Quantcast
Channel: Frugal Queen
Viewing all 924 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Spicy Corned Beef pasties

July 1, 2013, 12:19 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

Apologies for the state of my pasties! Pastry too 'short' means there was too much fat in the pastry and it was difficult to handle and split. I haven't wasted it and used it any way. These are for Dearly Beloved's lunches and cost 49p each to make.

The filling
2 large potatoes diced - 18p
1 tin of value baked beans - 25p
1 tin of value corned beef - £1.50 - from the use it up store
1 large onion - finely diced - 23p
1 sachet of fajita mix - from Approved Food - (6 for £1) - 16p - from the use it up store.
Mix together in a bowl and use to fill the 'pasties'.


The pastry was 1lb of plain flour,  21p pinch of salt 4oz margarine 22p and 4 oz of lard - 18p. Cut fat into cubes and rub into the flour until you have breadcrumbs and then add iced water and mix until you have a dough. Chill and roll out as required. These could be made smaller and would be great lunch box fillers for children. 


Spicy corned beef pasties for 49p each. If you omitted the corned beef and added sweetcorn and some peas the total cost would be £1.93 and not £2.93 and the pasties would be 32p each! The vegetarian version, along with cereals for breakfast and a £1 allowance for dinner would bring a day's food to £1.50.

Over to you Dear Reader, who else thinks they can feed themselves for £1.50 a day and who actually has to? What would you put in a pasty to have a cheap but tasty lunch?

I look forward to hearing from you,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxxx


↧
Search

Money Supermarket's Big Night In.

July 2, 2013, 1:18 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

I was asked to write about staying in. Across the country, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres are under numbered as people stay in. I'm writing tonight for a competition set by Money Supermarket and there's a prize if I win. But, you see Dear Reader, I'm a winner every night! I was going to spend the money on the 'ultimate Chinese takeaway for two' and some bubbly but when I thought about my nights in, really? I have all that I need right here.

We don't go out...............ever! There's no money for that. I was sent money to spend on the perfect night in but you see Dear Reader, every night is the perfect night in. We spent the money on a second hand fridge as ours had seen better days and with what was left, we've some cider chilling in it for another night. It will help with all our perfect nights in!

We go out of our way, every day to make every night the perfect night in. If you come really close, I'm going to share with you how we make every night perfect. Dearly Beloved is up and out with the dogs whilst I prepare our breakfast, packed lunches and dinner for the evening. I know he loves me every day because he walks the dogs and he knows I love him as his breakfast is ready when he gets back. On winter mornings, the car is started and warmed up when we leave at 7 am and when I get into a warmed car, I know he loves me. In the evenings, whilst I get dinner ready, he is lighting the wood stove and as I warm my toes, I know he loves me. Yes, it really is this perfect.

Our evening are special to us from the minute we meet up in the street after work and get into the car together. We sing to the radio together on the forty minute journey home and from the moment we get in, we're in our very own piece of heaven. We work hard to keep it that way. The table is always laid with linen napkins, iced water and our favourite cutlery and china ware. We eat home cooked food every night. We walk together in the evenings, we lie on the patio in the summer to watch the bats coming out of their roosts, we sit and listen to owls and made a point of just taking time to watch the summer moon rise over the hill. Sometimes, nothing is said and we are just content to be in each other's company and those are often the most perfect nights.

Tonight is one of those nights, we're on the sofa with the dogs and mugs of tea. It's drizzly and cold outside and the room is quiet with the exception of crackles from the stove and the turning of pages. It's the perfect night in because he is here with me.

On that note, we'll drink the cider with thanks to Money supermarket. 

Over to you Dear Reader, tell me about your perfect night in. Who used to go out but doesn't any more? What makes a night in perfect for you?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx
↧
↧

Chickpea and Butternut Squash Tagine with Cous Cous

July 3, 2013, 1:53 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

Thought I would start with a catch up on life here at Frugal Towers! We're both busy working and luckily, both of us love our jobs. I'm still teaching and DB still works in Housing Benefit. We both get the car to work together and the days of train journeys in different directions are well and truly over. The house is being tidied within and inch of it's life and the first estate agent comes to visit the house on Saturday. A builder has been here all day and our patio has been 'regrouted' as our garden paths which were wobbly and precarious have been reinstated although he recycled the materials which were already there. The garden is still our battleground as we work our way around the borders. We have some concrete to remove and a bed to build, some fences to replace and we are almost there. Gardens are a massive financial headache and I am of the opinion that gardening best suits folk who are retired and have more time. P.S - I have some gardening contractors coming to give me a quote as I need to get this done to get my house on the market. 


Chickpea and Butternut Squash Tagine with Cous Cous.

Ingredients
  • 400g/14oz can chickpeas in water, rinsed and drained
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and thickly sliced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 courgettes, cut into bite-sized pieces - I only had one left.
  • 12 dried apricots - I had six!
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle to serve
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 500g/1lb 2oz carton passata
  • 2 tsp honey, plus a drizzle to serve
  • 1 tsp harissa paste - I didn't have any and omitted this - it seemed OK. 
  • handful fresh mint or coriander - I have mint in the garden
  • thick Greek-style yoghurt, to serve



Chop all the vegetables and saute them in the oil.

