Away From The Madding Crowd

ShyAndRetiring

Humboldt said:

Hello and welcome.

This week’s motivational quote.

To multiply your joy, count your blessings – JB Priestley.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 4 spend for July was £55.53.  Total spend to date for July is £243.86. July will have 5 weeks, so I will be overbudget this month. I am ok with that; we have had family visiting and wanted to make the most of our time together.  I am grateful that I can draw upon extra funds and empathise with those who do not have the choice.  

Fully utilised the 2-hour free electric via our energy provider.

I was gifted more surplus vegetables from a friend’s allotment.

DH and I visited a local museum with family.  We only had to pay for a family ticket because we bought our annual passes earlier in the year for only £10.50 each.

Late in the afternoon, after a day out, we called into a local café that was offering a cuppa along with a freshly baked fruit scone, jam, and clotted cream for only £6.50.  The vintage crockery, loose leaf tea and lovely surroundings, added a sense of occasion for what I thought was a very reasonable price.

We took picnics on some of days out with family this week, reducing costs tremendously.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Spiced bean stew (H@iry Dieters’ recipe).  The courgette was gifted by a friend. I will use Greek yogurt rather than buying crème fraiche.

Tuesday – Stuffed marrow (I am just going to use a mince bolognaise type mix and top with sourdough breadcrumbs and grated cheese), served with an orange and almond couscous salad (He@rt UK recipe).  To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake a wholemeal sourdough.

Wednesday – Ping meal (as above) – cook once, eat twice (saves on time and energy costs).

Thursday – A version of summer minestrone soup (The Gu@rdian recipe), with a hunk of homemade sourdough. The chicken stock is homemade and from the freezer.  I will use whatever vegetables I have, and swap the borlotti beans for cannellini beans (because that is what I have). Rather than add risotto rice, I will use whole-wheat spaghetti broken into small lengths. Courgettes were gifted by a friend. 

Friday – Chicken Provençal (H@iry Dieter’s recipe).  Still using those gifted vegetables, including more courgette. I will reduce the liquid content and cook this in the slow cooker.

Saturday – Salmon with chilli ginger sauce (H@iry Dieter’s recipe), with noodles and vegetable stir-fry. Salmon was reduced in price and frozen until required.  I will cook the salmon in the air fryer. I will add homegrown mangetout and more gifted courgettes to the stir-fry.

Sunday – Chicken Korma (H@iry Dieter’s recipe) and rice – DH is cooking and it's officially a none courgette day!

Healthier lifestyle.

Last weeks step count was 46,438.

Completed 3 free meditations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

My immediate family do not live close to me, so it is extra special when they visit.  We have done so much this week and it has been an absolute joy.

A delicious meal out with family.

A trip to the seaside, which included ice creams, paddling in the sea, building sandcastles and chips.  Perfect.

The male folk enjoying time together at a local charity beer festival.

Numerous sets of bedding and towels have been washed and dried outside on the line.

The last of the family left after lunch today. The house is back to normal and we have time  to reflect on the happy memories made during their stay.  

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

Hi @Humboldt just had a quick catch up with your diary, lovely to hear your news and especially to hear you’ve had such a good time with your visitors. 🙂

We’re currently working our way through the offerings of our two very prolific courgette plants, and our favorite is courgette risotto (made with home-grown garlic).  This is proving to be a weekly staple although I think I can feel a trial of @QrizB’s Dahl coming on as we love our lentils too!

Also seriously impressed with, and taking inspiration from, your food budget successes. I can never get ours stable as OH likes to pop to the nearby supermarket (the only one around for miles) and even if it’s just to pick up milk he’ll spend a tenner or so. He likes to pop along every day as the SM is also a hub for saying hello to neighbours, but it really adds up in a budget-busting way!  When he was off his feet recently we had lots of NSDs as a result! I’m glad he’s back to his shop pops but need to work out how to keep the grocery spending on a more even keel. 

Your numbers are a great help, thanks for sharing, S&R x 😀

Humboldt

QrizB said:

Humboldt said:

QrizB said:

We have a recipe we know as "courgette thing" for a savoury courgette dish, pan-cooked with lentils and curry spices.

I don't have access to the recipe right now but it's popular in our household!

Hello and welcome @QrizB, thank you for taking the time to comment.  I'm intrigued by your recipe, will have to see if I can find something similar.

There are quite a few recipes for courgette dhal that turn up if you Google them. Ive not found one that looks quite like the one I remember, but that's the sort of thing that "courgette thing" is.

