Away From The Madding Crowd

bluenose1

@humboldt. Love the TV recommendations keep them coming. My husband would have us watching scary thrillers, WW2 history and football constantly. I have recently got a new Sky box for back room after renegotiating a very good deal with them as out of contract so I can banish him as I find his choice of programmes so depressing.

Of course I will share. I asked AI to type it out as mine is covered in notes. The original recipe says 3 lb of sugar but I only use 2lb. I have also always found the quantity of vinegar used in the original recipe makes it too watery so I only use a pint of vinegar. Plus not sure if right or wrong I cook with lid off to reduce it further. Saying all that I have never come across a tastier chutney.

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY

INGREDIENTS

• 3 lb Green tomatoes

• 4 Small onions

• 1 Cauliflower

• 1½ lb Cooking apples

• 3 lb Sugar - original recipe. (I use 2lb.)

• 6 Whole chillies – red or green, do not chop

• 1 heaped tbsp Turmeric

• 1 heaped tbsp Dry mustard

• 1 heaped tbsp Self‑Raising flour

• 1 pint Vinegar

• 1 tbsp Salt

METHOD

1. Chop tomatoes, onions and cauliflower. Mix with salt and leave overnight.
2. Rinse well next day and dry as much as possible.
3. Put rinsed vegetables into a very large pan. Add sliced apples, sugar, whole chillies and ¾ pint of the vinegar. Keep back ¼ pint vinegar.
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for approx 2 hours until tender. Leave to cool slightly.
5. Mix turmeric, dry mustard and flour. Stir in the reserved ¼ pint vinegar until smooth.
6. Stir into the pan. Heat gently, stirring until thickened.
7. Cool completely, then spoon into clean sterilised jars and seal.

bluenose1

@middlelife - is there a particular chutney recipe you use?

middlewife

Hi bluenose, funnily enough, my chutney is just cooling down. Had 2 hours free electric today, so now recovering from spending hours in the kitchen, have made

Green tomato chutney

Coffee cake for MIL 96th

Granola bars to take on holiday

Lemon drizzle cake for work

2 pepperoni pizza to take on holiday

1 batch baked beans/squash/chorizo stew

2 loads of washing

1 batch towels tumble dried

Dishwasher load

Immersion heater on

Plus topped up the EV

I'm exhausted!

Anyway, I usually look up a few recipes on tinterwebby then adapt depending on what I've got. So today's batch

500g green tomatoes

500g brown sugar

500 ml cider vinegar

Tablespoon chilli flakes

2 cloves garlic

2 TSP sea salt

1 TSP smoked paprika at the end

OH is allergic to mustard so can't use mustard seeds. I've also used cooking apples and dates or plums if I've got them. You basically just finely chop/mince, chuck it all in a big pan, bring to the boil for a few minutes, then summer for 2 to 3 hours until it's thick and glossy. Once it's cooled down to warm, spoon into sterilised jars.

It's basically a savoury jam, so as long as you use equal sugar/liquid/fruit& or veg, anything goes . You can make it as spicy as you like.

Right, off for a lie down☺️

Humboldt

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127557#Comment_82127557

Now that's what I call a very productive day @middlewife!

Thank you for taking the time to share your savoury jam recipe. Whilst I enjoy all the seasons, if you asked me to choose a favourite, it would be autumn. I enjoy the abundance of fruit and vegetables, together with their preservation, the low sunsets and cooler/misty mornings, plus the nourishing/warming comfort foods. I am going to ignore the mince pies and selection boxes that have already appeared on the shelves in S@insbury's 🙄

Humboldt

Morning @bluenose1, I very much appreciate you sharing your MIL's green tomato chutney recipe. We hosted our last visitors of the summer at the weekend and this week I plan to have a quiet week. This will include making your delicious chutney.

Today's simple pleasure - the kindness of strangers.

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it – Maya Angelou.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £300. Week 1 spend for September was £77.34.

September’s premium bond win was £0 (2026 winnings to date is £325).

September’s interest from various savings accounts is £144.42.

Total V!nted sales in August was £16.00. Money transferred to the Christmas/Birthday account. I had little time to put much effort into selling last month, but every little helps, and more clutter has left the house.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Cheeseburger, spiced sweet potato wedges and fresh corn on the cob. S@insbury’s 4 x Wagyu smash burgers for £2.75 (nect@r price offer), frozen in packs of 2 until required. M+S 4 x wholemeal bread buns for £1, also frozen in packs of 2 until required. Corn on the cob was reduced in price. I will cook this meal in the air fryer.

