The time is right to go shopping

The time is right to go shopping

budgeting shopping cheap food healthy eating vegetarian

Hello. Not a lot left in my fridge so time to make a meal from a few bits and bobs. Three mushrooms, two onions, one Quorn fillet and frozen veg, on a bed of  cheap noodles. Curry and garlic flavour. That will do nicely.   

I was putting off going shopping, sometimes it is so boring. You buy food, you eat it, you go shopping again. Yesterday I had beans on toast twice. Once for breakfast and again for dinner. The second time I chucked a few chick peas into it to bulk it up, and added some grated cheese.

Oh dear things are getting desperate.

Never mind, I can stretch it to another day with this frozen soup, wonder what flavour it is, I will soon find out. Now I'm going to have to get off me bum and go. 

Last night it wasn't very busy, I had a £4 off voucher so I took my time to select the things I really needed. Found a good buy in the freezer, these packets of 8 veggie sausages were £1 each. Best to buy them while they are cheap. I sometimes grill these, but quite often I will zap one in the microwave to make it soft, then cut it into chunks to add to a stir fry.

Struck lucky in the fruit and veg department, 75% off. I've already cooked some of this up in a big pan and made stew for the freezer. Lots of strawberries to scoff, they normally sell for £2. They were knocking them out for 50p a punnet. Had to have some.

Portion control? Bugger that, I will eat as much of this green stuff as I can pile on my plate. Just chomped my way through this like a rabbit, a whole bag of salad leaves, ha ha.

It has been three weeks since my last yellow sticker dash. In between my Tesco visits I pick up a few things from Aldi when I am in town. I spent £30 last night, cat food and a bottle of wine included, I have enough to last me a couple of weeks maybe longer.

Well I hope you are having a nice weekend. Thanks very much for all the comments on yesterdays post, it's good to get your perspective on health care where you are. Have a nice Sunday. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

It's fine without a dressing

It's fine without a dressing

food healthy eating reuse vegetarian

Hello. The art sign looks good on the lamp post, very eye catching next to the shop near to the Village Hall. Let's hope it brings people out to have a look on Sunday. 

I've just eaten this salad, it's completely naked, no dressing whatsoever. I've run out of the cheap mayo from the Cash and Carry, and haven't got anything else to put on it. I don't like oily dressings, in my opinion it ruins the fresh taste of the individual items,. I don't buy them nor do I make them. I might occasionally buy toasted sesame seed oil but I prefer that on steamed veg. It doesn't seem right to put oil on salad and make it greasy. So, naked it is. 

I've had this bottle of whipped body oil for a few years, it lasts so long because I can't be bothered to squeeze a small amount out. I only moisturize my face, and if I squeeze the bottle on to my fingers I always manage to get too much out and I end up having to wipe off the excess. I had a little empty plastic pot so I filled it from the bottle. This makes the job a lot easier, all I have to do is dip my finger in it and get out just the right amount.

I have been given a very large window blind and a smaller one, aren't they the most ugliest things ever. My friend thought I might be able to make something with them. I don't have windows to fit them, nor would I want to hang them in here anyway. Give me curtains every time. I will take them apart and have a play with them.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.

Go Ida

Go Ida

exercise healthy eating

Good morning. Here's something inspirational to get you up and running. I've just read in The Times about Ida Keeling, the 100 year old woman who has broken a world record. I gooooglied her and found this on the CSS Sports web site. 

There is a video on yooootooob


She was asked about the secret of her longevity, she said, 'Eat for nutrition, not for taste, exercise at least once a day.'

Good on you Ida, I am working on it.

Catch you later. Toodle pip

Painting the world pink

Painting the world pink

arty stuff food garden healthy eating vegetarian

Hello Peeps. That's a bit more of the pink paint used up, and I still have some left. Getting a bit short of ideas now. I have had these sticks in my garden for a long time, well over a year in fact. Guess where they came from? The churchyard when they trimmed the lime trees. You can see the post about it here. I thought it about time I gave them a new lease of life and make an artwork out of them. I had three fancy blocks with holes in, just the job, stack them and drop the sticks in. Looks pretty good, I think. 

There you are. You might remember I did something similar with a dead bush I dug up. The twigs were painted different colours and put into a plant pot. The post is here.

Dinner tonight was a super salad, nowt left, all scoffed. Cold pasta twists, mushrooms, cucumber, tomato, chopped spinach, boiled eggs, grated cheese, and mayo. £6 in a restaurant. Cafe de Tightwad Towers, really cheap.

I went to Arty Club this morning, I wasn't going to go because I didn't fancy doing water colour painting. I rang my friend to say I wasn't going, but she talked me into it, saying I could do my own thing. I sploshed some paint about and made a bit of a mess. The ladies are all very nice, but I am a bit of a rebel, I am also not very good at painting.

Thank you for your miles updates, I'm dead impressed with your enthusiasm. Long may it continue, I am willing you on to keep going and cross that finishing line at the end of the year. Do whatever miles you can, it isn't a race, everyone has different levels of fitness. Do whatever suits you best.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Pink plant pots are in

Pink plant pots are in

food garden healthy eating vegetarian

Hello. Brown pots are out this year, pink pots are in. I've been sprucing up the summer house with the paint I had left over from last year. There was a bit left in the bottom of the tin and I hate to waste it so a few more things got the pink treatment. There is still some left, I will have a scout round tomorrow to find something else to paint pink. 

Lunch was a salad. There is a heck of a lot of spinach in a bag from Aldi. I will be turning into Popeye soon, with bulging muscles. 

I fancied pasta tonight so here we have it. I did a lot more pasta than I needed, and will use it up over the next few days. In the topping is one onion, mushrooms, sweetcorn, grated carrot and grated potato, spinach, a tin of tomatoes, garlic powder, spices, and porridge oats to thicken it. It tastes bloomin lovely. I've just scoffed this plateful.

