August Chat

[mellow2]

New thread for August.

lol sfx!

I'm feeling a little better thanks, just need a decent night's sleep I think.

I know there's a butchers and fishmongers on Turnham Green Terrace in Chiswick, think that's where Quokka used to go.

I've found meal planning helps us save money & also we don't waste as much. Very dull but a necessary task I've found!

Once our drains were block and the "eel" didn't work the plumber had to use a "kantic ram" (that's what it said on the invoice). Had a good laugh over that (especially since we thought the landlord was going to pay for it which turned out not to be the case later on.)

ros meal planning is very good but it is one of the things dh is terribly against rather irrationally I might add.
I think mostly because we both worked managing care homes and good meal planning was essential, he says he feels institutionalised I agree with you a lot less waste.

I try to do it by stealth Men!

sometimes I ask him what he plans to cook at the weekend so i can plan around it, this usually on a thu/fri he usually says 'don't know it is not the weekend yet

btw does anyone watch 'who do you think you are?' just about the only reality show I like

sometimes I avoid the show if I dislike the subject but sometimes I have been pleasantly surprised other not so much

Paxo crying was a bit of a highlight brought a tear to my eye, Jeremy Irons on the other hand silly fool would be kindly description IMO

Sfx - I've never watched it I'm afraid. Sorry you're feeling low, it's hard not to think about it I suppose, but as you say tomorrow is another day

I've just put DS to bed and I can hear him giggling his head off, wish I knew what was so funny

Ros - museum was good and it's FREE!
I have to do meal planning too otherwise I'd be going food shopping everyday once I'd worked out what we were going to eat

Mellow - some food prices are just crazy atm. I bought a huge rice bag earlier in the year, normally I pay about £10, this time it cost me £17

Steppie - good luck with building work

Just found out other BIL & SIL are coming over tom, hope weather is nice then we can have bbq

SJ where do you get your rice? I usually get broken Thai rice - I like my rice sticky and it's a happy coincidence that broken rice is cheap. Last time it costs around £9 for 10 kg.

Never notice price of stuff now that I don't buy bread or veg! We have a local butcher who is nice and reasonably priced. I bring my own containers and they laugh at me (in the nicest possible way) and call me young lady ... Waitrose butcher also very nice and knowledgeable, but expensive. I follow my mother's advice - save on anything but never save on food.

Must go and read stories to kiddies and put them to bed. They are still happily playing with lego helicopters we constructed earlier.

Slng - I buy the rice bags from Indian shops, the price rise is the same everywhere as this years rice crops have been dreadful and are in short supply
Do you grow all your own veg? Am impressed!

I like the fish shop in Twicks, think I will still go there. Meat I just buy from supermarket. Fruit & veg, I buy half from supermkt and half from local shop depending on what looks good.

Am going to make some courgette & choc chip cookies now, will let you know how they turn out

and dd ate all her dinner without a fuss

slng I think there are ways to save on food without compromising on quality
so much easier being a vegetarian lentils are your friend

SJ I think tomorrow will be ok weatherwise prep up the BBQ

dd quizzing dh about the habits of dogs

Slng, is a butcher any cheaper than a supermarket or the same price? Advantage I said to dh was that I could get exactly what we needed for the week & that they could cut it up into the right amount to be frozen!

I would love to find a decent greengrocer but the one in Brentford isn't very good. Prices are much cheaper but quality seems to be pretty awful. Should move to Pitshanger, they have everything there!

Oh dear - SFX, Ros - hope you both have a better day tomorrow, perhaps an early night / nice bath / good book are in order. Yes, meal planning is a pain BUT entirely necessary otherwise at this end it would be baked beans on toast every night! All ok this end, ds went to sleep without his dummy TWICE today so feeling faintly victorious although still some way to go. dd threw a major wobbly at bedtime - I can't believe that the whole sharing "thing" is rearing its ugly head already! Poor ds's little soft bears get taken away by dd the minute they arrive in the house because "they are mine"

SJ - sorry "don't buy veg" means "don't think about buying veg". I get a veg box! Should grow own veg but don't know how! We do have a pot of rosemary and two pots of bay. That's really nice. I did have pots of basil but they've all decided to boycott me suddenly. Am thinking about growing more herbs stuff in the now disused baby bath. Really wish I can grow coriander but have failed in all attempts.

