Back to thrifty ways

I haven't dared add up the total cost of our Irish holiday.  I have a rough idea.  Eeek!! But it was all budgeted for and some expenses were paid earlier in the year like when I booked the ferry early in January and got 20% off.  So now it's time to knuckle down and get back to my thrifty ways.  Afterall it's the reason we were able to afford to do all the fab activities on holiday :-) I've got a couple of big house expenses coming up and want to make sure I've got the cash for them.

This week I've made sure to use up all the leftover bits n bobs of veg in the fridge.  First picture is a healthier coleslaw of carrot, apple, onion and walnuts with a cider vinegar and mayonnaise dressing.  I've added half a cooked chicken breast.

This one was a satay style sauce of peanut butter and sweet chilli sauce with leftover cooked turkey (yellow stickered of course!) and some sweetcorn from a meal The Teenager made himself.  It was nice but lacked something.

This morning I popped down to visit mum and dad.  I never leave their house without a bag of stuff!! Today it was soft fruit.  About 15lbs of blackcurrants, raspeberries and gooseberries!  Their garden is producing tons of fruit this year.  My lovely mum was running out of space to store it all.

Some of it was frozen.  The gooseberries are actually from last year.  The frozen stuff  I've popped into my freezer for now but it's bursting at the seams too.  So I need to find some good ideas apart from jam to use it up (as a family we don't eat much jam now).

I've already got 2lbs of blackcurrants soaking in a litre of vodka.  I'm using this recipe to make cassis.  I usually just add the blackcurrants to sugar and vodka and leave it for a few months before straining.  But this recipe blitzes the currants first and soaks them in vodka only.  The sugar gets added later.  I'm looking forward to seeing if it makes a difference.

I also brought home this dress that didn't fit mum.  It's a little big for me but I can take it in at the sides easily.  It's very pretty and will be ideal with leggings for work.

And finally, I found a face mask sachet lurking at the bottom of the bathroom cupboard!  I think it was a Christmas present from one of the kids in my class. So I had a wee pamper session :-)

The Teenager is away walking for a few days with his dad so I have the house to myself.  In a few weeks he'll be off to university so I need to get used to just me and Emma rattling round.