Budget eating for one

Hello. It's a bit of a mixed bag tonight I'm afraid. There comes a time when I have all sorts going through my head, so I just pick out a few random bits and pieces. People say things, I read things, and I think, oh must write something about that. So, in no particular order.......

Jayne asked for a recipe for garlic mushrooms. My easy way of making them. Mushrooms cut up if big, but small ones can be left whole. Cooked in a small pan in a splash of oil or a blob of butter/marg or both. If a bit dry add a splash of lemon juice, I have a bottle in my fridge. Or you can add a drop of water, or any old juice you happen to have around. I like them quite garlicky so I add a flat teaspoon of garlic powder, or you can use garlic paste. If you don't like a strong garlic taste you can reduce the amount or leave it out. Stir it in while the pan is still on the heat. Then I add some garlic flavour soft cheese spread. two teaspoons should do it. This costs about 45p -55p depending where you buy it. I always have some of this in the fridge because I like it on cream crackers.

Take it off the heat, stir it in, if there isn't enough sauce add a spoonful of plain yogurt. If you want it rich and creamy add a bit of grated cheese. Easypeasy.

Helen asked how many meals do I have a day, and what are they composed of. Thank you Helen for that question. I have three meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is either porridge or bran flakes. Sometimes with a banana and/or sultanas. I aim to have lunch any time between 12am and 2pm, depending what I am doing, and depending when my stomach is telling me to eat. Early lunch if I am feeling hungry, or a mid morning snack of a banana or yogurt if I am busy and not eating till 1pm. I like to have eggs three or four times a week for lunch, either scrambled, omelette, or boiled.  Sometimes on toast, or with mushrooms, or with beans or spaghetti. I will have a salad if I have any in. Lunch could also be noodles, pasta, or cous cous.

Dinner is mainly steamed fresh veg. If I run out I will substitute frozen veg, I have stopped buying tinned veg, frozen is more cost effective. I make soups, stews, and curries with whatever I have in. I like cheese grated on some of my meals. I don't have puddings because my meals fill me up. If I fancy something sweet, which could be at anytime not necessarily after a meal, I will have half a tin of rice pudding, or some tinned peaches with yogurt. I also put ground almonds into my yogurt to eat with fruit or on it's own. I don't eat much bread, but if I do it's wholemeal or seeded. I might have a cheese sandwich for lunch, or a piece of bread with lemon curd on it. I eat brown rice and wholemeal pasta.

When I go shopping for food I never take a list, I know in my head the main things I need. I always have in onions, bananas, cheese, yogurt, eggs, soya milk, bran flakes and porridge. I choose my fruit and veg by whatever I can get on a yellow sticker, if not much is available I try and buy in season, and look for the best prices. If swede is cheaper than potatoes then I have swede. If carrots are cheap I get some. I like to get broccoli, cauliflower, and sprouts, but if they are too expensive I will pass them by. If you go to the food gallery link at the top of the page, there are lots of pictures of my meals there.

I made some more peanut butter today, but instead of using the food processor I used the stick blender, to cut down on the washing up. I used a packet of ordinary salted peanuts and shook them around in a tea towel to get rid of some of the salt. The blender struggled a bit at first until they broke down a bit. Nothing added, just peanuts. I will keep this in the fridge and dip into it when I want some, won't bother transferring it to a smaller container, saves on washing up. I've been looking for cheap peanuts, but the human kind are more expensive than those you buy for the birds. I read the label on a packet of those, it says not for human consumption. Don't know why, they look like any other peanut. Must be different varieties.

I picket up this packet of maize cous cous when I was last in Tesco, reduced from �2 to 40p. A bargain I thought. Not had it before, don't know what it's like, worth a try.

 And here's the dinner I made tonight. The cous cous is buried in the middle of iceberg lettuce, grated carrot, chopped celery, and cooked beetroot out of a sealed packet, (not jar). The cous cous wasn't that nice, not like the regular stuff, no taste and gritty. I didn't eat it all, got fed up with all the chewing, so I will put it back in the pan tomorrow and cook it up some more with a little oil and garlic, maybe some cheese.

