Apologies to my stomach

Hello and welcome, come on in. I'm trying to tick off jobs on my 'to do', list and not making much progress. Some jobs have been completed but more have been added to the bottom. It's never ending. Getting ready for the Christmas Fair has been priority, but there is one job connected to that which hasn't got done. Our Craft and Chat banner has disappeared. It was last used in June, in the church. I wasn't there when the display was taken down. I've asked everyone if they know what has happened to it, no one does. We have one member who is on holiday, surely she hasn't got it in her house, has she. Too bad if she has, she's in Spain. I did wonder if someone had passed it on to me and I put it somewhere safe. I've searched the house from top to bottom and I can't find it. So I'm going to have to make a temporary one, some cut out letters from coloured card. I can do without that job tonight, still got to sew up two bags. 

These fabric bowls are done, I've made eight small ones and one large one. They will be for sale if anyone wants them. 

Digging up taters has been ticked off the list, they are all up now. The last few. Not very pretty, some knobbly ones, but they will scrub up well. The veg garden is now closed.

My lunch today was egg noodles and spring onions, (yellow stickers), with two scrambled eggs, very filling. Dinner tonight is a plate of steamed veg with grated cheese. It's sprouts all the way now, plus the bargain veg I still have in the fridge.

I have a confession to make. I bought a cake on a yellow sticker on Monday, it was a sponge cake with a cream filling and icing on the top. Half price at �1. I only buy treats when they are reduced, and as I hadn't had anything sweet for a while I thought I might indulge in a little lip smacking delishusness. The cake would have made four or six portions. I should have spread it over four days, but can I save cake, can I hell! I scoffed it in two days. My eyes were bigger than my belly, and boy did I suffer. Not just feeling sick, but feeling really ill. I had a headache and felt tired, and had to sit down. My body felt like sh1t. I ate some for breakfast, because it was there. Half an hour later I thought I had a rock in my stomach. I sent some porridge down to absorb all the crap. Sorry stomach, I appear to have abused you.

They say sugar is poison and I believe it. I took my eyes off the ball for a moment and suffered. I can see how easy it is to do that. Forgive me stomach, I'll try not to do that again.

Must go, the weekend is here, I hope it is a good one for you. Toodle pip

Read More »

A stitch up

Hello. The weather has been wall to wall rain today, so it's been a day indoors for me. Not to worry though, it's given me a chance to get stuck into the latest artwork. I've been stitching all day, my little fingers are sore. It's looking pretty darn good though, worth all the effort to get it right. 

So, what was I doing yesterday. I went to visit my friend Jan from the craft club, she lives at the other end of the village and as it was raining I drove myself there. She lent me some books a month ago so it was a good opportunity to take them back. I wanted to be nosy in her sewing room, see what fabrics she has. I must say her room is very neat and tidy, everything in it's place, and lots of lovely fabrics to drool over. She sorted out some more books for me to borrow, she has lots of them on every crafting subject. I took the Hudl with me and we had a play on that, she will think about getting one when she comes back from her holidays. 

My dinner yesterday was a scrumptious plate of steamed vegetables topped with grated cheese. Sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, parsnips and spinach. There is no meal better than this, I enjoy every mouthful. Today I had the same again, minus the spinach, and topped with garlic mushrooms. Simply divine. 

Here is a little teaser. I'm close to finishing it now, or I think I am. The bigger towel rail which I am using as a frame is ready to be wired onto the back of it. Anyway, must get on, want to do another hour before I wind down before bed time.

Enjoy your Sunday, Toodle pip.

Read More »

All you need is soup

Well here we go again, more soup, I bet you are getting sick of it. Never mind, only one more to go. Tonight I have chucked in a few vegetables. One medium size onion. A few sprouts. One and a half parsnips. The last few florets of the fancy cauliflower. And a few spinach leaves, not shown on the photo because I put them in at the end. Then I added a shake of black pepper, a shake of garlic powder, a shake of mixed spices, some Rustic Ratatouille mix, and a squirt of tomato ketchup. 

