Freebies & boot fair goodies.

Myself and hubby have been busy bee's this last few weeks finishing off the last of the rooms that needed decorating ready for carpets to go down, first to be finished was the dining room, it feels lovely to finally get this room done as since we moved into the house over a year ago the room as been used as an indoor shed, although now the carpet is down and curtains up etc etc, the room felt very bare with just a dining table in it so I was on a mission to try and furnish it as cheap as possible.

Last year my sister gave my son a lovely fish tank, the plan was to always have it in the dining room once it was decorated, but first I needed something to stand it on,  upon browsing through the freebie sites on F@cebook I came across this picture

It does look a sorry state doesn't it?? I kindly asked the lady if I could have it and she said yes! Within an hour I had my husband driving to Folkestone to collect it whilst I waited at home sorting the sugar soap, sander and undercoat out, ready to give it a makeover, upon his return I was pleasantly surprised by the size of it, the photograph the lady posted of it made it look quiet small so I was delighted to find it was quiet a big old piece which would be ideal for accommodating the fishtank

Anyhow, within 24hrs I had turned it into this... Now just got to get the mirror up on the wall and set the tank up.

Looks much better although the photo does make the doors look like they have a dark tinge to them, must be the light.

Must admit I am very pleased with it and it will go alongside this other piece of furniture I picked up for the dining room from a friend who was going to throw it out!

 Here's after  a few coats of paint and a few new knobs... I spent a grand total of £15.98 for paint & knobs... not bad for 2 pieces of furniture!

Sunday I went off to the boot fair and picked up this original painting for £1, the frame was dark brown ... that had to go! so out came my tester pots of paint - I chose vintage green as I thought it went well with the colours in the actual painting.

This cute vintage tin for 50p

My son saw this on a stall and took a shine to it at 20p how could I refuse it? it brightens up my kitchen window.

I adore this 1950's bird, another bargain at £1 he sits just nicely between my vintage plates above the spice rack

A nice Cath Kidston style milk jug & sugar pot set, ... £1.50 brand new!

 Its nearly that time a year again where I'll be busy  in the kitchen making lots of jam's & chutneys to fill the pantry up with, so these 2 books will come in handy, and at 50p & 75p I think they were a good buy.

 A cute floral stock pot £1 ...its not very big but it will do for one pot meals

 A brand new flask with the label from Dotcom giftshop... £1.50, this will be fab for those autumn days when I'm stood watching my son at football practice, I can now have a warm cuppa whist watching.

and lastly these lovely enamel candle holders, which my lovely friend gave to me, Not found a place for them yet although I may save them for when we have completed the bath room and pop them on display in there.

This weeks charity shop buys

I tend not to visit many charity shops nowadays because the items they sell are priced way out of my price range, sometimes I have even seen items for sale in some shops that are priced either equal or just a tad over what the item costs new to buy!

Anyhow, on a Tuesday I always nip into a neighbouring village to collect the weeks eggs from the farm, whilst there I nip in to the Age concern charity shop, its only a small place but they have some good quality stuff at really good prices

The trip proved to be successful as someone had obviously had a sort out of their pyrex cupboard

 I got this little lot for the grand total of £5.50!

Also picked this book up for 20p, I do sometimes cook for the freezer but not as much as I would like to  because I never really know how long certain ingredients keep for in the freezer, I've not had chance to have a good look through it yet but even if I get one recipe that I'll use from it, it was worth the 20p.

Shepherds pie.

One of my all time favourite dinners is got to be Shepherds pie, my mum used to serve this up to us at least once a week, I do tend to make it now and again for myself and husband (my darling son hates mashed spud so it is a big no no for him) I have tried several different recipes for this over the years but this one is my fav.

I loved the Hairy bikers "mum's know best" programme when it was on the TV and I have bought the books that accompany the series and I can honestly say of all the recipes I have used out the books I have yet to find one I don't like, I particularly like this shepherds pie recipe because it is cheap, easy and tastes fantastic.

 Here's mine all ready to go in the oven to be browned and then served with cauliflower and thick gravy.

