Soup of the day

Hello. I've never really liked tinned soup. Occasionally I've had tomato or mushroom, as a quick snack, but not been overly keen on it. There are so many different kinds now, but somehow I can't bring myself to try any. There are too many ingredients listed on the label, it puts me off buying it. I imagine huge vats of gunge bubbling away in the factory, yuk, I don't fancy that at all. 

I've checked out the price of tinned soup, Baxters is �1.15 and �1.49. Campbells is �1. Heinz is 74p and 89p. Tesco is 49p and 89p. Tesco Value is 25p. 

So this week I'm having a home made soup extravaganza. A different one every day. There won't be any spending on ingredients, it will be all about using what I already have. I am sure you could make soup out of almost anything, all you need is a stick blender, and a bit of imagination.

Today's soup is potato and runner bean, home grown from the garden. Into the steamer goes two potatoes, and a portion of frozen beans. Steam for seven minutes, then transfer it to a smaller non stick pan, with the water. 

Next I added a shake of pepper, a shake of garlic powder, and a level teaspoon of whole grain mustard. Zap it all together, and return to the heat for a couple of minutes. Served with a slice of wholemeal bread. Very comforting on a blustery day, and tasty too, at very little cost. Please excuse poor photo's, flash needed now we don't have many daylight hours. The soup was a pale green colour, eaten straight out of the pan I may add, to save on washing up. More soup tomorrow.

Heidi has found a new favourite place, on top of the fridge freezer. She can view the whole kitchen from this vantage point, and can be ready to receive any tasty morsel that might be offered. I've brought the money plants inside now, I have three of these, still haven't found a place for the other two.

Mayze has decided she quite likes to sleep in my box of crafting bits and bobs, now I have stolen all the fabric that was lying around on the table. The cats were inside by 5.30pm tonight, I try and get them in as soon as it gets dark.

While I think of it, Beverley, please go back to your comment yesterday, someone has asked about your recipe for apple sauce. Feel free to explain what it is in another comment.

I'm a bit busy this week, things to do. Going to help Helen tidy the garden at one of her rental houses. Apparently the previous tenants have moved and left the house and garden in a terrible state. Lots of work to do. Also helping a friend with a couple of dog walks, and trying to get the picture finished. I like being busy.

Feel free to add your favourite soup recipes, let's make it a souper dooper soup week.
Toodle pip.

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Nice and easy Sunday

Hello. Now what shall I write about tonight. No, that isn't a question for you, it's a question for me. I do not expect you to come up with ideas for a blog post, though if you do decide to ask me a question, I can usually cobble together an answer. You want to know how my day has been? Well, a bit uneventful. A mug of coffee got me going at 7am, nice that it's a bit lighter in the mornings now. The third tree was on my mind, the yellow one. I did some pink stitching on it last night, but wasn't happy, the colour wasn't right. So I unpicked it, and chose orange. Much better, orange stitching on a yellow tree, that will be fine. I got it finished, cross stitch, then had a bowl of bran flakes.

I did think about doing a load of washing but couldn't be bothered, There wasn't a full load in the basket so I decided to put it off until a bit more was added to it. The mess on the table was getting on my nerves, all the materials I had gathered together for the weaving were now a big tangled mess due to two cats using it as a bed. So I sorted it out to make some space to work on. Some of the fabric got binned, it frayed easy and was just too messy.

My elevenses was a banana sandwich, and my lunch was some of the tortelloni with spinach. This afternoon I did a bit in the garden. All the bean canes are now sorted, grouped together in size, tied up in bundles, and stored in the garage. I had a big hole in the middle of the raised beds, where an apple tree used to stand. It finally keeled over a few months ago, with a bit of pushing and shoving, and the hole needed filling in and the ground flattening. There was no apple tree root because it had rotted away, but there was a rose bush root which was next to it. A bit of sweating and cursing as I attacked it with a fork, and finally it came out. I put the contents of the compost heap in the hole and covered it up with soil. All riveting stuff, eh!

A bit more on the picture this afternoon, I can see the end in sight, but not yet. Just as I think it is not far off ready, I come up with another idea. You can't rush these things. You know I said I have been given another chrome towel rail exactly the same, well it isn't exactly the same, it is bigger. So, I have the choice of making another picture with it, or another idea is that I can place the smaller one, the picture, on top of the new one, and fasten the two together to make a frame. I wasn't going to give it a frame because I didn't think it needs one, but looking at them together, I think it looks pretty cool. I will give it some more consideration. You never know, I might come up with a better idea.

Dinner was steamed potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and sweetcorn. I made a drop of gravy in a mug in the microwave to go with it. Very nice.

Well blow me down, the bulb has just gone in my desk lamp, I think I've got a spare somewhere. Nope the spares don't work either, think it needs further investigation, maybe it's the switch or the fuse in the plug. I'll check it out later, meanwhile I'll finish this with the ceiling light switched on. I have another desk lamp upstairs if I can't get this one to work.