Again I zapped it with the blender and added some plain yogurt. I could have eaten it as a stew as it looked rather nice. I didn't take a photo, the finished soup was the same colour as last nights. Taste wise it was quite nice, perhaps a bit too much tomato sauce, but you know me, nothing gets thrown away here, everything is eaten.

Another little experiment with the blender. I've had these pineapple pieces in the cupboard for a while, bought them when they didn't have any peaches. Since then I have bought peaches and the pineapple has sort of been ignored, until today, so, I've whipped them up to make a fruit juice drink. Diluted with water to double the volume, and at 35p it's cheaper than buying a carton of juice.

Here is a little teaser, a snapshot of a small section of the new picture. I'm just in the process of sewing the leaves on. I want to get it ready for two weeks time.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip

Read More »

Surprise yourself with a made up recipe

How do you use up a glut of courgettes, apart from giving them away to the neighbours. I am just about keeping up with them, it's amazing how many six plants will produce. I am eating them every day, freezing a few in soups, and handing them out willynilly to anyone who wants them. The fridge is bare apart from a piece of brie cheese and some soft cheese, and of course courgettes. The good thing about growing veg is that I don't have to go shopping so often, I haven't been at all this week and made do with what I have. 

Yesterday was pasta with grated cheese on top. Today is a make it up meal. In a mixing bowl I have broad beans and runner beans from the garden, chopped up finely with a gizmo. Two grated carrots from a bag I got at Tesco over a week ago. One large courgette grated, and two medium size potatoes grated. A handful of  mixed nuts which I buy ready chopped. Throw in some garlic powder and black pepper. 

Mix it all together. Break two eggs into a small bowl and beat them, add them to the mix.

Then form into balls and flatten them. Put them under the grill on a low heat so they cook through. This is about half the mix.

Grill on both sides. These are tasty, they are a bit crunchy because the beans are still a little bit raw, and of course the nuts are crunchy. I didn't bother adding anything to the plate, these are enough. 

The other half of the mix I was going to save till tomorrow, but as I might be going out, weather permitting, I won't be here for lunch. So I decided to cook the mix in a pan first on the hob, then divide it up, and put it under the grill. The texture was not quite so crunchy. I have eaten two out of this batch, they go down lovely with a can of cider, and the three are in the fridge to take with me to eat cold for lunch.

I like playing with cookery, trying different home made recipes. I can never remember how I make some of the meals, I don't bother to write things down. I like surprises so use up whatever I have to hand. Thanks for calling in, I hope you have a nice Sunday. If it is not raining I will go out. Toodle pip.

Read More »

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.

Read More »

Shop like a pauper, eat like a Queen

Thursday night was shopping night. I don't go every Thursday, it's two weeks since I last went to the supermarket. I only go when I am really low on food, when the fridge is bare and there is not much left in the cupboards and freezer. I don't have a designated shopping day, it could be any day, though I do avoid supermarkets at the weekends, can't stand playing dodgems with my trolley around the aisles. I don't stockpile food in case a war might break out, or we have the freakiest storms ever recorded in history, because the chances of that happening are minute. I keep enough in to feed me and the cats for 3 - 4 weeks, and even then with portion control, it could be stretched to 6. 

So, what did I get last night? Lots of yellow stickers. I timed it right, 7.30pm on the dot, everything that was about to go out of date had a 90% reduction. I was in heaven, ha ha. There was plenty for everyone, a few of us gathered around the trolley, people were sharing in a civilized manner. Here are a few of the items. 

Salad leaves x 2

Mushrooms whole, also sliced, also stuffed.

Butternut squash and sweet potato x 2

Brussel sprouts x 2

Broccoli.

Potatoes.

Swede.