Add the pasatta and spices, honey, apricots, chickpeas and simmer until cooked. You can chuck the lot in a slow cooker for five hours. This only took 30 minutes on a slow simmer on the top of the stove.

Serve with cous cous. I have an abundance of chickpeas and cous cous and this recipe was a real hit tonight. I added chopped fresh mint to the cous cous as well as sprinkling some onto the tagine. 

Oh, and I forgot to add.......I'm still in the gym every night and I've now lost almost two stone altogether. I've reached a stage of fitness that I can run and being fit and lighter has put a spring in my step and I'm sleeping really well.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxxx
↧

Downsizing and Decluttering

July 5, 2013, 1:39 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

We have an estate agent coming tomorrow to value the house and give us any advice possible to market our house effectively. We will be getting other estate agents around to get other valuations and then decide on which agents to use. We tried selling our own home in the past and it wasn't successful so we stick to using an estate agent. They charge 1% of the sales price, which is normal these days.

I'm up to my arm pits in cleaning, tidying, de-cluttering and taking as much as possible to the charity shops. I'm also running up new curtains and cushions covers from fabric and cushion pads that I already have. I'm even reusing curtain heading tapes.

We're aiming to move to a house which is half the size and half the cost of the one we live in so we'll be getting rid of a lot of possessions that we can live without or we haven't used in ages.


I'm going to be quick tonight as I'm back to work on 'storage' areas of the house that need a general sort, tidy and clean. Any de-cluttering advice, or down-sizing advice would be most welcome.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxx
↧

All systems go!

July 6, 2013, 2:29 pm
$
0
0
 Hello Dear Reader!

This is the first chance I've had to chat with you all day! 

House has been valued and we have instructed an estate agent and signed a contract. We saw a few agents, picked one and went and filled in the paperwork in their local office. We will sell for £250,000 and will take offers as near to that as possible. In truth, the house is worth more than that but there is the stamp duty threshold at that amount and purchasers would be taxed out of paying any more. I'll explain this to overseas readers. Stamp duty is a sales tax and is set at 1% for properties from £125000 - £250000. You can not get a mortgage for this amount of tax and the purchaser has to pay this out of collateral. Our house is actually worth around £265000 but that means a purchaser would have to find over seven thousand pounds from personal expenses and that could mean that we'll continue to pay a massive mortgage for another twelve months or more and not sell the house. We will make a loss on our house and sell it for less than we bought it for but we will be buying a house that was once worth a lot more than it is now, so the loss is relative. We are flexible about what we buy and where we live as long as we remain in South East Cornwall. Ideally, we'll move out towards Bodmin Moor and we'll be more rural but we will look at all areas and all types of house.

We've had a day of trades in and out! A builder has been here for two days and has rebuilt the garden paths and repaired the patio and all the niggly little jobs in the house. We've taken up one of the paths and DB has been smashing it to bits with a sledgehammer and he's been bagging rubble and taking it to the tip. I've weeded three borders and dug in compost and top dressed them with wood chip to mulch it. 

We've also had a 'quoting' day. We've organised a gardener to come and cut back all the hedges (we have a big garden and we pay someone to do this every summer) and trim all the shrubs and trees in the garden. Fortunately, gardeners are cheaper than builders..................can't afford Monty Don but do want a manicured garden that buyers will love and it's worth the investment to get it sold as soon as possible. We've also organised a cleaning company to come and clean the carpets and upholstery so at least the purchaser won't feel they have to spend money on new carpets straight away. Another point for overseas readers, purchasers will haggle for every point to get a lower price so vendors try to pre-empt what they might fuss about and do something about it before they sell. All of this is expensive but so is paying thousands a month in mortgage repayments. 


I couldn't afford to hire the BBC's Monty Don to work in my garden! 

Onto the recycling. We've been to the recycling centre with a trailer full already. We've taken rubble, weeds and garden cuttings, old clothes have gone to charity as has spare bedding. I've sifted through cake tins, saucepans, kitchen equipment and have also given that to a local resettlement charity. 

We've also prepared the kitchen and utility room for painting by washing down walls and ceilings, we'll sand down wood work tomorrow and start by under coating and then apply a coat a day in the evenings after work. 

I'm exhausted by just reliving my day. I went to price up fabric to make new curtains and found ready made curtains to be cheaper than I could make them! The bedrooms will all be repainted and have new curtains that will be included in the sale of the house. Again, it's something else the purchaser can't knock us down on as they will get brand new curtains in all of the four bedrooms! I have two weeks to get the house ready to go on the market and all systems are go! If you want to take a look at the sort of house we're looking for take a look HERE ( we hope to buy a house under the stamp duty threshold)

On that note, I'm off to bed! Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xx
↧
↧

How to budget for school summer holidays

July 7, 2013, 12:13 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

My summer holiday is all planned out. I'm going to be painting, gardening, making cushions, bags and quilts, walking, getting to the gym, walking on cliff tops and sitting on the beach. Any teacher will recognise this, but summer holidays are about getting EVERY thing done. Many teachers will get the Christmas presents bought and wrapped, all the birthday presents and cards will be bought and wrapped, hair will be cut, friends will be visited, will decorate the house, deep clean areas of the home. I've also managed to save up a smear test, breast screening, opticians, dentist and a doctors appointment because I'm at work when these services are available and most teachers save all this for the summer break. I'm going to be busy.

