Rhubarb and coconut custard

 

Today's main meal was 2 of the free lamb burgers and half a pack of the Mediterranean veg.  I just chucked it all on a baking sheet and cooked it in the oven.  Oh my goodness, so much fat/liquid came out of the burgers!!  I had to mop it up a few times with kitchen paper.  They were nice but nothing special and not worth the £5 price tag!  Good job they were free!!  I still have 2 more in the freezer so will cook them separately next time.

I really fancied something sweet afterwards.  I didn't have any milk or enough milk powder to make custard so had a look in the storecupboard.  I used half a block of creamed coconut and 400ml of hot water to make coconut milk as per the instructions on the pack.  Then I made custard in the usual way and served it with the last of the rhubarb from the freezer.  It was really good.  I'll def do that again.  I was rather pleased with myself at my ingenuity! 😂😂

A very rare moment with Luna sleeping!!  She's more or less behaving like she hasn't had surgery.  She keeps trying to do zoomies in the living room and the garden 😱  She's wearing her harness all day now as she can slip her collar (and cone) no matter how tight I make it!  She knows when I'm trying catch her to hold her to calm her down and grabbing the harness makes it easier.  She's absolutely furious at being kept calm!!!  She's finished the painkillers but is still on the sedatives.  Frankly they're not that effective...

...except within the first hour!!  She fell asleep mid bite! 🙄🤣

Rhubarb and custard

 

I had some rhubarb in the freezer from the allotment.  I had picked some on one of the few visits I made this year.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to make jam or chutney so chucked it in the freezer.  Today I thought some stewed rhubarb and custard would be nice.

I knew I had an unopened tin of Birds custard powder lurking in the storecupboard but didn't realise it was a little out of date!!  No worries, I'll be using it any way.  So I made some custard and it's currently cooling.  I'll make a sort of rhubarb/custard fool dessert 😋 Just out of interest I googled 'uses for custard powder' and found these ideas HERE.  I'm definitely going to try the biscuits/cookies!

As I'm a bit limited in what I can safely do with Luna around, I decided to move my bedroom furniture around to create more space.  I moved my bed to the wall that backs on to the semi next door.  

As I was lying in bed the falling off wallpaper was really annoying me.  So I started pulling it off.  It came off in strips and I had stripped the room in 5 minutes!!

I had my bed against this wall facing the window from day 1 but it made the room feel smaller.

The walls under the blue wallpaper had previously been painted cream.  I remembered that I had 3 rolls of Laura Ashley wallpaper with a pink and cream design.  I've had it at least 14 years!!!  I'm going to use it behind the bed as the feature wall and paint the rest cream.  Zero cost as I already have a ton of magnolia paint leftover from decorating the flat.  I'll swap the purple headboard for the leather one I had in my previous bedroom and use the matching chests of drawers.  The cream chests of drawers will get donated and I'll have more space to move around the room!

A word on potatoes

 

We keep getting told there's going to be a shortage of fresh British vegetables this year especially field grown veg because of the really wet weather.  Some farmers haven't even bothered to plant anything at all.  I'm a bit concerned as I didn't get any veg or potatoes planted at the allotment this year so I know I'm definitely going to be lacking in spuds.  So I'm exploring other sources.  I've tried tinned potatoes in the past and they're ok but they use calcium chloride to keep them firm.  I do have a couple of tins in my storecupboard just for emergencies.  They're fine in soups and casseroles.

I've been trying the instant mashed potatoes as another storecupboard standby.  This Tesco one doesn't have any nasty additives although it does have palm oil.  I 'think' most palm oil is responsibly sourced now but I need to look into it a bit more.  I made a 'deconstructed' cottage/shepherd's pie with some turkey mince I had in the freezer.  It was actually very nice although I did add extra butter and salt to the instant mash.

I had some leftover instant mash so made some tattie scones.  There are only 2 left so that tells you they were quite good!  These 2 will go in the freezer.  You can't beat fresh potatoes but it's good to have a back up just in case.

My DIL scooped up some reduced baking potatoes for me last night, 87p for 7 potatoes.  I'll bake these, cut them in half and stuff them with cheese and butter.  They freeze well so I'm stocked up on potato ideas for a wee while 😋

I got a Tesco delivery yesterday.  I'm starting to build up my stock again on a few storecupboard and bathroom essentials.  There's no alcohol or high value items in there but those 2 bags cost £98.  I don't drink bottled water as I'm lucky enough to have excellent soft drinking water but I like to keep some for emergencies.  Twice in the last few years I've had no water due to burst water mains and was caught out!  See HERE!