Melon x 2

I had to laugh, I got two bags of spinach for 10p each, and had two vouchers for 25p off a bag. So they paid me 30p to take the two bags away. I even found some reduced items in the freezer cabinet, which is most unusual, they must have over ordered the party food, I picked out two boxes of onion bhajis for 50p. I see Tesco are buying in Brussel sprouts from Morocco, why I do not know. Not that we need to eat them at this time of the year, but they were there so I had them. I exercised huge amounts of self control, the only sweet treat I picked up was a packet of five donuts for 30p. Other bargains were, cauliflower 10p, half a cucumber 3p, houmous 10p, stuffed mushrooms 25p.

Mind you, not everything is rosy at Tesco. They have put up the price of Value soya milk from 59p to 75p. A massive hike. I will have to be looking for an alternative for my breakfast cereal when I have finished the two cartons I have in the cupboard. Will probably start eating more porridge for breakfast. Also, they have changed the recipe of Value peanut butter, and now put it in a plastic jar instead of glass. The new version has palm oil in it, and a cheap one I tried once before from another store had this in, it was horrible. We shouldn't be buying food with palm oil in anyway, though I suspect that they try and sneak it in a lot of things hoping we won't notice. I'm going to look into the cost of making my own peanut butter.

While I am at it, another annoying trick is the way that pack sizes are getting smaller but the price is staying the same. I noticed it with cheese. It used to be 400grm, then it went to 380grm, then 350grm, and now it's 310grm, for the same price. I could not bring myself to buy it, even though I love cheese. I must try and cut down anyway. I opted for a pack of sliced Edam cheese for �1.30 and will use it sparingly. I'm afraid cheese is becoming a treat nowadays.

Pictured below is my lunch today. Two stuffed mushrooms 25p, and 5p for salad leaves and houmous. A meal fit for a Queen I would say, ha ha.

I gave away four cloth bags last night, to happy smiley ladies. My total shop was �21.71, after three vouchers for 25p each were taken off. I paid �3.10 for the yellow stickers, total real price of these items is �31, so a good saving there. My fridge is filled with green loveliness. It's salad and veg all the way now, oh and a few nuts, I splashed out on some nuts.

While I am here, I'll tell you about my new washing up system. As you know I am not a fan of housework, and my usual way of dealing with the dirty pots issue is to pile them up and do them all in one go, in a bowl of water, every three days or so. Well I am at the stage now of being utterly sick of seeing them, and sick of having to stand at the sink for an hour clearing them all away. So, what I do now is, every time I have used a pot, or a pan, or a plate, or a piece of cutlery, I scrub it under a dripping tap with a brush, and put it on the draining board rack to dry. Cutlery will be dried immediately with a tea towel and put back in the drawer.

My tap has a spray attachment on the end so I can reduce the flow to stop splashing, very useful. I use hardly any oil in my cooking, and now I have run out of toasted sesame seed oil it will be even less, so my plates do not get greasy. From time to time I will have to boil some water on the gas stove, (cheaper than boiling a kettle), and give the pans a good scrub. Now that it's summer I will be eating a lot of salads, so these leave very little residue on the plates, and no cooking required so no dirty pans. And I will have a kitchen that is free of clutter  :o)) This will be good for the planet also. Using less water, less washing up liquid, and less energy to heat the water. I can catch the water in a bowl and put it on the veg beds so it gets used again, and everyone wins.

My bill from Anglia Water arrived this week, �35 for the period 12th December to 17th June. A big chunk of it is for standing charges, and some of it is for sewerage services. There will be another bill arriving shortly, for about the same amount, from Severn Trent, they make a charge for removal of surface water through the drains. For single people a water meter is the way to go.

The weekend starts here, as they used to say on Ready Steady Go on a Friday night, remember that? If you are not a teenager of the sixties you won't know what I am talking about. Have a good weekend.
Toodle pip.

Read More »

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.

Read More »

Fit for human consumption + 2 winners

Good evening from a wet and misty North Lincolnshire. The weather has been pretty dull all day, with heavy downpours on and off. Hope it picks up in time for my long walk. I've had a rethink on the start date and put it back a couple of days. There's a bank holiday next weekend and if the weather is good it will bring crowds of day trippers and long weekenders out across the Pennines, possibly making it difficult for me to find a bed. I'd rather hit those places midweek giving me a better chance. Should work out ok. 