Beef cobbler

Last year I was reminiscing about school dinners, one of my all time favs used to be beef cobbler, anyhow whilst having one of my weekly chats to my sister on the telephone I mentioned about beef cobbler and how I'd like to make one, well she had just bought this fantastic  mince beef recipe book which had a beef cobbler recipe  in it, she read the recipe down the phone, I wrote it on a scrap of paper, stuck it in my book with the intention of making it for our tea one day, well a week later I had a parcel arrive which was a copy of the book! my lovely sister had gone out and bought me my very own copy!

It is an absolute must for any of you mince lovers out there, it is especially good for people who like to cook on a budget as mince is one of the cheapest most filling dishes going.


Here is my Beef cobbler all made ready for this evenings dinner

500g Mince beef
500g onions
1 bay leaf
1tsp Thyme
2Tbsp Tomato ketchup
300ml beef stock

Cobbler topping
225g self raising flour
0.5tsp mustard
pinch of salt
40g butter
85g Cheese
milk for glazing


1, preheat oven to 180c/ gas mark 4
add the beef to a pan and heat until evenly browned

2, Spoon the beef into a casserole dish, add the onions (chopped into quarters), tomato ketchup, thyme, bay leaf and season, pour in the stock, cover and stick it in the oven for 1hr

3, Whilst that is cooking crack on with the cobbler, sift the flour and salt, add the butter and rub in till it looks like breadcrumbs, stir in the cheese and mustard and enough water to form a soft dough

4, Roll out the dough to the thickness of 1cm on a lightly floured surface and cut out rounds with a 6cm cutter

4, Remove the casserole from the oven and discard the bay leaf, cover the mixture in the dough rounds , brush with milk and put in the oven for 30mins.

Hope it takes as good as it smells and looks :)

Britains best bakery

Been watching the Britain's best bakery on catch up, an episode I watched yesterday a lady who owned a cupcake shop in Brighton, made a rainbow cake as her speciality bake, Ooooo it looked beautiful! so thought I'd have a go, so this morning I emptied the cupboards and was gutted when all I could find was a yellow food colouring a dark pink, a purple and a light pink, I wanted green, blue and red! but with the weather being wild here I did not fancy going out to the supermarket so thought I'd make do with what I had and instead of doing 6 layers I made do with 4 due to the lack of colouring.

sooooo here it is...

Its massive as a 4 layer so gawd knows how big it would have turned out had it been a 6!
 
I'm really chuffed with how it has turned out as I never normally make cakes ..... my darling son is gonna love it when he gets home from school as he too was watching the programme with me and thought it was magic how the lady got all different colours into the cake, just hope he forgives me for pinching his tube of smarties to decorate it with!  :) x

Natures freebies...

I really do love this time of year, where I can pop on my cardie & wellies and go for a wander down the country lanes and come back laden with goodies to fill my pantry up.

I have been hooked on foraging for a good few years , well since my husband bought me Richard Mabey "food for free"  this year I am going that extra mile with gathering free food cos now I have a pantry to fill and a big one at that so I am  taking full advantage of the countryside offerings.

so far I have been really busy filling the pantry with various jams, chutneys & pickles ( will add individual photos and recipes etc to the blog when I get chance )
I have also took up wine making so all these free ingredients have come in very handy, so far I have Elderflower, Elder berry, Peach , Apple, beetroot & date on the go ready for Christmas. ( Again I will add individual recipes and photos soon)
 

Anyway...I had a spare hr this afternoon so off I went and gathered up this little lot.

These will be turned into Plum wine, Blackberry Jam and sloe Gin!

My husband went back to the plum tree this eve and collected 5ibs of plums so I will be making jam and plum brandy with those ready for christmas.

Plums have all been washed, Blackberries are soaking in salt water to get rid of the grubs and the Sloes are ripening... alll ready for me to work my magic on them tomorrow.

2 of my fav recipes ......Veg , lentil & mixed bean soup & sweet n sour pork

Whilst hubby is watching the footie I thought I'd nip on and share 2 of my all time fav recipes.