I've just realized, it's all food tonight, how boring, ha ha. There was something else to write about but I've run out of time, so I'll hold that over till tomorrow. I want to catch up with Last Tango now, so I'll say, Toodle pip.

PS. A bag is in the post for Aussie Cheryl, thanks for sending your address. One left for Primroses Attic. I'll hang on a bit longer, but if you don't respond soon, I'll draw another name out.

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I'll have a slice of soup please ;o)

Hello one and all. Miserable, wet and cold to start off with today, but it turned out nice again. My food stocks are getting dangerously low, the fridge is empty, and not many tins left. Yesterday I decided to use up the half packet of dried soup mix, which was only two years out of date. Soak it for eight hours, bring to the boil and simmer. I added the last onion, a large potato, and three packets of frozen home grown runner beans. Then I zapped it with the stick blender. 

Anybody like a slice of soup, ha ha. Had some for dinner last night, lunch today, and another bowlful just now. I think I'll go into business making healthy baby food, ha ha. It tastes alright, I watered it down a bit so it goes down more easily without chewing.

I made time to go to the park this morning. They are busy with clearing the leaves at the moment, one tractor with a blower on the side, and two men walking around with hand held blower machines strapped to their body. They didn't seem to be making much progress, just moving them around. 

The ducks lolling about in the sunshine.

It was a lovely afternoon so I did a bit of tidying in the garden. The brown bin is to be emptied on Monday, and as I haven't put much in it over the last month I thought I would trim up the hedges between me and next door. I'm afraid I went a bit crazy with the loppers and hacked quite a lot off. It won't all fit in, I will put some in my neighbours bin, he won't be doing any gardening before Monday.

The gas and electric bills came through the letter box this morning, I was keen to see them because it's about a year since I changed supplier. Three weeks short of a year actually, so my bills are from 12th Jan to 23 December. My four electricity bills add up to �89.09, and my projection for the next twelve months is �107.06. There is a mistake with the reading on the gas bill, they have taken the November reading instead of the December one. It comes out at �10.25, they are 39 units short. I rang them up and they are going to send another bill. I estimate the new bill to be slightly more than double this one. Total gas over the three bills is �57.07, they project my next years usage will cost �71.73.

All in all I am pleased I changed to Ebico, no this isn't an advert, they are not paying me, I have no standing charge, no penalties for quarterly bills, and their prices are frozen across the board for everyone until 2016. If you are considering changing you need to know your  annual consumption, this company may not be the best for you if you are not a low user like me.

I've just seen the time, I'm off to Tesco now to search for yellow stickers. Toodle pip.

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How do you like your pasta, hot or cold?

Hello, I like those small pots of pasta salad. There is one with spinach and pinenuts in, love that one, but at �2.15 it's too expensive. The pot is 215 grms, so it's not very big, if I ate one in one go, that's an expensive meal. I am not paying that price, the only time I buy it is if it's on a yellow sticker, and that's not very often. 

Another one I like is cheese and spring onion pasta, �1.35 for 220 grms, not quite so expensive, but when you think of how much a packet of pasta is, it's still too much. 

Today I thought I would make up my own pasta salad. My pasta cost 37p a bag, I only buy wholemeal by the way, and I cooked half of it. When it had cooled down I added grated cheese and grated carrot. Also chopped raw mushrooms and chopped pickled onions. I stirred it all together with four teaspoons of mayo. It is very nice. and a fraction of the cost of the small pots. I have a massive bowl full, this is a pyrex dish, which will last me 3 or 4 days, kept in the fridge. I shall be making this again, as there are lots of variations I could do.  

It's been a terrible day for weather, I've been sewing for most of the time, not much to report. My dinner was a plate full of steamed vegetables, and just for a change I made some cheese sauce. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Toodle pip.