The picture here looks about right, although I think ours contains onion but not ginger:

https://fussfreeflavours.com/courgette-and-red-lentil-daal/

Morning @QuizB thanks lots for taking the time to provide a link to the courgette and red lentil daal recipe.  Another delicious recipe to help us make the most of this seasonal nutritious, inexpensive vegetable. 

Today's simple pleasure - I will be making a zesty courgette and lemon drizzle cake (Go0d H0usekeeping recipe) as prompted by @Savvy_Sue.

Humboldt

ShyAndRetiring said:

Humboldt said:

Hello and welcome.

This week’s motivational quote.

To multiply your joy, count your blessings – JB Priestley.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 4 spend for July was £55.53.  Total spend to date for July is £243.86. July will have 5 weeks, so I will be overbudget this month. I am ok with that; we have had family visiting and wanted to make the most of our time together.  I am grateful that I can draw upon extra funds and empathise with those who do not have the choice.  

Fully utilised the 2-hour free electric via our energy provider.

I was gifted more surplus vegetables from a friend’s allotment.

DH and I visited a local museum with family.  We only had to pay for a family ticket because we bought our annual passes earlier in the year for only £10.50 each.

Late in the afternoon, after a day out, we called into a local café that was offering a cuppa along with a freshly baked fruit scone, jam, and clotted cream for only £6.50.  The vintage crockery, loose leaf tea and lovely surroundings, added a sense of occasion for what I thought was a very reasonable price.

We took picnics on some of days out with family this week, reducing costs tremendously.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Spiced bean stew (H@iry Dieters’ recipe).  The courgette was gifted by a friend. I will use Greek yogurt rather than buying crème fraiche.

Tuesday – Stuffed marrow (I am just going to use a mince bolognaise type mix and top with sourdough breadcrumbs and grated cheese), served with an orange and almond couscous salad (He@rt UK recipe).  To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake a wholemeal sourdough.

Wednesday – Ping meal (as above) – cook once, eat twice (saves on time and energy costs).

Thursday – A version of summer minestrone soup (The Gu@rdian recipe), with a hunk of homemade sourdough. The chicken stock is homemade and from the freezer.  I will use whatever vegetables I have, and swap the borlotti beans for cannellini beans (because that is what I have). Rather than add risotto rice, I will use whole-wheat spaghetti broken into small lengths. Courgettes were gifted by a friend. 

Friday – Chicken Provençal (H@iry Dieter’s recipe).  Still using those gifted vegetables, including more courgette. I will reduce the liquid content and cook this in the slow cooker.

Saturday – Salmon with chilli ginger sauce (H@iry Dieter’s recipe), with noodles and vegetable stir-fry. Salmon was reduced in price and frozen until required.  I will cook the salmon in the air fryer. I will add homegrown mangetout and more gifted courgettes to the stir-fry.

Sunday – Chicken Korma (H@iry Dieter’s recipe) and rice – DH is cooking and it's officially a none courgette day!

Healthier lifestyle.

Last weeks step count was 46,438.

Completed 3 free meditations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

My immediate family do not live close to me, so it is extra special when they visit.  We have done so much this week and it has been an absolute joy.

A delicious meal out with family.

A trip to the seaside, which included ice creams, paddling in the sea, building sandcastles and chips.  Perfect.

The male folk enjoying time together at a local charity beer festival.

Numerous sets of bedding and towels have been washed and dried outside on the line.

The last of the family left after lunch today. The house is back to normal and we have time  to reflect on the happy memories made during their stay.  

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

Hi @Humboldt just had a quick catch up with your diary, lovely to hear your news and especially to hear you’ve had such a good time with your visitors. 🙂

We’re currently working our way through the offerings of our two very prolific courgette plants, and our favorite is courgette risotto (made with home-grown garlic).  This is proving to be a weekly staple although I think I can feel a trial of @QrizB’s Dahl coming on as we love our lentils too!

Also seriously impressed with, and taking inspiration from, your food budget successes. I can never get ours stable as OH likes to pop to the nearby supermarket (the only one around for miles) and even if it’s just to pick up milk he’ll spend a tenner or so. He likes to pop along every day as the SM is also a hub for saying hello to neighbours, but it really adds up in a budget-busting way!  When he was off his feet recently we had lots of NSDs as a result! I’m glad he’s back to his shop pops but need to work out how to keep the grocery spending on a more even keel. 

