Away From The Madding Crowd

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness – Bob Hope.

Money saving.

Our monthly budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 4 spend for November was £68.29. Total spend for November was £251.27.  £1.27 over budget, not too bad considering that I took advantage of a H+B offer.   A Linw0od’s product that we have with our breakfasts was reduced by £1.49 per pack, so I bought 3.  These should last us about 3 months.

Interest gained on various savings accounts for November was £172.64.

Our dentist offered to waiver the cost of our latest hygienist appointments if we signed up to their Denplan, resulting in over £160 saved.  Having done some research,  we had already decided to complete the necessary paperwork at our appointment this week, so this was a bonus.  Sadly, we have had no choice but to go private because of the almost none existent NH$ service in the local area.

Spiced red cabbage made for the festive season and frozen.  A red cabbage costing £1.10, together with a few other ingredients (orange, onion, cinnamon, red wine vinegar, etc) made about 14 decent portions.

Took advantage of S@insbury’s buy 6 or more bottles of wine and save 25%, resulting in a saving of £9.32.  We then used a voucher gained via our credit card points (cc is paid in full each month), resulting £7.93 to pay. 

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Creamy mushroom and tuna with whole-wheat spaghetti (from one of my cut-out recipe scrap books). Leftover cream will be served with the crumble tomorrow.

Tuesday –Pork and bean casserole (pork was reduced in price and frozen until required). This is a meal swap from Sunday, when I made a spicy pumpkin soup using homegrown pumpkin that we were kindly gifted.  Casserole will be cooked in the oven along with a homemade pear crumble (pears were reduced in price, but because of an issue with the label at the till, I got them for free). 

Wednesday – Chilli con carne with a small portion of brown rice.  Chilli will be cooked in the slow cooker.

Thursday – Leek and white bean minestrone (from one of my cut-out recipe scrap books) with homemade rye sourdough bread (from the freezer).  Leeks and rosemary are homegrown.  A delicious, wholesome recipe that includes a basil pesto swirl topping.

Friday – David’s Goulash (from one of my cut-out recipe scrap books).  Organic stewing steak was reduced in price and frozen until required. I will cook this in the slow cooker and add more veg than the recipe states.

Saturday – Away overnight.

Sunday – Away overnight.

Breakfasts continue to be mainly oat based.  I did notice that our oats of choice from Ald!'s (K@vanagh's organic porridge oats) have remained at £1.99 for 1kg all year.  This weekend's breakfasts included poached eggs and avocado on homemade sourdough toast (eggs and avocado were reduced in price), and homemade sourdough discard pancakes with 0% fat Greek yogurt, defrosted blueberries and a drizzle of local honey.   Lunches will include lots of leftovers this week.

Healthier lifestyle.

Completed 0 free online workouts.

Completed 5 free meditations.

Step count last week was 54,776.

Simple pleasures.

I am aware that Christmas can be a difficult time for some, and I empathise with those in this situation.   I love Christmas, although those of late have proven challenging for various reasons.  This year, however, feels different, and DH and I are determined to embrace this new found optimism and make the most of the festive season.

A wander around the independent shops in a nearby town with DH.  The greengrocers always have a wonderful of array of beautifully presented produce, most of which is locally sourced and at reasonable prices i.e. large red cabbage for £1.10. The traditional sweet shop felt so nostalgic, and I enjoyed choosing a few stocking fillers.  Whilst tempted, I did not buy the sugar mice and chocolate parasols, but will enjoy the salted liquorice and thick peppermint creams coated in rich dark chocolate.  

DH and I treated ourselves to a gingerbread latte and shared a cinnamon swirl in a lovely café.  It felt very festive with the soothing Christmas music and beautiful decorations.

Yesterday I downloaded 3 x N!gel Sl@ter Christmas programmes  (Food Network 8-10pm) to enjoy at some point over the next few days. 

Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.

uralmaid

I love Nigel Slater. Your description of a wander around sounds very festive too.

jwil

I love your simple pleasures and well done on getting so close to the food budget, that's not easy these days!

Humboldt

@uralmaid, having watched the first of the 3 N!gel Sl@ter programmes, I was surprised at how dated it was.  Perhaps the second one will be better. I love that I now have the time to wander.

@jwil, simple pleasures make my day.  Sticking to a budget for food/groceries seems to require even more effort at the mo, and I am so grateful to have some flexibility.

Today's simple pleasure - we got the Christmas tree and decorations down from the loft.

uralmaid

@Humboldt It's funny but I actually quite like the fact that it's dated.

ShyAndRetiring

Just popped in to return the diary visit @Humboldt … very happy to see simple pleasures also feature   the little things can make such a big difference so I always try to find something simple to smile about.

Loving your motivational quotes and meal plans too. We do meal plan but swap things around a lot, still it helps with the budgeting and it’s great you're doing so well with staying on budget there. 

I have subscribed 😊 and will follow with interest.

Brie

uralmaid said:

@Humboldt It's funny but I actually quite like the fact that it's dated.

I remember coming across some decades old copies of Gourmet magazine.  Some interesting recipes of course but what fascinated me with the "how to be a good dinner host" type comments.  Like how many ash trays you should have on the dinner table so people didn't have to reach over another's diner's plate to get to one....

Humboldt

@uralmaid I watched the second N!gel Sl@ter Christmas programme yesterday,  and it was a little better.  May even try a couple of recipes.

@Brie reading your latest comment reminded me of The Go0d Life.  The Christmas episode of the Go0d Life is something we always watch at some point during the festive season.

Today's simple pleasure - the Christmas tree is now decorated.

bluenose1

Loved your weekly update @Humboldt.
Inspired by you I started watching the Nigel Slater Christmas programmes, have watched 2 episodes and would never know they are dated, not sure what that says about me or my culinary skills
I enjoyed them that much I have now bought his Christmas Chronicles and have found it a lovely read at bedtime. His writing is lovely and very descriptive.

I made 4 Christmas bun loaves yesterday and have frozen three for over the Christmas period. I normally make Nigella mini cranberry mince pies but am not going to bother this year as my lot enjoy the shop bought ones and I really don’t need any more treat temptations.

My simple pleasure today was an invigorating 5 mile walk in the woods with a Bea sunrise, it was meant to be a 3/4 mile walk but after being unable to climb over a fallen tree in our path we had to go a longer route. 

Have been rubbish at doing my meditation lately, need to get back into good habits.
My tree is up and all presents bought or ordered for Christmas so just need to wrap them for under tree.
Off to a Carol Concert next Friday which really looking forward to.

Brie

Reminded again that nothing is more important than friends.  I've got a horrible bit of stuff to get through and a couple of people have popped out and said "let's chat" which is exactly what I need.