The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Good Evening :hello:

My, aren't the days flying?

I was thinking about my 12 week challenge today and how it may not be long enough :rotfl: Ho hum

I have a grand total of 89p left in my grocery budget But on the upside, I now know, because of my spending diary (49p well spent!) that I have used nearly £20 of grocery money to bail out the 'non-gorcery' budget. So, in other words, I'm robbing Peter to pay Paul. It's not surprising in a way I suppose. I have upped the grocery budget several times over my diary periods, whereas the non-grocery budget has remained pretty static. And whilst some things have come down in price - notably haircuts, and my new hairdresser is such a hoot to be around :T - but I guess other things have been creeping up in price and I haven't accommodated it in my reviews - probably because I wasn't keeping a spending diary!

Come to think of it, I haven't got 89p anymore either, because DH stopped off in mrL on the way home and got bread and yoghurt.......

I bought BG a couple more bits of clothing from a chazza today. One they can wear in the relatively near future, one will be put away for a couple of years. One item was just on the cusp of being too dear, but it is useful/practical and looks unworn if I'm honest. The other item, again is in very good condition, and looking up online, I found the exact thing on Bayofe, for the exact same price + postage. I'll take that, I've saved money. Although it did cross my mind as to whether this purchasing and storage is worth it. I've found stuff as I go along. Wouldn't I find stuff in 6 months time, 1 years time, 2 years time? At least I have boxed everything up (except for today's purchases, which are in the wash), so I've a vague idea what I'm looking out for, rather than having 97 age 2 coats, a pair of trousers for a 4 year old and 43 woolly hats aged 6 - 18 months. That ain't gonna cover BG's modesty, is it? :rotfl:

Tea this evening was soup. Originally, I had planned to use up the tin of butter beans that was in the cupboard to make Lyndsey Bareham's Butter bean and thyme soup, but there is half a pack of taglietelle in the cupboard, that has been irking me since I cleared out the food boxes the other day, so I decided that I couldn't countenance throwing it out, but I knew that I am unlikely to use it as it is - i just cannot get on with spagetti or taglietelle sorts of pasta. I know you're supposed to slurp with impunity, and to heck with splashage, but that ain't me.........

Anyway, I got onion, garlic, celery and the last of the frozen peppers and fried them up. I added a tin of tomatoes, some paprika and a bay leaf. Whilst this cooked, I smashed up a few nests of taglietelle (v. therapeutic!) and shoved that in, with some water and bouillon powder. I let it cook a while and then added the butter beans to warm through. A mish-mash version of minestrone I guess. Served up with parsley and paprika flakes sprinkled over. Picture here;



Inexpensive, filling, used some stuff up and didn't take long to make. Sorted.

Today i am grateful for these 3 things;

A well-timed natter - have felt lacking in face-to-face adult company lately......

a weight; lifting - for the time being

that I know where I'm going wrong, so I can hopefully put it right....... if prices stop rising for long enough...................

Ta for popping in, reading, telling me about your pizza near misses, and generally being all-round, supportive, jolly good eggs. Appreciated.

Greying X

Good Morning :hello:

Mmm, the padlock on the legend bar had a red slash through it - does that mean I've just put my details in unsecured?

Ha ha Cheery - Baby Greying is sufficient weight to lug about. No need for a gym - MMM homestyle or otherwise! :rotfl:

I am now officially -12p on the groceries budget - thanks to MrL hoiking up the price of yoghurt - boo hiss! Still, I see the act1v1a pots in h3r0n f00ds are 450g - didn't they used to be 500g? I suppose we'll see, when every other pot of yoghurt shrinks to 450g...........

Dinner this evening will be mixed bean chilli 'with rice'. I'll try and make the chilli as early as i can, so that the flavours have time to meld. Was going to do it last night, but BG was slightly fractious and so my time was spent baby-cuddling

Definitely will need to get fresh air and exercise today - will try to spend no money though!

Need to order some curtains. Can't work out if "everyone" now has the 'eyelet'curtains, so that is what shops predominantly stock, or whether everyone actually has the pencil pleat (which I prefer) and it is only the eyelet curtains left on the shop shelf and which get put in the sale. The best I will be able to do is get a bit of cashback Ah well, it'll enable us to move on and meet another target on my 12 week challenge, so mustn't grumble

Right, To It! Round or otherwise!

Greying X

Good Morning :hello:

Tea last night was indeed chilli - I shall say 2 bean, rather than mixed, and frankly, you had to squint to see the black beans But it used up beans left over from last week's buddha bowl, some black-eyed beans from the freezer, and helped me keep my one-remaining tin of red kidney beans for something else. I am hopeful that I can summon up the time and energy to rustle up some veggie sausage rolls, and that we can ressurect our picnic adventures to take them out to munch on.

The chilli served 2 with plain boiled rice accompaniment, and there is a mummy-sized helping left to adorn (channelling my inner-nigella) a baked tattie for lunch.