I can't believe we're almost at the end of June. I've given myself some grace on my finances as moving house always throws up unexpected costs.  But starting 1st July the serious business of living on just my pension begins.  I have very little savings left so it's a bit scary.  This was always the plan.  I've talked about it for so long now it's time to actually do it!!! 

Tea and coffee

 

Following on from the successful clearing out of my spices, I had a go at sorting out my tea and coffee.  There's a lot more tea than I thought!!!  To be fair some were gifts as folk know I like 'nice' teas but some of them I did buy myself.  I have a ton of Pukka herbal teas.  The larger Kilner jar and the Yorkshire Tree tin plus the actual Pukka box are full of herbal teas designed to fight off colds etc.  

I have unopened boxes/jars/tins of Tetley green teabags, loose Earl Grey and 2 lots of camomile.  I have some opened green jasmine tea, Whittards Christmas herbal loose tea and the loose tea I got from my afternoon tea at the Balmoral.  

I've also got my own home grown and dried applemint, sage and elderflower.  There's some loose echinacea I use in my elderberry syrup mixture.  The smaller Kilner jar has Sencha Rose loose tea (it's delicious but almost finished) and then I have some bog standard PG Tips teabags (not pictured) I use these teabags because they're biodegradable but they've changed the pack sizes recently 😠 So it's fair to say I've got plenty of tea to keep me going in the coming shortages!! 🫖

My coffee collection isn't as big!! 😂 It's fairly self explanatory except the coffee capsules aren't mine.  I'm strictly instant or filter in a cafetiere! ☕ I used to be quite fussy about my brand (Percol Americano) but I like the supermarket own brand now and it's hugely cheaper!  I generally have 2 or 3 large mugs of coffee in the morning.  Never ask me anything before that first coffee!!!!! Then I move onto tea in the afternoon and herbal teas at night.  I've given up buying Diet Coke (again!) so the only other drink I have is water.

It's a foul weather day here.  The organised dog training walk group has been cancelled so my day is my own.  Time for a bit of painting if I can get some peace from Luna!! 🐕

Spicy!

 

It's been on my mind lately to start running down my storecupboard and freezer in readiness for moving.  I have a lot of stuff that I could use up and it will save me money too!  I started with my herbs and spices.  Despite getting a new kitchen 2 years ago (September 2021!!) I had spices dated 2017!!  I must have just put them back in the cupboard without checking!

So I chucked out the really old ones and sorted the rest.  My cooking seems to fall into categories so I sorted my spices into those.  The above photo is of my Tex Mex spices.  I make up my own fajita and taco seasoning mixes, much cheaper than the ready made packets and no fillers.

Basic curry spices (cumin does double duty!)

Baking spices, although I tend to just use mixed spice for most things.  No idea why I have cinnamon as I don't like it.  I can only think I bought it for a school project and didn't use that one.  The whole nutmegs are dated 2019 but they'll still be fine.

Standard cooking herbs/spices.  The saffron was a gift but I've only used it once.  Any ideas on what to use it for??  It's too expensive to just throw out!

This is my most recent purchase.  I used to live on stir fries when I was working as they were quick and easy to throw it together when I was tired.  I've not really had many recently.  I want to start again as it's a great way to stretch a little meat with loads of veggies.

Photo from BBC food

I did a search on YouTube for some authentic Chinese sauces as the ready made ones have got too many processed additives for my liking.  I found a few channels that suggested these 5 basic ingredients were the base of most sauces:

1.  Soy sauce 
2.  Sesame oil
3.  MSG  
4.  Starch (something like cornflour)
5.  Scihuan pepper

I've always got Tamari soy sauce and cornflour.  I used to have sesame oil so I'll look out for a decent priced one again probably in Aldi or Lidl.  I've found some Scihuan peppercorns on Amazon at a decent price so I'll order some next month.  I'm going to pass on the MSG though!  