Tuesday – Creamy spaghetti with bacon and courgette (from one of my recipe books). I will swap the spaghetti for wholewheat pasta. Courgettes are homegrown. A simple recipe that uses cream cheese and a dash of milk rather than cream.

Wednesday – Chicken, stuffing, cranberry sauce, Yorkshire pudding, swede/carrot mashed, lightly steamed kale, and gravy. Chicken was reduced in price and frozen until required. Cranberry sauce and Yorkshire pudding are homemade and from the freezer. I will cook the chicken in the slow cooker.

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

Friday – Roasted tomato soup (from one of my recipe scrap books), with seeded wholemeal sourdough. To fully utilise the oven, I will also cook the sourdough. Basil is homegrown.

Saturday – Breaded cod, oven chips and mushy peas. I will cook the meal in the air fryer. Ald!’s 4 x frozen breaded cod is £4.89 and, in my view, excellent value for money. I am using 2 from the freezer that were left over from last month.

Sunday – Chinese chicken and mushroom (slow cooker recipe), wholewheat noodles and stir-fry vegetables.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 44,207.

Completed 0 free online workouts.

Completed 5 free online meditations last week.

Simple pleasures.

A bunch of large organic bananas, only 99p (Aldi super 6 offer). Excellent quality and price.

The kale and broccoli seedlings that I transplanted into the veg boxes are doing well.

Spending time with our visitors this weekend.

The lawns in the garden are now lush and a vibrant green in colour.

DH and I watched the final series of the BBC Series Race Across the World. We have been lucky enough to have visited some parts of Italy, Greece and Turkey, but the other countries were new to us. We have so enjoyed watching this programme and would recommend it to anyone that has an interest in travel.

Books read 20/26 – The Half Bird – Susan Smillie (a library book).

In 2016, Susan Smillie quit her job to sail around the British Isles aboard her beloved yacht Isean. Yet when it came to rounding the tip of Cornwall, she unexpectedly heading south, leaving home in her wake. Over the next three years she sailed the continent, living with only the basics she had aboard, by her wits, and via the kindness of the people and beauty of the coasts she encountered. But Susan’s travels were just the beginning of her spiritual journey. Could she make the wild, unruly sea her home?

Firstly, I am no sailor, but oh my goodness I very much enjoyed this book. It is so immersive and beautifully written. The review by Gordan Buchanan says it all ‘A lesson on how to live, how to heal, how to grow and how to fly’.

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

bluenose1

Hello @Humboldt . Hope your chutney turned out well. I am going to do mine beginning of next week.
Many thanks @middlewife for the chutney recipe, I may try a batch of that, the more inspiration the better.

Just back from a few days in Haworth, loved their Main Street which was full of quaint and unusual shops. Though as I am decluttering (still) I resisted purchasing anything. Actually I did buy a lovely selection of cheeses and a green tomato chutney as never seen one for sale before from a lovely specialist cheese shop. The cheese and chutney was very nice, though being biased I prefer my own chutney.
Visited the Brontë Museum which was very interesting, so sad that they all died so young. Life was very hard in those days, even for those with some money.

Not sure it’s because I am older but I love returning home now and definitely appreciate my creature comforts like my own bed aand a cup of tea. Never tastes same elsewhere. Probably helps that where we live now so close to Natural England woods and the beach I feel like I am on holiday every time I go for my daily walk.

My oh pays for Spotify Family Premium and I get the perk of 15 hrs free audio listening so have just started The Half Bird, thanks for the inspiration Humboldt.

sheilavw

love Haworth. I live not too far away. Not been in the parsonage for years

louby40

We went to Haworth a couple of years ago and stayed in an Airbnb at the bottom of the hill. It was such a lovely few days away. Beautiful place.

Humboldt

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82132874#Comment_82132874

Hi @bluenose1, I made 8 jars of the chutney using your recipe. I like that it has what I would describe as a mild piccalilli flavour, with a chutney texture. I found it to be a very economical recipe. I used homegrown tomatoes, chillies that were reduced in price, onions (Ald!), cauliflower (£1.18 S@insbury's), malt vinegar (only 45p for 568ml S@insbury's), just 2lb of sugar as you suggested (Ald! £1.09) and spices from the store cupboard. It's a keeper! Thanks lots for sharing ☺️

Let me know what you think of The Half Bird.