Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

Watty1

Well done getting that letter off.   These things can be such a mental worm until done.

Merlin's_Beard

I feel like sugar was needed to get through the adrenaline of that final!

Suffolk_lass

Right. So, I am soaking our pillow cases and face cloths in washing soda and laundry bleach because I hate it when they start to lose their bright whiteness. I will leave them until lunchtime, then wash them hot and get them dried and back on before tonight.

A mad frenzy of booking last night as my friends and I tried to book everything we needed for the bee convention we plan to visit in April. I got everything and one extra I need to cancel asap, so someone on the waiting list can book it. 

An OAT this morning. I have been out and moved everything in the chest freezer into bags or the freezer basket. I can see what is there, with a carrier of portions and one of joints, about 5 mini or basic pizzas and the freezer basket has butter, peas, freezer packs and blackcurrants. Next (after my fingers have warmed and I've drunk this coffee, I shall do a similar with the commercial freezer in the pig shed that contains fruit and veg we have grown. If it all fits in the chest freezer, I can unplug the pig shed upright and thoroughly defrost and clean it before moving it. That is another major OAT.

Finance is in the dead zone and I intend spending nothing this week. We have plenty of everything. The absolute top tip of storing our winter veg in a box outside the back door (we have a table-top there) is a complete game changer and works brilliantly. On the back of the space in the fridge this created, I am gradually working round all shelves, cupboards, fridges and freezers, so I am clear what we need to cook and eat first. I have a bit of streaky smoked bacon that can go in a cauliflower and broccoli cheese tonight and I have the last salmon fillet and the last turkey escalope defrosting for tomorrow.

I started my weightloss ambition this morning. I am carrying about 9 pounds more than I was in September, and it is going, along with another stone, if I can stick to it. Mr Sl is joining me but he can have carbs to stop him wanting to snack. So veg and bacon bake this evening, I shall have just soup for lunch, whereas he can have soup and bread or toast.

All good and I am reflecting on how fortunate we are to have the money we need for pleasurable jaunts and times with our friends. Have fun, life is short!

Makingabobor2

Yes indeed, it certainly is. And as they say, growing old is a privilege denied to many. Enjoy every day. 

Suffolk_lass

Well I did indeed manage to empty the large upright commercial freezer with homegrown produce in, with three carriers to the chest freezer (10 large ziplock bags of halved, stoned Victoria plums anyone?) and two in the bee freezer (that's the large upright domestic freezer in which we freeze frames to kill wax moth; and a handy, wasp-proof place to stash them when the brood boxes need cleaning). So that big stainless beast is off at the wall and defrosting. It is so cold here, I doubt it has finished but I will check (probably tomorrow, given its location and today's forecast).

So a few bits came out - 3 bags of SM bought fruit have all been defrosted and deployed in a large pot in the fridge for breakfasts and desserts, a bag of very iced up homegrown raspberries are now in a raspberry jelly, and 2 large pots of soup are made from similarly iced up courgettes, along with a bag of swede I was in danger of preserving forever.

I think there is enough there for two weeks of lunches! I must also turn my attention to the larder, as I still have winter stored squash in there, including four (Crown Prince) pumpkins. As @EssexHebridean said, using my stores is what keeps me out of the SM. With the end of the week being the end of this month, I am hopeful that our total spend in 2026 of £138.39 (OK, in January!) stays where it is. I might ask Mr Sl to pick up some single cream (to give the soup an unctuous little topping) but that is all. Or maybe not, given I started my weight-loss process again, yesterday. Both Sunday and last night, nothing after 10.00; fasting yesterday until 14.00 - I will try the same today.

Right, a study day today, and lots of it!

foxgloves

I'm with you on both the ability of freezer stores to provide the basis of many meals....also ditto with resumed healthy eating/weight loss plans. Knocking my food intake back into Judith Wills' traffic lights system this week & TRE to recommence next week. 
Victoria plums remind me of my Mum. She loathed cooking but did like to make jam, plum being one of her favourites. Every year at plum season, they'd take a detour around a fenland road where 'the plum lady', an ancient local who knew everything about plums & had an orchard would set up stall in a lay-by. They'd buy boxes of Victorias & damsons & would always time driving up to visit me shortly afterwards so I could make jam. It was such an annual seasonal event, that even when Mum was in palliative care in hospital & her mind had nearly gone, she suddenly said to me, " Oh, we need to go & get the plums" because she still knew it was September & we hadn't got any. My sister made a spiced plum jam one year for Christmas gifts. It was yum - like mulled wine on toast. Anyway, enough chatting. It's my Big Budget Day today & here I am lingering over a 2nd coffee.
F

Suffolk_lass

That's lovely @foxgloves. Near a town with an Essex postcode that is in Suffolk, within reasonable travelling distance of us, there is/was a pick your own (or buy picked) that has berries and plums. We do have a prolific Vic plum tree now, so no longer go, but I may have to now I have no raspberries here. I used to love going there.