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Drinka pinta milka day

I was reading an article this morning about how large numbers of people are switching from cows milk to non dairy milk alternatives. Apparently one in five households choose to buy plant based products such as soya, rice, oat, almond, or coconut milk, as a lifestyle choice or for medical reasons. Here is the full article.

I buy soya milk for my cereals, I quite like the taste of it. I mentioned that Tesco have put theirs up from 59p to 75p and now I don't buy it, but Aldi has something similar, for 59p so that will do. 

I quite like the idea of  almond milk but it is so expensive, so what about a cheaper alternative. I goooglied how to make milk from oats, and had a go at making some. It is so simple.

I soaked eight dessertspoons of oats in a jug of water for seven hours. You don't need to leave it that long, three or four hours will do, or you can soak it overnight. It will separate but that doesn't matter.   

Then I transferred it to the blender jug, and zapped it for a couple of minutes. I did a taste test, not too bad, tasted of cold porridge as you would expect. I had six strawberries left so I added those and zapped again. Hmmm, yes, acceptable, would have been better with more strawberries. I then added a teaspoon of honey and zapped again. It can be strained through a muslin cloth, but I didn't bother, the blender has broken it all up.

Yes, much better, like a smoothie. I've put it in the fridge and will pour it on my bran flakes in the morning. I think I could get a taste for this. Porridge oats are 75p for a big 1kg bag, so lots of 'milk' could be made with that, at a very cheap price. And it's got to be good for you, with no additives. The only concerns I have is that a carton of soya milk has added calcium, and vitamins B2, D, and B12, so I would have to look elsewhere for those.

I think there could be scope here for lots of different flavours, maybe Jane will come along and suggest what else could be added to make it tasty. Or if anyone else has some ideas. They've got to be affordable though. No point in bumping up the cost when the idea is to make a healthy alternative at a cheaper price.

This is a good site for recipes on making oat milk.

And this one.

And what did I have for my dinner tonight? Here it is, before steaming. From the garden, potatoes, courgettes, runner beans, broad beans, and a couple of carrots from a bag of Value. 

On the top I grated some cheese. I bought this one from the Cash and Carry. Good price I thought for �1, and it isn't out of date till the end of next month. It is ever so tasty. That's all you need for a meal.

I've been sewing most of the day, the picture is coming along nicely. Sorry I can't show you another progress photo, someone said I am such a tease. Maybe it's not fair of me to drag it out over a long period of time, posting little snippets, maybe it's better I wait until it's finished and post the whole thing. It's looking really good though, ha ha.

I see a new follower has snuck in, welcome to Tightwad Towers, or the Mad House if you like. I hope you enjoy yourself here.
That's all for now. Toodle pip.

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Fun in the kitchen

Good morning from a sunny North Lincolnshire. A few clouds in the sky, lets hope that they drift on by and don't deposit their contents on our heads. Go and drop your rain elsewhere please, ha ha. I'm looking out of the front window as I write and see that the laurel bush needs a prune before it gets too big, got to keep on top of the job. Oh gawd, more jobs to do. I'll crack on with this post then, can't sit around here all day talking to you. 

What's a sultana, was the question yesterday. I keep forgetting that people from the other side of the world might not know what I am talking about. If that is the case, don't be shy, feel free to ask. I see lots of people have answered the question for me, but here is a couple of pics of sultanas. Dried fruit like raisins. These are cheaper than raisins for some reason, and as far as I can tell do the same job, add fruit to the cooking.

