Steadily climbing the mountain, enjoying the view along the way

KajiKita

Done my financial updates ... <gulp>.

It wasn't quite as bad as I feared. But still a bit hairy ...

Took £380 from the joint savings account for various home related things (sofa cleaning etc.) and moved £810 from my personal savings to cover the spend on the boat and accommodation for our holiday in June, so savings have dipped a bit. I still have a comfortable 6 months of minimums (I have checked all my data that I am using for this calculation is current this morning) and nearly 18 months of minimums if you exclude the 'new' car savings and pots for things like boiler service, dentist costs, insurance renewals etc etc. I feel more secure!

I have started a new produce tracker tab for 2026.
2025 has topped out at £460 (an average of c.£8 pcm), so I have set this year's target as £400. 
I'm a sad-sack so I have done some analysis on where that value has come from:

- .🌿Herbs £160.05 - mainly thyme, parsley, sage, chives and bay leaves. (I check for the value for a full packet of the fresh herb from R1verforrd Or@nics at the time of harvesting, as when I used to buy herbs I would buy them in packets and either use them or they would rot before I could)

- 🍓 Fruit £127.92 - I gave up measuring / weighing all the apples as we couldn't use them!  The biggest proportion of the value here is plums - some of which got given away and came back to us as jam from MiL Another goodly chunk was strawberries which seem to do well in our ground. Again I get a current price per Kg from ROs and then calculate the value for the weight I have harvested. I do the same for the salad and veg harvests below. 

- 💐 Flowers £16.61 (£3 per posy unless its a really big one, in which case I increase the value proportionally) 

- 🥬 Salad £54.63 - this was primarily made up of cucumbers and tomatoes. I processed far more of 2025's tomatoes into soup and pizza sauce - finally tried some of the pizza sauce the other night and it was stunning! ❤️

- 🫛 Vegetables £52.55 - This was pretty low, I think partly because veg is relatively cheap, but also because I am still poor at harvesting and using it. 

It was interesting looking at the produce sub-totals. There is no way I will get this value of fruit again as 2025 was a 'mast year', herbs will easily be repeatable and may get extended if I get myself organised and start making more herbal teas after dinner, there is next to no lettuce, radish or spring onions in the salad so I hope to get that category a bit higher in 2026 along with the vegetables sub-category. 

I have updated my signature for reading and produce value targets, resetting both to zero. 

KK

KajiKita

Tried a new recipe for lunch 😊 Well I say I tried a new recipe - I left out the chilli and subbed a lot of ingredients but it worked well so I’m pleased, one to repeat:

Basically it’s precooked beans (meant to be butter beans but didn’t have any) fried off in garlic (didn’t have any ginger) and then some spices (went very gently with the chilli and curry powder) and set aside to cool. 

You then set up a mix of double cream (I used crème fraiche), grated cheddar and coriander (ugh! I used parsley 😊) and once the beans have cooled (c. 10 minutes) you mix the cheese mix into the beans. 

Preheat a grill, toast a piece of sourdough on a baking tray on one side, turn it over, waft some olive oil over it, load up with the beans mix and grill for 4 to 5 minutes. 

Serve with pickled red onion rings (start with these, in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, salt and black pepper - I used no fresh chilli rings 😉🤷‍♀️).
I think the only thing I would change is to put some very finely chopped shallot through the cheese mix before loading onto the sourdough. 

KK

themadvix

That sounds delicious (with the coriander for me!)!

You are so good with tracking your produce - I’d love to be that organised, but I know I won’t be. Plus I’d probably not buy the stuff separately in the first place - it would be a box from R’ford and I’d work with what I got, much as I do with what I grow. So the maths wouldn’t entirely reflect what I’d actually spend. I love your calculations though - some really good geekery there 😁

ladybird1106

Recipe sounds tempting, definitely opting out with the coriander 🤢 (tastes like soap) though.
love 🐞

P.S apparently this is why I don’t like coriander. Who knew…….

Coriander (cilantro) tastes like soap to some people due to a genetic variation that makes them highly sensitive to specific aldehyde chemicals in the leaves, which are also used in soapmaking. This genetic quirk, particularly a gene cluster called OR6A2, affects how these soapy-smelling aldehydes are perceived, turning a fresh, citrusy flavor into something unpleasant and soapy for about 4-14% of the population, varying by ethnicity

 

Brie

KajiKita said:

Basically it’s precooked beans (meant to be butter beans but didn’t have any) fried off in garlic (didn’t have any ginger) and then some spices (went very gently with the chilli and curry powder) and set aside to cool. 

You then set up a mix of double cream (I used crème fraiche), grated cheddar and coriander (ugh! I used parsley 😊) and once the beans have cooled (c. 10 minutes) you mix the cheese mix into the beans. 

Preheat a grill, toast a piece of sourdough on a baking tray on one side, turn it over, waft some olive oil over it, load up with the beans mix and grill for 4 to 5 minutes. 

Serve with pickled red onion rings (start with these, in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, salt and black pepper - I used no fresh chilli rings 😉🤷‍♀️).
I think the only thing I would change is to put some very finely chopped shallot through the cheese mix before loading onto the sourdough. 

KK

I love it when someone sticks to a recipe!!!!

KajiKita

@themadvix, I’m that sad I actually enjoyed doing all the tracking this year! It became very satisfying 😊

@ladybird1106, I knew that about genes and coriander. What I don’t know is whether that’s why rocket tastes absolutely abhorrent to me? 🤔🤷‍♀️

I had a bit of a slow day today due to a lateish night last night 😊
No yoga or sit ups but did do hand weights and chair squats. Only 7.5K steps today. 

I did manage to get out into the garden for a bit and did an hour of bed edging - another 12m done 😊 The last two metres were really slow because I might just be widening the beds in the front garden by 6 inches … Shhh! Don’t tell Mr KK!! 😉😂😊

Also got a batch of veggie mushroom loaf made - had one for dinner tonight and there are three pieces for the freezer as well 😊 Used parsley, sage and thyme in the loaf - £8 of herbs and my produce tracker has begun for 2026! 😊

Washing done for Mr KK and mine from yesterday put away. Just having my bedding to refresh and a shower that’s me done for the day 😊

KK

greenbee

Have you tried cooking rocket KK? It tastes very different. 

KajiKita

greenbee said:

Have you tried cooking rocket KK? It tastes very different. 

No never! Didn’t know that was a thing …?
You cook it like spinach, in a bit of butter, for example?

KK

greenbee

Wilt into dishes towards the end of cooking rather than cooking on its own.

KajiKita

greenbee said:

Wilt into dishes towards the end of cooking rather than cooking on its own.

If I’m feeling really brave, I’ll try it 😊

KK