I wanted to talk to you all about keeping children entertained on a budget for the long break. I had no money when the children were small, used to work nights in a care home and stayed awake the next day to look after them. I was often skint and exhausted. We used the local parks and went for walks, played tennis for free on the local courts; they used the skate park when they got older too. Our local museum and library used to have activities for about £1 and I used to book them in for an hour or two. Day trips were by bus to local beaches and we always took a picnic. We didn't have any holidays when they were young and I can remember the holidays dragging and dragging as I exhausted one idea after the next to keep them amused. 

We tried our very best to budget but really could only manage a once a week treat and that might have been something as simple as a walk to Plymouth Hoe, a swim in the sea and an ice cream on the way home. There used to be good deals for morning cinema tickets and the local sports centre had cheap and cheerful sports for them to do. But, in my research to share ideas with you, I've checked Cornwall and Plymouth information sites and can't find any holiday activities for children that are run by the local authorities. I've searched for churches offering summer holiday activities and can't find any there either. If anyone local to me can suggest anything affordable, then please let me know. I found a few cheap activities at the Royal Cornwall museum for under 8's but other than that, I've drawn a blank. I've searched through local authority websites, church and school websites, museum and library websites and I've found nothing. I've trawled Mumsnet, Netmums and Britmums and again, I've found nothing for the South West.

I can only imagine that the cut backs have cut so hard that there is nothing available for hard up families who can't afford to go on days out due to lack of transport and funds. If this is the case and I've just not looked in the right places, then it's really sad.

I used to prepare for the summer break all year. I would buy games and toys from carboot sales and charity shops and reveal one every now and then in the summer break. I used to take out the complete allocation of books from the library and keep them ready to read and then we would have the activity of going to the library  one a week and taking part in summer reading activities. We had endless picnics in the park, played loads of basketball in Victoria park and lots of tennis in Devonport park. We would take the Cremyl ferry and walk around Mount Edgecumbe (now extremely expensive a parent and two children, to go each way/return would cost about £5! - try that on minimum wage!). I also used to budget for extra food and stock up throughout the preceding weeks. 

Onto some positives! What advice can we all offer parents with: no money, maybe on benefits or minimum wage, with no car and maybe at the end of their tether, to do with their children over the summer break to have some fun and keep them amused. Also, who's managed to save any of the tokens from the national newspapers and get a holiday in the school break? I'd love to think that someone did! I would also love to know if there's anything on in your area? May be it's just the south west? or maybe it's national? Cuts? They always hurt the most needy.

On that note, Foodbanks will have increased demand during the school summer break as they will have to find extra food for the children home from school. For some children, the free school meal is the only hot meal they get and in the school holidays, they often go hungry. If you know of a Foodbank near you and you have some spare 'in date' food that you can drop in, then give it a thought. One of our local collection points is in the Co-op in Liskeard and there are always people in need. Click HERE to see if there's anything you can donate.

I look forward to hearing from you and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxx
↧

More menu planning and just doing with what I have

July 8, 2013, 1:17 pm
$
0
0
Hello Dear Reader,

We're still chomping on the food we have. Inside, my 'wants' are telling me to go to the butchers and grocers and buy more food and my 'needs' are having to shout loud and remind me that there is food in the house that needs eating up! We still have plenty of pulses, pasta, rices and tinned beans such as chickpeas. We have enough to eat and need to keep eating down the stock pile and keep the grocery bill as low as possible.  Fruit continues to be expensive as does salad but I am adding more frozen and tinned veg to the weekly top up in a vain attempt to keep the shopping bill low!

I've been investigating cheap but healthy meals and used my store cupboards as my first point of contact. I thought I would start with the lentil mountain and try and chip away at that. 

Spicy root vegetable and lentil casserole.

1 onion, 4 chopped carrots, 4 chopped potatoes, 1 chopped swede, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tbs of oil, 500ml of stock, some curry paste or a teaspoons of cumin and again or corriander and a sprinkle of paprika and 100g of red lentils. It's mildly spicy but you can add what you like. You will need rice to serve with this and you could add any vegetables you like.

Fry the onion and garlic, add all the other vegetables, lentils, stock and spices - bring to boil and then simmer until soft. If it's too wet then add more lentils and cook again until soft. Really cheap and will serve four. We'll take it to work the next day too.


Chickpea and Coriander Burgers

You will need : 400g of tinned chickpeas drained, zest of one lemon + half the juice, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of dried coriander, 1 egg, 100g of bread crumbs, 1 medium onion - half sliced and half finely diced, 4 wholemeal bread rolls, 1 tomato and some cucumber to serve.
  1. In a food processor, whizz the chickpeas, lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, half the coriander, the egg and some seasoning. Scrape into a bowl and mix with 80g of the breadcrumbs and the diced onions. Form 4 burgers, press remaining breadcrumbs onto both sides and chill for at least 10 mins.
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot. Fry the burgers for 4 mins each side, keeping the heat on medium so they don’t burn. To serve, slice each bun and fill with a slice of tomato, a burger, a few red onion slices, some cucumber slices, a dollop of chilli sauce and the remaining coriander
Recipes and pictures from BBC Food - I don't often buy cookery books any more but turn to the BBC instead. 