I have found this definition, taken from British Food.about.com

There is often great confusion on the difference between dried fruits used in British cooking - the 3 most popular being raisins, sultanas and currants. All three are used extensivley in some traditional British cakes and puddings including a Christmas Cake or a Christmas Pudding

• Raisins are dried white grapes. They are dried to produce a dark, sweet fruit. The grapes used are usually Moscatel.
• Sultanas are also dried white grapes but from seedless varieties. They are golden in color and tend to be plumper, sweeter and juicier than other raisins. Also referred to as Golden Raisins in the US.
• Currants are dried, dark red, seedless grapes. They are dried to produce a black, tiny shrivelled, flavour-packed the grapes were originally cultivated in the south of Greece, and the name currant comes from the ancient city of 'Corinth'. These currants are known as Zante currants in the States.

Moving on, there was another question yesterday. Elise asks, How do you do your curries? Well, for a start my curries are nothing like the ones you get from a restaurant or a takeaway. It's ages since I had one of those, I really couldn't eat one now. I see them as yucky mush, where it is not obvious what the ingredients are. A browny yellowy sludge which can set your throat on fire, not my idea of pleasurable eating.

No, I don't mush mine up, I leave the vegetables chunky so I can chew them and enjoy the taste, masked only by a mild curry flavour. I usually start off with cooking a chopped onion in oil, if I have one. This softens it. Then I add whatever veg I have available. If it's hard root vegetables I cut into smallish chunks and add them next as they need more cooking time. Also sultanas. I add the curry powder at this stage, usually a teaspoon or two. The Asian shop sells bags of all sizes at a reasonable price. I've had this one for ages, slowly getting down it.

What else do I put in a curry? I will add fruit juice, from a carton or concentrated lemon juice from a bottle. If more liquid is required I add water. When it has been simmering on a low gas for ten minutes I will add more vegetables which don't need much cooking. Tinned pulses, frozen peas, sweetcorn, and beans, leafy vegetables, fresh mushrooms if I have them.

I only simmer it for as long as it takes to soften the veg, because I want it to stay chunky. I sometimes add other spices. My cooking is very slapdash, chuck a bit of this and a bit of that in. I don't follow recipes, I use whatever I have in the cupboards, the fridge, and the freezer at the time. Just before serving I add some plain yogurt, gives it a creamy delicious consistency. I think the norm is to add coconut milk to curry, but I don't buy that.

The rice will be boiling in another pan. I only use wholegrain rice. I know how much curry powder to use to make it how I like it, so I don't bother tasting before serving. If you have made the curry too hot you can add a teaspoon of sugar to lessen the fire.

That's about it really. I sometimes make a big pan of curry flavoured veg stew, eat one meal out of it and freeze the rest in margarine tubs. Instant ready meals for when I don't want to cook. Saves time and gas.

If you are going to make curry, experiment, try different vegetables, there isn't anything you can't put in a curry. No fresh veg? Use tinned or frozen. Or you could soak dried pulses for the required time and use those. If your curry is too wet and runny, thicken it with porridge oats. If you don't want it chunky grate your hard veg and shorten the cooking time. You will have to experiment with different curry powders depending on how hot or mild you like it.

Have fun in the kitchen. The great outdoors is calling me to go out. Toodle pip.

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Yellow sticker challenge.

Good evening from Tightwad Towers. I hereby claim my title as Queen of Mean. No one can live as cheaply as I can, unless you are living in a tent. Every meal I make has to be below the �1 mark, often it is way below, a few pennies sometimes. Cheap food doesn't mean it is rubbish food. Healthy food is what I look out for when I go shopping. I don't take a list, I go shopping with an open mind. I am not a fussy eater, as long as it isn't meat, and not stodge or junk, I'm ok with whatever I can find that is a good price. I happily buy Value or Basics, and search out yellow stickers in the supermarkets, out of date food at the cash and carry, and any other reductions I can sniff out. More and more shops are reducing stuff when it is near to going out of date. If I see a good buy I will stock up on it. I buy on price, not what I fancy having for dinner. 