Not a vegetarian - don't like beans and not that hot on lentils. Cheese too fatty, and eggs too high in cholesterol. Can survive on tofu but DH doesn't like it. Did do a vegetarian indian meal the other day, but mostly carnivorous.

Ros - butcher meat definitely cheaper than Waitrose! I take my containers, ask them to chop meat to required size, put in containers and straight home to freezer. They also can advice on cuts of meat for specific cooking method, though Waitrose butchers can too, unlike spotty youth in Tescos who sold me sea bass at the price of mackerel. Come to think of it, perhaps I should shop in Tesco more.

Greengrocer - I'm more doubtful about that. Ours never label where their stuff come from, and at the height of strawberry season sell strawberries from Flanders! (Admittedly Flanders is probably nearer to us than some parts of the UK ...) Very spoilt with Waitrose who always label origin of fruit and veg.

Bunyan - we ban the word "share" here. Too ambiguous. We describe specific actions of "sharing" and that seems to make things better. Maybe it's just my imagination ... I hate the word "share".

Must see about patching DS1's trousers knees ... We have run out of unholey trousers.

the only time we had a garden we grew courgettes tomatoes and tons of basil, am so looking forward to an allotment.

Ros Pitshanger is indeed well supplied.
we have a butchers and an organic shop, prices are very high but occasionally we get stuff from there.

slng which company do you use for the box? we used Riverford but had to stop as there was a bit too wasteful although then dd was a tiny baby and I was a bit out of it

bunyan glad all going well. despite sibling rivalry

not to worry I should be fine by tomorrow bit of a crisis today is all but thanks for support

Waitrose staff and generally John Lewis staff are knowledgeable and helpful
they are a kind of co-op and it shows

sfx - we use Abel and Cole. On the expensive side, I think, but allows much more choice. Recently thought about Woodfield and uber organics but dread the thought of beet root, jerusalem and globe artichoke season!

beetroot chocolate cake will take care of that, am quite fond of artichoke just don't like cooking it

I think I will have a go again, choice being an issue

Quokka, as did I, used to shop at Mackens on Turnham Green. However, they are not cheap. Their prices are comparable to Waitrose meat prices.

Meal planning for me consists of making cheap meals (fried rice, fried noodles, and omelettes) when we've maxed out our food budget for the week.

SJ - can you recommend an Indian shop for basmati rice? Supermarket basmati rice is too expensive.

Sfx I agree that Waitrose and JL staff are knowledgeable and helpful.

A Waitrose staff member told me where the eggs were, instead of taking me to the aisle (as they normally do), as he was helping someone else. He later came over to apologise that he hadn't walked me to the egg aisle. I was to say the least. I do not expect that level of customer service from any shop.

John Lewis Partnership staff have shares in the business, I find it makes a difference.
we were very pleased with their services when buying for dd, we were able to try all buggies all questions answered, never felt like hard sell

might try Abel&Co with Mn discount.
dh is getting a new pc from neighbour on freecycle bless him cheerful mood today as well
and dd asleep, bliss

I love JL and Waitrose although it is expensive, but MIL had a bad experience with them recently and was quite at their bad service - curtain dept.

Mellow - I don't know name of shop I just went to one in Hounslow. I would never buy basmati from suprmkt, such a rip off. I cannot believe that I have started buying bottled water - we have only moved 2miles but the water here is really hard and tastes horrible

LOL Slng - hadn't thought that you might be getting veg box, had visions of you being all green fingered

Bunyan - glad things are going well your end despite 'sharing' issues

BTW the cookies are yum!

SJ - I've managed to kill cacti and spider plants. Re water have you tried filter? I used to use a britas thing at work which has horrible water.

I don't know how anyone can afford supermarket rice. The amount we get through we'd be bankrupt in 3 months.

I buy supermarket rice but then we don't eat that much of it, maybe once a week.

Bunyan, sorry didn't mean to ignore you earlier, yes to Thurs am!

Slng, we use 'turn taking' in our house rather than sharing, that's been working well when ds has sharing issues with his friends! They seem to realise that they will get the toy back eventually!

Ros - we do the taking turns as well, DS seems to really get that!

Slng - does the water filter work? Might be a better solution long term

we get basmati ans risotto rice both expensive but like SJ said bad crops people are having a really bad time in producing countries.

I must bake bread more regularly really enjoy it

slng do you ever bake buns? tempted to get one of Dan's books