Veg, lentil & mixed bean soup

can mixed bean salad
can green lentils
can chopped tomatoes
can baked beans
handful of split lentils
2 large leeks
large onion
4 medium carrots
1 small swede
1 green 1 red and 1 yellow pepper
2 ham stock cubes
salt and pepper
mixed herbs

Chop all the veg into chunks, pop it all into a slowcooker, or large pan iif you want to do it on the stove, I prefer to do mine in my slowcooker cos then I can just forget about it without worrying if its boiling over or burning the bottom of the pan..lol

Add all the other ingredients, give it a good stir and cook on high for  3hrs

Then you should end up with something like this.

Its really is delicious and the ingredients costs just a few pounds, for a weeks worth of lunches! ... it freezes well too.


Sweet & sour Pork

500g chopped Pork, chicken or whatever meat you fancy
1 small tin of pineapple rings (chopped up)
1 onion
Mushrooms (optional)
Peppers (optional)
4Tbsp Tomato purée
2Tbsp Sugar
3Tbsp White wine vinegar
1Tbsp Soy sauce
200ml water
pinch of pepper
Fry meat & onions till brown, add the mushrooms & peppers

then in a separate bowl, mix the Tomato purée, Sugar, soy sauce, white wine vinegar & water, give it a good stir

The smell is blooming gorgeous!

Pour the juice over the meat, onions & peppers and leave to marinate for a few hrs or even over night!

when you are ready to pop it in the oven add the tin of pineapple with the juice and cook for 30mins - whilst cooking, pop some long grain rice in a pan, when cooked pop it in a wok, add 2 eggs and a dash of soy sauce and fry for 5 mins...

you should end up with something thing like this. 

Much cheaper then sweet n sour pork & egg fried rice from the take away plus there is loads left over to freeze for another day.

A cheap home-grown little treat for our furry friends.

As rabbit owners myself and Husband try to treat our bunnies as much as we can with a variety of fruit and vegetables, we don't give them alot cos my husband has them on strict diet, which consists of Pellets, Oats and plenty of fresh hay, our buns are far to special to be fed crap full of additives plus all the shop bought bunnie treats are so expensive so no shop bought "special treats" are allowed.
So along with a selection of home-grown herbs I grow these for them.....

                                                   A 250g box from Asda costs just 46p

                  Pop 20 - 25 peas into a container cover with soil and give a good watering

                                      
                                               And within 2weeks you'll end up with this

                           My Tommy along with our other 16 Rabbits really do love them



I tend to have 5-6 pots growing on the patio so when one is done I then repot and so on... it means I have a constant supply of greens for them to enjoy, plus you can grow them all year round which is a bonus! .. x
                                                                       

menu plan..

In between cooking some delicious chutneys & Jams I've spent the morning rooting through my freezers & cupboards so I can get an idea of what my meal plans for the next week or so is going to be, well I was pleasantly surprised cos I have managed to get 21 days worth of meals!! this is going to save us a few quid, obviously I will still need to buy all the fresh Fruit, veg and milk plus bits for Jacks lunch at school, although I only buy him yoghurt and juice cos biscuits, cakes and bread are all home made... I have tons of cleaning products, toiletries and loo rolls too, so I am giving myself a budget of £13 per week... Eeeeek!

Everything is going to be made from scratch unless otherwise stated, snacks will be fruit, cakes and biscuits and any leftovers from the evening meals.

The plan goes like this.....