I found that these 5 extra essentials were a common suggestion too:

1. Oyster sauce
2. Rice vinegar
3. Chinese cooking wine
4. 5 spice powder
5. Chilli sauce

A bit of research suggests apple cider vinegar (which I always have) is a good sub for rice vinegar.  And dry sherry is a decent sub for Chinese cooking wine.  So in my March supermarket shop I'll add some Chinese cooking ingredients to my shopping list 😋

With the addition of garlic and ginger that I normally keep in the freezer, I'll have the basics to start making decent Chinese fakeaways again! 😋😋

A baking weekend

 

So far I've still not bought any treats (sweets, chocolate, crisps basically no ultra processed foods) this month and been satisfying my snack peckishness with home baked from scratch goods.  Yesterday I made this amazing carrot cake loaf!  Recipe HERE.  I changed the cinnamon to mixed spice (I don't like cinnamon!) and left out the walnuts as I didn't have any.  It's the best carrot cake recipe I've made for a long time! 😋

Since I've been eating a lot of sweet treats lately,  I decided I needed to make some savoury ones.  I made some oatcakes with seeds (Lidl's mixed seeds that have been lurking in the cupboard) to have with some cheese.  Recipe is one I've used before HERE.  It uses very little ingredients and is VERY tasty!! 😋😋

I've popped them into a jar so I'll see how long they last!!

I started a sourdough loaf that I'll bake first thing tomorrow morning.  It always looks awful when you first mix it!  It just gets left on the worktop all day and roughly every hour I'll give it a wee stretch and turn.  No kneading required!

I fancied cauliflower cheese for my tea last night so I got the frozen cauliflower out the freezer.  There wasn't a single 'normal' sized floret in the whole bag!!!  That's a teaspoon for reference.  I was really annoyed!  They look like the leftover bits from the conveyor belt in the packing factory!! 

I didn't have milk so once again used the Marvel dried milk to make the cheese sauce.  I did plan to bake it in the oven to get a crispy top but it looked good enough to eat without it so saved money by not putting on the oven!!  I added some chunks of gammon I had in the freezer and it was a very tasty meal! 

Luna is booked into puppy day care tomorrow (Monday) so I've got a long list of errands to do including a dentist appt and coffee with a friend.  I'm planning to spend my Nectar points in Sainsbury's so I'll be doing a storecupboard audit tonight!!

Doing 'stuff'

 

I finished a sock 🧦  It's in a blue/green colourway and I don't love it.  It's one of the Regia Arne and Carlos designs.  But it's a finished sock and I'll cast on the second one tomorrow.  This pair might end up getting gifted.  Or I could be really organised and say I've started my Christmas presents for this year already 🎁😉

The weather is still absolutely appalling so I was very surprised to see that my Sarah Raven tulips are starting to pop up again in the raised bed at the front of my house.  This will be their 3rd year so I'm keen to see how they do this year.  Photo taken through the window but all that greenery is tulip leaves!  🌷🌷🌷

Since my leeks were planted in the same bed I decided to remove them to give the tulips a chance.  This may or may not have been a mistake!!  I've just stuck them in a tub and rinsed them off a bit.  The rain can clean them a bit more before I get round to chopping them up and freezing them tomorrow! 

I've been doing more cooking to stop me buying sweet treats!  Yesterday I made some crepes with the buttermilk from my last batch of butter making.  They were perfect with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of sugar! 🍋

Today I made a rice pudding on the stove top with last of my pudding rice.  I didn't have any kind of milk except some powdered Marvel in the storecupboard so I used that!  I used brown sugar so it has a slight caramel flavour.  Doesn't look great in a photo but oh my, it was delicious!! 😋

My pre ordered seed potatoes from Pennards arrived!  I have Epicure, Cara and Arran Victory.  I've been trying for the last few years to get Epicure as they are the classic early Ayrshire tatties I was brought up on!  I'll do these in pots and the others I'll put in the ground at the allotment.  Cara and Arran Victory grow well for me on the plot 🥔

My Kitchen Garden magazine arrived too!  For the first time in months it didn't contain lettuce seeds!!  I must count up the number of lettuce seeds I have.  I don't even like growing the stuff!!!  I think my subscription must be almost finished.  It was a gift from my Lovely Mum 😊

Even though I've been taking things slowly I've been pottering around and doing loads of 'stuff.'

Stressful week

 

Eurgh!!  It's been a stressful week.  Luna is still testing positive for giardia so she's had another course of treatment.  She's 'clinically well' so was able to get her vaccinations and is allowed out on restricted walks from tomorrow.  She's 14 weeks old now and frankly stir crazy, as am I!!  She still has to be kept separate from Emma in case they reinfect each other so poor Emma is rather stressed too.  And both my son and I have had a serious D&V bug (giardia possibly so we're getting tested too!!)  So yeah, it's not been fun round here.  Fingers crossed we're getting to the end now.