Trying to order curtains was an utter waste of time. I don't know who developed dun31m's web-site, but it is utterly crap. (try using their 'filter' to find things if you don't believe me). They sell curtains that you can only purchase online, and yet it won't add them to your basket (blackout curtains ordered at the same time went in no problem). It didn't matter wht size you selected, nor what colour, they would not add to the basket. If they are oos, fine, but the website didn't tell you. DH said why didn't you contact CS? I had a 10 minute window when BG was napping - not all bl00dy afternoon to devote to the activity! I might try once more today, but frankly, I'm minded to think 'stick yer blessed curtains dun31m'. And go elsewhere. I'm still finding it incredulous that 'brown' curtains are oos anyway - since when has there been a rush on brown curtains?

I did spend money yesterday - partly on BG (separate budget) in mrA, but then caved in and got some chopped chillis from HB - because they actually had them in stock - and some eggs. I will be taking some undergarments I got for BG back. I've measured them against existing clothes and they have measured up small - despite being the next size up - I should have known better and stuck with tried & tested mrS or m&$.

Tea this evening will be a buddha bowl, not too sure whether I will use up the last sachet of buckwheat or some brown rice. Will ponder. I will use the frozen avocado halves, because I have them, but the over-priced on somethings greengrocer has the most wonderful looking avo's at 2 for £1........

Right, best get shifting - just as BG has dropped off........

Greying X

Good Evening :hello:

Hey EH - I nearly went with the rice option, but I had a little think about it, and I am running low on white basmati. I may well stumble across some at £1 per kg or less (my price threshold), but I figured if all else failed, I would eat curry with brown basmati, not so sure about eating it with claggy buckwheat _pale_ Plus I really wanted to see the back of the buckwheat....... I won't buy that particular product (boil-in-the-bag) again. I cooked it for even less time tonight, and still it resembled porridge.........

I agree about the clothes. I have set myself a limit to 3yrs of age, currently. Unless I see something absolutely essential at a bargain price. Can't currently countenance what that may be, but say we were really into winter sports (we're not ), and I saw a top-of-the-range snowsuit for a £1, but it was age 7, well then I'd probably grab it..... unless it was a fashionable item, that would point up BG's parents as being 'behind the times' during apres ski......... :rotfl: S'all right though, I'm not contemplating taking up skiing anytime soon, although DH claims to want to take it up again... Ay, with those knees....... :rotfl:

It was well chilly enough out today, without snow! :snow_grin I was starting to think that it was a bad idea schlepping over to mrA to return the clothes, but we were alright once we got started. MrA was quiet for a change, and there was no-one at customer services, so I got served straight away - which is a rarity. But the gal was quick and efficient, so I've nowt to grouse about!

Every member of staff in h3ron f00ds said hello to us today. Now either they are a great bunch of friendly people, or we're in there too much, too often......... I like to think that it is the former.........

I'm pondering changing our diet about a bit. We'll stay predominantly vegetarian, but I'm considering introducing in a bit of fish, say once a week. I doubt that we will start having Rick Steinesque 'sea bass on samphire' creations, and I think initially that our teas will more resemble summat from the chippy, but not, IYSWIM; as DH isn't overly keen....... We'll see. I've just been thinking about things in the context of us trying to stay healthy as long as we can. For the most part i'm happy with our meals, but just want to see if we can optimise things a bit. Might work, might not, but we won't know if we don't try.

So, tea this evening. A buddha bowl, based on buckwheat, broccoli, avocado and egg. The egg was made into a single omlette and everything was doused in tahini, miso citrus dressing and covered in sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, walnut bits, sumac and paprika flakes. Picture here;



It used up the last of the buckwheat :j, reminded me not to hang onto the sesame oil much longer (it's out of date at the end of the month - not a crime in itself, but is apt to go rancid, so need to keep an eye on it.......), and reminded us slightly of summer, although 'fresh' avocados would have been much nicer........

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

warm clothes for BG - that wind was brutal!

friendliness - costs nowt, and cheers you along

that I've managed to achieve quite a bit today - doesn't always happen, so happy to celebrate it when it does :T:rotfl:

Ta for popping in, reading and joining in the conversation. Greatly appreciated.

Greying X

Good Morning :hello:

oooh yes, I'd love one of those all-in one suits too - they do them in such spiffing designs! :rotfl: Mind, I'd quite like to be trundled about/carried all day long, fed on demand, oohed and ahhed all over....:rotfl:

Tea this evening will be fush, chups and mushy peas. All processed...... Not too sure how I feel about that, certainly not in the long term, but for the now, it'll have to do and I'm quite looking forward to one meal that I just have to 'heat up' to 'eat up' :D

I have made a bean-based filling for veggie sausage rolls and remembered to get some frozen puff pastry out of the freezer to defrost - go me! :rotfl:

I'm on track to spend most of my grocery budget by the end of the month. Plus the 'overspend' of £20 in non-grocery. I'm thinking that I will track in February too, to ensure that January is not a fluke, and that it was (for some reason???) a 'low cost' month. I don't actually recall it being inundated with YS'd bargains, anyhow. It looks like £140 might be the figure for us, which seems awfully high for 2 people, but then costs are going up, so I'm sure it is right.

Right, spit spot. To breakfast. I'm going for a 'museli', lite. In other words, i've run out of w33tab1x and I'm going to have porridge oats with a few chopped nuts and some sultanas....... :rotfl:

See y'all later.

Greying X