Friday 30th Aug
B: pancakes
L: Homemade bean, Lentil & Veg soup ( recipe to come later)
T: Pork chops, Chips & Garden peas

Saturday 31st Aug
B: porridge
L: HM bean, Lentil & veg soup
T: HM Sweet n Sour pork & rice ( all made from scratch using 2 pork chops left over from the previous day...Will post step by step tomorrow)

Sunday 1st September
B: Toast with HM rhubarb & blackberry jam
L: Egg mayo salad sandwiches
T: Minced beef & Dumplings ( made using the Hairy bikers recipe)

Monday 2nd Sept
B: Cheerios
L: Tomato soup ( got a few tins lurking in the pantry that need using up)
T: Mash potatos, Fish fingers , Peas & parsley sauce

Tuesday 3rd Sept
B: Crumpets
L: Tuna mayo rolls
T: Toad in the hole, New potatos & veg

Weds 4th Sept
B: Porridge
L: ham salad
T: Chilli con Carne with Rice

Thurs 5th Sept
B: Weetabix
L Bean, Lentil & veg soup (from a batch I froze the previous week
T: Spanish omelette

Fri 6th Sept
B: Cheerios
L: Bean, Lentil & veg soup
T:Honey & mustard chicken portions, Jacket potatos and salad

Sat 7th Sept
B: pancakes
L: Cheese & onion rolls
T Homemade Mushroom soup with warmbreaf

Sun 8th Sept
B: pancakes
L: Shepherds pie and veg
T: any leftovers from lunch

Mon 9th Sept
B: cheerios
L: Home made Leek & potato soup
T: Macaroni cheese & garlic bread

Tuesday 10th Sept
B: Toast
L: leek & potato soup
T: gammon steaks, chips and pineapple

Wed 11th Sept
B: Porridge
L: Ham salad sandwiches
T: Chicken curry & egg fried rice

Thursday 12th Sept
B: Corn flakes
L: Gammon rolls ( Left overs from Tuesday's tea)
T: pizza's ( made using up all the odds and ends from out of the fridge)

Friday 13th sept
B: Toast
L: Egg mayo salad wraps
T: Spag bol

Sat 14th Sept
B : Pancakes
L: Fry up ( Bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, toast and mushrooms)
T: Cheese on toast

Sunday 15th Sept
B: Porridge
L: Home made game pie, (made using Pigeon breasts,  Wild rabbit and Pheasant) Mash, fresh greens and gravy
T:  Spaghetti on toast

Mon 16th Sept
B: Ready brek
L: Home made Celeriac soup
T:  lasagne & garlic bread

Tues 17th Sept
B: Toast
L: Ham salad rolls
T: Fish cakes, wedges and peas

Weds 18th Sept
B: Corn flakes
L: Celeriac soup
T:  Pork loins, Mash and veg

Thurs 19th Sept
B: porridge
L: Celeriac soup
T: sweet n sour pork & rice ( Made using 2 left over pork loins from previous day)

By the 20th Sept, I think the cupboards are going to be a little bare! :)

Blooming heck!!

Cannot believe its been nearly a year since I last posted on here..Eeeek!!

Sooo whats been happening since I last updated?? well quiet alot really
We have moved home, hence the reason of my lack of blogging, The house was in such a state when we moved in that all my spare time I've been either scrubbing or decorating! phew it took some bloody hard graft but we are very nearly there.. just the bedrooms & bathroom to do but they will wait till after Christmas.
our new house is situated in a small friendly village, the house is much bigger than the old one, room sizes & garden! which is perfect for us, its also a 1940's whereas our old one was a new build and to be quiet honest from the min I moved in our old house I hated it! everytime I tried to hang a picture on the wall half the plaster would come off lol
plus I find the older houses are easier to keep warm in the winter...we are very happy and I can soooo see myself & family living here for many years to come.


anyhow, after months of neglect my cook books and cooking utensils have finally come out, I now have a HUGE walk in pantry that needs filling with lots of Jam's, chutneys & pickles to keep us going through the winter.

Its great to be back :)

using up stale bread...

I bake a loaf every 2nd day, it used to be 1 a day but I found we had a never ending supply of bread that was going stale before we got round to using it (there is only so much breadcrumbs and croutons I can keep in my freezer!) .. anyway instead of a stale loaf needing to be used up I only have a few slices so thought I would treat my hubby with a bread & butter pud!

Spread the leftover bread with spread, cut into chunks.. 

Layer it in the dish sprinkle 2tbsp sugar and an handful of sultanas/mixed fruit between the layers, (I used 2 dishes as I have 4 slices of bread that needed using up) In a jug mix one egg (freshly laid this morning ..Thank you Dottie) with half a cup of Milk then cover the bread mix with it, I did have to add another splash of milk to these as the bed was really chunky.