Oh gawd, here's Heidi back again, she will insist on lying on the table in front of me. I might as well give up.

I will sign off now as I've got the bath water running. It's a bit slow at filling up but I think it's almost ready. A nice long soak awaits me, bliss.
Toodle pip

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Trolley dolly on the hunt for bargains

Good morning. Listening to Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2 as usual. Much more enjoyable than running round a track with 200 others on the Saturday morning Parkrun. I have given up on that, can get on my cross trainer if I feel the need to workout.

Trolley dolly did a town centre shop yesterday. I took the trolley because I knew I would have a lot of bulky stuff to carry. No point in stretching my arms when I can let the wheels take the strain. First port of call was the Cash and Carry on the way in. Not much to tempt me there. Mature cheese �2.50 for 350grm. I can get something similar at Aldi a bit cheaper, but although it says 'mature' on the label, it isn't as tasty, so I'll pay the �2.50 and get what I like.

I get pet food from Home Bargains, plus a few bits for myself. Two cartons of fruit juice, 59p and 49p, don't like to pay more than that. I use it very sparingly because of the sugar content, but diluted with copious amounts of water I can spin it out to make lots of drinks. I picked up a 500grm Coffee Mate for for �2.19, that's the same price as the other discount stores so it doesn't matter where I get it from. It costs a lot more at the supermarkets. Six large free range eggs, 99p is about standard price at most places.

On to B & M discount store. They have an offer on sugar at the moment. 69p per 1 kilo bag, or two for �1. Worth stocking up at that price, but the only thing I use it for is one spoon in my morning coffee, so it's going to last absolutely ages. Got the trolley so I might as well get it. There is an offer on Princes tuna flakes, 59p a tin, or two for �1. I got four tins for cat treats, All three cats like it, have to limit it though, too much salt. More pet food bought here. I treated myself to one 19p flapjack.

On to Wilko. I find this store expensive for what I want, but they have bags of Ultima dry cat food, chicken variety, at �1.75. Mayze and Heidi absolutely love this, though I limit it and give them a cheaper Whiskas dry as well. If you go and look for this, it's only the chicken variety at that price, other flavours are more expensive, don't know why.

Last point of call was Aldi. A few essential items needed. Two cartons of soya milk at 59p each. This is 65p at Tesco. A look at the Super Six veg offers, they are 59p today, and not much left, the counters look trashed. I rummaged through the 68p bags of bananas, searching for the largest amount I could get.  YAY, found 9 small bananas, that will do nicely. A bag of 7 large onions 59p. I would have liked smaller onions and more of them, but there aren't any, and I don't want to go traipsing anywhere else. A large tub of natural yogurt 45p. Two packets of cream crackers 28p each, these are a good price, and two packs of soft cheese with garlic and herbs, 49p each. I picked up a box of bran flakes, like to keep a spare in, 88p, same price as Tesco. I thought I might get a quiche, but they had a short date on them, and I have already had my quota of pastry type stodge with the pizza I ate. By the way, the pizza was awful, yes you do need to put your own topping on them, otherwise they are a rip off. I won't bother again, unless I find them drastically reduced to a few pence.

Looks like it might be a nice day, so best to get out in the sun, and top up my vitamin D. Have a nice weekend.
Toodle pip

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We need more art

Hello. It has been reported that we are going to get a massive new factory on the banks of the Humber not far from here, and it's going to build new wind turbines. People are excited and rightly so, because there will be a few thousand new jobs created which are desperately needed for the area. Training has already begun in anticipation of this. 

I am in favour of exploring all sustainable energy sources, because one day the oil will run out. I know there is a lot of controversy around wind farms, but this post is not about that. One criticism is that they are ugly, but I have a solution to that. Why do they all have to be the same boring white colour? Who has decided that, the designers or the manufacturers? Was it put to a vote, or did one person sit at their drawing board and say, that's it, this is how I want them to be made, and they will be white?  

Well I have a better idea. Why not paint them different colours? Why not make them works of art? Paint hippy style flowers on them. Make them into trees with three branches. Put lights on them so they glow in the dark. Make them tourist attractions, start a turbine spotters club with a book so people can travel the country ticking off and photographing all those they have visited. Sell turbine spotters all inclusive holidays, it would do wonders for coach companies looking for business.

We could be the first country in the world to start a collection of artistic turbines. We could have visitor centre's selling mini turbine models. Trips up to the top of them for fantastic views. Helicopter rides to view them from above. There are endless possibilities. What we need at this new factory is someone with vision, someone who can exploit the full potential of money making spin offs. Even more jobs could be created.

As I walk around our towns I see lots of opportunities for improving the environment we live in. The dull drab exteriors of derelict buildings, empty shops, and groan inducing general mess of the place. I don't mean just litter, the way signs are put up everywhere which do absolutely zilch to cheer things up. What we need is lots of paint. We need empty shop fronts to be turned into works of art, posters to brighten them up. Brightly coloured waste bins. We need to think outside the box, not just take the easy option and stick with what it's always been like. We need more art.

