This Time I'm Really Going To Do It

The reason for our very high food bill has become clear. Before sitting down to *meal plan* I reviewed the fridge. A number of items were sporting white furry jackets making them only fit for the recycling green bin. And the rest....well... I fondly imagined sitting by the stove with a cookery book or two and being inspired to write a list of wonderful meals I would rustle up on a shoestring next week. Then reality hit :rotfl:

There were a number of items in that fridge that needed using up before they too grew those white fluffy jackets.

One sweet potato was very soft almost liquid but the rest have been turned into sweet potato and chilli soup. (Theres enough for the freezer as well as this evening).

A sort of salsa salad has been made out of a cucumber and 3 tomatoes desperately in need of being used up. With a red onion, some spring onions and a splash of soy sauce, olive oil and lime juice it looks rather yummy. A bag of salad leaves from the village was carefully sorted through, washed and popped into a salad server ready for meals. A number of the leaves were really not making an effort to survive....but...rather than chuck the lot I have rescued most. This is a first for me. Normally I would just bin them all.

An onion has been chopped ready to add to the cold cooked potatoes I found so we can have a spanish omelette (I'll add some peas from the freezer to that). Served with that salasa.

The salvagable part of a green pepper was chopped, added to a yellow pepper and the remains of some celery and an onion and is ready to be turned into a stew with some defrosting chicken. There should be enough there to make a meal serving plus 2 or 3 portions for the freezer. I love that I have a pot with all the chopped veggies ready to make the stew.

Finally there are enough carrots and half a white cabbage so coleslaw towards the end of the week with burgers and buns from freezer. And broccoli and some cabbage that will do as veggies if they can hang on in there till later in the week and there is chicken and fish in the freezer as a protein source. And lots of spuds. So easy!

My shopping list consists of bananas, a small tub of single cream (so I can make pasta eggs and bacon to use up the bacon) parsley (to add to the pasta dish) and some philly cheese so I can make another vat of soup using a squash I've found. And some fruit .....because Mr Watty eats a lot of that.

So, a tiny shopping list, and, if I cook some chicken from the freezer I can even manage a packed lunch for the one day Mr W needs one if he agrees to take a lot of that salsa with him. I might just pack it up for him to make sure it goes with him!

What is so exciting is that last week I pretty much lived out of the fridge and freezer. But this week, I've made an effort to "use up"...:A

I'm actually proud of myself :rotfl:

Thanks for the encouragement EchoDelta. Making breakfast this morning, I was so excited to see everything in the fridge organised.

Just need to decide what to do with so many lemons gently resting in the fridge. Goodness knows how so many got there. Surely I didnt' buy them? Whatever was I thinking???

sadbrokegirl wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am trying to be debt free and Im geting there big part due this site, my situation now is that I still owe a total £5222 ( from a total of £10945) but Im sorting it out.
In Oct will be receiving £2000 from my brother (family arrangements) I would Like to pay my bill with Natwest that is the following:

Natwest student account £1099
Natwest loan £1336 ( I already defaulted and asked PPI and got, so this is what is left to pay)
Which makes a total of £2435 but I would like to settled on £2000 (at its 80% of what is left) they keep changing the collection companies ( in Abril they gave me a company I start to pay £60 a month by May the company told me they are not dealing with my case anymore) since then I havent received any name of other company.
Should I just go to a Natwest branch and ask to settle then and there? Or should I write to them and ask for the setlement?

Thank you for the advice.

I've no idea SadBrokeGirl. How about reposting this in the debt free forum? I'll bet there will be lots of folk over there who will be able to help. Good luck though. And well done on acheivements so far.