Then sprinkle the tops with Brown sugar then leave to rest so the bread soaks up all the liquid, these will go in the oven later today..  One for pudding tonight and the other can go in the freezer for one day next week.... x

Take one pack of diced beef.....

I nipped in Tesco the other night to pick a few bits up and whilst browsing I noticed that they had big packs of Diced Beef on offer @ £2.94 a pack so I decided to get a pack, Rewind a few yrs and I would have not thought twice about using the whole pack on a stew or a curry .. Makes me shudder the amount of food & more importantly MONEY I have wasted over the years! ..

Anyhow today out came my pinny and my oven went on...

 I made some Cornish Pasties last week Recipe was out of my war time recipe book and they were lovely so I thought I would make some Peppered beef and mushroom ones this time as my Husband used to buy the Ginsters ones ( before our pennypinching days )

 So I cubed a few pieces of the beef up and added some beef stock and let it thicken ( whilst it did that I made the pastry ( Will post recipe further down the page)

 I then cut large rounds out of the pastry using a breakfast bowl, placed soem of the filling into the centre of the rounds, moistened the edges and pressed them together on top of the filling then pinched the edges in ( if that makes sense?! ) I did get 6 pasties but dropped the 6th one on the floor!1 was not impressed!

 So then I moved on to a curry, Again this recipe is out of my Eating for victory book .. I took another few pieces of meat and browned it with 1 small onion, added some mushrooms, 4tbsp Flour, 2tbsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder, 1tsp salt and 170ml water or stock (I used water)

 I had alot of Veggies that needed using up in the fridge so I thought I would do a beef casserole in the slow cooker, I love casseroles, especially now the weather is rapidly changing .. Just added a few mixed herbs, a cup of water and a splash of red wine .. Mmmmm the smell is gorgeous!

 Which then left me with this little bit.. I could have just loaded the casserole up but the money saver in me just could not justify it as I knew I could make another meal out of it so I chopped another onion, browned the meat with the onion, added some beef stock and part boiled a few potatoes .. Popped it in a casserole dish and covered it with pastry I had left over from the pasties.

This is what a £2.94 pk of diced beef got me. (casserole will be cooked over night tonight )

The pasties will make 2 dinners for me and my hubby and one for his Lunch
The casserole will make 2 dinners for the 3 of us
The curry will do 1 dinner for the 3 of us
and the Meat and potato pie will give us 1 dinner plus a small portion for my hubbies lunch


Because I try and cook everything myself and family eat  I have managed to totally get Christmas sorted this year a whole 3 months early!! and am well on my way to sorting out paying our bills early so that I can relax and enjoy the magic of Christmas instead of worrying about the bills that will be arriving after the Christmas period.



Pastry recipe:

8oz Plain Flour
1/2tsp Salt
4oz fat (I use half lard / half stork)
 cold water to mix

Sift flour & salt into a bowl
cube the fat and add to the flour
rub fat into flour using your fingertips (lifting the mixture up and letting it go)
rub until it looks like fine breadcrumbs
add just sufficient water to bind it together, mix with a knife
dust the worktop with flour handle pastry as little as possible
then roll out until you get the thickness you want (I make mine really thin as the pastry goes further)

I am now off to start the mass clean up in the kitchen after my cooking session :0) xx

Running all late...

 With my meal plan... This week is a no spend week so everything on the plan is what I've already got in... all bread, rolls & pizza bases are home-made

Week 4


30th July - 5th August

Sunday
Roast Chicken, Home grown Potatoes & green beans  carrots, Garden peas, stuffing & yorkie

Monday
Chips, sausage and beans  (Quick meal as we was out all day)

Tuesday

Creamy red pesto pasta

Wednesday

Chicken curry & rice ( Using chicken from Sunday lunch)

Thursday

Jacket potato, Quiche (Not sure what quiche I'll make, will depend on what I have that needs using up in the fridge) Salad

Friday

Our "fakeaway" night ..this week it is going to be a selection of pizzas with garlic bread & home made fries.