I loathe this time of the month when I am in the financial dead-zone. NINO (nothing in, nothing out). I am holding out until the weekend when I shall need eggs and bowl fruit, and Mr Sl's pension will have topped up the pot!

He has done his tax return (I don't have to). A few things to consider for us jointly. I think we need to wait for the dust to settle after the truck is looked at and we know the extent of the works we need to factor in before we conclude. We also have the solar thing going on. Who knows when my bee-shed will be built at this rate.

So our big chat will be tax year related.

In the meantime, I am waiting for some ancient blackcurrants to do their thing in a jelly bag, as you do.

Suffolk_lass

Five jars of (River Cottage) Blackcurrant curd, made. Ideal for blackcurrants that were frozen with their stalks and a few leaves. It is delicious, if I do say so myself. Supposedly a short shelf life but ours kept for months in a fridge, unopened - sublime on Greek-style yoghurt.

Speaking of which, we are running out. Not a bad thing as it confirms we are eating more youghurt than ice lollies (I buy the 100% Valencia OJ ones). I feel the need to say that because I downloaded a barcode scanner, recommended over on the Grocery Challenge and wanted to see just how bad our cupboard contents are. To be clear, I think I know what a highly processed foodstuff is, and we are as susceptible to the occasional UPF treat as the next person (we don't by the pop-crisps in a tube, though) - I was interested in the standby products on my shelves, eg the tin of rice pudding, the carton of ready made custard, the tin of soup/baked beans/fish or the pack of spices, things to be ground up and a sachet of concentrated sauce, combining for a particular curry when you I can't be a**ed to make it from scratch, or time or fancy are a factor. It was no surprise that Worcestershire sauce was marked down (the number of ingredients is a clue) - an occasional seasoning here - or the branded mayonnaise (occasional dollop or a tablespoonful in a dip or with raw veg to make my own coleslaw). Pickle was a bit of a surprise, and of course it is the only bought condiment, having made Pam's Piccalilli in Autumn, I have two and a bit jars left (it's fab in a sanger, but these are a once in a while lunch) - and none of my HM preserves have bar codes. The scanner also thinks Baking Soda is a laundry product (not here, it's not!).

I shall weigh myself shortly, fifth day of my conscious eating, I am hoping a bit of the Christmas err, stuffing, has begun to leave my waist (tight waistband on my jeans was the nudge I needed). I am too tight to go up a size after donating!No more 5 sizes of clothes for me in my wardrobe (or at least, there won't be after I have been through the hanging stuff in the shuffle in space where they lurk. Frozen cod fillets were baked and eaten with steamed veg last night. Very virtuous but a dozen small cubes of cheese were consumed with celery mid-evening as a dessert. It could have been worse.

Ahead of the date reaching the end of January (still a week away from my pension) I've also been through the credit cards and popped them in the spend tracker - about £220 less than January, and I have some unexpected items in the bagging area statement - like my friend's accommodation for two forthcoming bee related things we are going to. Once reimbursed I shall earmark it carefully so I don't spend it. I could pay it off early but I prefer it in my account, for Justin…

Have a good day all, whatever you are doing or have planned

Watty1

The UPF is something I've been thinking about lately. In an effort to reduce grocery spend we collected a couple of TGTG bags - I know I use meal boxes a lot due to mental state but I wondered if the TGTG bags could help balance that out and, well yes, they could but they were so processed that I realised there was very little I would eat there by choice. It was an interesting experiment but we decided not one we would repeat.

Suffolk_lass

I used to do that at my local Morries @Watty1 but I think others need it more than me at the moment, and there are some availability/supply chain issues so have not shopped there much recently. I used to go in and ask if I could have one that was heavier on the F&V which they never minded