A few walking group members have sent in their mileage updates for the walking challenge, thank you for that. Has anyone else got theirs? You can send it as a total, or just the April amount and I will add it together, and update the page. I had about four days off in April, the weather wasn't so good, or I was too busy. I should be making up for it in May with three walking days coming up. Some of you are doing very well, you must all be getting pretty fit by now. We are a third of the way through the year, the target was 333 miles for that. I didn't quite make it, but some of you are steaming ahead. The five month target is 416 miles. The six month target will be 500 miles. There is still plenty of time to get in your miles. If you don't want to do the whole year, you could split it into one month chunks of 83 miles. Any walking is better than no walking.

Right, I need to get off my bum and go and do my three miles now. My dinner has gone down and it's still light, it's not raining, so no excuses, just do it Ilona.

Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your Bank Holiday Monday. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Love my home prepared food.

Love my home prepared food.

food healthy eating sewing vegetarian

Hello. It's a foodie post today, with a bit of stitching thrown in for good measure. I photographed this meal on Friday, it was my lunch. The salad and fruity couscous were yellow stickers, the tomato from a pack I bought the week before from Aldi. The cheese and pickle sandwich was left over from Thursday. My sister made me a snack and it was rather filling, I couldn't manage it all, so I brought it home with me. Waste not want not.

More yellow sticker food, my lunch yesterday, and I had the same thing today. There is butternut squash ready prepared in strands. Rice noodles, mushrooms, spinach, and a splodge of sweetcorn relish. It was lovely.

And today's lunch was, well you can see what it is. A quarter of quiche 25p per portion from Tesco, pickled onions, and houmous. I like these no cook meals, saves on gas, no messy pans, and can be prepared in minutes.

Tonight I've had a plate of yellow sticker steamed veg, with a drizzle of toasted sesame seed oil. All scoffed, nice. I love my home prepared food.

I'm making a few shopping bags to sell on our cat stall at the village fete in June. Starting now so I will have a few colours to choose from. It's the heavy fabric with a rubbery backing which I get from the Scrapstore. Should sell like hot cakes, they are very strong.

I did my first grass cut of the year on Wednesday, the ground was a bit wet, but it had to be done. I'm amazed that the mower keeps going, it was a cheapie from B & Q about ten years ago. I never clean it  before I put it away for the winter, and every spring it starts perfectly with no bother. I've had another tidy up of the garden and filled the brown bin ready for collection tomorrow. I see signs of life in the flower beds, a few new shoots are pushing their way up through the compost. How exciting.

I think Rocky wants to go out now, so I'll sign off. I did my walk this morning, now up to 294 miles. I hope your walking is going well now the weather is a bit better.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

There's a bit more life left in the shelves yet.

There's a bit more life left in the shelves yet.

experimental food garden healthy eating make do and mend recycle remembering vegetarian

Hello. Hope you're not getting too bored with the garden posts, but the sooner I get it done the sooner I can move on to other things. Today the wooden shelving got a makeover. The bottom is rotten so the plan is to saw that off. First I removed everything from it, and tipped it over to lay on it's front. Then I removed the shrink wrap from around it. I think Mayze is stalking Heidi, they are not the best of friends and mainly give each other a wide berth. 

Here we go, the last bit is getting the chop. I've peeled back the plastic backing so I can get at the wood. I knocked a few nails in where some of the joints were a bit loose.

The next thing to do is encase it in fresh shrink wrap. To do this I laid it on it's back and went round and round several times. There is a brick under each corner to raise it off the ground so I can take it right to the edge at the back and front which will keep the rain out. Shrink wrap is like a gigantic roll of cling film, it's very strong.

Next I laid out a base of bricks for it to stand on. The ground is not flat so I put some compost underneath to level it.

This is the before picture, it's leaning crazily. 

This is the after picture. A bit shorter but much more stable. I now need to paint the garage wall above it to blend it in. I hope I've still got some paint left. I've put some sheets of strong glass on the top, the cats are bound to climb on it so it will stop their claws from tearing it to shreds. Mayze will be happy that her bed is still there. .

I did a small lunch today, this is on a tea plate. I can't stuff my face in the middle of the day when I have got physical work to do. I needed protein so I zapped a Quorn fillet in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it, then I cut it into pieces and put it in a small pan with a splash of oil. Next I chopped up a couple of spring onions, I find scissors do this job better than a knife, opened a tin of chick peas, half in this, half in the fridge, and washed and cut up four mushrooms. Chuck it all in together with a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese, and a teaspoon of vegetable granules. Stir while cooking for a few minutes. It was chuffin lovely. You could serve this as a dinner with potatoes, pasta, or rice, or salad. 

This is why I have a big car, it doubles up as a van. Off to the tip again to get rid of this.

Bit of a climb to lug it up the shiny new steps, but I can manage. They have a non slip surface so not much chance of falling. There is a man to help if anyone turns up with larger items. 

I've had some comments come through from Alison, another enthusiastic new reader who is lost in the bowels of the blog. I'm sure she will turn up here soon, she says she is reading five months of posts daily, so by her reckoning she will have caught up by the summer. She's recently taken early retirement, is de cluttering, and has got the sewing machine out. Sounds like she will fit in just fine here.

It's been a very sad day for the people of Brussels who have been caught up in the terrorist attacks. I can't begin to imagine how anybody can recover from losing friends and family in such horrific circumstances. Those who are injured will carry their pain with them for the rest of their lives. My heart goes out to all who are affected. Tears in my eyes as I write. Lots of love and best wishes to the people of Brussels. xxx

Thank you for popping in. We'll catch up soon. xxx