Saturday

Lasagne

Sunday 

Beef casserole, with new potatoes.

Breakfasts will be Pancakes, Cereal or Jam/ marmalade on toast

Jam is strawberry or cherry ( home made using up the left over fruit that was startign to turn in the fridge) ... very yummy it is too!

Lunches will be anything left over from previous day, ham, cheese or tuna sandwiches, soup or pasta salad

Snacks, fruit, yogurts, home made mousse, banana cake or Home made cookies.

Meal plan

Week 3
23rd - 30th July

Monday
Peppered steak with Jacket potato & salad
 
Tuesday
mushroom stir fry

Wednesday
Gammon, Oven chips, pineapple & peas

Thursday
Fish, new potato's & green beans

Friday
Tandoori chicken

Saturday
Mushroom soup & warm bread

Sunday
Chicken, roast potatos, carrots, parsnips onion, mashed swede


Lunches will be Tuna salad, pasta salad, boiled egg on toast, Ham salad sandwich and any left overs from previous day

Snacks will be  HM biscuits, yoghurt or fruit

Going really well with meal planning,  we are all managing to stick to it everyday, My son is trying new foods cos he has no alternative which is fantastic! 
I'm also sticking to what is on my shopping list so no random purchases which is saving me money! ... Can't be bad

My motivating post....

 Since I've been back doing my meal plans this has really helped as I feel so organised with my food, I know a week in advanced what we will be eating and I just sort it without even thinking really, I buy the stuff I need for the week to last us and that is that .. DONE!

This got me thinking, I wonder if I could manage to do it with my everyday life


 So yesterday myself and Shane had a test run......
I wrote down a list of things I needed to get done that day

The list consisted of everything from digging up the spuds in the garden to doing a load of washing! ... and it really did work!

I managed to do everything I set out to do and more... and I sat down last night on my sofa and was able to just sit there and relax! there was no feeling guilty cos I had sat down when I could have been doing something that I had put off earlier on in the day


From now on I think the list is the way to go!

And for that extra bit of motivation some days I might even post my list on here.

Here is today's list :

Done so far.....

Done a white load of washing
Washed the dog blankets
Put the breadmaker on
Made 2 x cheesey loaves
Put the lamb in the slow cooker
Hoovered downstairs
Polished living room
Made the beds


Still to do :

Menu plan for next week
Shopping list for next week
Sew Jacks badges onto his Beaver jumper
Make a start on the ironing
Prepare veg for dinner
Make a salad
Go for a walk with the dog
Pick some pine cones to stash for christmas Crafts
Parcel up Ebay items
Feed the dog
Bath Jack
Do 30mins of reading/writing with Jack.




I would love to eventually get myself into a routine where things are done on certain days for example,
Ironing is done on a Tues
Washing is done on a Monday
Beds changed every friday
Cooker cleaned every 3rd Thursday
Wed will be my baking day etc etc etc


I will get there :) x

Todays Tesco bargains

On the way back from dropping Jack off at Beavers I had to nip into Tesco to get some salad leafs, whilst there I thought I would have a nose at the reduced section, was just in time too as the lady had just reduced the last of the bits for the night and no one was there so I had first dibs on everything! I couldn't believe my luck cos normally its like a rugby scrum to get with 2 foot of the reduced section


This is what I got :)

Ideal for our weekly Saturday morning fry up.

If I slice it thinly I will get 2 meals out of this

Ideal for one of our "Fake-away" Fridays when I'm doing Donor Kebab .. so that will be one evening meal and just enough left for hubby's sandwiches the next day

Normally I would make my own but with these being so cheap I thought they would be great to freeze for Christmas ... So that is one thing off my Christmas food list :D

This is what I had originally went into Tesco for so really chuffed I managed to get it for less than half price!

£15.06 worth worth of food for £7.09 not bad when you think there is 4 main meals and 1 lunch there without counting the sausages wrapped in bacon.