I'm going to try these recipes this week and I'll let you know what I thought of them. Now it's your turn. I need to use up: rice, pasta, pulses and would like some recipe ideas please. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx
↧

How to make savoury pancakes

July 9, 2013, 1:46 pm
$
0
0


Hello Dear Reader,

It's beautifully hot today!  I'm working my way through the menu plan and tonight we had veggie pancakes.

Pancakes

100g plain flour
1 teaspoon of oil
pinch of salt
2 eggs
300ml of skimmed milk.

I placed all of the ingredients in a jug and blitzed them with my hand blender. I then heated a pan until smoking hot and drizzled the tiniest amount of oil in it and then poured a half a cup of pancake mix at a time. I turn them with a spatula. Stack on a plate and leave until needed.



Veggie Filling

1 finely diced onion
2 chopped courgettes
1 chopped red pepper
half a head of chopped celery
3 large chopped mushrooms.
1 teaspoon of oil
1 tin of condensed mushroom soup - from my use it up stock. 
quarter of a cup of water.
1 cup of frozen mixed veg. 

Heat a pan and fry the veggies.
Add the water and soup - simmer until the veg are soft



 Roll up as if you were making canelloni and place into a dish. Try and lie them all side by side so they are easier to get out. Mine were piled up in a smaller dish as I wanted to fit them into the mini oven.



I covered in a jar of value tomato sauce (39p a jar and I always have some - I can't make it for that price), again something I had in the larder and then sprinkled with 30g of parmesan cheese. I baked this in a hot oven for 20 minutes until the sauce was bubbling and the cheese had melted.


This is really filling and we've saved a pancake each for our lunches tomorrow. There are masses of ideas for variations of these filled pancakes. Spinach and Ricotta, Butternut Squash, chickpea and blue cheese, smoked haddock and broccoli in a cheesy sauce, ham, leeks and mushrooms covered in a cheesy sauce. 


Or you could just eat the pancakes for breakfast with some lemon and sugar. Thanks to everyone for your lentil, chickpea and pulses recipes. Now is your turn to share your pancake recipes. To American readers, our pancakes are not as thin as a French crepe but no where near your versions of pancakes. 

I hope you enjoyed the recipe idea and I look forward to your pancake ideas.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx
↧
Search

Mending Night

July 10, 2013, 1:15 pm
$
0
0
 Hello Dear Reader,

Not much to tell you tonight. Left over pancakes for lunch, gym as usual after work, beans and a fried egg on toast for dinner (too hot for anything else) and feet up in front of the Tour de France with a basket of mending. Oh the glamour and sophistication of my life.

I'll be back tomorrow with something far more interesting to say. In the meantime, take a look at this blog with a brilliant post on repairing clothes.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xx




↧
↧

Missing in action

July 11, 2013, 12:18 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

The gardening continues. We're getting there slowly, in fact, so slowly that I have someone coming to work on the garden next week to speed things up. The house goes on the market on the 1st of August so we have a tight deadline in which to get everything done, inside and outside.

I'm not a total sloven, we've had two years of rain here and this is the first time the garden has properly dried out to do anything to it. Bits of it remind me of Sleeping Beauty; it's over grown to the point of being a jungle. Slowly, we're getting round all of the borders and pulling out ivy and brambles. It's simply the case of putting on heavy duty gloves and pulling everything out by the roots.


There are some lovely shrubs which I hope are in full bloom when the photos are taken.


The bottom border is the worst. It had a broken path in front of it which DB has broken up with a sledge hammer and it removing bit by bit. As you can see, the 'for sale' sign is here and ready to go up. I'll put links to the house when it finally goes on sale. This is the before photo and the later will be here for you all to see soon enough.



This the fruit of my labour tonight! It might not seem much but I've pulled out barrows full of ivy.


Ferns, bamboo, rhododendrons and hydrangeas are all fighting for space, all which will be weeded out, pruned and made to look as good as new.



Above is one of the finished borders. Below is one that needs pulling out and starting again. The lavender, and flax which you can't see, will be moved to a new home in the garden. 


Last night, mending trousers and tonight pulling up weeds. It might sound ridiculous but I love nights like this. It was still hot in our garden when we came indoors at eight thirty. We're in for a heatwave this weekend so the more we can do before that hits Cornwall, the better!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xx
↧

The Great British Budget Menu and some budget recipes.