I managed a quick pop down to the allotment to find a rugby ball from the club next door has smashed a window.  New perspex has been ordered but I need to see if they'll reimburse me for it.  I know it was a rugby ball as I have it in my shed as evidence!!!

I harvested the last of the cucumbers in the polytunnel.

And made bread and butter pickles! 😋

The last of the Roma tomatoes ripened so I made tomato and onion sauce for the freezer.

The 1.5kg bags of organic flour were on offer in Waitrose at the same price as Tesco's 1kg bags so I got 2 for the storecupboard.

I made another sourdough loaf, they're improving!

I bought a 600ml carton of double cream and made butter.  Not on offer but still cheaper at £2.30 than a 250g block of butter plus I got buttermilk to make scones.

And someone has learned how to jump up on the chair in my craft room!  I'm at the stage where I don't care how and where she sleeps (I know I'm making a rod for my own back!!) as long as she sleeps because an over tired cranky puppy is a nightmare!

Doubling down on no/low spending!

 

Unfortunately despite doing really well, Luna didn't get signed off by the vet school as her liver enzymes are still a bit high.  She's to take a liver support supplement for the next month and they'll do more blood tests.  So a bit more expense!  And I finally heard back from my pet insurance who said they can't pay out as the 'condition' was diagnosed within the first 14 days of the policy starting.  So puppies are insured from when they're born until they leave the breeder.  Then there's this 2 week/14 days window where they're not, even though you pay for the policy to start from the day you get them.  And you can only start a policy from the time of legal ownership, no earlier to cover that 2 week gap.  I'm not surprised they've not paid out (bunch of crooks!!!) but I am annoyed.  It's a heck of a lot of money to come out my savings so I'm doubling down on the no/low spending.

Frankly I'm not spending money on anything but the barest of bare essentials.  I'm eating out of the freezer and storecupboard for the next few months and looking at every single thing I eat and drink!!  I need to get creative!

I'd drunk all my Rocks blackcurrant squash.  It's my absolute favourite but at £3.50ish a bottle it's very much a luxury.  And I discovered when I looked closely at the label it only has 740ml.  Not even the standard 750ml of most other squashes!  Shrinkflation again!!

So I've decided to make my own cordials. The worst that's in them is sugar!  (BTW I looked at the ingredients on a Ribena label!!! 😦)  I had loads of dried elderberries in the store cupboard so made around 1 litre of  Elderberry, ginger and lime cordial.  (I had some frozen lime juice and chopped ginger in the freezer.)  It's blooming delicious!! 😋 And very dark as you can see in the photo, that's a clear glass bottle!   I have some ideas for other fruit cordials/squash so I can use up more of the fruit in the freezer and create drinks without additives and artificial sweeteners.  Since giving up my diet Coke habit I've been looking for drinks that are less processed.  Obviously I could just drink more water 🙄 but I do struggle with that.

I finally had enough ripe Roma tomatoes in the freezer (I've been adding them as they ripen on the window sill) so I cooked them.  Just tomatoes, nothing else added.  I've got a very disappointing 3 freezer tubs worth (each around 350g) which isn't even the equivalent of 3 tins of chopped tomatoes.  They taste good but nothing special.  I can buy a tin of basics tomatoes for 35p.  Hardly seems worth the effort and asking a favour of my plot neighbours to water the polytunnel when I wasn't able to get to the plot.

I harvested my chillies.  I let some ripen fully and left some green.  Neither have any heat.  Zero chilli flavour.  My green fingers have deserted me this year I think!

But my DIL is developing hers!  I've even got her saving seeds for next year!!  Sunflower and poppy seeds drying off on the window sill 🌻

And she's becoming an expert on finding yellow stickers!  Note how it says Too Good to Waste instead of reduced!!  She just happened to be in Waitrose at the right time and got around £65 worth of meat and fish for £22!!!!  She gifted me the above lamb mince 😊 Down from £6.55 to an amazing £2.59.  It's already cooked with grated carrots, courgettes (home grown) and onion (home grown!) and in the freezer. She also got a large fillet of wild Alaskan sockeye salmon down from £15 to £5.  We cut it into 4 decent portions and she gifted one to me!  It's also in the freezer 😋

I did get one of my important jobs ticked off my list ✅ I got my chimney swept!  It cost me £100.  I had the woodburner installed 6 years ago and the chimney hasn't been swept since 😳  So it's now all ready to be used when the weather turns colder (garage has a decent store of wood and heat logs bought in the sale) and I can also tell prospective buyers next year that it's been done and leave them the certificate!