the mango & red pepper were green box. It was actually a recipe from the meat-free Monday cookbook (didn't the McCartney's have something to do with that?), but I did use the recipe for jalfrezi seasoning from JaymeeO's…… how too? book. I made lentil dahl and boiled basmati to accompany. LG asked if there was apple in the curry, and when I said 'no, mango' they said, "oh….ok". They finished up their plate and I asked if they liked it, and they said they did. I put the mango in at the end, so there was only residual heat to 'cook' it. But whether the cooking made a difference - LG ate it 😁

There is a small portion of curry left, some dhal and a portion of rice.

A no spend day.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs

Lovely spring day with us. Watery sunshine, and slightly cool (depending on where you are and what you're doing).

We popped out to a little local event this morning. It was organised by, and in support of our farming community 🥰 It wasn't massively well supported, but it was utterly enjoyable. Heb Amaeth Heb Faeth.

We got to see lots of wildlife, and farm animals. We parked some way, away, on the edge of a miniscule market town in a 'free on Sunday's' spot, and walked a good mile or two to the venue - which had limited (free) on-site parking. Had we parked at the 'honeypot' tourist micro-spot betwixt the two, we would have paid a small fortune for parking 😱 But the walk was nice, there was plenty to see & we got our steps in 😁

Our new travel mugs got their inaugural outing. Fab. Kept the coffee hot - even, dare I whisper, too hot. But better that than cold with 20 minutes of filling them! I think it was about 2 hours before we opened them to use - they clearly will keep the liquid hotter for much longer, but in this instance they already beat our previous travel mugs on performance, hands down.

We then walked back towards the miniscule market town and decided to have our picnic lunch in the park. DH and LG went ahead, whilst i returned to the car to get our snap. They got a good bench at a quiet spot and we munched our lunch. DH and I had sufficient coffee left to accompany our lunch 😁The cups are just the right size for this type of outing, and it cut down 'baggage' so much 👍Thrilled with my investment - although I will freely admit that it was a gulp inducing amount of cash to outlay, but I really do think they will pay us back in next to no time.

I had put a load of washing out before we went out, so I'm hopeful that will be dry to come in just now.

I haven't thought of what to have for tea. We had cheese salad sandwiches for lunch, with a cheese and onion sausage roll (YS'd from some time ago), and a slice (possibly the last from the freezer, I think 🤔) of banging banana cake (Hairy bikers recipe).

Greying X

themadvix

Sounds like a lovely day GP, and that the mugs were well worth the investment.

Cheery_Daff

A lovely day out Greying, and I'm so pleased your cups have proved their worth on their first outing!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Again, a lovely morning with us. The cloud is a little thinner, so the sunlight is breaking through a little more - not quite so watery.

A bed linen wash is on. Not too sure if it'll totally dry, there isn't quite enough breeze for brushed cotton. But needs must.

Yesterday's wash has been on the airer overnight, so that can be put away just now.

Tea last night was use-up central. I had a pot of ratatouille that I had made and frozen in the autumn. It was for our Christmas Eve pasta bake - but I made 2 pots and only used (and subsequently discarded 😭) one. So I defrosted it, added the last of the bag of frozen broad beans, a tin of green lentils and half a punnet of HM tommie sauce, and cooked it all up together and then added some Italian seasoning. I also cooked up the remainder of a bag of 'posh' pappardelle that I'd bought yonks and yonks ago because I wanted to try a dish with it, and there were extra points on TTD pasta at MrS. DH isn't a fan of spaghetti/pappardelle/linguine, but bravely soldiered on with his tea. LG loves this sort of 'messy' food, and was getting quite proficient with their winding technique…. which frankly makes a change from honing their winding up technique…… 🫤

I'm sorting and tidying the food cupboard as I go/use things up. I think I have approx £28 of the grocery budget left for March. In theory, it should be doable, but as ever, we run low (quickly) on fresh produce and we all know that that ain't never cheap, and at the mo…….. who knows where prices are going.

I need to look out our annual passes for the 2 museums we've elected to go back to on hols. LG reminded me this morning. I think one is still email based, and you just use the scan code again, and another is paper-based, signed receipt from your previous visit. I'm not a fan of there only being the option for an annual pass price for entry. It's grand if you live nearby and need rainy day entertainment, but an increased cost, none of us need if you live miles away and can only visit once or maybe twice. Still, I ought to be grateful that LG is taking an interest in our holiday, and wanting to get involved in preparations 🥰

Right, I can't think of anything else specifically MSE at the mo, so I shall push orf and peg out the washing.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Gee, tis blowy out. I'll put the second lot of bedding out today, but heck it'll be a five-pegger!

Soup and pud for tea. I'm possibly going to try something a little different and do some smash tacos (Derek Sarno recipe), to accompany the soup, but that may or may not happen.

I can't think of anything else MSE. I did get a NSD yesterday.

Greying X

KajiKita

Good luck with sailing washing today! 😊

I’m intrigued by the smash tacos … 🤔

KK

Greying_Pilgrim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81934940#Comment_81934940

I don't think they're anything necessary special as such - I believe the name comes from the inspiration of 'smash burgers'. As I don't know what they are, I'm none the wiser. But I have lentils, and everything he put in the mix, and I have some small tortillas, so I was thinking I could make them in my fry pan. It's not necessarily a "golden" recipe (and I've not tried it before), it was more a combination of 'oh, I have those ingredients and could do that'. They may be better accompaniments to a side salad.

Smash Tacos Link

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

I wandered into Greying Town to purchase some new "Lingerie" 🤣🤣🤣 for me. Belts, braces and scaffolding secured……. 😉🤭 I got some apples from hB, some 'brown bag' bananas from m&$ and the tv guide. I also wandered past the share table so picked up a couple of veggies. There was a surfeit of white bread products, and the volunteer responded extremely narkily when I politely said that I didn't eat white bread, so had no need, thank you 🙄 They did however, implore me to fill my boots - I didn't - but who wants 'over' limes? I mean mushy and no trace of green left….. 🙄 In this instance, the waste bananas I bought instore at m&$ were better than the food waste offering. At least the volunteer wasn't the "sign tapper" - hopefully they, and their sign, have gone for good.

I've put my purchases - which thankfully fit, as you can't return these sorts of things - in for a quick wash and I'll peg them out just now.

I spent £3.70 of the food budget on fruit and veg (inc waste), so will update my siggie figgie.

Greying X