July 12, 2013, 12:05 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

Hands up everyone who watched The Great British Budget Menu last night? Three top chefs were sent off to meet three families who struggled to feed themselves. It was heartbreaking. One man was retired with only his state pension and sheltered accommodation, a working single mum on minimum wage and her teenage daughter and a low income family of a mum and dad who both had poorly paid jobs. I watched them all and know that there by the grace of God go I. All of them were feeding themselves and their children for about £2 each a day or even less in the case of the elderly gentleman. It highlighted food poverty in the UK and how many families go hungry on a regular basis. The common factor of all three families was their inability to cook. It pains me to see how badly some people eat when they could feed themselves really healthily for very little

I'm sure you'll all have a lot to share on the matter if you saw the programme and I know the blogosphere has been busy debating, tweeting and facebooking this all day! I've caught up on some of them tonight and the resounding opinion is that we need far more cookery lessons for everyone. In schools, in community centres and around the country. If anyone can get to me, I'm offering FREE cookery lessons to anyone who thinks they can't really make the basics and doesn't know where to start! Bring a friend or two and we'll cook and eat together and you can take away some kitchen confidence! Use the drop down menu at the top to find my email address and get in touch. You are welcome any Saturday or any weekday during the summer break.

Onto some budget cooking of my own. I was given two bags of wholemeal flour by someone who didn't know what to do with them. I love the nutty flavour that it gives to a recipe. I found both my recipes today on 'Penny's Recipes' and subscribe to her cookery blog where she cooks for a family of four for £30 a week.  I found her website by simply googling 'date slices' and found her recipes for 'sultana scones' too.

Scones With Sultanas 
Ingredients
  • 16 oz self-raising flour (I used Wholemeal Flour and 4 teaspoons of Baking Powder)
  • 3 oz butter or margarine
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 10 floz milk (I used half natural yoghurt and half skimmed milk as I had the dregs of a pot of yoghurt to use up)
  • 2 handfuls sultanas
Cooking Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C
  2. In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs
  3. Add the sugar and stir well
  4. Add the sultanas and stir for even distribution (add more or less depending on how fruity you like your scones)
  5. Pour in the milk and stir thoroughly until all the liquid is incorporated
  6. Flour your hands and knead into a soft dough
  7. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1 inch thick (2.5cm) ( you can do this with your hands – no need for a rolling pin)
  8. Cut out rounds with a 7-9cm pastry cutter
  9. Pick up the remaining dough and knead together to roll out again until all the dough is used
  10. Place on a baking tray that is greased, or lined with baking parchment
  11. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden brown
  12. Place on a cooling rack
  13. Best eaten while still warm!


Another thing! Packed lunches! According to the powers that be, children are over weight because of packed lunches and they wouldn't be if they had a school lunch! Oh really? Some children are overweight for a multitude of reasons and their packed lunch could be part of it. You can leave your comments on this too if you like. A packed lunch or 'brown bag' lunch is the affordable option for most families. A sandwich, some fruit, a scone with butter or a slice of cake is fine for a busy youngster and surely won't harm them. I used to bake every week for my children's packed lunches. They used to have pasties, sandwiches, homemade cake, fruit and a bottle of squash to drink throughout the day. We couldn't afford school lunches and as the kids (all grown now) are skinny as whippets, their packed lunches certainly didn't do them any harm!



Date and Oat Slices are a perfect addition to a lunch box or brown bag. These are huge and could be cut in half again for children. The oats, the natural fruit sugars and wholemeal flour all add to these being full of energy and stave off rumbly tummies until lunch time. They could even be eaten as a breakfast bar, they will fit in a school blazer pocket and can be eaten on the bus on the way to school or work.

Whole Oat & Date Slices
Ingredients
  • 150g / 5oz Whole jumbo oats - I used Tesco Value oats
  • 150g/ 5oz wholemeal flour
  • 85g / 3oz muscovado sugar
  • 150g / 5oz butter - I had none, so used marg.
  • 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1-2 teaspoon cinnamon 
  • 1lb / 450g dates
    • * You will also need 2 of 28cm x 18cm baking tins, well greased * - I just used my lasagne dish!
Cooking Directions
  1. Simmer the dates in water for about 10 minutes until soft
  2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
  3. Put the oats, flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl
  4. Rub in the butter
  5. Sprinkle half the mixture over the bottom of the tin
  6. Press down to form a base
  7. Arrange the filling carefully and evenly over the base
  8. Sprinkle over the remainder of the oat mix evenly over the fillig
  9. Press down firmly all over
  10. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes
  11. Leave in the tin to cool for 10 minutes
  12. Cut into squares and cool on a wire rack


I'll upload the photos of the wholemeal bread that's cooking away in the bread machine later tonight. All of the scones, bread and date slices were made from one bag of flour. You can of course substitute the wholemeal flour for ordinary white flour.

Now Dear Reader, unleash your opinions here on food poverty, lack of cookery lessons, if you want cookery lessons (don't worry I'm saving for a video camera!) and what you thought of either the TV programme or the debate on packed lunches. Try the links and have a look at Penny's recipes!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx


↧

Feeding ourselves on less than £2 a day

July 13, 2013, 12:05 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

As promised, the heatwave hit us. At the hottest, my garden was 38 degrees in the shade. I stopped working outside at 10.30 this morning and found plenty to do inside. I've sanded down all the wood work (door frames, skirting boards, window sills) in the utility rooms and have under coated and glossed all of those surfaces. We've also put a coat of white emulsion on the utility room walls. So far, we haven't bought any decorating supplies and we're just using what we have. It's now a quarter to eight in the evening and just cool enough to go back out in the garden again. (I burn in SPF50 so I don't chance it). We've also touched up any bits of paint work that needed it and we'll keep going like this as the house is being photographed for the website and brochure next week. 

