Away From The Madding Crowd

angieb15edin

Humboldt said:

angieb15edin said:

I do several small shops just around £10 at Boots now instead of one larger one to take advantage of the recycling points
means for a shop of around £10 you get £6 worth of points back

Welcome back @angie15edin, I am also saving blister packs as you kindly suggested and when I have enough, I will recycle them too. The scheme is a great way to gain extra Adv@ntage points, which I will use when Christmas shopping. 

You only need to recycle 5 blisters to get the 100 points 

angieb15edin

I do the yes2next walking workouts on YouTube 
there’s a variety of them and there’s no shouty happy clapping on them just encouragement 

Humboldt

angieb15edin said:

I do the yes2next walking workouts on YouTube 
there’s a variety of them and there’s no shouty happy clapping on them just encouragement 

Hi @angieb15edin thanks for taking the time to recommend your free online walking workouts.  

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day – Anonymous.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 4 spend for September was £63.34. Total for September was £264.32.  £14.32 overbudget this month.

Took advantage of S@insbury’s ‘buy 6 bottles of wine and save 25%’, saving £9.97.  Just a reminder that wine is not included in our grocery budget. 

20% off a winter jumper via my M+S Sp@rks account.

I won 2 x £2 Gr£gg’s vouchers via my mobile network provider’s free weekly prize draw.  Used the vouchers and paid an additional 20p to buy 4 x cheese scones and 4 x fruit scones.  Item’s now in the freezer.  

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Singapore noodles.  I will add additional vegetables to a small bag of oriental stir-fry veg, use dried noodles that I have in the cupboard, and add a Singapore noodles mix bought from Heron.

Tuesday – Three bean hotpot (recipe from a Rich@rd and P@ul Y0utube video). I will swap the celery and use the stalks from some gifted rainbow chard. 

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

Thursday – Sweet and sour chicken (H@iry D!eter’s recipe), with a small portion of rice.

Friday – Vegetable bhuna (adaptation of H@iry D!eter’s chicken bhuna recipe), with naan bread.

Saturday – Cottage pie (H@iry D!eter’s recipe) which I will adapt by topping with a swede/carrot mash, and serve with green beans (from the freezer).  To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a sourdough loaf.

Sunday – Ping meal (as above).

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 56,785.

Completed 4 free meditations last week.

Completed 2 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

I gave my green tomatoes to my MIL who has offered to use them to make chutney. 

DH cut the lawns and I did a bit of general tidying in the garden borders.  I am tempted to plant a few seasonal pansies, but the summer bedding is still looking good, so I will leave it a little longer. 

Lovely to have family visit overnight to celebrate a special occasion.  Nice meal out, chatter and laughter.  I made a ‘lighter c@rrot cake with Greek y0gurt icing’ (Sainsbury’s recipe) for the birthday celebrations.  I swapped the pistachios for a mixture of nuts and dried fruits. Nice, simple, and tasty recipe.

Books read 15/25 – Waiting for Mango Season – Ellie Cooper (a charity shop find).

‘Ellie was stranded in India as the world locked down. 

After rescuing a rusty Royal Enfield, she embarked upon a thrilling adventure across the mighty Himalayas, conquering some of the world’s most dangerous roads. Prepare to close your eyes and smell the Samosas, as Ellie paints her experience of India from the street side chai wallahs to the ghats of the Ganges.

She discovers many of India’s secrets, in a land which transforms every few hundred kilometres.  Ellie then learns to meet herself, reflected in India’s honest mirror.  Her sensory depiction of India from bustling cities to barren deserts is a palpable journey through a  colourful and diverse country.’

Oh, my goodness, I just loved this book.  I have been lucky enough to visit India and this book brought the memories flooding back.  It is so beautifully written – immersive, poetic – just wonderful. I am not a biker, but I was rooting for Ullu throughout the journey. 

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

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

We often wait for kindness … but being kind to yourself can start now – from ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ by Charlie Mackesy.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250. Week 1 spend for October was £46.01.

Made £9 via my crafting.  Monies added to the Christmas/Birthday account.

Interest gained on various savings accounts for September was £104.11.

I won a 12-month digital subscription to a magazine of my choice via my mobile network providers free weekly prize draw (no sign up or bank details required, just the winners code). I chose L@ndScape, which I am looking forward to reading on a quiet afternoon.

October’s premium bond win was £100 (2025 total to date is £675).  

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Cottage pie (H@iry D!eter’s recipe), gravy and lightly steamed kale.

This is a meal swap from last Saturday when we had homemade bacon and lentil soup (slow cooker recipe), with garlic bread.  Garlic bread was reduced in price and frozen until required.

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

This is a meal swap from Sunday when we had butter chicken curry (Ald! readymade sauce £1.69), with an Indian starter selection (vegetable pakora & samosa and onion bhaji).  I used chicken thighs, and cooked the curry in the slow cooker.  The starter selection was reduced in price and cooked in the air fryer. 

Wednesday – Slow cooker prawn paella (Tesc0 recipe).  I will use the half a bag of ‘seafood for paella’ that I have in the freezer.  The parsley will be from the garden.  I will omit the olives because I do not have any.

Thursday – Salmon in chilli ginger sauce (H@iry D!eter’s recipe), with stir-fry veg and noodles.  I will cook the salmon in the air-fryer.

Friday – Beef lasagne (H@iry D!eter’s recipe, and a large dressed salad.  I will use a small pack of beef mince and add a tin of green lentils to reduce the cost and increase the nutritional content. To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a wholemeal, seeded sourdough loaf. 

Saturday – ping meal (as above).

Sunday – Liver & bacon, chips, peas, and gravy.  I will cook the chips in the air fryer.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 44,773.

Completed 5 free meditations last week.

Completed 2 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

DH and I met up with friends at a local nature reserve. A lovely walk, followed by a cuppa and cheese scone at the onsite café.

More clearing of the garden ready for winter.  I removed the soft furnishings from the summerhouse, but will still enjoy a cuppa in there whilst I can.

An afternoon spent crafting whilst listening to mellow jazz.

Christmas mince pies baked and now in the freezer.  Mincemeat was bought at a massively reduced price in January this year.

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