Your numbers are a great help, thanks for sharing, S&R x 😀

Morning @ShyAndRetiring risotto is so versatile, I love that I can add any vegetables to it whatever the season.  I find that eating seasonally really helps to reduce my food bill.  Perhaps set your OH a challenge to find reduced items that you need/use, whilst buying one small item i.e. milk. It's taken a long time, but like me, my DH is now quite pleased if he finds a 'yellow sticker item'. The term 'shop pops' made me smile.  Great to have you back x

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim – Tyler Knott Gregson.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 5 spend for July was £72.12. Total spend for July was £315.98. Given that I accounted for 5 weeks in July, together with the amount of family that visited us, I am ok with a £65.98 overspend. Our self imposed £250 budget enables us to save more money towards days out, treats, holiday’s, etc, so this overspend will just result in less money being added to the various pots this month.   I am grateful to be in this privileged position and empathise with those who do not have this choice.

Fully utilised the 2-hour free electric via our energy provider.  I am also participating in ‘power-moves’ which enables us to potentially earn extra credit by using energy out of peak hours, or lessening our energy during peak hours.

Monthly interest gained via various savings account for July was £74.06.

August’s premium bond win was £25 (2025 total to date is £450).

Using homegrown produce, together with allotment surplus kindly gifted by friends, has provided us with nutritious food costing little, or nothing this month.

This week’s main menu - I have had to make some changes to this week's menu which are shown below.

Monday – Summer minestrone soup (an adaptation of a Gu@rdian recipe), with a hunk of homemade sourdough.  This is a meal swap from last week when I moved our meal plan around so we could enjoy our first homegrown potatoes with fish/parsley sauce, carrots, and peas. The cod was reduced in price and frozen until required. The courgettes were gifted, the potatoes/parsley are homegrown, and the homemade chicken stock is from the freezer. I will cook this in the slow cooker.

Tuesday – Beetroot burger in a warm wholemeal pitta, homemade slaw, and a large dressed salad.   Beetroot burgers are homemade and from the freezer.  Burgers to be cooked in my new air fryer.

Wednesday – Steak, mushroom and stilton pie, homegrown new potatoes and mint, carrots, peas, and gravy.  The puff pastry was reduced in price and frozen until required. To fully utilise the oven, I will bake an orange flavoured semolina cake (M+S recipe).  The semolina needs using up and I have a spare orange.  The drizzle includes cinnamon which creates a Moroccan type vibe.

Edited - Chicken and vegetable stir fry with noodles. 

Thursday – Ping meal (as above) – cook once, eat twice (saves on time and energy costs).

Edited - Creamy salmon, courgette and lemon pasta.  I noticed that Ald! are now selling Esenti@l E@ting salmon pieces (responsibly sourced).  I was impressed to get 3 good sized fillets (not pieces) for only £2.85.  I used leftover cream. 

Friday – Salmon with chilli ginger sauce (H@iry D!eter’s recipe), with vegetable stir-fry and whole-wheat noodles.  The salmon and red chillies were reduced in price and frozen until required. We had this last week and having cooked the salmon in the air fryer, I was impressed with the results. Pudding will be  a slice of the homemade spiced orange semolina cake, with a dollop of the cheats mango ice cream (J@mie Ol!ver recipe) leftover from last week. Feeding family today.

Edited - Macaroni cheese with sausages. Sausages were reduced in price.  To fully utilise the oven, I will cook the spiced orange semolina cake as detailed above.

Saturday – Meal out with family.

Sunday – Edited slightly - BBQ. Spiced spatchcock chicken, vegetable kebabs and homemade slaw. Peaches with crumbled amoretto biscuits and a drizzle of maple syrup will be wrapped in foil and cooked on the BBQ for pudding, and a dollop of 0% fat Greek yogurt.  Feeding family today.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 42,237.

Completed 5 free meditations last week.

Completed 2 yoga type online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

A lovely couple of hours spent tidying the garden.  The dry weather has taken its toll; I have cut back the spent flowers, most of which would have lasted much longer had it not been for the weather conditions.  Fingers crossed that they will have a second flush of growth.  

All but one of my cucumber plants were snaffled, so I have replaced them with French bean seeds.   I am ever the optimist.

I dug up some of our homegrown potatoes and they are delicious.  Lots more to harvest, so I think that these are my gardening success of the season.

