From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Right, so a scan is on the cards, but it wasn't slated to happen today 🙄 The Dr wants to go down different testing routes, but apparently a scan will be in the mix. So, we wait 🙄

Tea was sausage casserole, using one punnet of the qu0rn cocktail sausages from h3r0n foods (added at the end to heat through with the beans), some of the veg from today - onions, parsnips, swede etc, a couple of the red peppers from last week's green box and a tin of plum tomatoes (squidged) and a tin of borlotti beans. Cooked up then slightly blitzed (but my stick blender died mid-process 😭) and then some brew-woof seasoning and some parsley added. Served up with steamed rice.

It's my fault the stick blender died, I was only thinking the other day that it had lasted well……… 🙄 Which must have put the kibosh on it ☹️ I will have to replace it, it's one of my 'must haves' in the kitchen now. To be fair, I don't recall it being massively expensive, it was a MrA one, and I hate to think how many soups, stews and sauces it's blitzed for me 🥰

There was a splodge of rice left over, and a portion of casserole - they've gone in the freezer. Pud was yoghurt, easy peelers and sliced banana.

LG has just been watching 'Cheaper by the dozen' - the Steve Martin re-make one. It was very funny, but I think it left LG a little wistful at being an 'only'. Shame, I may well have had my own football team if I'd have been younger, and enjoyed such easy, pleasant pregnancies as I did with LG.

I can't think of anything else MSE that I've achieved today. Ta for popping by.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Washing load (general clothes) are pegged out.

Shopping done. Went to Al's, Lil's and Sains. Total spend was £28.75, but that hasn't been the only grocery spend this week, so not as 'cheap' as it looks. I have updated my siggie figgie. I'm out of kilter with spends versus weeks if I want to keep to my budget 😬 Here's hoping the one offs of Easter eggs and Easter veg will not knock the whole month out of kilter.

We're off to the cinema with a chum just now. Sweets purchased and decanted into a 'pick 'n' mix style bag. I was considering taking my travel mug, but have cracked early and have already had my 2nd coffee, so I won't bother.

I've made a challenge to myself to not buy 'oven chips' until I've used up all the easter tatties. I'm delighted that the supermarkets had different varieties on offer, so there's no excuse for not having baked tatties, wedges or roasties. I've bought some of the onions, because we use loads of onions, and they are relatively easy to store. I've not gone mad with carrots or parsnips, as although we love them, I don't have easy storage for them. But I appreciate getting a week's worth at a good price.

I did look on the A$da site at stick blenders, and they still listed the one I had, on offer at £11, but of course, they are OOS in any store within a 30 mile radius…….

Right, best go and get a comb run through my hair and get going.

Greying X

Jellytotts

I’m going to have a blanching afternoon for the parsnips, the carrots I’ll do as a mix of batons/sliced and diced and freeze in bags.

KajiKita

My go to for cheap small electrical appliances is usually @rgos. Got one of those nearby?

KK

Greying_Pilgrim

Yes KajiKita, but I had a look at their offerings, and didn't see anything that appealed. I didn't realise that the branded stick blenders had got so dear 😱 Not that I need one, but I would prefer a metal one to a plastic one.

I had planned to call into a$da on the way back from the cinema, but I totally forgot - DOH!

Jellytotts - I haven't got a super-duper amount of room left in the freezer, so I'm prioritising ready meals over ingredients, but have run out of va-va-voom to do a big cook up. My bad.

Greying X

Jellytotts

I’d had a freezer tidy in readiness of the veg so have managed to wangle some room. I’ve made a big vat of curried parsnip soup that will do for lunches for the next few days, filled the oven with mixed veg roasted off with garlic and then chopped/blanched what won’t get used this week. The only things left are the onions which I’m hoping to slice and do a big batch of caramelised buttery onions for a risotto, a soup and any left can get squeezed into the corner of the freezer (I hope)

Spent a whole £1.22 but it will have provided a lot of meals for us.

Hope the cinema was fun!

Jellytotts

saw this in my Mr L app just now - might be of use? My stick blender came from there about 12 years ago (just used it for soup and marvelled that it’s still going)

Greying_Pilgrim

I think I had better hand back my MSE medal. We've just been on a journey out to A$da - and yes, we were in the vicinity about an hour ago 😬 But I do need to replace the blitzer, and we thought of several other things we could look out for.

As it happens, the 'own brand' blitzer that they had in stock, looked very similar to the one I had - and although online my 'old' one was showing as £11, this one was on rollback from £19 to £13. So I picked up one of those. Then we had a look at the clothes and pumps. George always fitted small for LG - but over the years we have had some clothing for LG from there, but I think their forte is for baby/toddler clothing. So the search for pumps continues. Then we went to have a look at the juices and squashes. We were marvelling that a apple & blackcurrant squash that we'd seen in hB yesterday was nearly double the price in MrA, as £1.84. But then I noticed the SEL said "2 for £2", so we got an apple & blackcurrant and an orage squash. We went to the staffed till, as the blender had a security tag on it. A very kind customer let us go in front of them, and then of course the juice rang up at silly prices……. so a CSA had to be called, and they couldn't find the offer, but then they did - and we were right, 2 for £2 - so the till operative overroad the mistake, and I noticed that the blender had gone through at the online price of £11. So for £13, we've enough squash for spring and a new stick blender 😁Isn't it always the case though that when someone lets you in, there is an issue? But it was worth sticking to our guns, we wouldn't have paid £2.50 more for squash - we would just have gone back to hB.

So I've my food and non-food figgies to amend again. I did drive very steadily, in an economical fashion, but there's no doubt, I should have remembered to call in earlier this afternoon. But the new blitzer appears to work, it's the same wattage as the previous one, although there is notably more plastic on this one ☹️ Progress………

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Sorry Jellytotts - I've just noticed your post. That is a good price - I was toying whether to go for one of the sets - but in the end I've plumped for a 'stand alone' corded stick blender, with a 600w motor. I paid £11 but I'm happy with that, as I don't think there was much difference in price from the last one I bought. Having said that, it has not lasted 12 years!

I wouldn't be without a stick blender now, but I remember when my cousin first got married, over 40 years ago, our family wedding present was a stick blender - I seem to remember it was Braun, all white and all plastic. That was on their list. And I remember feeling grumpy that we'd bought one as a present - and I'm sure it was something like £20 (a lot of money 40 years ago) - but mum wouldn't spend so much money on a kitchen gadget for herself 🙄She always claimed she had her Kenw00d stand mixer with liquidiser attachment (a wedding present), and would use that for soups - but of course it was too heavy and faffy to pull out just for soup. After 'reasonable' knives, a stick blender was the first thing i bought for the kitchen when I was setting up 'home'. My mum did subsequently buy a stick blender, but it got no where near as much use as I had for the ones I've bought. I'm probably on my….. 4th? now. The first one definitely lasted the longest, but was all plastic, so discoloured from immersion in tomatoes and curries 😁

Growing up, most of our meals were 'from scratch' although very 'meat & veg' heavy too, mum wasn't terribly adventurous. But some gadgets would have made her life so much easier - she wouldn't entertain a microwave, even later in life, when we'd all left home.

Greying X

Watty1

On about my 7th stick blender I think - maybe more - but only the first and this current one cost anything - the others all died before the curry's warranty and so were replaced f.o.c. (top tip keep the guarantee!)