Where is the creativity in every day life? Why keep doing something when with a bit of forethought things could be made better? Creative thinking and ideas should be encouraged, not just in schools, but throughout everyday life. We should not be accepting of, 'that's how it's always been', we should be doing things differently. We are moving forward in medicine, technology, and engineering, so why do we have to look at white wind farms when they could be so much better.

Now let's see what ideas you can come up with. What could be made better using art where you  live? Or has your council already come up with some good ideas?
Toodle pip

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Top up shop to keep me going

Howdy. The stew is still on the go, though with the addition of curry powder, it is now a not very hot veg curry. I added the last of the cauliflower, steamed with a couple of spuds, to bulk it up a bit, and it went down a treat at lunchtime. I took a bowlful with me to eat at my friends house while I sat with her dog. You remember Henry the choc lab. While the curry was waltzing around in the microwave I heard a pop, oh dear, it had exploded and splattered the inside. Oooops. Anyway, I waited for Helen to come back, as she had texted me to say she wouldn't be long. My payment for the dog sitting was four mucky carrots and an exotic cauliflower. A good swap I thought.   

I was thinking about doing the yellow sticker dash tonight, but now I can't be bothered. I decided to call in at a couple of smaller shops on the way back, and see if there was any reductions. Managed to find a few items, so the big shop can wait. These will see me through the next few days. 

The list is as follows.
The Co op shop.
Packet of 4 cheese tortelloni. Was �2.50, now 89p
Packet egg noodles. Was �1.00, now 55p
Large cheese pizza. Was �3.00, now �1.05
Seeded bread. Was 65p, now 25p
Bag spinach. Was �1.00, now 55p

Small Tesco.
Another bag spinach. Was �1.00, now 33p
Four flapjack bars. Was 90p each, now 9p each.
Vitalite spread. Full price, �1.00
Three packets of ground almonds. �1.05 each, buy 2 get 1 free.

Total spent �7.08.

I think Pizzas are a bit of a rip off really. I wouldn't normally buy one, but as it's reduced I'll have it for a change. A big crust of bread with a skimpy topping.

I need to go to town tomorrow to pay a bill. Could do with some bananas, soya milk, and eggs from Aldi. Then I should be ok till the beginning of next week.

A quick note here, thank you to Caroline for sending your old towel rail to Helen, for me to pick up. I now have a second one exactly the same as the first, for another piece of artwork. I've got enough projects floating around in my head to last me through the winter now.
Tatty byes and toodle pip.

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S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the stew

Hello all you foodies out there, come share my meals with me. I am getting down my food supplies, the fridge is bare apart from half a lettuce, half a cauliflower, some green grapes, and half a tub of plain yogurt. Putting off going shopping, I haven't been for almost two weeks, but might do a yellow sticker run soon. 

So, I am using stuff up. Yesterday's lunch was some of those not very nice beef style soya strips cut in half and cooked in a drop of oil with half a tin of chick peas, and a shake of garlic powder. After a few minutes when the strips were soft, stir in two eggs and scramble. Eat straight out of the pan to save washing up. Nice and filling.  

Yesterday I dug up one bed of potatoes, in all that wind. Got a good haul, still one more bed to go. I spent �3 on seed potatoes, and so far have done well out of them. Haven't had to buy any for months.

This is my food experiment for the week. I made a veg stew on Monday in a big pan. The ingredients were potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, one onion, bulgur wheat, garlic powder and half a packet of sauce mix. Yesterday I added a tin of chopped tomatoes, and the other half tin of chick peas. I transferred what was left after dinner last night, to a medium size pan. I've just had some for lunch, zapped in a bowl in the microwave, and now the pan is sitting in the fridge.

I'm going to see how long I can keep it going for, by adding to it each day. It will last till Friday, possibly longer, but I might have gone shopping by then so I might eat it and finish it off. As I said, I haven't got much food left, but this is what I thought I could add to it. Any tins because the contents are already cooked. I could cook some rice, pasta or noodles. Sultanas are a good addition to stews.

From the freezer. sweetcorn, ready cooked rice, more runner beans, cooked swede and carrots, and the last of the beefy strips. I could cook the onion and the potato in the microwave and add them.

These should keep it going, plus some spices, or veg stock cube, or curry powder, and porridge oats to thicken it.

Have you had a look in your cupboards and freezer to see if you can make an everlasting stew? What will you put in it? Can you stretch your weekly shop to ten days or even longer? C'mon, spill the beans :o)
Toodle pip.

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Shaping up.

Hello. I really shouldn't be showing you this because it will spoil the surprise, but what the heck, I haven't anything else to write about today. It's looking good so far, still more work to do on it. 

More stitching needed on the blue tree, red one still to do.

Still thinking about what colour this tree should be.

More leaves wanted.

It's shaping up, all the loose ends have to be tidied on the back of it. I'll get there eventually.
Toodle pip

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