Last week I spent a slow, quiet afternoon preparing the evening meal and baking a zesty lemon drizzle and courgette cake (G0od H0usekeeping recipe).  I would highly recommend this recipe. Baked in a 2lb loaf tin, it yielded 10 generous slices, so more yummyness frozen for another day.

DH and I have been watching Mich@el M0sley’s Secrets of the Super@gers.  We have found it to be very interesting and informative.  That said, we will not be taking up karate or skydiving any time soon 😂.

A cuppa and natter with friends.  Always good for the soul.

Looking forward to more family visiting this week.

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

mark55man

Lovely update H thank you

My favorite swimming quote is a business one  "Its only when the tide goes out that you discover who has been swimming without shorts" meaning its easy to do well when everyone is, but you find out who has been faking it when conditions worsen

Humboldt

mark55man said:

Lovely update H thank you

My favorite swimming quote is a business one  "Its only when the tide goes out that you discover who has been swimming without shorts" meaning its easy to do well when everyone is, but you find out who has been faking it when conditions worsen

Hi @mark55man thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.  Great quote.

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Gardening is cheaper than therapy – and you get tomatoes – Unknown.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 1 spend for August was £83.03.

DH and I have booked an overnight Sunday DBB hotel offer to celebrate another special occasion. The accommodation is in a stunning location and we will have a choice of several scenic walks direct from the hotel itself. These Sunday offers are fantastic value for money and help the hospitality business fill rooms at the end of the week.

Took advantage of a members benefit from our private health provider (Benend£n) - £38 worth of lovely Gruum toiletries for free, just had to pay (£4.95) postage.  These items will make a lovely birthday or Christmas gift for someone.

Fully utilised the 2-hour free electric via our energy provider.

Made £18 via my crafting.  Monies added to the Christmas/Birthday account.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Frying steak, onions, and stilton in warm ciabatta, with a side salad. The stilton is left over from last week because of a meal change.

Tuesday – Coconut prawn curry (H@iry D!eter's recipe) with a small portion of brown rice.  I will replace the spinach with rainbow chard which was gifted to me by a friend. Coconut milk is from the freezer (this recipe uses half a tin of coconut milk, so I freeze the remainder).  

Wednesday – Veggie spaghetti Bolognese (P0N recipe).  I will adapt this recipe and use a tin of green lentils (55p), courgette, carrot, and a pepper.  Courgette was kindly gifted by a  friend.

Thursday – Meal out with family.

Friday – Honey, lemon, and garlic chicken (from one of my recipe scrap books).  Potatoes and rosemary are homegrown. To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a wholemeal sourdough loaf.

Saturday - Quesadilla (P0N recipe), barbecue sweet potato wedges (P0N recipe), and a salad.

Sunday – Butter bean and sweet potato tikka masala (P0N recipe), with naan bread.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 40,983.

Completed 4 free meditations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week. 

Simple pleasures.

The love in the mist seeds that I sowed, are now in flower.  I am hoping that they will self-seed and we can enjoy them for years to come.

DH and I took a family member to a traditional village fair.  So nice to see these events still being supported by their community and visitors. We enjoyed viewing the handmade crafts and homegrown produce in the display tents, before having tea and homemade cake in the village hall.

A trip to a local country estate with our visitor.  A couple of times a year the estate gardens are open to the public to raise funds for local charities. I very much enjoyed wandering around the abundant kitchen gardens, walking through the lovely old greenhouses which were heavy with the scent of ripe fruits, and appreciating the vast array of flowers grown for displays in ‘the big house.’ DH bought a strip of tombola tickets for £1 and won 3 prizes!

Bedding and towels washed and drying outside on the line ready for our next batch of visitors arriving this week.

Books read 12/25 – Nigel. My family and other dogs by M0nty D0n (loaned to me by a friend). 

In this heart-warming memoir, M0nty D0n tells Nigel’s story (and all the dogs that came before him) and explores that special place dogs occupy in our lives and the love we have for them.

I read this book in the few days that I had between family visiting.  I found to be funny, informative, and very moving.

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

jwil

We like going to village fetes too.

Enjoy your little break!

Humboldt

jwil said:

We like going to village fetes too.

Enjoy your little break!

Thanks for taking the time to comment @jwil. The village fete had such a nostalgic feel to it.  Splat the rat, coconut shy, WI jam stall, best Victoria sponge and funniest vegetable competition, etc.  A really lovely afternoon out. 