I've also done the stock take and put a menu plan together. Part of me wants to go to the butchers and buy a chicken but the sensible bit knows there is food here that needs eating. I did buy two tins of braised steak in gravy from Poundland and yes, they were £1 each. I make Poundland pie by cooking some frozen mixed beg in the microwave, chopping a tin of potatoes and a tin of braised steak and using that as a pie filling. The pie will stretch to four meals and will cost about £2 altogether. It's about the only meat that some people can afford. Even a tin of corned beef costs at least £1.50 now. If any of you go to Lidl, they have lots of tinned herrings in a variety of sauces. The herrings are fine but the sauces are an acquired taste and much better mixed with mashed potato and formed into fish cakes. 

I'm on Radio Cornwall tomorrow, I'll also bring up the Great British Budget Menu and how people are really struggling to feed themselves. I'm going to talk about austerity cooking with some menu ideas, some budgeting ideas and hopefully will read out some of your emails. It would be great to hear from readers 'down under', 'across the pond' and in mainland Europe. How do you cope with the rising costs of food and how are you stretching every pound/dollar or euro? I've not yet heard from anyone in Greece or Portugal when austerity is causing grievous hardships. Let's share our thrifty recipes to the world. 

I'll put the listen again link up - please email tracy.wilson@bbc.co.uk with anything you want to share about frugal food and healthy eating on a tiny budget. You can also phone the show whilst on air on 01872 22 22 22. It would be great if you phoned in or emailed in with your opinions of the muted idea of no packed lunches and how that will affect your family budget or the lack of cooking skills and how these can be addressed!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xx



↧

Froogs on the Radio

July 14, 2013, 10:17 am
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

I'm always happy to share the frugal word with everyone and love being a guest on Tracy Wilson's radio programme on Radio Cornwall. We were talking about the cost of food today, the need for Foodbanks, frugal food and school packed lunches. You can listen again by clicking  HERE and moving the slider onto the last hour. The photo above is taken from a snap from the webcam and I've got my back to the camera.


We've had a massively busy afternoon. Too busy in this heat! Shopping and again, I am aghast at the cost of just some fruit, veg, milk and eggs! We then went to the tip to take a trailer full of garden waste and then onto Trago to buy more wood bark chips to mulch our garden. 


It was then home to more 'gardening'. In this case, weeding the end wall of our garden which can be viewed from the street. It's a mess and we've managed half of it tonight before we both retreated to have cooling showers. 


You can see my house peeping over the top of the fence. It goes on the market on the first of August; the deadline is looming and we still have so much to do. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who uses Foodbanks or is worried about the extra costs of feeding the family throughout the school six week break. If you'd like to leave me a comment, then I won't publish it if you ask me not to. Feel free to email me if you would like me to run a cookery workshop on basic cooking skills, menu planning, cooking from scratch or bulk cooking. If anyone can get three people together for a workshop (two is too few and four is too many) then I'll run it free of charge. I'll have time in my summer break to make videos that people have asked for on cookery techniques such as making pastry, cheese sauce, quiche and using a bread machine. For now? I'm off for a cold drink and ready to put my feet up and watch the highlights of Chris Froome conquering Mont Ventoux and the 15th stage of the tour! Anyone else loving this tour? (If you remember my bucket list, following the tour in person is one of my dreams)

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx


↧
↧

How to build your own house!

July 15, 2013, 12:29 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

We have all watched Grand Designs and all marvelled at the folk who built their own home with their own hands. Brick by brick, or straw bale by straw bale and even cut down their own trees to build their own woodland house. It's nothing new. I'm grateful for a Dear Reader who sent this article to me, knowing that I would like it and I do. I love the thought of a couple using the bricks from a ruin and painstakingly cleaning every second hand brick and taking three years to build their own home and then building another one. I'm thrifty and frugal but compared to Maud, I'm nothing more than a pretender!

We've been up ladders weeding tonight and it's a small task but hopefully will be part of making the garden tidier and more appealing. Now Dear Reader, it's dream time. Who would love to build their own home, who already has? Do tell. Thanks to 'Cookie Queen' for sending the article from 1964 from an old magazine she found. Hooray for Maud! 

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx
↧

Carrot, Kidney Bean and Cumin burgers.

July 16, 2013, 11:59 am
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

I'm a great fan of Jack Monroe's blog 'A girl called Jack'. It's an astute political blog written by an austerity cook whose influential blog took her to the G8 summit. Her recipes are fool proof, delicious and penny pinchingly frugal. I've used her recipe here and you can find it in its original form HERE

Ingredients:
1 large carrot - grated
1 large onion - finely chopped
1 tin of value kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
1 tablespoon of dried corriander
1 teaspoon of cumin
sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of wholemeal flour
1 beaten egg.


1. Cover the kidney beans with water and simmer in a pan until they are softer. Drain and mash with potato masher or fork.
2. Lightly saute the carrots and onions.
3. In a bowl, combine the carrots, onions, cumin, corriander, flour and beaten egg.
4. Shape into patties with floured hands and fry on medium heat.


