Frugaleering, cakes and baby talk

[Taytocrisps]

Just starting off a new thread as the other one was getting full.

I'm doing roast chicken with cheesy leeks. Am also going to do a bit batch of roasted butternut squash soup. Should probably get off my bum and have a shower. Will have another coffee first love Sundays

I am super excited about getting a massive freezer when we move. Just imagining all the yummy batch cooked things we can stuff it with :o

I do my own frozen roasters too. And a range of frozen veg to just Chuck in.
Em I do brisket in the slow cooker, onion and a beef Oxo. falls apart and the fat melts. Sc water into gravy

We also have a drawer full of cake in our freezer. Dsis made scones abd Sent us the leftovers, dm makes macaroons (not the almond bright coloured French ones - the coconut ones) and chocolate brownies (secret ingredient augergine...recipe from Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache) and a gazillion other tasty baked things. We’re always sent home with things. And can’t eat them all. Sometimes I take them into work. Might suggest to dh that he takes the majority of the cake drawer into his work actually. Will save me eating it all....

Bolognaise is the main thing i batch cook, i make a vat of the stuff and get about 6 additional freezer portions, otherwise my freezer is full of bread, chips, meat etc

The carnival was hard work last night, was a much longer walk than I imagined and about half way along the route I really needed a wee, to the point that I didn't think I would make it to the end my own fault for drinking a bottle of sprite not long before setting off!! Literally ran to the nearest loo at the finish line was then another mammoth walk back to the car and my feet and back were complaining a lot by the time we got home.

Oh well, spent £5 on chips and a drink, needed petrol and chocolate on the way home which was £30 i think.

Had a worrying email from Yodel to say they have left a parcel in a 'safe place' somewhere have looked everywhere obvious and can't find it plus haven't seen a card through the door. Am wondering if it would be the teddy I ordered off ebay, will be well peed off if its been nicked.

Hope you are o.kay Mammy

So they didn't even tell you what safe place?! We have had stuff put in our recycling bin before thankfully not too near bin day but if we had been on holiday or something...

Caglets have built 10 Bionicles out of that box so far! DD is using one to show me her ballet exercises :o

Although if you haven't had a card through it could be a scam, I have heard about some like that where you have to phone up.

Cag you'll be singing that every time you vacuum!

HAha! Sexy vax.

Dh told me off this morning. Had the radio on one of the US country stations. Singing along to Big and Rich “save a horse ride a cowboy” apparently ds doesn’t need to hear things like that....

won’t tell him we were listening to kanyes first album the other day then...full of swears that one!!

I'd be careful that it's not a scam girlie could you call yodel from their proper number to find out? The shop gets loads delivered from yodel, and we've never had an email.

We are batch cooking apples! I had a production line going, dd3 was washing, ds weighing (3.5kg so far), I was coring and peeling, dd2 was chopping. Dd1 still in bed! So all the cores and peels are boiling down for apple jelly (dd3 has this with all meat), and the flesh for pie filling. Have done about 1/10 of the apples so far!

I bought big plastic takeaway containers from amazon, they are so useful. 50 were £6 or so, double takeaway normal size. They go a few uses and I recycle once broken.

At home today. Got some garden sorting to do. Moved some breeze blocks at last, to map out the footprint of the new shed. I squished 2 fingers between blocks. I don't recommend this! Have 2 purple knuckles, but nothing broken. Fool.

mammy I've said before, but I think your dh is a bit like my ex. It is tough. Why does everything need to be a battle? I never understood it. I wonder if he's changed, or if his new wife struggles with it, then I remember that I don't care! And they never apologise do they, cos in their mind they were not in the wrong.

For those of you with slow cookers, you can fill your freezers with prepared bags of chopped veg, meat and seasoning. If you freeze them flat you can get loads into quite a small freezer. You take a bag out the night before and stick it in the fridge, then bung it in the slow cooker in the morning, add the liquid (good idea to write on the bag how much liquid is required and how long to cook for) and voilà.

There are loads of ideas on Pinterest, it does take an afternoon to prep the bags, but it saves so much time when you're busy all day and need something ready for supper when you get home.

We had a nice night out last night, a friend hosted a creole meal and karaoke night, the food was amazing the singing not so much and I didn't want to turn up empty handed (despite the host saying not to bring anything), so I picked a load of chilies from my garden (mixture of reds, yellows and greens) and took them, DH thought we should have bought a bottle too, but there was so much to eat and drink already that I don't think it was rude (and a lot of time and effort went into growing those chilies!)

LaChatte I think that's lovely.

There's something about autumn days that make me want to go shopping! Have no money though.