So, what's for dinner tonight. I've started another stew, there were a few dregs from the last one finished yesterday, so I've added it to this one. Reduced celery hearts, reduced swede, reduced spinach, three onions from a big sack, a tin of red kidney beans 21p, a handful of Quorn mince, and the usual curry powder, sauce mix, garlic powder, turmeric, and porridge oats. There's three big size meals in this pan, could easily stretch to four if I had it for lunch as well. I will eat it on three consecutive days. I won't be bored with it because it is delicious, and I won't have to bother with cooking until Wednesday, so saves on gas and time.  

Just out of curiosity I have been saving these yellow stickers, to add up how much savings I have made. I started collecting at the beginning of January, but these are not all of them. I haven't cut them from the yogurt pots, or other packaging which made it difficult to remove them. These are from mainly fruit and veg, and bread. The total value of these items was �63.72, I paid �11.89, a saving of �51.83.

We still have some days to go before the end of March and I may well do another yellow sticker shop, so at a guess, if I saved another �10 that would take it to �60 approx saved in three months, �240 per year. I consider that the effort I make in searching out the best prices is well worth it.

Starting on April 1st, I am going to keep a diary of my yellow stickers only. Noting everything I buy which has been marked down because it is going out of date. I'll do it for three months, and it will give me a more accurate figure. I get a feeling my above estimate might be a bit out, and I am saving more than I think. We shall see. I'll add a separate page at the top for it and you can follow my progress. If you don't have yellow stickers, why not challenge yourself to search out the bargains wherever you are. Make it a new rule, don't just pick up the first thing that comes to mind, the same thing you buy every week, look for something which is better value, where you get more for your money.
That's all, thank you for visiting, Toodle pip.

EDITED TO ADD.
LATE NEWS.
Can you see what I have been waiting for these past few nights? 10.30pm, nearly there.

YAY.....SUCCESS

It's creeping up.

a few more. Wonder how many it will get to by midnight. Then it will drop back down to start another day.

Big grins :o))  :o))  :o))

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Cherry picking the best bargains

I had to go to town today in search of cat food which would not upset Bugsy. He can't eat Felix or Whiskas any more, they make him sick. I got him some gourmet tins, and some fresh chicken which I will grill tomorrow. 

While I was in town I had a look in the small Asda and found some yellow stickers. YAY, yogurt and veg. Then I popped in Aldi for a few items, no yellow stickers sadly. And on the way home I went to Sainsbury's to pick up some food for the rescue cats. Guess what I found, YES, more yellow stickers. The girl was marking down broccoli. I said, 'oh no, not more broccoli', and told her the story of eating it for two weeks and blogging about it. She laughed, and said, 'why not have a change, there are some sprouts in the next aisle marked down'. Ha ha, I got three bags, so it's sprouts all the way now. 

I have added up what I have spent on my food this week in four shops, and it comes to �16.21. Tesco �4.66. Aldi �4.77. Asda �4.30. Sainsbury's �2.48. Cherry picking the best bargains certainly pays off for me, and I don't have to drive very far to do it. I always combine journeys. My fridge is looking full now, I have enough to last a week or more. I reckon I spend an average of �15 a week on my food.    

Guess what was for dinner tonight. Veg of course, with a quarter of a cheese and onion quiche, at 25p. 

I was reading Justine's blog Jazzy's Place, the other day, she said she has started doing the Park Run. It's a 5k run on a Saturday morning, there are venues all over the country, and it's free. I had a look on the Park Run web site, and have signed up for it. Might as well give it a go, don't want to bugger my knees up though, but 5k once a week should be alright. I'll make an effort and go this Saturday.

It's looking like I might go for a ramble tomorrow, off to study the maps. Toodle pip.

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�8.25 saved on shopping

And here we have Helen, working away merrily, tearing her house down and putting it all back together again. She will have a go at anything, cutting and sanding wood, bashing tiles off the wall, ripping up laminate flooring, repairing skirting board, sanding the staircase, and painting the walls. Who says women are hopeless at DIY, ha ha. Come on, give us a smile.