Balsamic Vinegar dressing (we buy our balsamic vinegar from Lidl and it lasts for ages, we also buy our olive oil and Dijon mustard from there too)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

Combine all the ingredients in a jam jar, put the lid on and shake like a cocktail. Drizzle over the salad.

I also served a yoghurt, mint and cucumber dressing to go with the burgers

1/4 of a cucumber - grate into a sieve and leave to drain - use the back of a spoon to push any excess fluid out.
100g of plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon of mint sauce

Mix together in a jug and serve with the burgers. Thanks to Jack for her recipe, the burgers are fantastic. 

I'll leave you with the great wall of Liskeard! We finished weeding it tonight! Three evenings of weeding to clear one wall................it's no wonder we want to downsize.


Over to you Dear Reader. Who else is an austerity cook? Who else is eating less meat due to finances? Who else has cut back the portion sizes to stretch out the finances?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
↧
Search

Sweet and Sour Veggies with Egg Fried Rice

July 17, 2013, 11:19 am
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

Still wonderfully hot here in deepest darkest Cornwall! Instead of the gym, I took myself off around Plymouth Hoe to exercise outside. It was seriously hot out there! I was famished when I got home and this mountain of veggies and rice was just what I needed. 

Sweet and Sour Sauce

 50g brown sugar 3 points per person
50g malt vinegar
50g tomato ketchup - 1 point per portion
1 small tin pineapple chunks in juice (no points on my WW plan)
1 tablespoon light soy
1 teaspoon of cornflour and enough water to make into a loose paste - just enough to thicken and create a gloss 0.5 point per person 

Add ingredients to a small pan and simmer for five minutes

Chop any veg you have into thin strips and stir fry in as little oil as you can get away with - add the sweet and sour sauce and simmer. I used four carrots, one courgette, 1 red pepper, half a sliced onion, 6 chestnut mushrooms (Aldi value family pack), half a head of broccoli - all no points!


Egg Fried Rice

120g of Basmati rice - that's the dry weight - it weighs more cooked.6 points per portion
Half an onion - finely diced (the rest, sliced and went into the stir fry)
60g of frozen peas - I cooked them in the microwave 1 point
small amount of oil - 2 points per portion
1 teaspoon of five spice
2 eggs beaten - 2 points per portion

Cook the rice and peas - drain well
Fry the onions until soft
Add the peas and rice
Mix the five spice with the beaten egg
Stir through until the rice is hot and egg is cooked.


Serve the lot together with a dash of soy sauce. I was ravenous after exercising in the heat and this really did the job! Eat in the garden in the sunshine in beautiful Cornish surroundings and enjoy living the dream.(Dinner was 15 WWPP if anyone is counting). Anyone else trying to frugally lose weight? Anyone else counting the points? I save 15 for a big supper, have 4 for breakfast and 6 for lunch and 1 for milk with tea - that's Weight Watchers pro-points for those in the know. If anyone is interested, I've now lost 2 stone and I'm still keen to keep going.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxx


↧

Cheesy Topped Shepherdess Pie

July 18, 2013, 12:53 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

That got you thinking! Shepherd's pie is a potato topped pie made of minced lamb, whereas a Shepherdess Pie is made from veggies and lentils for protein. I sprinkled some half fat grated cheddar on top and Dearly Beloved said it's one of the best dinners he's ever had. That is a massive compliment coming from a man whose favourite food is steak. 

When I started this, I didn' think I would enjoy eating for less than £2 a day but I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying what we eat. I still miss meat but accept that this is now a treat and not the norm. I think many people will go back to meat once a week or not at all. As a nation, we were healthiest we'd ever been when we ate very little meat, fat or sugar. If you've never seen 'Wartime Kitchen and Garden' I've embedded two episodes at the end of this post. It's a fascinating insight into our national diet and I hope you enjoy the programme.

This really is a cheap and simple recipe and I made two pies from this which means one for dinner and one for the freezer to be eaten another day.Cook and mash some potatoes and leave to cool - heat the oven to a high setting - I used my mini oven. (I used 50p worth of potatoes.

Filling

Half a head of celery - finely diced 35p
1 onion - finely diced - 23p
4 small carrots/2 medium - finely diced - 13p
100g of red lentils - 22p
1 stock cube - 2p
80g of half fat cheddar grated - optional - 35p
1 cup of frozen mixed veg. - 12p
(I also threw in the leftover stir fried veggies from yesterday).

Total cost to serve 4 portions - £1.92 - 48p per portion!!! Even less if you didn't use the cheese.



1. Fry the onions, celery and carrots in a saucepan in a little oil until softened/cooked through
2. Add lentils and mixed veg.
3. Crumble a stock cube and cover with water, bring to boil and then simmer until lentil are cooked but not mush.
4. Check for flavour - I also added a sprinkle of garlic powder and some dried parsley - it's your choice.



5. Layer in a lasagne dish or roasting dish and roughly place the mashed potato on top.
6. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes or golden on top.
7. Whilst the pie is cooking, steam some vegetables to go with it.
8. Serve with gravy - I used instant veggie gravy.