Now these leaves don't look very tasty, a nice snack for a rabbit maybe. I've been saving them up, left over bits from a cauliflower, and the heart of a cabbage a week past it's sell by date. Should be enough to make a couple of bowls of soup.  

All the best bits chopped up in a pan. I did take the manky leaves to a neighbours two white rabbits, they were chuffed, ha ha. These were boiled up and some beansprouts and spices added. Curry powder, turmeric, wholegrain mustard, and garlic powder.

Then I zapped it with the stick blender, and just before serving I added two spoons of plain yogurt. A nice spicy soup with a slice of wholemeal bread, it went down a treat, and enough left for tomorrow.

Right, here is the moment you have all been waiting for. The winners of the two home made ilona bags

Tricia
and
Maggie

Please send a comment including your name and postal address (which I won't publish), and I will get the bags off to you pronto. So sorry I don't have enough bags for everyone, it would be lovely if I could afford to send more. Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog and comment, I appreciate it. 

Now it's the weekend again. If it isn't raining in the morning I will do the Parkrun. Anyone else doing it? Whatever you are doing I hope it is a good weekend for you.

Toodle pip. 

Read More »

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

Read More »

Buying what is cheap, and choosing carefully

Last night was shopping night, my fridge was bare, now it is full. I checked my money off vouchers before I went, and found there was a possibility that I might use some of them. Tesco look at your spending habits and send the vouchers they think you are most likely to use. They don't know that I am not in the habit of buying a whole melon, organic milk, double thick cream, pre packed leeks, grated cheese, or extra strong mints, except if they are reduced, or are a once a year purchase. If they think I am going to pay full price for these items just to use a voucher, they have another think coming. However, I was able to use �2.50 worth of vouchers against things I do normally buy. There was one exception though. I don't normally buy small apple pies from the bakery, but at a price of 10p for two it would be silly not to get them, and with a voucher for 25p off, it seems they have paid me 15p for taking them away, ha ha.

My normal choice of vegetables were not reduced, so I had to have what was available. Bags of prepared sprouts, leeks, broccoli, and green cabbage for 13p a bag. At that price they had to be bought. Roasting vegetables for 18p, and mixed salad leaves for 14p. I am not a fan of green cabbage, it's too darn tough, but I have made a big pan of tasty stew out of it, and smashed it to bits in the food processor, so now it's soup, and won't take so much chewing. Enough for tomorrow at a cost of 31p, and still more prepared veg in the fridge to make some more.

There was a lot of reduced  bread to be had, so I have stocked the freezer up again, now it's bursting. I bought two packs of mini doughnuts at 10p each, one for me, and one for the two postmen who come to my village. I often buy a bit extra at that price to give some away. I did pay normal price for a few things, but I choose carefully. Because I don't eat meat, I don't mind adding nuts to my diet, they are not cheap, but I buy what I can afford.

All in all a good shop, �20.27  paid after the vouchers were deducted. Included was a tin of tuna fish and some reduced turkey slices, a treat for the cats. This shop will last me two weeks hopefully.

I went over to the next village today for a dog walk with my friend. She had made some lovely roasted butternut squash soup for us, a welcome treat after battling the cold wind.

I've just thought of something I missed on yesterdays post about the rag rug. If you are going to make one, start in the middle of your backing, and work your way out towards the edge. If you are not sure how big you want your rug, you don't need to measure the backing first, just get a piece an approximate size, and stop when you have done enough. When you get to the edge fold under a border of about two inches, and peg through the two layers, that will make the edge stronger.

That's all for tonight. Have a nice weekend. See you tomorrow.
Toodle pip.