Thank you. Love the safety glasses and the rubber gloves, very fetching :o))

I went to do some gardening and attacked the massive laurel bush. Managed to get most of it cut down to a more manageable height, except for three or four thick branches. Then I ran out of time because the tip closes at 4 pm and we wanted to take a couple of loads in. I filled my car with the laurel, looked like a mobile forest, ha ha. I'll go back and finish it next week, there are workmen in the house for the rest of this week, so I'll keep out of their way.

I timed it so I went to the small Tesco for 4.30pm, to look for yellow stickers. Again, I was too early for the final markdown, but I am pleased with what I found. Here is the list.
2 bags of fresh pears, reduced from �1.75 each, to 9p each.
Mushrooms reduced from �1, to 41p.
Grapes down from �2.25 to 78p.
2 bags of broccoli and cauliflower florets, were �1 each, reduced to 45p each.
2 bags of spinach, �1 each down to 45p each.
Fresh double cream was �1.16, now 48p
Leerdammer cheese slices, not reduced �1.
Total real price �12.91, I paid �4.66
I really wanted Value plain yogurt, but they didn't have any, so I opted for the not so healthy cream. As you can see I have even more broccoli to chomp my way through, very pleased with the spinach though. My fame goes before me, two shoppers in Tesco said they read my blog. Amazing.

When I got home there was a small package waiting for me. Here I am modelling a new sun visor, sent by blog reader Toni. When she saw it she thought of me. Why thank you so much, I am chuffed.

Dinner tonight had broccoli in it, well what a surprise. I chopped two small onions and eight mushrooms, cooked them in a small pan in a little oil. Added wholegrain mustard, garlic powder, a little stroganoff sauce mix, and apple juice. Cooked it for a few minutes till the onion was soft. Just before serving I added two dessertspoons of cream. Served on a bed of steamed cauliflower, carrots, spinach, and broccoli.

 The sauce was delicious, nothing was wasted, I licked the plate, ha ha.

Well my dear readers, that's the end of another day, they go too quickly. I'll hit the cross trainer before I go to bed, should sleep soundly tonight. Toodle pip.

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Making a storage system for beads.

I didn't manage the full session at the craft club this morning, too busy, only had time to call in for ten minutes to show the rag rug. Everyone liked it. A lovely day again,lets have more sun please. Lunch was alfresco, broccoli and onion omelette, washed down with the last glass of wine. There's another bag of broccoli to get through yet, it's never ending.  

Steam the broccoli and two chopped onions for five minutes. Put a drizzle of oil in a small omelette pan, and add the veg. Beat two eggs in a bowl and add some garlic powder, then pour it over the veg. Cook the bottom on a low gas on the hob, then put it under the grill to cook the top. Make sure both sides are light brown before serving. It was scrumptious. I like the way you can put anything you like in an omelette, and it makes a filling meal.  

I needed something to keep my beads in, something that would keep them neat and tidy. I looked in the shops for suitable plastic storage boxes, but none of them were exactly right. They were all too big. I'm sure there must be something out there, but probably way too expensive, so I came up with my own idea. I had some small empty plastic containers that I used to buy supplements in, oil capsules and vitamin tablets. I gave  up buying them ages ago, but kept the bottles because they might come in useful. I cut around the middle of them with a Stanley knife and discarded the tops into the recycle bin. I also have a couple of ice cube trays, which can be double decked, these all fit nicely into a spare tin I have. 

I like the fact that they are separate little pots, of varying sizes, to accommodate the varying amounts of beads. If it was a box with fixed compartments some of them would be almost empty and some would be overflowing. Storing them like this means that I can swap the beads around in the pots, so that all the space is utilized. My bead storage system cost nothing. 

If I need to transport them anywhere, I can lay bubble wrap on the top before I put the lid on, to stop them moving about and getting mixed up. If I want to use them I can just take out the pot I need and put the lid back on. With a bit of thought, there is always a cheaper solution, rather than taking the easier option of going to the shops and buying something.