DH and I are so looking forward to our overnight stay, especially having entertained lots of family over the past few weeks.  It's amazing how much longer two days away can feel. 

Today's simple pleasure (not actually today, but when family visited this week) - sipping champagne under the stars in our candle lit garden. 

Our visitors kindly brought champagne which they had bought from Ald! when on offer over the festive period, and very nice it was too.  Tealights in jam jars dotted around the garden added a lovely atmosphere.

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days – Henry David Thoreau.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250. Week 2 spend for August was £70.15. Total spend to date for August is £156.18.

Fully utilised the 2-hour free electric via our energy provider.

S@insbury’s have recently amended their policy regarding personalised Nect@r prices and you no longer have to self-scan to gain these.  It is a bit of a faff, because like your extra points offers, you also need to unlock these personalised Nect@r price offers. Is it just me, or are these things becoming really convoluted?

I made a batch of courgette and potato soup (G0od Fo0d recipe) for minimal cost.  I used gifted courgette and potatoes from the garden.  I added leftover stilton, used 1 onion and 2 vegetable stock cubes - 4 delicious lunches now in the freezer.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Butter bean and sweet potato tikka masala (P0N recipe), with naan bread.  Spinach was reduced in price, blanched and frozen until required.

This was a meal swap from Sunday when we had breaded haddock, peas, sweetcorn, homemade tartar sauce and new potatoes.  Haddock was reduced in price and frozen until required.  Potatoes are homegrown and the sweetcorn is left over from the quesadilla that I made on Saturday (I swapped yellow pepper for sweetcorn).

Tuesday – Salmon with chilli ginger sauce (H@iry Dieter’s recipe), with stir fry vegetables and whole-wheat noodles.  Salmon and chillies were reduced in price and frozen until required.  I will cook the salmon in the air fryer.

Wednesday – Spanish-style chicken bake (H@iry D!eter’s recipe).  I will use the remainder of the chorizo in tomorrow’s recipe. Potatoes will be from the garden.  I will add more vegetables to the meal by reducing the number of potatoes and including carrots and sweet potato that need using up.  I will fully utilise the oven, by baking a zesty lemon and courgette cake (G0od H0usekeeping recipe).  A slice of which will be enjoyed with a cuppa and the remainder frozen.

Thursday – Summer paella (from one of my recipe scrap books).  I will use half a bag of frozen seafood paella mix (Ald! £2.99), the remainder will be used in a future recipe. I will swap the chicken breast for a couple of chicken thighs leftover from the pack that I bought for yesterdays recipe.

Friday – Courgette and pea tart (W@itrose recipe), with crunchy lemon slaw (from one of my recipe scrap books).  This is our favourite slaw recipe, which I will share below. Puff pastry was reduced in price and frozen until required.  Philadelphia cream cheese is currently on offer at S@insburys (£1.10 Nect@r price), spring onions currently on offer at Ald! 46p.  I have some red cabbage left over, so will use this to make the slaw, and the mint will be from the garden. To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake a mixed grain sourdough.

Crunchy lemon slaw – feeds 6.

Shred (but keep it chunky) half a small red cabbage and half a small white cabbage (I generally use only one type and only shred as much as I need).  Add to a bowl, then grate in 3 carrots (or less), 2 apples (I often just chop the apple), stir in 100g of raisins (optional) and the juice of 2 lemons, and leave for 10-15 minutes. 

Dressing - mix 3 tbsp mayo, 4 tbsp Greek-style (or Greek) yogurt, 1 tbsp of horseradish sauce (optional, but it does enhance the flavour), pour over the cabbage mix and stir.  Sprinkle with 3 tbsp sesame seeds (optional) and a handful of fresh mint. Because we will be eating this over 2 days, I will only mix half of the cabbage mixture with half of the dressing and do the same the next day.

Saturday – Roast chicken wings with lemon and cracked black pepper (N!gel Sl@ter recipe), with leftover slaw and a side salad.  M+S chicken wings are only £1.65 for 750g, I will cook these in the air fryer.

Sunday – Away overnight.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 46,861.

Completed 4 free meditations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

Lots of chatter and laughter whilst catching up and reminiscing with family.

The weather was kind whilst we were entertaining family and we were able to enjoy some sunny outings.

I was able to gift my visitors some self-seeded Erigeron seedlings.

A lovely day out visiting a walled garden with friends. 

The towels and bedding used by our visitors were dried outside on the washing line.

Having the house back to ourselves now that all our visitors have been and gone.

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