Read More »

So lucky

I can't afford to throw food away, I eat everything I buy. I had a conversation the other day with someone about buy one get one free offers. They said when they get their food home, they eat one of their BOGOF's and the other is left to fester in the cupboard or fridge, and eventually gets thrown out. I asked why they didn't eat it while it was still edible and they replied, because they didn't fancy it. Well to my simple mind, that's just plain daft, so they throw money away.

I look at my food and think I am so lucky to have something to eat. We all complain about how the cost of food is going up and up, and yes it is hard to make ends meet, but there are a lot of people in the world who live in real poverty, they don't even have a roof over their heads. Looking at the pictures of the recent hurricanes puts it all into perspective. I thank my lucky stars that I have food in my cupboard and my belly will be full today.

 Using up all my food is now second nature to me. No longer am I fickle, no longer do I turn my nose up at what's on my plate. With the exception of meat and fish which I will not eat, no longer am I picky with my eating. I thank God that today I have food.

My lunch today, which I have just eaten, was a few steamed veg that I couldn't manage last night.  

This piece of Walnut bread which was as hard as a rock needed eating. I bought it cheap on a yellow sticker a week ago.

What I did was make up a 12p packet of noodles in a small pan in the normal way with water, add a shake of curry powder, half a veggie stock cube, and a splash of sesame seed oil. When it is nearly ready mix in the steamed veg. Add a drop more water if it is too dry. Serve on a plate. Chop up the bread into small bite size pieces, and put on the top. The bread will soak up the sauce. Cost at a guess  about 25p.

I check my food cupboards and fridge every day to make sure nothing is forgotten. I bought it, I paid for it, and I will eat it. I love the food I cook for myself.
Toodle pip

Read More »

Thank goodness for convenience foods.

I've been out all afternoon, helping Helen deliver the Parish Council newsletters. Lots of walking, up and down steps, and getting my fingers trapped in letterboxes with strong springs. I couldn't be bothered with cooking tonight, so I resorted to convenience food. Take one bag of strong and peppery wild rocket, was �1, I paid 10p. Microwave one pot of minty green vegetables, ready prepared, peas, green beans, and broccoli, was �2, I paid 20p. Grill one Linda Mac's mozzarella quarter pounder burger. �1 for a box of two. It's hidden under the greenery, please excuse hazy pic the steam is coming off it.    

And there you have it, a cracking good convenience meal for 80p. That will do nicely. I'm going to  put my feet up and watch the third episode of George Clarke's Small Spaces, and get an eyeball at the scrummy William again. They are building a tree house for this series. Have a nice weekend, I'll catch you tomorrow.

Read More »

A boring post

It's been a mizzly drizzly sort of day, not nice enough to go anywhere, so I have stayed in. I did think about tidying up the veg beds now that the courgettes have finished. I lifted a few leaves and was about to pull them out, when I found a frog hiding underneath them. I couldn't destroy his hidey hole, so I left them alone. I'll leave it a while.

One of the sunflower stalks got blown over in the wind and was laid on the garage roof. It wasn't severed, just bent, so I managed to nail a long piece of narrow wood in an upright position onto the garage wall, and fasten the stalk to it like a splint.

It's been a boring sort of day. Washed the pots, boring. Cleaned the windows, boring. More sewing, boring. Had a bath, boring. Load of washing, boring. Dysoned the carpets, boring. And made yet another boring stew.

I found a few radishes in the garden, probably past their best, probably tough as old boots, but if I chop them up small they might just soften up enough to make them edible. I keep finding a few more runner beans. Just when you think they have all gone, you search again just in case you missed some, and bingo, you have. Spuds, and the last courgette out of the garden. Shop bought onion, and a tin of green lentils given to me.   

 

Other ingredients were Quorn pieces, frozen broad beans, and linseeds. For flavour I used curry powder, turmeric, garlic puree, and tomato ketchup. Boring but really tasty, and enough for three or four days. Will save cooking. I won't bother freezing it, just keep in the fridge in the pan, and microwave a portion when needed.

Don't worry, I won't be bored tomorrow. It's the weekend, my day off, ha ha. Hope you have a good one. Toodle pip.

Read More »