Someone asked, what am I going to do with the beads. Just ideas at the moment. I would rather have the materials to hand when I make something, than having to search out bits and pieces. You will have to wait and see.
Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

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Bargains from the car boot sale

What a glorious day, most of Britain has been enjoying the sunshine. I've just been looking through the photographs in the papers, everyone has been out today. I was happy to stay on home ground. I can't for the life of me think why thousands of people would park their bottoms on Brighton beach, it looks all pebbly, and everyone is packed close together. 

After breakfast I went off to the car boot sale at the football ground, should be a good turn out. There wasn't as many stalls as I thought there would be. I suppose it's still early in the season and not everyone is organised yet. I was looking for a pair of trainers but didn't find any. I also looked for some beads and found these necklaces at 50p each. Lots of beads here, I shall be taking them apart. 

When I saw this bag I thought of a friend who would love it, so I bought it for �2. It's quite an expensive hand painted leather bag. It's got a zipper top, and a zipper pocket inside. The lining looks almost new, and the bag looks like it has had very little use. A bargain I thought.

My garden shears are falling to bits, my fault for buying the cheapest, so when I saw these I could see that they are a better quality. For �2 they are a snip, and I got to test them on a nearby hedge before I handed over my cash. They are ultra sharp and do a good job on grass and hedges. Just the job. The moral of this story is to buy a second hand quality item rather, than a cheap new one. 

I called in at the shopping centre on the way back and got two bags of seed potatoes from the �1 shop. They are on the window sill chitting away. I won't put them in the beds just yet, we could still be getting some cold nights. 

It was warm enough to sit outside with my lunch. Last nights cous cous and curry, with some baked beans added, and zapped in the microwave. A glass of apple juice with a slug of wine to perk it up. Blimey, don't I live the high life, ha ha.  

So, what's the broccoli recipe for tonight. Here we have it steamed, with onions, peas, and carrots. In the middle is a 12p packet of 2 minute noodles. Luverly jubbly, very nice, and very filling.

It was a lovely relaxing day, and the bonus was that I saw a friend at the car boot sale that I hadn't seen for ages. We now have each others phone number so we can keep in touch, she only lives in the next village. I hope you had a lovely Sunday, lets hope the sun continues to shine on us all. Toodle pip. 

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A lovely afternoon, and a new home for George

Hello, I've had a lovely Saturday. I've been to visit a friend who lives near Nottingham. I met Kate on Down the Lane Forum, a few years ago,and she put me up for a night when I did the long walk along the River Trent. We also met up at Perth when we were both there on holiday. Kate is involved with a lovely group of ladies who knit and crochet for charity. They make up parcels of mainly baby and childrens clothes and send them all over the world, and they also crochet shawls for a hospice. It was great catching up with her, an enjoyable afternoon. 

When I got back I quickly threw a broccoli recipe together. Today is Saturday Night Curry Night. Broccoli, frozen peas, and sultanas in a pan with some water, bring to the boil. Add some Madras curry powder, this was �1.69 for 400 grm from the Asian shop, it's lasting ages. I also added some turmeric, garlic powder, desiccated coconut, and three teaspoons of porridge oats. Just before serving I added two dessertspoons of  plain yogurt.  I couldn't be bothered to wait for rice to cook so I made some cous cous.  

. 

It was absolutely delicious. Not too hot, just right. I guessed the amounts spot on this time. There is some left for tomorrow.

I've just had some good news. Another success for the cat rescue, George has a new home, yipeeeee. He is staying in the village with a lovely family who are known to us. It's a quiet street and they have had a cat before. I am so pleased. The icing on the cake for a lovely day. Thank you to the lovely reader who sent the Sainsbury's vouchers for George's food. There are still some left, so with your permission they will be spent on food for the other four cats we have in the pens. I am a very happy bunny tonight :o))
Enjoy your Sunday, catch you tomorrow. xxx

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Another recipe, a home made card, and another rag rug.