Right the chicken is cooked and carved and the b'nut squash and other veg is in the oven roasting. Will do a round of cheese and ham toasties for lunch before we go out. Dh is hoovering and cleaning upstairs. I did only hoover there Friday but with the cat it needs doing again plus dh does a proper job whereas I just hoover around things

Girlie I agree it sounds like a scam. Bastards. Have you tried googling?

I've even got all the school uniform washed and dried.

Oh well em Cagletini is totally ruined then - I've ordered the latest series of family guy and American dad to watch during night feeds 😂😂

Sleepover people gone. Waiting for family to arrive. Hot tub party successful thus far.

cag I’ve been watching dexter... so poor ds will already be a bit traumatised! Haha!

Lovely friends have just popped in. More gifts for ds. Omg. So lovely though. They were telling us about another mutual friend who has just (in the last 2 months) has twins. OMG. I honestly don’t know how I’d cope with two babies. snuggly I have so much respect for twin mums/parents. Ooof

DD2 got bf and had lots of bottles through numerous seasons of Scandal

Afternoon. I'm afraid I'm not a batch cooker. I never use the frozen stuff. And, I love the cooking process. No help there then!

Mammy Do you think this was MH related, or DH just being an arse? In any event, he should always support you.

I raced today. A 10 mile event. Paced badly (which is so not me at all) but still came away with 71 mins 30 seconds so pleased with that as its a 70 second improvement from a few months ago. I can go faster too.

Therefore NSD.

DD has been invited to attend an archaeology masterclass at Cambridge in a few weeks. I'll be in Cambridge for the day while she does the class. I don't mind having an exploration during that time. Would there be anywhere specific that you would recommend Sunny?

Ocado have 7 day delivery anytime on offer at the minute at £3.99 per month if folk are interested?

Oh wow - I was 3rd in my age group and 18th female overall. Big event. I know that's bragging, sorry. But I'm really chuffed with that.

Nsd.

We’ve been for a walk round the lanes. Probably a 40 minute/hour stroll. Lovely day for it. Dry not too cold. Yay!

Had an early dinner. Brisket was lovely. Mmmm.

need that sounds like a brilliant oppertunity for dd! Well done on your run. You sound so like a pro, did a good time, great improvement, but can do better, and I did this and this wrong

Have been doing a lot of digging today, it's safer than moving the blocks. Had to go out for bread, so £20, I only got 200 points, as I didn't think to split my shopping into 2 transactions, doh! Gammon joint in the slow cooker.

Well done need!

Have got roasties, parsnips, carrots, cheesy leeks and posh m&s stuffing (as a treat) all in the oven. Yum! And dh. Ought me some of those m&s Belgian collection biscuits. They're the best.

Bloody hell. Keep losing post because of accidentally tapping those stupid bloody mn local links at the bottom. Grrr.

Give up now. Long day. V tired. Got free apples so making crumble to cheer us all up!

mammy I'm sorry to hear DH is causing problems again . How are things today?

Great result need

Wreck dinner sounds lovely. Now I want posh M&S stuffing!

We're having rack of lamb, mashed potatoes, broccoli and sweetcorn. It's the teeniest, tiniest rack of lamb you ever saw - the downside to ordering online. Good thing there's only 3 of us.

Need do you know I'm even sure anymore I think the worst thing is I'm becoming indifferent to it

I went to Aldi on way home this morning & spent about €9 in dogfood, spread and 6 kinder eggs (2 put away for dc another time)
Just been again to do full shopping €155 needed flour both kinds, bun cases, bin bags and the like. Pork chops were 4 for €2 so got 2 packs and a bottle of BBQ sauce for pulled pork. I had a list & I stuck to it pretty well. Got a turkey crown too. I've a drawer in freezer full of ends of bread. I'm going to make a massive batch of stuffing. Also got a sticky toffee pudding & icecream loads of frozen fruit - actually I got loads for my money compared to two weeks ago.

Need I'm going to give the magnum wash up liquid one last shot

I bought a kenwood microwave in currys with 3 year instant replacement guarantee & guy basically told me come in before three years are up and say it's faulty!

So even on a mediocre day you came third Need? Well done. I think Catherine of Aragon ended up in Cambridge in a cathedral.

housewifeconfidential.co.uk/sage-and-onion-stuffing/ Frugal stuffing recipe. I just used ordinary onions, teaspoon dried sage & no lemon and everyone said it was lovely. Dh asked me who really cooked the lunch Dn tells me you can cube bread and use a hand mixer to make bread crumbs which I didn't know.

Lonely You are cracking on with that garden. I can't get the enthusiasm up to mow the lawn

NSD.

I need a 54lb bag of spuds but Dh is off this week. I need to sneak it past him. Otherwise there will be questions. Maybe I can eek the rest out.