Countdown to Christmas 2022: it's s bit warm to be considering Christmas, but I'm doing it anyway! (Thread 3.)

[NoWordForFluffy]

Evening!

Here we go...unless we talk more, this will do us til the big day! 🎅🏻 🎄

41 Fluffy. He's getting on a bit now 😉

I'll be doing property litigation, with bits and pieces of other stuff, so I'm quite excited to get going with it.

It's a mix of office and WFH, crazy, though I'll be in the office more to start with until I settle into the role.

I've been looking at our freezer as well, trying to work out what we need to eat up. There's a lot of chicken and ice lollies in there at the moment. Could swap you for some cottage pie 😉

110

Morning!

Good luck today, Firefly!

We also have a fair amount of chicken in the freezer. Plus rhubarb and other frozen fruits from the allotment, and many beans! I've about a kg of raspberries in the fridge I need to do something with too.

Have a good day Firefly!

We haven’t got any ‘meals’ in our freezer. It’s all bread and veg.

Work was awful yesterday so busy and stressful. Really not keen to go again today

Good luck firefly!

we still have mince pies from last year in our freezer.

I think we dug the last ones out in late spring, Dreaming!

It gets filled to the gunnels with allotment stuff at this time of year. I'm not sure we eat enough crumble to warrant the fruit mountain in there, mind you!

I've just signed up for Tesco click and collect priority. So I'll get access to the early priority Xmas slots! I want it to start getting cooler and darker. Feels too summery atm

Morning. Firefly if we were up your way I'd happily give you some cottage pie. DH made it with a potato, carrot and sweet potato mash and it's delicious 😋
I hope your first day is going well.

Wreck fingers crossed todays shift isn't so bad 🤞🏼

I had an awful nights sleep so I feel zombie like today. Workload isn't too manic which is good but I'm still considering a lunchtime nap to get me through.

Absolutely loved the thunderstorm last night but the puppies didn't.

Good Luck Firefly

Our new freezer is going to be ver' ver' organised ( she said) it's a small chest freezer in the garage ( we've got the kitchen one too) mainly for DS pizzas, yorkshire puddings , garlic bread and big bags of frozen chicken.

Autumnal here and fallen leafy feeling.
The DC are having their last couple of weeks before University starts again.

I finally bought a Soup Maker after months of thinking shall-I-shan't-I?
I can rustle up some Random Vegetable Soup

Good luck firefly

Our freezer is tiny. I know I say it every year but I need to buy a big chest freezer. I just don't have anywhere to put it.

My soup maker top tip 70 is keep any leftover mashed potatoes. Bung them in a bag in the freezer until you make soup. I chuck them in still frozen and haven't killed anyone yet. Perfect for thickening soups and the butter & milk used to make the mash helps make a creamy soup.

Good luck Firefly

I can't reach things in the bottom of a chest freezer because I'm a short arse so we've got an undercounted one with drawers in. Ours lives in a the cupboard under the stairs Neros - would something like that be an option for you?

Woolly I'm assuming mash would help in soup being made on the hob too wouldn't it? That's how I make mine and it never occurred to me to add mash...

Work is dragging today. I swear the clocks are on a go-slow 😫 plus I'll be doing overtime later.

Oh I’ve always wanted a soup maker.

Work was less stressful today thankfully. There’s awful flooding nearby (ten min drive) yet we haven’t even had any rain here.

I'll remember the mashed potato tip Woolly
I could freeze a roast potato on a Sunday (hide it from DH)

I make lentil soup but I don't know if they'd cook in the time .

I roasted some veg to go with rice today ( getting my 5-a-Day ) thinking there might be some left ...but we ate it all

So the maiden voyage of soup will need to be a carrot&coriander .

We have no storage Crazy. Bloody new builds! Under the stairs is currently used for some Christmas decorations, cleaning supplies and things like a foot spa. I remember watching a Delia Christmas special and she had not 1, but 2 full size freezers in her garage. Living the dream! 😁

Is it the time to remind people we have 3 freezers?! 🙈🤣

One large chest, one under-counter size and one as part of the fridge freezer!

We only have one freezer. If we ever move we will probably get electric to the shed and put a cheat one in there.

Us too Fluffy. One FF in the kitchen and two small chests fnar in the garage. DH is circling to switch one off depending on energy prices. It's a trade off between batch cooking/taking advantage of offers and kWh.

One is full of stewed apples and the veg needed to make a big batch of tomato pasta sauce and the other has got batch cooked chilli, oven chips, bread rolls and ice cream plus bits and bobs from the butcher.

Crazy mash would definitely work in stove top soup too. As per 70's post I also put leftover roasties in soup (although they are few and far between) and leftover roasted carrots and parsnips.

70 I find lentils cook fine in the soup maker but I need to soak barley if I use that - either boil them up a bit in a saucepan in the morning and then leave them to soak before making the soup at lunchtime or I run the soup maker twice.

I'll try adding mash next time then Woolly. I don't think I've ever seen a left over roastie in this house though - even if I leave one, DH or the dog eats it 😂

We have veg, breads, wedges and lollies in the FF and a mix of batch cooked cottage pie, chill, soup and veggie burgers / sausages etc in the other one.

Storage (or lack of) is a PITA Neros. Ours isn't a newbuild but the house is small and the previous owners removed almost all built in storage to try to make the rooms bigger 🙄

I've finished work, done overtime, had a shower and have now flopped on the sofa in pjs.
I've got terrible period cramps so will having a cwtch with the dog and cross stitch then have an early night.

Does anyone watch The GB Sewing Bee? I'm considering watching as every episode is on iplayer and I think it'll be a nice gentle watch (like bake off and Downton) for the winter.

I still haven't managed to find a Good Food magazine but am now limited to shops near work.
Work is very busy and stressful at the moment so I need my Christmas escapism.
We are trying to use up some food from the freezer to make space for Christmas. I have valiantly eaten the florentines I found in the Christmas box 😇
Looking forward to the Christmas food ordering and the Good Food magazine when I manage to find one!

I found it in Tesco yesterday Constantly but was in a rush so just walked past it. I will leave this thread immediately If you can't find it by the weekend do you want me to post you a copy?

I've been to aqua aerobics this evening. I am officially the least-coordinated person on the planet. 🙈🤣 Good fun though. 😁

Good of you to take one for the team, eating the florentines, CC!

109

Morning!

I woke early. I thought exercise near bed time helped you sleep?! Not me! 🙈🤣

It's chucking it down here too. We had grumbly thunder yesterday afternoon, nothing major. I think we're getting the summer's missing rain now, however! Why and Woolly definitely are where they live. ☔️ 🌧