Hello. What next with broccoli? I have pulled out all the stops and come up with this amazing idea. Broccoli is such a versatile vegetable, you can have it with almost anything. Beans on toast can be quite boring, but what if you add something else to it, like broccoli. There is too much sugar in baked beans, so why not counterbalance that by eating something healthy with it. Brilliant idea. 

The recipe is dead simple. Take one tin of beans and put half of them into a mug, and microwave till it's hot. Cut some broccoli into bite size pieces, and steam it, either in a pan or an electric steamer. Put two slices of bread in the toaster. When the toast pops up put it on a plate, then add the beans so the sauce soaks into the bread. Arrange the broccoli on top in an artistic manner. And there you have a mighty fine lunch. I've got two more bags of broccoli, so more recipes to come. Bet you can't wait :o))

It is a friends birthday at the end of the month, so I thought I would get organised and make a card. I have some blank cards which I bought ages ago, they cost �4 for 50 cards. I chose five different pieces of cotton fabric, and machined stitched them vertically on the front of the card, using a zigzag pattern. It is not perfect. After I had gone up and down the card I had to sew across the top and bottom, so there is an overlap of stitching. Then I added some pieces cut from old cards, on a gold foil backing. I think it's nice, and I think she will like it.
 

Now for the unveiling. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here.......THE NEW RAG RUG. Measurements are 2 feet 7 inches by 4 feet 3 inches. It looks as though it has a lot of red in it, but in fact they are different shades of pink, red, orange, and peach.

Some of the fabric has curled up into tubes.

The back is as colourful as the front.

I love it even better than the first one, and it will take pride of place in the bedroom. I doubt I will be making any more, it's a long job. I haven't any more of the backing mesh left, but at least it has been put to good use. I knew it would come in handy when I retrieved it from the back of a lorry ten years ago.

Here we are, it's Friday night again. Enjoy your weekend. Catch up soon. Toodle pip

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It's a good job I love broccoli !

Hello. Today has been a bit of this and a bit of that type of day. I've been getting on with the rag rug, it will be finished tomorrow so some pics will be posted. I am very pleased with it, definitely  worth all the effort. 

More broccoli eaten today. My goodness will I ever get through it! I finished off the last four burgers from yesterday. Next I chopped up some broccoli, along with five baby carrots, and four spring onions, and added water and zapped it with the stick blender. Then I tasted it, a bit oniony, so I added five big juicy green grapes. zapped again and tasted it. Could be better. So I sloshed in a slug of cloudy apple juice. 

Perfect, just right. It's quite thick so I ate it with a spoon.

For dinner tonight I made a bowl of soup with the broccoli stalk, four carrots, and the tops of the spring onions. I added garlic powder, black pepper, and a teaspoon of beef stroganoff packet sauce mix. Think I went a bit over the top with the pepper, it was mighty hot. Twas very nice though and went down a treat with a slice of wholemeal bread. Followed by a glass of water to put the fire out, ha ha.

This afternoon I went to help my friend in her garden. Luckily the rain held off so I was able to get stuck in. The fence had blown down and is beyond repair, so I smashed it up and stacked it near the gate ready to be taken to the tip. Then I cut up a load of twigs and filled the brown wheelie bin, and made a start on cutting back the massive laurel bush. There will be a few trips to the tip with that lot once the top gets chopped off.

We finished a bit earlier today at 4pm, but still worth calling in at Tesco to look for yellow stickers. They hadn't done the final markdown, I didn't want to hang about for an hour so I just picked up a few items which I thought were a good buy. Not quite 90% off, but still worth having. I spent �2.58, and got more broccoli and carrots, ha ha. Also got lettuce, cheese, and two bottles of apple juice.

I won't go to the big Tesco this week, I have enough food in to keep me going until next week. Might need to get some eggs so I will probably go to town at some point. I think we've got some nice weather coming our way, let's hope so. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

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