We had really forgotten how much we really enjoy the nutty taste of lentils. I really enjoyed this, but not the heat of having the oven on! Is anyone else feeding themselves well on less than £2 a day?

I'll be back tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx
↧
↧

Froog's modelling debut!

July 19, 2013, 11:23 am
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

I recently wrote about finding clothes on a tight budget and went to look around a Bonmarche store in Plymouth. They offered me something to wear for the review and this is what I picked. It's great for work in these warmer days and cool enough to wear in the evenings too. Thanks for the new top, I think it's great and as I like you all so much....it's gone into the wash and now I'm giving it away (size 14 UK only). Leave your name and I'll pick someone tomorrow and send it. Along with an ark that's been here for ages whilst I waited for pay day to be able to afford to post it. (Thrift Wizard....apologies - get in touch again lovvie xx)

Finally, where oh where is Hard up Hester? If you are reading, everyone is asking after you and we're all missing you - get in touch love so we know you're ok xxxx.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs

(Bonmarche sent me the top but my opinions on the great quality are entirely my own)
↧

How to make a Sardine and Tomato Pizza

July 20, 2013, 1:14 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

You will need: bread mix OR 1 and a quarter cup of water, 1 tablespoon of oil. 1 teaspoon of salt, 3 cups of strong white flour and 1 sachet of yeast - add to the bread machine in that order and set to 'dough'.

Topping  - 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, garlic granules, 1 teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of mixed herbs. Fry the onions, add the tinned tomatoes and rest of ingredients, season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer - puree with stick blender - Allow to cool.

The dough setting on a bread machine usually takes about an hour. Switch off and remove dough and place onto a floured surface.


Roll out gently until the size of your baking tray.


You can put what you like on your topping - I used half a cup of grated half fat cheddar, a sprinkle of parmesan, some mushrooms and yellow peppers.


After rolling out the dough, grease with oil and place the oil side down onto a baking tray.


Spread out with your fingers.


Spread the tomato sauce onto the dough mix.


Cover the entire dough mix.


Sprinkle with a topping of your choice.


You can put what you like onto your pizza.



Remove sardines from the tin and cut in half, removing the bones.


Arrange onto your pizza.


Who doesn't love sardines and at 32p a tin they are a great way of having affordable fish.


 Sprinkle with some cheese.




Add 15g of parmesan if you so wish. I like the way it adds so much cheesey flavour without being too greasy or calorific.


Drizzle with the tiniest amount of oil.


Bake in a very hot oven for 15-20 minutes.


This is great eaten hot or taken to the beach on a day off.


Enjoy!

That's how to make a sardine and tomato pizza. Four portions of pizza for 50p a portion! I made the pizza faster than I could walk to the supermarket, bring it back, take it out of the packet and cook it and for a lot less too.

Over to you - who's been scorched today? We've been gardening, the estate agent has taken photographs and there was a welcome breeze. I'm aiming to have some time out tomorrow and hopefully a swim!

Until then,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxxx


↧

Apologies for my absence.

July 22, 2013, 12:42 pm
$
0
0

Hello Dear Reader,

Apologies for my absence, I've been horizontal for a few days - no need for details. I've dragged myself to the TV every night for the last three weeks for the one sporting spectacle that I watch every year and follow now matter which team is winning, where the best riders come from or who the current sponsors are. 

I've watched every stage of the Tour de France. Firstly, like so many Brits, I am totally in love with France and everything French. My French holidays have given me my love of cycling and the 'Tour' has given me the ambition to get really fit so I can ride 'L'etape de tour'.(approx 100km)

 On January 1st, I was 14 and a half stone, today I weighed in a 12 stone and 4 lbs and I'm fitter than I've ever been. Like so many Brits, who watched the Olympics last year and became part of the  'Olympic legacy' as I'm not the only person who decided that this was the year I AM going to get fit and be a healthier person. 

I couldn't blog last night if I tried! I watched the final stage (that mattered) on Saturday and knew that Chris Froome was the winner and then watched the run into Paris live on Sunday night. Mark Cavendish just couldn't win another Champs Elysees stage as Marcel Kittel turned out to be the better rider on the night. I watched every minute from my bed, with the sound on quiet and the lights dimmed and even feeling rough, I couldn't miss it.


It's those moments that remind me WHY am am frugal!

From Froogs' bucket list...."12. Cycle one of the stages of the Tour de France.....even if it takes all week!(Thinking of it.........or even a fortnight.) Add to that...ride a proper road bike.
13. Hire/own a camper van and follow Tour de France and write a chalk messages on the roads."

Dreams don't come cheap and they are not attainable with a massive mortgage. Being frugal now, means I can have choices later. That means, later I will be able to afford a road bike, later I will be able to afford cycling holidays, later I will be able to go to the Pyrenees. I'm still ill tonight and I haven't surfaced since Saturday but it's the dreams that keep me going.


Thanks for the incredible camera work, helicopter and bike shots of every piece of the action and to the riders for a fantastic tour. Roll on 2014, when I will be going back to France (busy saving every penny now so I can) and roll on the next Tour.

Until tomorrow (when I'm hopefully able to stand),

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxx
↧
Viewing all 924 articles
Browse latest View live
Search
<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>