General chat thread

[OneFrenchEgg]

Hi all

I just thought, as I'm wandering shopping on my own, that I don't have everyday people to chat to - I didn't make school gate friends and I don't have work friends (work at home) although I like my colleagues and we do chat. Locally I realised I have no one to say hi to really or to ask to the cinema or for coffee.
So I thought - why don't we have a general chat thread? Like how's your day not disasters type thing?

I'll start - I made a start on Christmas shopping today which feels a bit daft. And I'm faffing round while my kids buy clothes until we meet at 5.30pm.

@OneFrenchEgg Batch cooking is accompanied by rigorous meal planning otherwise I'd also forget to defrost things

I have a whiteboard in the kitchen with the rolling 7-day plan. We have some sort of mince or casserole based dinner 2 or 3 times a week. I find if I don't plan like this we end up eating junk or takeaway. Casserole nights are the easiest for me, defrost and heat up plain, with dumplings, or topped with puff pastry.

@DinosaurOfFire the kids only presents sounds wonderful. I dread Christmas gift buying, I'm not ungenerous I just find waste very difficult to get my head around, most of my family don't particularly want or need anything, and I just can't summon the enthusiasm for going out to buy 'stuff' to wrap. I find Christmas gift giving a really big masking event, it's exhausting. I'm looking forward to getting the tree up though, having nice festive flowers in the house, buying DS (8) gifts, and making mince pies and christmas food. @SudocremOnEverything I also don't start early because I forget what I've bought, but then I end up really stressed and always wish I'd done it earlier. I think if I did the shopping earlier I could enjoy the festivities more, whereas the thought of how much I've still got to do takes the shine off things a bit.

I'd love to know how to make dumplings and what to put them with (veggie) for some fussy teens.

The dumplings themselves are really easy - 50g suet, 100g self raising flour, salt, mix up (I use a table knife) and dollop into the casserole to steam for the last 30-40 minutes, in a covered casserole, at 180 degrees. For veggie I'm less certain since you'd need a veggie gravy to steam them in. I guess if you'd made a veggie curry or stew you could add dumplings?

Thanks when you say add to steam do you mean into the mixture? Like if I made a veggie sausage casserole (somehow!) I'd add them?

Yep, just dollop it in tablespoonfuls onto the top of any sort of casserole, make sure you put a lid (or foil) over the top so they steam. You'll want to use the veggie suet (green box). You can flavour dumplings with herbs to suit your recipe, but plain are fine so long as you season with salt. Remember to use self raising flour too.

Oooh this feels exciting like when I learned to make curry! Although mine tastes like pot noodle (which dc say is a bonus )

Hope they work well for you @OneFrenchEgg

oh. I cannot do rigorous meal planning. Nope. I try meal planning but it never goes to plan - with loads of food waste involved. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Your way sounds much more
sensible than my flying by the seat of my pants ‘just in time’ system.

I never really find the Christmas stuff that stressful. I just order it all online pretty much. I’m fairly relaxed about this stuff I think. Which is good. Because I’m not getting any more organised.

They should steam in anything reasonably wet (with a lid on).

Ok so dumplings this week: am going to get some vegetarian suet.
I have a spreadsheet going back to 2011 for Christmas! Budget, what we bought, etc etc

You can make dumplings without suet too. There are loads of no suet recipes on the internet.

I’m actually laughing at a spreadsheet. I struggle with a single list - certainly one I’d ever consult again after writing.

Do you mind if I join? (I've been on this board with various names before)

I've had two weeks to prepare for an important work event that I'm presenting tomorrow afternoon. I've only just decided what I'm going to do and uploaded the relevant files to one-drive (at nearly midnight!). I have a vague idea of what they consist of, so tomorrow morning will be spent cramming the info. I do this every bloody time!! Today, I spent the morning having a lie-in, took DS2 out for lunch as it was just the two of us, then went to bed for a nap, then didn't start work on tomorrow's presentation until around 8.30pm. I did manage to wash and dry a couple of loads of washing, but the house is a tip. I know what I need to do to keep on top of things, but my brain just keeps distracting me. Social media doesn't help as I keep clicking on random links like "people with unique genetics" and losing so much time to utter crap like that.

This thread has just reminded me that I have a small blackboard section of wall in the kitchen and I've just meal planned up to Thursday. So that's something at least. I'm also trying to either do a food shop delivery or click and collect each week and not end up wasting a lot of fresh food.

Also, Christmas shopping is never started before December and I'm usually shopping Christmas Eve 😫

Hi @Septemberbeginnings hope you get started on the work meeting prep today - sounds quite familiar to be fair, I work much better when deadlines are looming. Otherwise they are just ideas or vague dates to forget to get you started.

@Septemberbeginnings good luck with the presentation. I’d have been similarly last minute about it.

I think you might need to be kinder to yourself about it though. Knowing how you’re supposed to do things is not the same as being able to do them. In fact, your awareness the gap between should and is can make everything so much harder and more stressful.

It sounds to me that you spent today prioritising spending time with your son. And you got through some laundry, and planned some meals for this week. Then you got on with some work. You achieved loads.

@Septemberbeginnings you sound like someone juggling work and family and doing a good job of it - washing was done, everyone is fed, work are getting their presentation. I just can't do work early, my brain isn't wired that way, even if I do it the idea I have early are normally then replaced with much better ones I've had the night before.

Thanks everyone. I got up at 7.15 this morning to wake DS who's in sixth form around 15 miles away so normally gets school bus at around 7.50, but as he only has lessons this afternoon he's arranged a lift with a friend, so I went back to bed. So now I have half the time needed to prepare for this afternoon. I will be able to focus when I eventually get round to it, instead of wasting time on here, but I wish I could just get on with things in plenty of time so everything isn't a last minute rush. I suppose on the upside there are people who would be stressed for a couple of weeks about this presentation, at least I'm only stressed immediately before. Silver linings...🙄

And did the work get done???
Just updating to say I feel quite smug! I've wrapped the Christmas presents and even bought gift vouchers so I could wrap my mum's - two parts so I needed them to be able to wrap it. I feel like this is a way forward - buy, wrap, store, update spreadsheet...

Incredible @OneFrenchEgg. Levels of organisation that exist in another universe to me! 🤣

How did the presentation go @Septemberbeginnings?

Do you all have a diagnosis? Not sure if I can/should join in?

I started lurking and posting after looking at diagnostic criteria for my adult dd. I seem to tick all of the same boxes as she does 🤨

I was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year. I’d been pretty sure I had it since about 2005/6 but it took me til 2022 to pursue an actual diagnosis.

I’m certainly not going to be demanding proof of diagnosis from anyone chatting on here! I don’t think anyone else is either.

Join in @20DigitCombination we are just chatting about anything really. I have a diagnosis but not til I was 40; I don't care if other people do or don't - if you feel like you're neurodiverse, you might like chatting with us.
@SudocremOnEverything I am inordinately proud of my spreadsheet which I've gradually upgraded with formulae since 2011...

Welcome to the new posters 😊

My presentation went really well. It was on something I know inside out anyway, so it really wasn't something to get stressed about but I nearly always do. I've always been good at winging it thinking on my feet (part of ADHD?).

I started work at 9.30 this morning and finished at 8.30 tonight (with a few breaks). DH cooked dinner and I managed to load the dishwasher before sitting down to do some work in preparation for tomorrow (I'm waiting for files to upload right now).

I'm not even thinking about Christmas until at least 5th November.

Thanks for the welcome.
@OneFrenchEgg that's means a lot. Just started crying at the thought of acceptance